Strike Update Day 5

Some asshole (clearly a teacher here who just got his COBRA bill in the mail) actually implied I was bitter and some sort of loser still studying for a GED because I thought his grousing about a 5% raise only allowing him to break even after paying for COBRA was namby-pamby.

Here's what he said: (my response in red)

"Boo hoo" How old are you? I'm 30 You really must be an angry person No, not really. I'm actually very happy with my life. with nothing to live for. Oooooh, wrong again! I have two kids, a great family, really awesome friends, a job I can get my teeth into, maybe a man or two on the horizon. What's wrong - still trying to pass the test gfor your GED? Nope, I'm a proud 1996 graduate of Lansdale Catholic High School. Teacher yell at you when you were a kid? No, not really. I was generally a good student, a good listener, and most certainly, a model citizen. Couldn't cut it to become a teacher? I have no desire to be an educator, so I suppose yes, you are right about something, I couldn't cut it to become a teacher."Ye shall..." Who cares what you think. I seem to have hit a nerve with you (and you're missing the correct punctuation there too Jerry) . . . .
Jerry Mc, Tylersport, PA

I sure do hope he's retired by the time Natalie gets him! LMAO! This morning, there was a mass picket at Natalie's school. I drove past a Lincoln Navigator, a BMW X3 SUV (ok, ok, somebody is slumming and only could afford the 3 series), a Mini Cooper, a Toyota FJ Cruiser, a big ass Ford crew cab pick up, an Acura sedan and numerous other shiny new cars. I assume these vehicles belong to our teachers, since the strike has started, they've been forced to park on the streets surrounding the area schools, as they are not permitted to use the school lots during the strike. Evidence also pointing to the cars belonging to the teachers is that nobody ever parks their car on this end of West Broad Street. Next meeting between the two sides is Thursday, I doubt we'll hear anything new or interesting, other than that the venue they've chosen for this meeting (the junior high) will be far too small for everybody who wants to attend to actually get into.

Tomorrow, I'm taking pictures. Smile & wave people, smile & wave.

Strike Update - Day 4

The teachers' union & the school board met today with the state mediator for a whopping HOUR, and of course got nothing accomplished, other than agreeing to call it quits after 60 minutes and neither side budging from their positions. Natalie made an elephant on paper, traced over her drawing with glue and sprinkled colored sand on it. She also ate lunch, played in the gym and when I came to pick her up was deeply involved with building blocks. It's all well and good, and she certainly enjoys those activities, but I had hoped that she'd have gotten to meet her teacher and talked about her classroom and her classmates by now. The date of September 24th is when the teachers must return to the classroom in order to get 180 days of school in by June 30th. Naturally, September 24th is the day that I have to pull Natalie out of school for the entire day for a dentist appointment in the morning and a cardiology appiontment in the afternoon. I had scheduled both appointments months ago, with the expectation that she would have had 3 1/2 weeks of school under her belt by then, but it's looking and sounding more and more like she's going to miss the first day of school, again. Heaven help me if I hear one utterance from the school or the teacher about the importance of instruction time and it being vital to the success of the student. Wouldn't that just take the cake? Ha!

Apparently, another sore spot in all this hullabaloo is over the medical coverage for the employees of the teachers' union. Their benefits have been suspended for the moment and they now have coverage under COBRA (which requires paying out of pocket for coverage). The rumor mill is hard at work, churning out all sorts of baloney and blurbs of questionable material. I heard one today, that a teacher's child was turned away at the ER over lack of health insurance. I take into question whether or not this a true account. I mean, every hospital I've been in recently (particularly our local hospital, Garrett & I spent 4 days there last month) has big signs up in the ER saying that people will not be turned away or treated based on their ability to pay. That's a law, if I recall correctly. Particuarly in an ER, where the goal of the doctors and nurses there is to stabilize, treat & release or admit, patients. In any case, typically, when one quits their job, or is fired, or in this instance, stops working because of a strike, they lose their benefits and that's that. I mean, that's what happens in the real world anyway. But out in the real world, people aren't demanding 8% raises and asking to contribute less towards their health plans either.