Irishman

Love Chobani yogurt.

To me, that is part of the plan. The ultimate goal is to make it so teaching is not a career; that most will stay for somewhere around 3-5 years, at most. The thinking is that the high turnover rate will weaken the membership numbers in ISTA. what is sad is what price they have decided to pay to reach that goal.

Could be...Do you prefer one over the other? I guess my issue with the shareholder version is how many companies have built enough wealth to insulate them from fluctuations and dips in the market? The visual I attached is somewhat disheartening. The topic of crony capitalism has come up often in other topics. Could the same type of thing happen with stakeholder capitalism?

I saw this on twitter and it brings up a great point about this licensing thing.

No I am not. Yes, a business does exist to make a profit, I get it. But when companies are making record profits and still making cuts, and/or receiving huge tax breaks, whether they are local, State, or even Federal, forcing employees to go on assistance or take multiple other jobs, there is an ethical/moral disconnect. Exactly how does an employer/business earn a profit? Is the owner or CEO solely responsible for earning that profit? If an owner or leaders of a business are living a life of luxury off the backs of their employees who cannot get by day to day, there is a moral disconnect.

Spinoff

At some point the mindset of “find a better job” or “you don’t have to keep working here” no longer works. There are several industries that are experiencing a shortage of workers. I don’t have a set standard of what an hourly wage should be, but I do believe an employer has a moral/ethical obligation to live up to. Because the mindset that if an employer is going to keep an employee on a 30 hour a week schedule, making as little as possible sends multiple messages that lead right to the heart of my point about the breakdown of the family unit. The first message sent is these are the only hours you are getting, so yes, I am aware you have to get a second job to pay your bills. The message also being sent is that it is completely on you as the employee to figure out your health insurance and other expenses, not just for you, but for your kids as well. The last message sent is, yes, we know that limiting your hours keeps you away from your kids while not only here, but at any other job you have to get as well. The fact is that is where we are at as a society. These things were not issues for us growing up or for many people back in the day. Buuuuuut, there were plenty of people back in the day who were struggling in the same situations I have described. When their kids are having kids of their own, then the problem has multiplied to the point where we are now.

Again, the references to “back in the day” simply do not apply. While people want to say kids are the same as they were then, the fact is that so much has changed. I don’t know of a solution, but again, we should expect more from employers; especially ones that make millions or billions of dollars a year and not pay a dime in taxes, yet treat their employees like 💩.

You are correct, however the law does require some connection with a community/business leader and professional development. I also agree there is some pd that does nothing for me, and is boring. If I can minimize the amount of time on my own I am doing it, then fine. There may even be some relativity to me and what I teach. But for most teachers, that is not the case. Most teachers already do something similar because they have to work a job or two outside of teaching. But I am not sure what a business leader can tell a Kindergarten or other elementary teacher what exactly he is looking for out of the students in that class as far as necessary skills go.

Yes, you still do have the option of taking classes to renew, to avoid this new mandate. But that seems to be an expensive way to avoid it. 🤷🏼‍♂️

I agree that parents do need to work more to pay bills. But, I was not even coming close to the nanny state thingy you drifted to. 😳🤪 The fact is that wages have not kept up with the cost of living. I have stated this in other topics. The fact that wages have not kept up has lead to the breakdown of the family unit. People who divorce will still claim that money issues are a leading cause of divorce. If an employer expects 30 hours or more out of an employee, they should compensate them for that. Now, don’t go off on another tangent about what I just said there. lol Just last year, amid a run of several years of record profits, Walmart just cut more employees time, so that now, most of their hourly employees are part time. A single person can barely survive on that. Throw in a kid or two, and that increases dramatically. Employers are doing this to save money and avoid paying benefits. There are plenty of other examples as well. Again, the ripple effect impacts those who are most vulnerable and even unstable.

It was the same for a lot of people back then. But we cannot compare the way things were when we group up to what many kids have now. I agree though that far too often, parents will make excuses for their kids. But like TD said, there is just more of a lack of respect for human life

I agree, and kids at home alone during the Summer with no supervision, while a parent is at work? Left to their own decisions; whether playing video games that are extremely violent, or hanging out, will find trouble.

Other societal shifts; divorce rates/single parent homes, unemployment rates, lack of careers compared to jobs, parent working multiple jobs, children in foster care, drug addictions, are all more significant now than they were back then.

My issues with the licensing changes are: 1. It was dirty politics, plain and simple, that got this passed. Most legislators had no idea this was inserted into the bill. It was buried fairly deep (page 17 of a 40 page bill). 2. There is no practical application to be gained from the change for a large majority of teachers. And for those that would benefit from....it is highly likely they have been doing these kinds of things for PD any way.

Younger people, like Ellenwood, may not get this. 🤣🤣🤣

That was an awesome moment in the show; TOTALLY set him up. I did not expect that little twist at the end of his life 🙂

I think it is still a ripple effect. Suicide rates are high too. Indiana is one of the highest ranking states for attempts and death by suicide. Columbine put things in hyper focus. People see an avenue to 1. Get the most attention possible. 2. Inflict a large amount of damage, injury, and/or death in a short span of time. Suicide follows the same pattern, seeing friends or family members do it, seeing the attention gained. The common denominator though, as far as the individuals go, is mental health, and/or medications.

I agree with Dany killing Tyrion, but I think Arya kills Dany. I agree that Sansa will be on the throne though, and Jon remains as King of the North. As far as that scene above, how cool would it have been for Dany to ride up to look Cersei in the eyes before charcoaling her.

You should see some of the things the union has actually kept from happening. The 15 hour externship had been one of them, but dirty politics at its worst pushed it through at the 11th hour; to the point that AFT, ISTA and even the DOE and Dr. McCormick were unaware. That said, I will say that teachers have been their own worst enemies in Indiana. Even after ALL of this in the last 10 years, there are still teachers who will say there are other issues that are more important, and vote for these people any way; which has led us to having a supermajority that cares little about the people of this State. Add to it that a number of districts have been gerrymandered so bad, it literally eliminated competition; further diminishing our voices.

I am thinking Denaerys sealed her fate here.

Kirk....saw the other day, Will Wheaton is now the age Patrick Stewart was when TNG started. 😳

My concern is that even trained professionals have failed in these instances. Coach K does bring up some questions that are not being addressed. The big one being liability. Insurance companies are already saying they will not cover accidents. We have heard of several accidents, or misfires across the country already. The one issue of liability that has not been addressed......what if an armed teacher does nothing in a given situation? Does that open the school up to more lawsuits? One additional concern I have, if a teacher is in a situation of exchanging fire before police arrive; all police know is there is an active shooter. If they see a gun in hand, they are firing. They are not taking time to ask questions. Just way too many questions in my opinion; and I think it changes the whole dynamic of the teacher-student relationship.

I agree 100%...and arming teachers is NOT a solution either.

I may have missed something, but I have not heard anyone claim they want to give them voting rights while in prison. But an honest question, if someone is a convicted felon and has served his/her time, is there a valid reason they should never be allowed to vote again? I know for certain they are allowed to work the polls on election day, so why should they not get to vote?