Union Bouquet #10

Ladies and gentlement, I present to you Union Bouquet #10. I can't believe it made it to double digits!

For the latest on teacher union strikes or negotiations, click here.

Principal to teachers: You Suck! Teachers' Union to Principal: Kiss our a$$!

Retiring due to a medical problem, Mrs. Principal? We wish you well, but we still need our grievances resolved!

Another giant sucking sound, it's the administrators again.

Your humble servant (not me) has narrowed down to the two reasons as to why he would never return to the suburban classroom he once occupied.

Florida charter school teachers unionize.

UTLA is taking a strike authorization vote the week of the 12th, here is a really well written FAQ about it. (In PDF)

Hey, uh, (looks around) did you know we (unions) created a sewer out of the public school system? I believe it b/c Grizzly Mama says so. Why does she have so many flags on her blog? It's like she's overcompensating or something....

What do you do when Satan walks into your classroom? (Turn up the air conditioning would be my first guess.)

Joanne Jacobs sticks up for teacher unions.

Annekle muses if teacher unions really are worth all the....hoopla. You folks know what my answer would be.

This local cut ties with their state and national affiliate.

So what would you do to get the copies you needed for your class?

A potential school board member (i.e. candidate) gives her take on the negotiations for a new teacher contract in her district.

Jules the Crazy blogs about the change of the seasons and its effects on us.

Interesting post about the excercise of the First Amendment in and around and immediatley before a teacher strike was supposed to start.

What would your high school administration do if you ran a class called Interdisciplinary Poetics: Hop Hop 101? Would they support you? What about the school board-- would they support you? Well, Deviant Synapse is getting it done (in Wisconsin, no less), and has the support of the muckety-mucks of the administration (district-wise, that is) but the local paper came out with an editorial against it.

Thinking about teaching in China? Check out One Man Bandwith's experiences. True, it's at the college level...but why not?

UFT's (New York City) elections are nearing. ICE says get out the vote, but don't vote Unity or New Action. TJC (Teachers for a Just Contract) says a TJC/ ICE leadership slate would change the union forever, for good. Here is TJC's election platform, along with ICE's (even though the document dates from 2004). Don't forget Take Back the UFT, the blog of blogs among the NYC school union scene. It'll always give you an alternative to what Weingarten and the Unity Caucus is putting out.

Whitney Tilson argues that teachers unions' do not represent the best interest of our students by representing the best interests of teachers.

Collier County School District wants its teachers' union to say yes to their state-mandated merit pay system or kiss the $2.5 million from the Florida state government goodbye. The union wants the district to come up with a better system, one that isn't politically motivated and isn't completely connected to just standardized test scores.

Denver is redesigning 3 more schools...Denver Classroom Teacher Association President Kim Ursetta speaks her mind in this opinion piece. My personal opinion? Top-down reform of failing schools all too often excludes administration and the end result is akin re-arranging the deck chairs of the Titanic. (I can't claim to have created that nifty quote, but I do use it.)

From the "wearing too many hats" file: A teacher of a district (who is also a school board member) fires back at the superintendent for visiting their classroom in an attempt to intimidate them after the teacher/ board member has been publicly disagreeing with the superintendent. The superintendent could put a letter in the teacher's file, but then the teacher could hold a vote to fire the superintendent. Where's the problem?

A Somewhat Common Man says to the Michigan government "Don't touch teacher union benefits."