Sunday, February 20, 2011

BloggeRhythms 2/20/2011

Busy day today, not much blog time. But, I'm still interested in the Wisconsin union situation. Because it clearly points out the differences in thinking between doers and takers.

There's really no doubt that to be an educator, one must have schooling oneself. And that requires some work to accomplish. But, as far as employment goes, there's really quite little risk. And, unless these folks have other revenue sources, such as tutoring or authorship, or a second job, their income is pretty much fixed. However, that fact was well known when they accepted employment in the first place.

That being the case, there's no way for these folks to earn more money unless their wages increase. And thanks to union strength, that's exactly what happens. Yet, as a practical matter, what they produce remains exactly the same. History doesn't change because someone's taught it every year for eons. And arithmetic and chemical formulae remain exactly the same. And so does each aspect of every subject in basic curriculum as time passes on. What that means is, despite continual, union scaled contractual pay raises, the jobs actually done haven't changed an iota. Yet, over time, the exact same product has done nothing except increase in cost.

So, I guess part of the problem teachers have in seeking more money, or similarly having benefits cut, is to demonstrate where and how their value's increased. And, that's really the crux of their predicament. Because if they were now to be judged on merit instead of tenure, they'd owe the taxpayers a fortune in money they've already taken that ought be paid back.

That's it for today folks.

Adios

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