Abby has been home with me for the past two days because the teachers a Downingtown Schools can’t come to an agreement with their administration over how much money they should be making. We’re lucky that Abby is very low-maintenence and that I’m able to be “at work” with her at home so that there’s someone to keep an eye on her. Still, this teacher’s strike is absolutely absurd, and I’ll be happy to wait out the full state-allowed 23 days of strike to see a reasonable agreement reached - one that likely doesn’t assent to the teachers’ demands.
The teachers are asking for raises over 5 years totalling 23.75%. The board is offering them 18% over 4 years. It seems like a large gap, but think about this: It’s an 18% raise in pay. That’s higher than the average cost of living raises here. It’s more raise than I’ve seen in 8 years. It’s more than generous, but apparently it’s not enough. An opinion article in the Daily Local News expresses my sentiments quite well.
The DASD board makes some great points about what is reasonable in terms of what the district can afford. Primarily, the surplus money that the teacher think they should have access to is a capital surplus. It’s a fixed amount of money that won’t renew after it’s all spent, meaning that salaries would have to drop back when it’s gone or people will be fired.
The incoming money needs to be spent on developing new schools as our area is booming in growth. Hundreds of new homes are being built in our district, and those families will need schools. As a result of the expansion, our district is $309 million in debt; debt that makes any surplus unavailable to teacher salaries. And yet, the district offers a generous increase, because they know that the taxpayers value their teachers.
This isn’t a race to be competitive with neighboring districts for salary. The district is offering what it can. I don’t see that the teachers’ union is being fair with their demands. The only way to offset increases to their salaries would be to raise taxes even more, which are already $1200 per year more than any neighboring district.
And to put this all into a final perspective, this isn’t about teachers not getting adequate benefits or poor treatment, which was the cause of the advent of unions. It’s about teachers simply thinking they should make more money. Well, you know what? Maybe they should. But they don’t. Anywhere. Should thinking that you should be making more money entitle you to it?
Pennsylvania leads the nation in school strikes. In 2005, there were more strikes in Pennsylvania schools than in all other states combined by almost double. This is in spite of Pennsylvania being in the top ten states for average teacher salary. That’s a sorry situation to be in.
No, I’m happy to wait out the strike. I know it’s an inconvenience for most of the families in our district, but the alternative would be more of a hardship, and certainly not in the best interest of our kids’ educations.
