Kyrillos: “Cherry Hill Teacher Bullies Show Need for Tenure Reform”
Middletown— State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R- Monmouth), prime sponsor of the “School Children First Act” which reforms New Jersey’s tenure system for educators, issued the following statement regarding reports that several Cherry Hill elementary school teachers and aides were recorded bullying a student with autism:
While at least one teacher’s aide was dismissed by school officials, the father of this student alleges, and news accounts confirm, that other teachers and aides involved were simply reassigned.
If true, the incident is an indictment of our current system of tenure protections in public education.
There is no instance in which it is acceptable for a teacher to bully or abuse a student in that manner, nor when a witness to such behavior should not report their colleagues’ misconduct to school administrators.
Nobody directly involved with the abuse of Akian Chaifetz, or who witnessed the abuse without reporting it, should be employed in a classroom. We need to reform protections to ensure that these individuals can be swiftly terminated, rather than just shuffled around.
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Tenure for teachers is pathetic. Its not impossible for a teacher to get fired but its 99% impossible and can take up to 5 years with pay. Teacher tenure is outdated, unfair to students and taxpayers, un American and produces apathetic teachers. The NJEA is a very corrupt union with mgmt. Making extremely high salaries. They are very rich and run the union with strongarm tactics. Tenure reform and NJEA should be destroyed and NJ would provide better education as a result ! After all, where else do you get a job like teaching and make $75k a year in your late 30,s and a job for life, 3% raises and no pressure to perform in classroom. And 3 months off a year? Is this good for the kids like NJEA suggests ? It’s a joke and NJ needs to wake up.
Current median salary (1/2 make more and 1/2 make less) of teachers in NJ is aprox 60k and that is after roughly 11-12 years of teaching.
If you want to attract top notch college grads to the profession, 60k after 11-12 years in not unreasonable.
My Gawd,
I’m agreeing with Bob English on teacher pay.
But, it is more than that. What people fail to understand is that most teachers start off WELL below what they can earn in a private sector job after leaving college. And because of that, teachers NEVER achieve the kind of pay that someone working in the private sector will make after 30 plus years on the job.
$75,000 in your late 30’s (excepting the never ending Obama recession) is what someone who excels at their job should be earning in a professional career ten years after leaving college.
The three months off? That’s a product of the way schools developed over the years and all of the incessant holidays. Someone wants to change that? Fine by me, but I bet you will hear HOWLS from many of the parents.
By the way Truth; MUCH of that time is spent dealing with children of failed households and parents just want to drop off the kids at a baby sitter; FAILING to make sure little Johnny does his homework so that he can excel in school.
If you want to put all of the failure on the whole institution of teaching, you are dead wrong. In one of the most affluent districts in N.J. many of my wife’s problem students over the years are the result of the parents not taking their responsibilities serious with regards to making sure their child works hard at school.
In our own home town; many of the families are one parent families WITHOUT a dad at home, and welfare mom just doesn’t care.
Tenure? Sure, and my teacher wife agrees; there needs to be some changes there. There are certainly bad teachers, she’s seen it over those 32 years of teaching.
TRUTH HURTS…very rich?
What a laugh. You know what it costs to live in NJ and if you consider $82,000 after 32 years of teaching rich, you are the one that has the problem.
Actually, while we agree that changes to pension and medical contributions were needed; realize that her pay has gone down over the last two years because of those contributions and no raises…
No “Truth Hurts,” there haven’t been 3% raises for some time now.
All the while, like you; we are dealing with higher costs of living (fuel, food) and taxes. So, it ain’t all rosy being a teacher these days as you like to wildly accuse an entire profession of. Actually, we are trying to dissuade our daughter from going into the profession.
Bad Apples that need to be gone, Yes!
Rich? I don’t think so.
So, Truth Hurts; before you blame an ENTIRE institution, you need to look at facts to decide what the truth really is. Till then, leave your wild hyperbole at home and stop attacking every teacher.
Lets remember Teachers work 9 mos out of the year ….healthcare covered by the taxpayer 12 mos out of the year …how many teachers are leaving to go into private industry ?
“Educators”—America’s highest paid part-time workers…………..
Life and working is hard for everyone, but I think there’s a misperception from the part of teachers, cops and firefighters that they are the ONLY ones who work hard for a living, and deserve a lot more than anybody else. Median salary of $63k with benefit packages averaging $22k is not a bad deal. Especially if you’re a parent too, and get to stay home and spend time with your kids on holidays and summer vacations, while everyone else pays $400/week for camp.
No, that doesn’t mean rich, but 95% of people who work in the private sector aren’t rich either. And teacher median salary is above the average for other workers, so it’s not like they’re at a disadvantage.
It is NOT the teacher’s fault that they have July & August off. And, how many of those teachers would be able to find similar income over those two months off.
If you want to talk “median salaries” are teachers not worth the following median salaries, in line with others who have BA’s?
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor%27s_Degree/Salary
You are saying a teacher is worth LESS than a graphic artist?
Again, it is NOT the teacher’s fault that they have the summer off; but they are entitled to earn a salary commensurate with the education and professional level of experience.
Again, it is NOT the teacher’s fault that most teaching jobs start out BELOW similar levels of pay for professionals; ESPECIALLY those teachers who are now retiring.
Back to my teacher wife; she started at 1/3 of other professional salaries and was well below those salary ranges for 10 years or so. That is why the perks were granted.
So, if you want to throw out a “median level of salary number of $63,000;” be prepared to compare it to other professional and non professional fields and their salaries.
It ain’t a lot different.
Chris, if you are including non professionals or NON Degree people in that “above average for other workers” I venture to say that you are wrong.
Again, no problem with changing the game plan for new hires, putting them in 401ks, ect but screwing over teachers who started 30 years ago at FAR LOWER pay scales than their fellow graduates just doesn’t seem right.
Doesn’t matter how overpaid cops and teachers are or underpaid. That is debatable but what is not a debate is that teachers and cops have the most lucative and sweetest retirement pension in the country. There is no sweeter pensions! No way can you argue 65% of salary for life and medical/dental at sometimes very young ages like 48 is fair. I call it taxpayer abuse. I blame a crooked political system in NJ that is in bed with NJEA and PBA. The pensions are so lucrative its unreal. There is no debate here. I don’t blame the cops or teachers but we, as a state are speeding closer to bankruptcy.
Truth Hurts,
I bet you would be the FIRST one squealing if something you worked for, for 30 years was about to be taken from you; JUST as you were ready to retire.
AGAIN, change the system for new hires & people who still have some 20 years or so to go until retirement.. Make it graduated for people 10 years or so till retirement
WE SUPPORT THAT.
But you can’t screw people with only a couple of years till retirement, people who for almost the first 10 years of teaching got paid SUBSTANTIALLY LESS than other professions 30 years ago,but were given those promises of medical care and pensions in lieu of that pay.
But, I see you side stepped the “they are rich” line with a “doesn’t matter line” once you were shown proof that most of these teachers are not “rich” at $80,000 after 30 some years.
The law enforcement and allied judicial positions are far more flagrant than anything involving teachers, especially those who spend every Sunday evening doing lesson plans and grading and who stay unpaid after school hours to administer makeup quizzes and tests to their special charges who just had to travel to Disney World or wherever.
I wonder also if any of the complainers would like to try teaching for a month or so. It’s amazing how many colds come home with a teacher, how many brats they have to talk with the parents about; regarding teaching their kids basic behavior. Maybe the complainers should have to deal with the parental drug problems, kids coming to school hungry or tired because the two income families don’t pay attention to their children spending too much time in front of the boob tube; divorcing parents who fight in front of the children.
AGAIN…THERE SHOULD BE NO SYMPATHY FOR THE TEACHERS THAT CAUSED THE PROBLEMS IN THIS SCHOOL SYSTEM…
But maybe some people should walk in a teacher’s shoes for just a month.
Freespeaker, there might be hope for you yet!!! Actually not much to add to Freespeakers post but for everyone that gets tied up in knots regarding teachers being off for 2 1/2 months in the Summer….I can tell you from expereience (my mom who was a 2nd grade teacher for roughly 30 years) that teachers put in a significant amount of time after hours reviewing/correcting their students work/tests and doing lesson plans. It was a daily routine for my mom to spend 1.5 to 2.5 hours doing just that on school nights.
Very rich =NJEA
Again, the best free pension in the USA, the cops and teachers and health, denttal,vision and prescription for life for family. By far the most ridiculous retiree system that is just financially unstable and pushing the state closer to bankruptcy. But the NJEA (education cartel) says ” its all about the kids” what a joke!
Who cares bout a cold, they have tenure! Wake up. And unlimited sick days.
Truth Hurts-Note that teachers and other public workers have been making their share of contributions to the pension fund for years while the state basically borrowed/stole what it should have been contributing and put it towards other purposes (illusion of balanced budgets/spending and to finance tax cuts.)
Because time after time, I got sick and my child got sick after my wife got sick from the germs that the rug rats were sneezing off because two income parents couldn’t keep their sick kids at home.
NOT a major crisis, but you it’s on top of all of the extra take home work. Walk in a teacher’s shoes for a month or so Truth, you’ll be running screaming from the building.
“nuf said. Fix the problem for new hires, but work it out for people that have been there for 30 plus years and worked for peanuts their first 10 years.
Look it up Truth, if you want to know the truth.
What happens in the real world if the company you worked for for 30 years runs out of money and goes bankrupt? You lose everything, no pension, benefits, no job. In the public sector, nobody is taking away all the pension, benefits and jobs. Public employees just have to be reasonable and understand the current conditions are not sustainable anymore. Maybe they were 30 years ago when 3% of the workforce worked in the public sector, but now with almost 20% relying on the taxpayer money, it’s not realistic anymore. It’s not any teacher’s or cop’s individual fault. But maybe they should turn to their unions and question if their policy so far was right.
How do doctors or lawyers control their field and ensure their compensation stays high? Their guilds controls how many people can enter the field, so the labor supply is limited and salaries can increase. The public sector unions are exactly the opposite.
Teachers are not the only people in the world exposed to colds. Nurses get colds. Retail workers get colds. Bank tellers get colds. The world doesn’t revolve around teachers. Oh and guess what. People in other professions take work home too! Ask any paralegal, realtor, IT professional, insurance agent and more. But like I said in the original post: teachers think they are the only people in the world who have a hard job. Yeah, I’m not a teacher, but I work on Saturday and Sunday, I work at least 9-10 hours/day, and sometimes I’m still working at midnight.
Chris…your original post was wrong. I have known a lot of teachers in my life and never heard one of them say they think they are the only people in the world who have a hard job.
Bob… then this is what transpires from their postings on blogs, Facebook, forums and more. Just on this thread:
“we are dealing with higher costs of living (fuel, food) and taxes. So, it ain’t all rosy being a teacher these days”
[those costs affect everyone, and in the real economy unemployment doubled, and incomes have been decreasing in the past 4 years]
“they are entitled to earn a salary commensurate with the education and professional level of experience”
[everybody is entitled to a salary corresponding to the supply/demand in their field]
“It’s amazing how many colds come home with a teacher”
[everybody that works with the public is exposed to colds]
Okay, getting back to the original subject on what happened to the teacher and aides in this particular situation. Yes, the ones who were reassigned, should have been fired and probably weren’t because the School Board in question didn’t want to engage in the drawn out process of doing so. In my opinion, this is an instance where all involved should have been fired even if it meant going through a lengthy and expensive appeals process.
Most of the debate here has centered on that process and how it has caused so many issues regarding under-performing teachers. Yes, it is difficult to fire an under-performing teacher. It’s not impossible. And given this specific case, the School Board would not be firing merely under performing school teachers/aides, but firing those who so grossly overstepped the line of behavior that getting rid of them would be easier than one might think. Even if getting rid of them is not easy, it should be done.
There is a new evaluation standard being put in place where teachers can actually lose their tenure status based on sub standard performance. Those teachers who are hard working and dedicated will be recognized and maintain their position. Hopefully they will no longer be painted with that broad brush being applied to their honorable profession because of the actions of those who have taken advantage of the lack of accountability in the current environment.