Furlough Fridays
Today the Hawaii State Teacher's Association and the state finally reached an agreement in negotiations over budget cuts to the Department of Education. The result is an 8% pay cut, marked by 17 furlough days throughout the year, or days when we don't work and don't get paid. I guess I can deal with the pay cut, because I'm poor enough as it is and a little less on the paycheck won't be too significant. But I'm still appalled by the fact that the state thinks it's in any way acceptable to remove 17 days of educational instruction from a school year.
We're talking about one of the most struggling school systems in the country. One that has been flailing in the trade winds for years and hasn't shown a whole lot of improvement. The economy's bad, and budget cuts needed to be made. Yet is it outrageous for me to think that the last place you would consider would be our education system? And am I crazy if I'm absolutely dumbfounded by this solution to remove 17 instructional days from the school year? It's not even about the money- what we're doing now is blatantly harming our future. The price we're paying now is at the kids'-the future of Hawaii's- expense.
There's so much that I could teach my kids in 17 school days, and I'm not even that great of a teacher yet. It's almost a month of school days that are now being wasted. Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle said in a statement, "It is important now that we all move forward so that our teachers can focus on their students to ensure they get the best possible education." Thanks. Now let me look over my year-long plan and see what benchmarks I have to remove.
I'm not going to lie- the recent college grad/lazy person in me is intrigued by the thought of an additional 17 three-day weekends. I think some pretty enjoyable Thursday evenings might lie ahead. But that's not why I'm out here. I've seen firsthand how much needs to be improved in Hawaii schools. I've also been lucky enough to work at a school that has made incredible progress towards ensuring success to all students over the past several years. And now we all just lost 17 days.
As a reader of the Honolulu Advertiser on the article regarding furloughs so elegantly wrote in the comment section, "Stoooooooooooopid. dats how state leaders. lets improve deez tough economic times wit dakine NO SKU...wat dey no can see dis only gonna hurt da keiki in da long run!!!"
Seriously. If we're going to cut pay for 17 days, why not do it during the summer when it doesn't harm the kids? Maybe I see it from a different view, because I don't have a family that I have to provide for or any other major financial obligations (though my student loans are looming in the distance like sharks on the edge of a reef). But if the pay's going to be cut anyway, why not do it at a time when students weren't in session and didn't have to miss valuable learning time?
The way I see it, go ahead and harm my salary, but don't harm this state's future. Because in the long run, that's what matters the most.
We're talking about one of the most struggling school systems in the country. One that has been flailing in the trade winds for years and hasn't shown a whole lot of improvement. The economy's bad, and budget cuts needed to be made. Yet is it outrageous for me to think that the last place you would consider would be our education system? And am I crazy if I'm absolutely dumbfounded by this solution to remove 17 instructional days from the school year? It's not even about the money- what we're doing now is blatantly harming our future. The price we're paying now is at the kids'-the future of Hawaii's- expense.
There's so much that I could teach my kids in 17 school days, and I'm not even that great of a teacher yet. It's almost a month of school days that are now being wasted. Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle said in a statement, "It is important now that we all move forward so that our teachers can focus on their students to ensure they get the best possible education." Thanks. Now let me look over my year-long plan and see what benchmarks I have to remove.
I'm not going to lie- the recent college grad/lazy person in me is intrigued by the thought of an additional 17 three-day weekends. I think some pretty enjoyable Thursday evenings might lie ahead. But that's not why I'm out here. I've seen firsthand how much needs to be improved in Hawaii schools. I've also been lucky enough to work at a school that has made incredible progress towards ensuring success to all students over the past several years. And now we all just lost 17 days.
As a reader of the Honolulu Advertiser on the article regarding furloughs so elegantly wrote in the comment section, "Stoooooooooooopid. dats how state leaders. lets improve deez tough economic times wit dakine NO SKU...wat dey no can see dis only gonna hurt da keiki in da long run!!!"
Seriously. If we're going to cut pay for 17 days, why not do it during the summer when it doesn't harm the kids? Maybe I see it from a different view, because I don't have a family that I have to provide for or any other major financial obligations (though my student loans are looming in the distance like sharks on the edge of a reef). But if the pay's going to be cut anyway, why not do it at a time when students weren't in session and didn't have to miss valuable learning time?
The way I see it, go ahead and harm my salary, but don't harm this state's future. Because in the long run, that's what matters the most.
posted by Daniel T at 12:15 AM
2 Comments:
nicely written.
Makes me angry every time I think about it.
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