The Fresno Teachers Association is leaving a 5.5% raise on the table and has been telling its 4,000 members that it can get them more money in the contract dispute with the Fresno Unified School District. It's not going to happen. Teachers have been without a raise since July of 2006 because FTA President Larry Moore has been in a power struggle with Superintendent Michael Hanson.
We point out in our editorial today that teachers are getting restless. They want their money and Moore is standing in the way of a settlement. This is a fair proposal for teachers given the economic times.
We've been told by several teachers if Moore and the FTA board put the current offer up for a vote by all union members, it would pass overwhelmingly. It's time for the FTA leadership to do just that.
Fresno Unified officials say that if the union took the contract, they could have retroactive pay in the teachers' hands by Christmas. That would be a tidy sum for holiday needs.
If only the rise in test scores matched the rise of salaries and perks for these ingrates what a wonderful world this would be.
It could be that Larry Moore is just like that spouse who knows how much money is really in the cookie jar and is just plain tired of being treated like a household servant by The Decider spouse. The "Grumpy Uncle Gus" crowd tells us to just pat the ingrates on the head, give them a Christmas cookie and send them off to bed. Translation: Father (Hanson) Knows Best. Please...
It could be that(based on history)it's just arrogance and greed.The Decider spouse theory sounds like a joke.These poor teachers are being abused? Please...
Maybe it's just time for the teachers to get the raise that they deserve and stop making this about politics.
Being a current teacher of over 20 years, this is NOT about Michael Hanson. This is about Larry Moore's own agenda and politics. Many of us who are in a classroom teaching, like the changes being made in our district. We want to settle this contract. Larry Moore and his followers need to let us vote. We can't submit letters to the editor because of the backlash we would receive at our schools. There is a significant number of teachers (well over 100) who are calling CTA over this and checking into donating our dues to charity rather than Larry Moore. We cannot abide by his tactics and the behavior of his followers any longer.
You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
It will take a great effort by great teachers and administrators to make the great progress needed to bring our district up to snuff. We need great teachers, but we won't get them by offering peanuts.
So are you saying the current batch of teachers in Fresno Unified aren't any good because the district is "paying peanuts?" Pay higher wages and a new group of teachers will replace the current Fresno teachers?