As Newark Ponders Teacher Buyouts, A Union Leader is Refreshingly Honest
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Could it be true? It’s not all about the kids?
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The city of Newark, New Jersey is considering offering buyouts to teachers in a cost-saving move. Such is not new as New York City and many other cities have used such approach to trim down a bloated and unsustainable payroll and benefits for teachers.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker said that if Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson “…could fire the 300 to 400 lowest-performing teachers, she wouldn’t have a financial crisis.” In an interview, Mr. Booker said he hoped the buyouts would be a temporary fix until schools can oust teachers based on performance rather than seniority.
All of this sounds perfectly reasonable and seemingly doable until one realizes that such is occurring on “Planet Jersey,” home of entrenched teachers union interests.
Preliminarily receptive to the idea, Newark Teachers Union President Joseph Del Grosso said he is open to buyouts if the offer is sweet enough. But he said if the highest-paid teachers leave the system, the union as a whole could suffer from the loss of their dues. “I’m not financially stupid,” he said. “I have to understand that that would cause a hardship to the union if that was done at a mass scale.”
Kudos to Mr. Del Grosso for honesty, if not couth, judgment and concern for the education system.
Here on Planet Jersey during every school budget election time, the roadways are plastered with placards that indicate the urgency of what is at hand: our kids; our future. But Mssr. Del Grosso’s comments give lie to the noble assertion that it’s “all about the kids.” He deserves a medal for unknowingly contributing positively to the dialogue, if not his union’s cause.
And New Jersey teachers union leadership does not have a monopoly in self-interest. As mentioned prior (“Union Hiccups: The UAW Sees the Light and All about the Kids?”, August 7th, 2011), the American Federation of Teachers revealed last year on their website via a PowerPoint a cynical maneuver by its leadership to scuttle “parent trigger.” For those not familiar with “parent trigger,” it is the ability of parents to vote to have a failing school change management, generally.
Of course, teachers union leadership is against such trigger as their main, though unstated, mission is to preserve and grow the dues-paying ranks, as Mr. Del Grosso confirmed.
It should be noted, knowing several teachers, that the union leadership and the rank and file are not the same. The rank and file, by and large, care about the kids and their avocation. The leadership, however, cares about maintaining its leadership power, which is all too often contrary to the best interests of the kids, taxpayers and teachers themselves.
Despite the MSNBC carnival barkers’ obsession with recalling Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, perhaps, for the true good of the kids, they may wish to consider promoting a recall of union leadership, if they truly care about all of the middle class, and not just their pet segments of it.
-I.M. Windee
