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http://ap.washingtontimes.com/dynamic/stories/N/NO_HOMEWORK?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME
Mar 1, 1:06 PM EST

Berkeley Teachers Won't Give Homework

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- Students in the Berkeley school district aren't getting written homework assignments because teachers are refusing to grade work on their own time after two years without a pay raise.

So far, a black history event had to be canceled and parents had to staff a middle-school science fair because teachers are sticking strictly to the hours they're contracted to work.

"Teachers do a lot with a little. All of a sudden, a lot of things that they do are just gone. It's demoralizing," said Rachel Baker, who has a son in kindergarten.

Teachers say they don't want to stop volunteering their time.

"It's hard," said Judith Bodenhauser, a high school math teacher. "I have stacks of papers I haven't graded. Parents want to talk to me; I don't call them back."

The action was organized by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, which wants a cost-of-living increase next year.

District Superintendent Michele Lawrence expressed sympathy for the teachers but said there isn't money for raises. She blamed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger not providing as much money to education as promised.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Vince Sollitto said the governor has promised that the bulk of new funding in next year's budget, $3 billion, will go to education.

Barry Fike, president of the teachers union, said the district will be getting more money next year and that teachers want a share.

But schools spokesman Mark Coplan said the district still faces a deficit for several reasons, including rising health care costs and the governor's plan to shift some big costs from the state to the district.

Fike said teachers are willing to start paying some health care costs, but without a raise that would amount to a pay cut.

The union declared an impasse in negotiations last June and has not had a contract for two years.

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[Snipe]

Hmmmmm. To paraphrase an old USSR saying:
They pretend to work and we pretend to pay them.
_________________
Tin Can Sailor

[Nutso]

I am so sick and tired of these teachers whining and complaining about a job where they get more time off than in any profession, and no matter what they get are always demanding more. We are currently being threatened in Minnesota with a lawsuit to fund schools to an 'adequate' level, although there is no definition of what 'adequate' is. We need to break these teachers unions and start paying for performance not for just putting in the time. WE pay some of the highest taxes in the country here, but to a liberal it is never enough. When the real question of where the money we are paying now goes we get excuses and distractions, not answers and results. On one local call in show yesterday an administrator called in to talk about the major teacher lobbying group in Minnesota, which is funded by the state education funds. In other words we are funding a multimillion dollar group to force us to pay more in funding. Doesn't seem right to me. I think it is time to take education out of governments hands and turn it into private enterprise. If we want performance and results it will never come from the teachers unions and state programs. We need competition.

[Arty Guy]

Speaking as a parent who has had three sons pass through the K-12 public school system of California, I am sympathetic with one aspect of the teacher's complaints that is not appreciated outside of California at all, and poorly understood within California. Several years ago the state legislature, in response to the evident failure of California public schools to educate many of the children that pass through the doors, imposed by statute a homework requirement. Assigning homework is a legal requirement for teachers in public schools in California. As one who has taught at the college level, I agree that homework is appropriate for many subjects, but his gesture of the legislature results in a lot of busy work.

Speaking as a primary breadwinner who pays ALL medical costs for our family members, I am very unsympathetic with unions that resist even minor copayments for medical services. I am not familiar with the details of the Berkeley situation, but having beneficiaries assume at least some responsibility for their medical expenses provides an element of discipline to demands for medical services that results in lower costs overall and less wastage of medical resources.

[Arty Guy]

Oh yes, I am a complete believer in educational vouchers. Having an educated citizenry is a vital public purpose that requires expenditure by the government, but it does not automatically follow that the government has to be in the business of directly providing educational services.

Tenure is particular is an institution that has outlived its usefulness.

[GM Strong]

Obviously the education of kids is not important here. I have always found it unjustified to have professional and public service employees unionized. It makes no sense. They are not laborers in a profit centered business. They rely on our tax dollars. When they demand more, we pay more and get less. How much more can be spent on education with nothing being gained??
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8th Army Korea 68-69

[Tom Poole]

Nodouddaboudit, our public school system has reached a state of total ineffectiveness. Recently, I've advocated a voucher system but now wonder why I wanted the government involved at all, except to write the standards. And I'm not too sure about that.

It's time to privatize education. Private schools teach more and cost less. And if you don't pay, your kids stay stupid. Alternatively, a kind of child support collected by the government, a la, truant officers, could be assessed to guarantee at least a bottom tier education. And one of the greatest benefits of such a system is taxpayers would no longer pick up the tab for illegal aliens and other deadbeats.
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'58 Airedale HMR(L)-261 VMO-2