GORDON ISD

[Dogface]

THSCA?
Doesn't that cost $?
I gotta look on the freebies.

I was told there were 100,000
unemployed teachers now.
1470 jobs seems like a drop in the bucket.

 

[coachjdjones]

The job board alone is worth the money. It's also a very good association to be involved with. They do quite a bit in Austin on our (coaches) behalf.

This is the most jobs I have ever seen posted on there...ever. If you can't find a coaching and teaching job, you aren't trying very hard. Too many are leaving for the oil field (in this part of the state, anyway).

 

[Dogface]

What does the membership run these days?

 

[thatdude]

It's like $35. But most schools will pay the membership, or at least mine does.

 

[Dogface]

It's like $35. But most schools will pay the membership, or at least mine does.

I guess that'd be a good Q
to ask at interview time.
What memberships and clinics are they willing to pay for?
Thanks for your input!
It was very helpful.

 

[coachjdjones]

That is an excellent interview question, "money budgeted for professional development".

 

[smokeyjoe53]

I would think that schools would insist on "Professional Development".

 

[freeagent]

While I understand many veteran teachers have lifetime certifications, I understand new teachers have to do a certain number of CE hours/credits.

Some of us in private schools, our accreditation folks require continuing education as well; I know we had started "collecting" CE certificates from various programs ... including coaching clinics.

TAPPS issues a CE certificate to coaches for completing the required SCOPE certification tests and we issue CE certificates for the Coaching Clinic here in Seguin next week.

If I were the "decision maker" in a school district/private school, I would budget money for every coach to attend at least one Clinic or seminar every year, either in person or online.

Now, getting me to cover that volleyball coaches clinic on Waikiki Beach might be a stretch ... you know, the one that has an exhaustive program from 10:00 to 10:30 every morning for a week with the remainder of the day open for you to do touristy things (well, I've seen medical and other conferences in Hawaii with almost similar schedules ... in fact, I remember the first time I went to Hawaii in 1986 or so, seeing a sign at the airport ... "Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants: There may be conferences here to make your visit a tax-deductible business trip" with a phone number to call for information).

Is this a great country, or what?

 

[smokeyjoe53]

my wife will never forget that I made a stop by Buster Millers in Ozona while on our honeymoon to order a new cattle sprayer. Hey it made the whole trip deductible.........................

 

[topher80]

Just wondering why there isn't a teacher's union in Texas? Don't most states have a union for teachers?

I really don't know as I'm very ignorant on this subject with regards to teachers and unions in the southern US.

 

[rattler03]

Well in Texas teachers have the choice to join an association. The word union is not use. Depending on what area you live in there are local association available rather than using the state or national associations

 

[smokeyjoe53]

Just wondering why there isn't a teacher's union in Texas? Don't most states have a union for teachers?

I really don't know as I'm very ignorant on this subject with regards to teachers and unions in the southern US.

Texas is a "right to work state". You can google that and it will explain it to you. Basically it means that you cannot be forced to join a union in order to work.

 

[Old Bearkat]

Plus, no local and state government employees, and teachers are government employees, can belong to a union.

 

[topher80]

Thanks! I appreciate the info. Very interesting that no local or government employees can belong to a union. It is the complete opposite here, every government employee (local, provincial, or federal) belongs to a union and you cannot opt-out. You can choose not to participate in activities but that's about it.

We are neighbors, allies, and virtually everything here is American... from our tv to our breakfast cereals yet things are so different. Again, thanks rattler, smokey, and OBK.

 

[freeagent]

Plus, no local and state government employees, and teachers are government employees, can belong to a union.

Well, it depends. I notice that the policemen's association in San Antonio is pretty politically astute and gets what it wants come contract renewal time.

While I don't want to go all Norma Rae again here, teachers associations/unions in Texas basically exist to provide liability insurance for their members and do some basic lobbying to keep the lege (either party) from screwing the schools anymore than they usually do.

As OBK knows from his exile in Illinois and my own experience as a youth growing up in Wisconsin, teachers unions are pretty well entrenched in those states and going east. Let's just say that you, as a teacher, are going to have a lot more say on what your work rules, wages, and benefits are going to be.

But there can be some disadvantages. During the recent rows in Wisconsin over public labor unions, it was learned that the main teacher union ran its own health insurance plan and in many districts, negotiated that the union plan was the ONLY health insurance plan that could be offered to the teachers. Medical insurance costs to districts which accepted that negotiating point paid more for coverage than districts who were able to keep that out of their contract. And probably, most of that profit was funneled back to the union and much used for political lobbying and campaign contributions. When the Republicans won the governor and legislature in 2010, one of their reforms was to abolish that practice of negotiating who would provide insurance benefits, and shazzaam! all of a sudden rates dropped.

(Which may be the only documented occurrence of rates dropping since we were given the great gift of Obamacare.)

 

[Old Bearkat]

Government employee unions are the main reason for the death spiral of local and state governments in Illinois, mainly for pensions. When the state constitution was re-written in 1976, the unions got a provision put in that made it unconstitutional to change state employee pensions, and over the years, in order to get "campaign contributions" from the bureaucrat unions, Illinois politicians, mostly democrats, but plenty of republicans were in on the deals too, kept sweetening the pension deals. Now a public employee can retire at 55 on ~70% of thier last year salary and get 3%-5% raises in their pension payouts each year. There are some who retired in the early 90's who are making almost twice the money they got in their last "working" year. Also, in order to have more pork, the legislators did not pay the money into the fund as they needed to each year. Add in the massive corruption, and now we have a major disaster on our hands and look for the state to ask the feds to bail them out in the next year or so.

I hope they don't, but I will not bet against it either.

 

[Old Bearkat]

Plus, no local and state government employees, and teachers are government employees, can belong to a union.

Well, it depends. I notice that the policemen's association in San Antonio is pretty politically astute and gets what it wants come contract renewal time.

Look at who controls the San Antonio city government and see my previous post about Illinois. Most big cities in the US are controlled by the democrats and they are all following the methods pioneered by Chicago.

 

[Old Bearkat]

Thanks! I appreciate the info. Very interesting that no local or government employees can belong to a union. It is the complete opposite here, every government employee (local, provincial, or federal) belongs to a union and you cannot opt-out. You can choose not to participate in activities but that's about it.

We are neighbors, allies, and virtually everything here is American... from our tv to our breakfast cereals yet things are so different. Again, thanks rattler, smokey, and OBK.

You were under British control about a 100 years longer than we were........

I bet that is the main reason for the big differences.

 

[freeagent]

Look at who controls the San Antonio city government and see my previous post about Illinois. Most big cities in the US are controlled by the democrats and they are all following the methods pioneered by Chicago.

In San Antonio, we got the Castro brothers in charge (one mayor, another now congressman). Of course, I'm glad I've been out of San Antonio and Bexar county since 1994.

Not sure which Castro brothers are "worse," the ones in Cuba or the ones in San Antonio!

 

[Dogface]

So,
I wonder what's going on in Gordon?
My next door neighbor told my kids
that there were a bunch of openings now.

Unfortunately,
I have to wait till Hell freezes over.
jus sayin'.