Anybody know what was being protested on Curry?  They were by the Abounding Grace church...maybe it was some kind of anti-abortion rally?

Yes Mohn. teachers have been without a contract.  They were teachers.

Ah, thanks Cal...sounds like they are in the same boat as a lot of people that have lost their jobs, etc.  Only difference is, they still get raises when they're not under contract.

Sounds like a good deal to me!!  They should quit whinin'!

In this economy they should be very thankful that they have a job.

To tell you the truth I was a little surprised to see them.  I too thought it was an abortion thing because of the church.  I didn't think they still got their raises if not under contract.  Thirty-five years ago when I started out in teaching, I taught a year at Draper.  When i got there, the first thing they made me do was join the teachers union.  I didn't want to and almost got anihilated.  Not against unions, but I just didnt' want to join.  Same thing happened when I went to the Town.  Clark Collins said I had to join.  So I did.  that was useless
too.

Being a teacher is a good gig--especially for a woman.

Shadow--I will agree with you on that.  This economy is frightening.  In my office we have already been told no raises again this year.  My son-in-law just lost his job and they and we are devastated.  He's in DC and we thought they would escape somehow--nope!  Yes anyone who has a job should put up and shut up right now.  I feel that way too.

We can agree on that Cal.

I know teachers get two kinds of pay...my aunt was a teacher until recently.  Their regular contract increases, and something called step, or increment.  Raises just for being employed a certain number of years.  BOTH continue without a contract...at the same levels of the last contract.

Can someone get their hands on that?  There needs to be a citizens revolt here.  Who do they think they're complaining to?!?!?!?!  People are lucky to have kept their jobs...be happy with what you have!

TBV--I agree.  If you have a job today you are lucky.  This economy is viscious.  Yes teachers get incremental pay for the number of years they have taught.  They are protesting for a raise in those increments.  I only taught full-time for two-years and the did side jobs because I had six kids.  So I never got into it really.  Teraching is a great vocation and I believe it has a lot perks too.  You're right--you have a  job--say thank you.  I absolutely agree with you.

right now no one should begetting a raise, until the economy gets better. However they want HIGHER RAISES? C'monnnnnnn!

If you are union and your contract expires, don't you just work off the old contract? I mean, if the old contract says a 2% or whatever a year raise, wouldn't that still continue? I always thought you just worked off the old contract until a new one was agreed on. No?

Yes I think you are right.  Thirty five years ago when I went to work at Draper it was just as they began their strike.  They worked off the old contract but it was a work to rule day.  Everyone went home at 3:00--no outside activities for the kids and then they walked and protested at the school and the board meetings.  As I said I didn't want to join,but they were MEAN suckers and made me join.  I was a kid and some of those teachers really embarrassed me until I joined.  YIKES!  It will be interesting to see if they keep working in good faith and continue with the extras for the kids.  Gary Spadaro probably knows it from the inside.  I never was involved in the district because my kids went to Albany Academy for Girls and Albany Academy.  My only experience was when I did the program with Oliver--and that wasn't the most pleasant experience either.

When are the sheeple aka town taxpayers organizing a tax protest? We have the highest per student costs in the Nation. Shadow has it right and most other districts are laying off staff.

Quoted Text

ROTTERDAM
Teachers protest slow pace of contract talks
JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Justin Mason at 395-3113 or jmason@dailygazette.net.

    In her more than 19 years at Mohonasen, Susan Nelson can’t recall a time when the teachers’ union and the district administration were so divided in their demands for a contract.
    Nelson, a teacher at Pinewood Elementary School and the union president, said the distance between her bargaining unit and the district has resulted in four failed attempts at mediation over the past 500 days. Now, members of the Mohonasen Teachers Association are preparing to enter fact-finding, a step in bargaining where an independent party reviews each side’s demands and makes a non-binding decision.
    “The chances of [fact finding] moving us to a settlement aren’t all that great, considering the differences of opinion we have,” she said during a protest at the Hamburg Street roundabout Friday afternoon. “Never have we been at this point and so far apart.”
    More than a third of the union’s roughly 300 members fanned out across Curry Road on Friday to show their dismay over the lack of progress in contract negotiations. Elementary school teachers picketed at the roundabout, while high school and middle school teachers protested at the campus entrance about a quarter mile away; others held signs decrying the lack of a new contract at the Altamont Avenue intersection.
    At issue is an administration proposal to increase the elementary school day by 35 minutes. Nelson said the increase at the elementary school level will create inequities among the union’s rank and fi le.
    Nelson also faulted the administration for wanting to place the elementary and secondary school teachers on different salary schedules. She called the effort to boost the pay steps with one group and not the other a “union-busting technique.”
    “And there’s no way we could agree to that,” she said. ...............>>>>...........................>>>>......................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01201&AppName=1