Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Friday, May 28, 2010

It's Memorial Day Weekend...

...I wonder how many hours of school the students at Mistress Eva's education sweatshops are putting in this weekend?

I wonder how many hours the teachers at the Harlem Success Sweatshop Network are putting in this weekend too?

Remember, school is never out when you attend or work at a charter.

There is NO TIME to stop learning or working.

So you lazy unionized teachers who will be spending time with your families and friends this weekend celebrating the unofficial start of summer and remembering all the men and women who gave their lives in the armed services in the course of our history so that you could do just that - GET TO WORK, YOU LAZY BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7 comments:

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  3. I'm just hope you were kidding cause I like your blog and I found this post a bit offensive. I'm to busy wondering If I even will have a job for next fall to enjoy my so called vacation, wanting to be a first year teacher in NYC public schools is torture.

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  4. Math Teacher,

    I certainly didn't mean the post to be offensive to teachers worried about layoffs. It's actually a post I do every summer or just before summer, meant to point out that there is more to life than the WORK, WORK, WORK that the people running charter schools want out of both their students and staff. It's really to say, hey, it's important to rest, rejuvenate, refresh yourself and spend time with friends and loved ones doing fun things (preferably outdoor things, if possible.) Because the message from Eva and KIPP and HCZ is WORK, WORK, WORK, without any time for the other blessings in life that make living worth while - like family and friends, like hobbies, like time for reflection and contemplation, like time spent in nature.

    Of course my empathy is with all the teachers worried about losing their jobs. I am not all that far up the seniority list, so if there is another round or two of cuts, I will be on the unemployment line with you. And regardless, with the new teacher evals, if I make it to 15 years or so, I'll be a goner anyway because I'll cost my school too much money and they will want to get rid of me regardless of my teacher quality rating or test scores.

    That's where the corporatization of public education and the collaboration of the union with management has gotten us.

    Good luck to you, Math Teacher. Try and enjoy the weekend and the the rest of the semester as best you can.

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  5. I did not find your Memorial Day remarks at all offensive. I took them to mean that charter school teachers are all too willing to accept unacceptable work hours to further the goals of corporate interests These teachers are corporate pawns and I'm sure that many do not even realize it because idealism has overpowered common sense. Unions in this country painfully won the right not to work twelve and fifteen hour days and six day weeks. It's ironic that the grandparents of these teachers, because of hard fought union battles, made their way into the middle class.

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  6. Oh, and I appreciated the gallows humor of the Memorial Day greetings. Well said.

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  7. Thanks, anon. That was exactly the spirit I meant the post in. And it is sad that the grandchildren of the men and women who fought for the 40 hour 5 day work week are willingly giving it up to be compliant corporate employees who work 60 hour 6 day weeks and give up the work protections that save their jobs when the bosses feel like cutting costs and go for the "older employees."

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