This is the headline of the Oregonian, February 20, 2009.
I'm wondering if tomorrow's headline will be, "Bankers asked to work for free." And the next day, "Doctors and lawyers asked to work for free." "Butchers, bakers, candlestick makers asked to work for free" and so on until everyone is working for free! Doubtful. Because of budget shortfalls, Oregon's governor is proposing that teachers work five days without pay in order to keep schools open the entire year.
Swearing in anger seems the appropriate response, but teachers could lose their jobs for that. (In fact, saying anything at all could have that same effect, but that's a topic for another time.) So, I'll just say this in language that we can all understand -- the sight of drowning sacks and sacks of pooties down by the river could not make me angrier. I'm so sick and tired of my profession being bullied and ransacked. If I listed all the ways education and educators have been shortchanged over the past eight years, we'd have to buy more broadband. Enough!
Let me be the first to say that we teachers are willing to pitch in and do our share. We are by nature hardworking, caring, and giving. Of course, we will do our part to help this nation climb out of the economic abyss. That being said, I think this request is unreasonable and sets a poor precedent. From the Oregonian:
SALEM -- Teachers should work some days without pay this spring to avoid early school closures, Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Thursday as he laid out his plan to keep the state solvent in the teeth of one of its worst recessions.
"The only way we're going to get out of this is if everybody contributes," Kulongoski said. As for teachers: "You do it without pay."
What does the teacher's union say in response?:
Leaders of Oregon's teachers union did not outright reject the governor's suggestion of unpaid teaching days but said each district would have to figure out a balance between using reserves and other cost-saving measures.
"If we ask school folks to work for free, it means we are going to affect the economy even more greatly," said Gail Rasmussen, vice president of the Oregon Education Association. "These folks, too, are part of the fabric of their communities."
Way to fight back! Even here the concern seems to be for the community, but what about the teacher? I've been through something similar before. Missing a week's pay causes hardship on the teacher's family. We don't have lots of expendable income. Will the grocer give us free food? Will Chevron give us free gas to get to school? Will banks give us a break on late fees and interest rates when we can't pay our credit card bills on time? (I think we all know the answer to that one.)
The governor said he would lead by example, work up to four days for free over the next four months and cut his salary by 5 percent. Okay, so the governor is going to take a hit along with the teachers and do his part. That's being a team player. He is also going to freeze salaries of 5,100 state agency managers and other non-union workers as of March 1 and rescind step increases he approved earlier this year. But wait, a freeze means those workers will still get their regular salaries, they just won't get a raise. They aren't going to work for free.
"Oregon is a family," Kulongoski said, "and we have to be smart, prudent and responsible if we're going to keep our family whole through these trying times."
If Oregon is a family in this scenario, then teachers are the stay-at-home moms who take care of everybody's kids and don't get paid. They are dependable, responsible, and oh, how the neighborhood loves to take advantage of them.
"Shared sacrifice must be the model," said House Majority Leader Mary Nolan, D-Portland.
So, how many days are you working for free, House Majority Leader, Mary Nolan? I hear you talking the talk, but I don't see you walking the walk. Literally taking money out of the pockets of educators to shore up the budget without everyone else making a similar sacrifice is a model that sucks. The new rule should be that education can't be cut until everything else has been cut first. I think if we got some accountants to work on this problem for a few days for free, they might be able to come up with a more equitable solution. Actually, we could probably put the question to some pretty smart fifth-graders who would be happy to do it for free.
To some of you who have lost your jobs, this may seem petty. A week's pay doesn't seem like much to sacrifice when you've lost your entire income. Believe me, I know because I'm unemployed, too, and writing this diary most likely will not enhance my chances of getting a job. I just think that when we can make things more fair by doing a little thinking and planning ahead, we should. And, if everybody gives up just a little, then the rest of us won't have to give up so much -- except for bankers and CEOs.