While a lot of people are out there working hard trying to keep things together for their families during this recession the Teacher's Union is out there working hard also on how to get more money out of your pockets to transfer to theirs. They are well organized, well financed through mandatory dues and have spent years getting their proxies like Norm Conway and Sheila Hixson in just the right political positions. They have an excellent Public Relations Department and very good Marketing Department. Let's look at how they present themselves to you the public.
First their name, "The Maryland State Education Association". Impressive isn't it? With a title such as that it gives you the impression that their number one mission goal is to make sure that they assist your family in all ways to get your children successfully through school and they are standing in line waiting to help you. WRONG!
Remember that Rule #1 for a union is to advocate for bigger salaries, better benefits and better working conditions.(Don't ever forget Rule #1. It's the mantra of unions). Now there is nothing wrong in what they want. I believe that everyone who works strives for the same outcome. Where the problem is how they present themselves to the public and how they go about their business. First, I don't know of many people now days who are in love with the word union and what they stand for. So the Marketing Department had to repackage that word. Thus: Maryland State Education Association. Deceiving isn't it? Kind of disassociates the teachers from the union when in fact they are one and the same. They do this all the time. Deceive, dupe.
Here's another one. The Maryland State Education's" Fund For Children'. Now how can this be deceiving? After all, aren't they always saying that "It's For The Children". WRONG! Go back to Rule #1. This is in fact a PAC set up to donate money to campaigns of people say like Delegate Conway or Delegate Hixson and others who are good proxies for Rule #1. These are the delegates that they can work with to sponsor bills like HB1412 or in the Senate like SB848. Haven't heard of these bills yet? You soon will when your new property tax bills come in. Wait! Why wait. Just give your delegates a call and have them tell you how this bill is good and is going to benefit you and your children. Mr. Conway can be reached at 410-841-3407. Mr. Cane can be reached at 410-841-3427.
While you have Mr. Conway on the line you could ask him how a delegate can sponsor a bill that he and his wife directly or indirectly benefit from. After all doesn't part of the funding going to the education system find it's way into salaries and pensions?
I believe I saw an article in a local news media that implied that Mr. Conway's wife was going to be rehired as some sort of a mentor as soon as she retired. Perhaps someone could clarify if that ever did happen. I hope it didn't. It could give us regular people a wrong impression.
Anyway, back to duping people. Isn't that Children's Fund a great repackaging product from their Marketing Department? Sometimes what they don't tell you could be a way of duping you. Like when they gave their support to HB438, you know, The Civil Marriage Protection Act. Perhaps they didn't want you to know about that part of their organization's priorities.
Here's another good dupe and it shows you the value of their interactions with other groups. Do you remember a short while ago when the BOE(Teacher's Union Associate?) and the county Finance Director went before the County Council and told them how good the County was doing with jobs growing, revenues increasing and they were just happily optimistic about the County's financial future? I remember. They were so persuasive that three of our so called Conservative Council members voted to send that letter of support to go ahead with the Bennett Middle School Project.(Does anyone think they have the courage to correct themselves on this one? Let me know what you think) Then just a couple weeks later these same people plus a couple others like our County Executive(Any Teacher's Union connection there folks) go to the Maryland Legislature to tell them how bad things were in Wicomico County.
So which one are we? When you dupe people I guess you have to have a play card to see who's duping who. It was a shame to see the Bennett Mom's used by the Teacher's Union to do their campaigning. They knew however from the start what was coming down with HB1412 because they were working with the Maryland Associations of Boards of Educations, The Public School Superintendents of Maryland and others to write this bill. I encourage the Bennett Mom's to keep going to meetings to see what is happening but don't believe everything they see or hear. I hope they do their own research and come to their own conclusions.
When MSEA and the organizations I mentioned above(not the Bennett Moms) conspire to trample the rights of our local government and their citizens I can guarantee you that the people will respond.
John Palmer Jr.
VOICE, Inc.
New Posts to fall below.
38 comments:
And teachers don't work hard? We pay taxes too. We chose our profession, you chose yours. If it were up to VOICE, teachers would be making minimum wage.
Whatever. VOICE is determined to destroy our county by lowering us as far down as we can go. Pathetic, selfish, and with no concern about the long term impact of their knee jerk anti-tax radicalism.
Its not that teachers dont work hard,it's that the country,state and county are broke and all of us out here are taking paycuts,losing small businesses,etc while the unions and government workers keep wanting pay increases and more benefits on our dime.Now do you understand?
Mrs. Conway is a mentor of new administrators. She also fills in at schools when administrators are out for surgery or something like that. I think it is a contractual position.
Teachers are a joke anymore. I do believe they should on minimum wage. Most kids come out of school dumb as a brick. Teachers are mostly OBESE and non-caring.
4:25pm,
Teachers work 8-4ish(most earlier) everyday. I think you guys have a 37.5 hour work week? You guys also have a 9 month schedule. You have the option to be paid over the course of 9 months or 12 months. Fortunately, you guys also make about 43-45k/year(starting) which is above average around the eastern shore.
You guys also have the benefit of plenty of part time summer jobs that can pay you an extra 10-20k over the course of 1 summer.
Lets sink this in. You guys work 37.5 hour days(yes I know you have to grade homework and tests, but you also should have cheat sheets that make grading extremely easy. Most of you guys also have free periods everyday). You only work 9 out of 12 months. You make about ~43k/year which is the equivalent of somewhere around 55-60k/year(normal 24 pay periods). You also have the opportunity to make another 10k+ over the summer. Also, health insurance is extremely cheap through the board of ed... even cheaper than state health insurance. You have a job where getting fired is nearly impossible unless you blatantly do something wrong. You literally have no worry about being laid off.
So please, tell me. Why should teachers make more money? You make over the average salary for this area, you get access to great health care, you have the opportunity to make much more than the average salary as well.
Any extra money at the board of ed should go towards the employees that maintain the buildings/ make your jobs easier by cleaning up feces, fixing your air conditioning, fixing your computers and some of the lower end central office employees.
For the record, I do not work for the board of ed. Used to, not any longer.
I suggest anyone contributing to this post, take 1 day and spend it in a local school and random classrooms. The teachers deserve hazardous duty pay. And, I'am not a teacher.
There is no way that I would walk into a high school classroom today. I would love to see all the critics left alone in a room for just one hour.
Voice has created a 7 million a year hole for this county to never clime out of. The "tax cap" they led the impression that it was a tax cap on the citizens taxes going up, no it's a revenue cap for the county. A whole different thing that Voice led the county to believe they were voting for. No you left us in a mess.
You want better education, then pay for it. You want the best teacher, pay for it, you want the better results you have to pay.
This county is suffering from you Voice not the teachers.
The county has to stop balancing it's budget on the back of it's workers, it is not fair, they did nothing wrong.
The citizens want the service, you have to pay for it.
Yes this county can save money, it can consolidate a lot of functions, emergency communications for one, health insurance with other counties, purchasing with other counties, combine police and save in the long run.
Voice you have to refocus on what things need to be done.
when someone else manages your retirement income and benefits dont bitch when your broke. The govt unions are the only ones still solvent from wrecklessly printing money. this has been a public service announcement.RON PAUL
Nobody in the county...whether they support VOICE or not...wants teachers to make minimum wage and doesn't appreciate what most teachers do. But at what cost to the entire county and all of the tax paying citizens are we expected to go to fund the union demands? Im all ears as to how we can do this without the county going bankrupt?
I can sympathize with teachers.
BUT......I also don't believe for one second that VOICE is determined to destroy the county. It's apparent that VOICE's message is to get the other side of the story out. We've have, for too long, been duped by unions disguised as associations and organizations.
Mr. Palmer,
With all due respect, your organization is the sole reason why this county is in such bad shape. Year's ago, you and your fellow cheapscapes swindled their way into the minds of the citizens to get the cap voted in. Looking at the last 10 or so years, the cap is the reason we are in such dire strates.
I am sorry to inform you that the bills in house and senate are a done deal and there is nothing you, VOICE, or any citizen can do about it. It is only right that these bills are in place to support our kids.
Instead of criticizing the BOE, lets put your focus on other agencies that can cut and make a difference. The BOE can't and won't cut any longer but lets cut services that aren't needed. For starters, lets consolidate law enforcement!
Like I said, complain all you want, but it will fall on deaf ears because the deal is done!
5:44
You forgot to include in those figures the retirement we are going to have to pay for years.
Retirement that WE will have to pay for? I doubt it as much anymore after O'Malley's move to shift unfunded responsibility to the Counties. They haven't budgeted for this so it's only reasonable to accept that a cut in future retirement expectations will be necessary. In a sense, current teachers have to "fund" this.
I am a teacher, I am extremely successful with my students. I have not asked for a raise or step in 4 years, teachers are educated and understand that times are tight. We still coach your kids in sports, mentor them AFTER hours, listen to their tales of how many of their parents are out of the picture. I have bought them shoes, backpacks, and helped them get jobs, and believe me my work week is def. longer than 40 hours. I came to work for you the taxpayer because YOU offered me a good job that had benefits. I never demanded anything and only took what you offered for the job.I can almost assure you that after the first kid to tell you to "Shut the F### up, or a gang fight breaks out in your room, or a special needs student messes in his pants that you would not take my job, but I love working with those who just want to learn. I met the requirements you the taxpayer, and the government set up for the job. I think many of you commenting on this subject are not really aware of what we do everyday. American Education Week I saw two parents, open house 5 and the ones who showed were the parents of kids who are doing great, stop by and spend just one day, talk with the resource officer in each school, maybe you will be better able to comment in a more informed manner.
Keep in mind that, with regard to pension underfunding for teachers, that was a decision that came from O'Malley, not parents.
Wicomico County has the second lowest per pupil funding in Maryland. I am a teacher with a Masters degree that cost around 50000 to obtain. I TEACH 135 students and make around 45000 dollars. If you take my salary and divide it by the number of students, I make around a $1.80 for each student I teach per lesson. I have other dutuies such as grading, lesson planing, meetings, and on going college course work to keep my licence. This past quarter I graded about 3000 assisngments. If each assisnment took me one minute to grade and post online, I spend 200 hours per school year grading. I don"t wast time during the school day and I never have time to grade at school. I am a Republican. I most likely will never collect from a single government program as long as I teach, and I support local bussinesses. My buddy is a salesman makes about 75000 a year and lives in the county. He never finished college. He wants to get me a job. I love teaching. Don't act like I am over paid. I CAN MAKE MORE MONEY OTHER PLACES! Salisbury University has a great teaching program if you want to experience just how easy and lucrative it is to be a teacher. P.S. If it was so easy and great why didn't you choose a teaching career? Please excuse any typos as I have typed this on a cheap android tablet. THANKS and have a great Easter!
I visited a local high school a few years ago and 2 of the teachers had subs taking their place most of the year.
My son graduated from U of Md with a degree and teaching and certified to do so. His student teaching assignment was inter-city Baltimore. At 340 lbs he played rugby for U of MD. After a week of student teaching, he returned home to Delmar and said "Dad, I can't do it or I'll hurt somebody". He was talking about the students that have no respect for anything. If things continue in the classroom, as they are in today's times, soon there will be no teachers to babysit your children. The sad part is that the parents don't give a damn.
Wow. As the old saying goes "the chickens always come home to roost " Voice " ? It's TWO people !!!!!
Wake up folks
It's just wrong to force people to pay for this stuff. If people choose to have children then the parents should pay for their OWN children's education.
5:44 p.m.
First, you are correct about some points about teacher salary. Certainly, the teachers will advocate for making more. Who doesn't? However you are erroneously painting a picture of folks who are taking more than they should from the coffers of the county. The unfortunate fact is that quality teachers cost money. Competitive wages are a fact of life, and while we all know this, you,are making this sound as if it is unfair of teachers to attempt to earn more. Speaking of which, many of my colleagues do take advantage of summer work along with part time opportunities dring the,school year.
Ike everyone else,we are seeking to improve their financial quality of life, just,like everyone else. So, noting this as, II am haing a difficult time with your all so well reasoned arguements posted to this site. I fact, these arguments are indeed not well reasoned. To be sure there are those in this profession that are mearly average (or less so) and this is not what anyone wants, least of all myself or my colleagues. Additionally, I personally believe that the WCEA does more to shelter poor performance and advocate for, at times, very unreasonable steps to shelter these individuals. Is this fair or right? Of course not. However, your post suggests that ALL teachers fall not this category, which is also incorrect and irresponsible. The solution? I propose the following for your consideration:
1.) Make teacher tenure more difficult to earn. Abolish the current tenure rule (3 years of satisfactory performance) and instead tie it to 10 years. Simply, teachers must demonstrate 10 successful years in the classroom, but there also must be a check system to protect them from administration that would be indesicriminate and inconsistent in their renewal.
2.) Establish a more uniform evaluation system for teachers that is more objective than subjective. An example would be the system used by the state of Virginia. This system can be found at www.vdoe.edu. It is not perfect but it is much more specific than the system used here in Wicomico County.
3.). While disbanding the WCEA would be nearly impossible, it IS possible to move towards a more equitable collective bargaining process that would make it much more unlikely that either side could abuse this (sorry Mr. Conway).
3.). Speaking of Mr. Conway, it would be much more beneficial if he could use his substantial influence to reverse the current state pickup of health insurance premiums to take the pressure off the local counties and place that burden back on the state. One possible consideration would be for the fees being raised for passage on the Bay Bridge to go directly to the lower shore counties to offset the outrageous costs currently incurred by all lower shore counties.
As you have elected to remain unknown in this post I pose one other suggestion for you; consider using our name. You are obviously quite intelligent, and as you have no ties to the school system at this point, lending your name to this post would add clout to you rationale. Unfortunately, in the current political climate of repercussions in the school system, I cannot do this in concern of reprisal from many and as I have a family to support, I do not enjoy the same freedom as you. This kind of a cop out, but I have three kids to feed, and losing my job because I say something inadvertently unpopular by Dr. Freddy would not be worth it.
In closing, I would like to thank the blog ownership and staff for an excellent forum to share thoughts, and exchange ideas.
Respectfully,
D.F.S
VOICE---Two people
BENNETT MOMS---Three people
nuff said.
C'mon now,let's look at the real issue here.I appreciate the teachers of our county.As in all professions the vast majority of workers are good,and there are always the slackers that give the rest a bad rap.Do teachers deserve a raise? Absolutely.Do the unions deservs a raise?Hell no,they should be eliminated.Anyone that has followed what has happened in Wisconsin can clearly see that the education sytem as a whole will function better if unions are put to rest.The unions have done the teachers or the education system no good at all.
O'Mally loves a Union - AFESME gave $87 million to democratic party, wonder what AFT give?
I am a 100% VOICE supporter. I believe government at all levels has gone "over the edge" in the past 20 years or so. People no longer understand that they must pay for what they spend and government spends entirely too much. Look at our current deficits, county, state and federal. We maty "want" everything, but we have to pay for it. As a taxpayer, I feel I already pay too much and believe it is time to spend less, even if it means you don't get what you want. I believe most of the comments above and the people that think like them will drive our nation to bankruptcy. I know what, I'll just give governmeny my entire paycheck and they can give me an allowance after we've paid for all of their items on their "got to have" lists. What fools!
Dam,
The students in school sounds like the inmates at wcdc. And, the county correctional officer will be paying for state employee teachers retirement in the future. More punishment for the employees of wicomico county. No pay raises, furloughs still intact and no cola increases. But, we may pay teachers retirements. What a joke. As a correctional officer, teachers make much more money and they only work a 1/2 a year. I'm glad I didn'r invest in wicomico county retirement plan. This entire area is corrupted.
D.F.S. sad but true. Freddy will fire your butt in a hot New York minute. Glad you're on to him.
Thank you to all you non teachers who are telling teachers how many hours they work a week. Never heard of after school programs, homework, grades, tutoring? But yes I imagine those who have no clue what it is to teach know the exact amount of work that teachers put into thier jobs. How about learning to dicipline your children so school doesn't feel like a day care where children have the upperhand anymore because lord forbid your kid gets yelled at.
@ 5:28 you sound as if you may be holding a grudge? Possibly because you were not intelligent enough to complete school based off of reading your comment.
I find it hilarious John Palmer is accusing people of being deceptive when his front group of real estate agents, VOICE, lied to the people about a "tax cap" they wanted in 2002.
They were given a pass for breaking election law in their original initiative to get the cap on the ballot, with the judge buying their lame "We didn't know what the law was" excuse.
John Palmer and Don Coffin lied to the people about what the revenue cap truly was, lied to the people of Wicomico County to get it passed (Palmer constantly referred to it as a 'tax cap' when asked by the media for comment) and lied about what the effects of the revenue cap would be.
VOICE was a bunch of real estate agents who made a lot of money and didn't want to pay for needed county services. The only deceptive group in this escapade is VOICE.
Amen Fruitland Generic Citizen!!!!!
Voice duped the people of this county and we would not be in the hole we are now if the revenue cap wasn't in place all this time. Anyone selling or buying a house in this county should do a "sale by owner." Skip over the real estate agent and their fees. Think of the extra money you'll have in your pocket. Maybe you could use it to send a contribution to Norm Conway's campaign.
Dam Correctional Officer,
Sounds like you should have paid more attention in school and chose to become a teacher. Don't hate because your unhappy with your career choice. Maybe you should try to work at ECI since that would be a state job (state pension!!)and you have experience. Or, try for a job in a federal prison somewhere. Federal pay and benefits have to be pretty good. Stop complaining and try to improve yourself and your career. You have opportunities and choices in life and you need to make a change if you are not happy. You see teachers also have opportunities and choices. If they aren't paid well and receive the benefits they were promised, then the best and brightest will move to greener pastures.
Is VOICE losing its appeal?? It seems there are more posts on here opposing VOICE rather than supporting them. Maybe people have finally seen the damage done to the budget of the county by VOICE. They are tired of substandard schools that are some of the most underfunded in the state of MD. Other county employees can thank VOICE for their furloughs, lack of COLA increase, no disability for county sheriff police, crumbling roads, etc. All of these things cost money and the county needs to be able to raise the money. Imagine your ability to make money being limited to a certain amount and that is what the county faces with the revenue cap.
Sheriff deputies have the same disability benefits as every other county employee. They misspoke at council
I have heard that there may be a statewide ballot effort underway to place a referendum to repeal the Thornton Commission funding as it is unsustainable.
Does anyone have any knowledge on how Wicomico can participate?
I believe the ballot initiative is originating from Montgomery County residents.
If it does - there will be no need to include Wicomico as any two jurisdictions of either Prince Georges or Montgomery is all that is needed.
VOICE = Third World status for Wicomico County
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