Good Luck Chicago.

I remember that when I started teaching school every shop in the city,where I lived, paid a better wage than I received. Every teacher had to have a second job. We are not paid in the summer months.  Yes we do get checks but that money is taken out of our regular pay and put into escrow to be given out to us slowly each summer. In fact that money is already earned and belongs to us.

In the beginning of my teaching career I worked for a bus company in Canfield Ohio. I fixed broken seats for school busses six days a week. After that job was completed I serviced new busses and worked painting older busses. I did that for four years.

My next summer job was as a yard labor for Deming Pumps in Salem Ohio. I did general labor for two years and then spent three more summers in assembly and the foundry. I usually worked in the core room or filling in for men on vacation.

I spent the next three years selling and installing carpet. During this whole time I never had a vacation. I remember one of my brothers telling me that no one told me to go into teaching.  During this whole time our state and local union became more powerful and we were offered better pay and better working rights. Soon we were not only at par with most shops but ahead of most. We were starting to be treated like the professionals we were. No more summer jobs !

We fought and scraped for every benefit and pay increase we were entitled to. We even had a six week strike over contract language and teacher rights.

At the end of my career I watched as new teachers took for granted all the pay and benefits we fought for. Some even abused benefits like sick days.  Many I worked with often voted against their own interest for candidates that were outwardly against public schools and teachers unions. I watched as slowly our rights and benefits were being eroded. We were forced to take attendance and use a computer for grades but were given no computer for our desk. More and more secretarial paperwork was placed on our shoulders. I was happy to retire and often wondered how long it would take for the anti-union politicians to break the strength of the union.

When Gov. Kasich was elected I knew the end was starting. Teachers in Ohio will soon lose their seniority, tenure, and the ability to strike. All of this happens while teachers sit behind their desks and watch it happen. Many will support Kasich and Romney during their next elections. The once mighty OEA also stands by and watches these erosions take place. If I was still teaching I would not belong to the OEA because of their inability to fight back for teachers and call for a complete work stoppage state wide.

In fact, the only teachers I see taking a stand are the teachers in Chicago. They are standing up for their rights with little or no support. Even President Obama is not in agreement with them. They will soon lose their fight I fear. At least they had the guts to try. Teachers in Ohio should at least unite and take a stand against these new rules. I feel that all the time and work we put into our struggle to obtain and secure teacher rights are just being pissed down the drain by the teachers of today