Quote of the Day
I like a person who knows his own mind and sticks to it;
who sees at once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it.
who sees at once what, in given circumstances, is to be done, and does it.
William Hazlitt
Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) For the Taxpayer:
Thumbs UP!
Thumbs UP!
I used to live in Wisconsin when I taught at UWM for 3 years in the latter 1980's. I am not necessarily anti-union, but I have been highly critical of unions; for the most part, I view unions like the post office: they've largely become an anachronism. I had experienced unjust experiences at UWM, which I'll never discuss; the bottom line is, life is too short to spend your career working with or for people you don't respect on a personal or professional basis. The purpose of my mentioning this is not to flame UWM, but to explain context: I was looking to address relevant grievances, not so much for my benefit but for others. I realize that this sounds like conventional spin (e.g., why people file a lawsuit--not for their own sakes, of course), but in fact others, on their own initiative, approached me, worried about precedents being set.
At some point, I got a call from a union representative, whom commiserated with some of my experiences--and then launched into a sales pitch for the benefits of being in a union, noting since the faculty weren't unionized, there was nothing he could do for me. You have to admire his audacity trying to approach the most conservative business professor on campus. It really wasn't about me; it was about the process.
There is just something about this standoff in Wisconsin that really infuriates me. Governor Walker is trying reform a corrupt process where taxpayers were ill-served by unelected negotiators or arbitrators whom made unsustainable bargains with teacher and other unions, whose members pay, at most, nominal costs for skyrocketing pension and health care benefits. The collective bargaining agreements generally limit the ability of the government (say, county executives) to control costs except in very broad terms (layoffs, generally in recency of hire order); they don't allow traditional management controls (e.g., to fire mediocre teachers, offer market-based pay for high-demand areas like math and science and/or merit raises; moreover union members can refuse to open agreements for givebacks, arguing a deal is a deal). In exchange for waiving collective bargaining (other than salary, limited to the cost of living, except through public referendum), Walker promises no layoffs.
Teachers are being asked to pay up to 12.6% of the cost of their generous health insurance and 5.8% of pension benefits. In response many teachers have fraudulently called in sick (a de facto illegal strike) which has resulted in a large number of schools forced to shut down. In addition, teachers have enlisted student sympathizers to protest, nearly 25,000 strong in Madison. The controversial legislation has passed the house and was poised to win in the senate today, but the GOP-controlled senate needs 1 more senator than the 19 Republicans in order to conduct official business, and the senate Democrats decided to leave the state (to avoid being arrested and forced to perform their duties to the citizens of Wisconsin.
I support the bill. There is just one thing that bothers me about the bill (and which I might not support) in the sense that certain powerful state employee groups (e.g., policemen and firefighters) seem to be exempted from this bill. I fully appreciate the contributions of public safety workers, but I'm not a fan of double standards. (I feel the same way about military versus other federal employees. Assuming pay scales are appropriately set, we should have shared sacrifice on a compensation level.)
Teachers should go back to work immediately. They are lucky I'm not Governor Walker. Let me tell you what Governor Guillemette would do:
- Any teacher engaged in the "blue flu" would be fired FOR CAUSE immediately (i.e., no unemployment compensation or severance) and banned from public employment for life.
- I would prosecute any "blue flu" teacher to the full extent of the law.
- I would convert from a pension system to a 403B program for any teacher below the age of 40 (with a vested relevant accumulative employer match up to the years of service).
- I would freeze salaries for any teacher above the median income in Wisconsin, strip tenure, and raise pension eligibility criteria (i.e., age eligibility pegged to social security criteria)
- I would still slash teaching and administrative staffs across the board (depending on the number of terminations from step 1).
Now if the unions played hardball with me, I do have a backup plan, which starts with 2 basic steps (plan 1 would have a limited period for acceptance): (1) all teachers would be terminated effective immediately but non-strike participants with good reviews would be eligible to reapply if they agreed to merit-based compensation and private-sector like benefits and contributions; and (2) I would institute a competitive school system, including voucher systems for qualifying private schools.
Now, teachers of Wisconsin, would you rather deal with Governor Walker--or Governor Guillemette? Let me make myself perfectly clear: any teacher, like the pathetic losers marching in Madison, is putting his or her interests above those of students. The self-serving teachers are a national disgrace and morally bankrupt.
I will put up the quantity and quality of hours I spent on teaching college courses up against any teacher or professor I know. I changed textbooks, assignments, unique sets of supplemental readings, and exams and taught a large variety of courses. I spent more than a perfunctory amount of time evaluating exams and projects and customized my comments. The point I'm making here is that I never felt entitled to any special consideration because I was a teacher; I didn't do it because some administrator or mentor told me to do it. I didn't have to do multiple computer assignments per class; I never got a teaching award, professional recognition or bonus for publishing more articles than my colleagues or spending literally dozens of hours a week on the classes I was teaching: I never asked to lessen my prep time by teaching multiple sessions of one or 2 courses (like my best friend at the time). I mostly kept to myself; I didn't go around complaining about the administration, other faculty, or students (God knows if anyone was entitled to, I was). I worked according to MY OWN standard and my conscience. I cannot express clearly enough my disgust of self-centered teachers with all but guaranteed jobs for life, totally oblivious to the volatility of employment in the private sector. I knew my teaching jobs were funded by the people of Wisconsin, Texas and Illinois, and I was paid less than most professors in my discipline. I never once complained about my compensation (except for one year at UWM where the senior faculty voted me a 1.5% raise versus the 2% average, in a year when I had published 3 journal articles). These protesters should be ashamed of themselves! I know what a great teacher is--I was one; I tried to improve on each and every teacher and professor I ever had. Great teachers would never have been on the street in Madison today...
Just a side note: one didn't need any further proof of the lack of good teachers in Wisconsin than the pathetic analysis of various malcontent students and teachers arguing that instead of having teachers pay their fair share of benefit costs like most private-sector employees, Wisconsin should resolve the issue with class warfare tax hikes or canceling business tax cut incentives. I'm going to be brief here, because Koolaid-drinking progressives aren't interested in basic business and economics: basically, part of the problem Wisconsin is in involves an unsustainable SPENDING problem, not a revenue problem. High-income individuals can live in states without income taxes, like Texas and Florida, instead of paying 7%-plus for the privilege of residing in Wisconsin. When you raise the cost for high-income individuals to live or operate businesses in Wisconsin, you get less of them. Governor Walker realizes that status quo high taxes in Wisconsin don't attract businesses and jobs. More to the point, though, the teachers were promised compensation on the backs of current taxpayers, and the money isn't there. You should blame these unrealistic agreements with the union and their government arbitrators whom agreed to unsustainable compensation: the Wisconsin taxpayers are being held hostage by ungrateful public servants whom think they are entitled to compensation over and beyond the people whom pay for their compensation.
Anonymous Posts on Unnamed Students: Suspension?
Most people by now have probably heard of Natalie Munroe, a Pennsylvania teacher, was suspended by the Central Bucks School District for "unprofessional conduct" by publishing anonymous blog posts including the use of judgmental words to describe students. It seems clear by context that Ms. Munroe feels that teachers are being scapegoated for the ill-motivated, poorly disciplined students--something which really reflects questionable parenting skills and parental responsibility for their children's behavior.
First of all, I think that students can and do share judgmental comments about teachers. At the university level, administrators go to extremes to protect the anonymity of student malcontents to the point professors do not have due process (e.g., to confront the libelous allegations of a student); in general, it is assumed that a professor is presumed guilty unless proven innocent and will engage in retributive acts against the "powerless" student. There are no substantive penalties for making frivolous allegations. (This can be moderated by the perceived power or reputation of the teacher; for instance, a junior professor is more vulnerable than a long-time professor.) So there is not an equal relationship; it is also felt that a teacher, being older, should be held to a higher standard.
I remember that my employers were obsessed by student privacy in the sense I couldn't even list final grades by social security number. I generally went out of my way not to single out students in class; I did not want precious class time to be spent in a no-win confrontation with an obnoxious student, and I've had more than my fair share of bad students over the years: it comes with the job, deal with it. If Ms. Munroe identified incidents or students in such a way it was easy to identify the student in question, I could understand administrative concerns. But if the nature of administrative concerns refers to the mere use of certain judgmental terms (e.g., certain girls dress slutty or the guys are jerks), this would appear to be political correctness run amuck, and as far as I'm concerned, the administrators, by failing to ensure a safe, respectful place for teachers to work, are scapegoating teachers, setting a bad precedent and poorly chosen priorities, and showing irresponsible, incompetent judgment. . Society is not well-served by administrators whom don't back up their teachers and are in a state of denial about the abusive, disrespectful behavior of certain students.
Now I have to say my analysis of the situation would depend on the context. If Ms. Munroe's discussion was predominately negative, one could legitimately infer that she doesn't really like kids and perhaps is in the wrong profession. If it was more even-handed and she just had a bad day every once in a while, I don't have a problem with it. Her own experience is valid, and she has a right of free speech, to vent. In fact, I think it provides parents, future teachers, and school administrators with invaluable feedback on what teachers are having to deal with on a daily basis, and teachers are human beings and entitled to voice their concerns in their own way without Big Nanny's interference. Generally, though, I think it would be more prudent to do so in professional forums. I certainly don't think we should have political correctness run amuck.
I have to admit I share some of Ms. Munroe's concerns about parenting and a student's self-discipline, work habits, unrealistic expectations, etc. It does not surprise me that parents are in a state of denial, but I've seen behavior that would probably shock parents if they saw it. One example I've mentioned in an earlier post: on the night I was literally moving my office stuff out from UWM, I nearly tripped in the elevator over a floor covered with programming assignment listings. I later saw the teaching assistant running the course, and he explained the student, whom he knew, didn't like the grade he got, so he decided to have a little tantrum. In another case, I was judging a group project and I asked something like 'Did you think of doing this-and-that?' At first the group leader hesitated and then said something like, "Yes, of course, we all thought of that. We all agreed it was a pretty stupid idea..." I chose not to react to the student's uncivil behavior.
I think Ms. Munroe's suspension is inappropriate, just from the standpoint censorship as a policy is counter-productive and ineffective. I agree there are things beyond the control of a teacher or a school. It is necessary for teachers to have a reality check with the parents. One can't assume teenagers tell their parents everything they do in class, and a parent can't do anything he or she doesn't know about. On the other hand, I know a lot of parents are in a state of denial: the problem isn't with their angel son or daughter but with an incompetent teacher. These parents are misguided: it is important for young people to accept responsibility for their own behavior, and smearing a teacher they don't know sets a bad precedent and simply defers the day of reckoning, because their children's future employers and colleagues don't have to put up with abusive behavior.
What I try to hold onto is my internalization of professional standards, and I hold myself to a higher standard than students. I have also seen professors give up on students, e.g., making computer assignments little more than typing exercises. I think it's always better to expect the best from your students because I think they can stretch to achieve your belief in them.
Political Humor
Ark. Congressman Steve Womack has proposed getting rid of funding for President Obama’s teleprompter. When Obama finds out, he’s going to be speechless. - Jimmy Fallon
[The President has prepared for all contingencies; he conferred with his musician supporters, and they gave him some professional advice: in the event of a teleprompter failure, he's prepared to lip sync his speeches. (Let's hope he remembers when he laughed at his own jokes...)]
History was made at the Westminster dog show when one of the finalists was a dog from China. The dog listed his proudest accomplishment as not being eaten. - Conan O'Brien
[Well, American pet owners complain about young Chinese pups working shows for a single doggie treat.]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Bee Gees, "Words". One of the best songs ever written: plaintive lyrics, a simple, haunting melody, beautiful arrangement and flawless performance. A European boy band Boyzone released a #1 remake in the mid-90's. The second video combination performance is--priceless.
