The Wall Street Journal, always on the lookout for good humor, outdid itself today with an essay by Chester E. Finn Jr., advocating keeping schools open on Saturday. The author acknowledges that strapped districts are shortening the school week to four days. Others are considering eliminating the 12th grade.
Presumably, the idea would be for teachers to increase their days of work in return for reductions in salary. Sadly, the problem is a teachers’ union, which is also responsible for the bad weather during the winter.
In the words of the author, “This issue brings out the teacher unions, too, demanding more pay for extra hours, hence fatter school-system budgets in a lean fiscal time. Little wonder that taxpayers are legitimately wary.”
And who says that the Wall Street Journal does not have a good sense of humor?
Finn, Chester E. Jr. 2010. “The Case for Saturday School.” Wall Street Journal (20 March): p. W 1.
Maybe the Journal editorial board could dedicate 25% of their personal salaries to supplement those teachers who are being asked to work extra hours. Why pay people for the extra work that they are asked to do?
ReplyDeleteHow inconsiderate of teachers to expect to have time for their own families and to have a sufficient income to afford their own kids a decent quality of life. Maximum, do you hear that you damned fools, maximum teacher salaries in the highest paying enclaves reach about $125,000 after twenty years on the job and at least 60 credit hours of graduate courses. Damn those teachers have it made.