I have a daughter who attends school in the Marysville School District. While I don’t pretend to understand all of the nuances of the battle between the teachers and the district, there are a few issues which I find puzzling.
First, while I believe that teachers are an integral part of the education mix, they alone are not completely responsible for our children’s education. A good education also requires current curriculum and materials, well-maintained facilities conducive to learning, as well as administrative personnel to support the teachers, among other things. If the teachers get the pay raises they’re asking for, where will the money come from? Will the teachers get a raise at the expense of other necessary elements of the education mix? Have the teachers offered a solution to how this pay raise will be funded? Perhaps the Marysville School District’s business and economics teachers could prepare a pro-forma on how this all pencils out to a break-even budget.
Second, it’s been widely publicized that the Marysville School District teachers are the second-highest paid in the state, earning an average of $54,000. Annualized, that’s $72,000. Can someone help me understand how getting paid the equivalent of $72,000 a year is a bad thing? Not to mention getting summers and holidays off. How much more is enough? It’s hard to empathize with the teachers when there are probably thousands of educated and skilled unemployed professionals in our community who would gladly accept $54,000 a year in pay.
Meanwhile, my daughter sits disappointed, waiting for school to start. Perhaps instead of the ubiquitous “how did you spend your summer?” essay assignment on the first day of school, the teachers should spend that time explaining why earning more money was more important than starting school on time.
Marysville
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