Disqus - Latest Comments for kndrtchr

Re: Contract negotiations don't look promising for Kent schools to start Monday - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:08:21 -0000

We technically worked one day already without a contract. The contract you are looking at was for the 2008-2009 school year. We are entering the 2009-2010 school year. All the days covered in the 08-09 contract have been worked. The reason the dates say August-August is because of the payroll system and how payroll is devided through the year. August 26,27,28 would be days covered by the 2009-2010 contract which we do not have. Kent teachers currently have NO contract for this school year, therefore we are not violating anything. It's confusing, but I hope that helps explain it.

Re: It's official, Kent teachers vote to go on strike - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:28:01 -0000

We didn't take the pay raise. We rejected the proposal.

Re: The impacts of a teachers’ strike: What about the children? - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:40:19 -0000

It's rediculous that we even HAD to ask for those things and put them in a contract in order to get that support. As a teacher that has had to move buildings, I got no help, no support and was told that I would not be able to move my things to my new school over the summer, nor keep them at my old school over the summer. I asked for help, but was told no. I ended up having to make several trips in my car back and forth between home and school in order to keep everything. I couldn't park in the garage all summer.

Re: 'Really an anomaly': Kent Schools budget shows dip in revenues - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:58:02 -0000

When it's time to vote for the Kent School district director, vote for Tim Clark. He is a retired teacher and knows what is needed. It would be nice to have someone on the school board that had any clue about education.

Re: Mediation starts between Kent district, teachers - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:28:49 -0000

Actually that's not true. Do you think we would really want to see fellow teachers laid off? That would completly defeat everything we are asking for in regards to class size and reduced workload. The money is there and there is enough to address alot of what we want addressed. This isn't all about salary increases.I would love to have a class set of textbooks rather than be expected to teach my students with only 15 shared among three classes.

I wouldn't be suprised if a contract with more emphasis on class size, time and workload was signed. In fact some of the things being asked won't cost the district anything. If they changed some of the paperwork formalities and changed the "principal" Effective Ed, it would cost them nothing and make a lot of people happy. In some cases streaminglining administrative work (paperwork, payroll) would actually save the district money. An example of this would be the letters that KSD sent out to everyone this week. There was a lot of money wasted in postage when the district mailed double copies to people. Parents the work in the district got one for their student and for themselves. Many families in our district have both parents that work for KSD. They got 3 letters. Granted, postage is a small thing, but if KSD was more concerned with money they wouldn't be spending extra money on other things.

I'm disgusted that parents and community members aren't more concerned with the wastefull spending of KSD. Other districts accomplish the things we ask with only 8 million in their reserves. The latest I heard KSD had 27 million. But even with 21 million it's possible.

Re: Mediator starts work Wednesday on Kent teaching contract impasse - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:08:26 -0000

Thank you for finally posting the kentschools.org site. Previous articles seemed to only give access to one side of the issue. It's nice for the public to have the information they need to look into both sides and become informed. It's a shame that through all this mess, that teacher raises have been percieved as the issue. I understand in this economy that teacher raises would make the biggest news story and fires people up. Seeing that you all would like to keep your jobs as well, it's only natural that you would promote whatever would make the biggest story. Thank you for giving the public the opportunity to see the rest of the "story" and issues.

Re: Kent School District declaes impasse in negotiations with union - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:01:41 -0000

Childrensadvocate you are 100% right, it is a state funding issue. However, within the district there are ways to move money around if the district truly made students their priority. We already have some schools that don't have librarians or counselors.Teachers are trying to put the kids first. Unfortunately all that is put out is about teachers wanting pay raises. Yes, it would be nice, but this isn't all about that. We want the district to look at its priorities and allocate funds appropriately. There is plenty of money in this district to address the issues we want addressed.

The sad thing is that, currently teachers are not prepared or on time ready to teach because they are in meetings until the bell rings, or have paperwork to get filled out and turned in. There have been many mornings when I get to school, get stuck in a meeting and barely have time to use the bathroom before school starts let alone get everything prepared for the day. On weeks that I have playground duty I don't get time to use the bathroom before school starts. That's part of the problem. We are asking the district to address time issues and workload issues. We run out of paper in the work room in May. We are allowed one sponge a month and we have to ration out tissue. If the district was using it's money appropriately, we wouldn't have these problems. That is what we are asking for.

The district cut a bunch of money from "administration". What they didn't explain was that what they really cut were teachers that went into the schools as support (such as new teacher mentors). They also cut EA positions at the school level. That takes support away from the staff and principal in the schools themselves. That directly effects the kids. However they did spend money to hire outside people to conduct surveys and analyze data that was already done. They spent money to hire a negotiator that actually gets paid more if we do strike. We don't want money taken away from kids, we are trying to get it back to the kids.

You are very right about the state funding. You are right about a strike not being a good thing. Nobody wants to do it. But we are fighting for the kids. If the district won't stand up for the kids in our community then we as teachers need to.

Re: Teachers' contract: Kent union rejects district offer, threat of strike looms - Kent Reporter

kndrtchr — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:13:45 -0000

This is SO not about money. Unfortunately all that gets talked about is the money. Don't give me any money. Fine. It's about being able to teach my kids rather than try to finish paperwork that I have to do. It's about getting 3 new curriculums without training and being expected to implement them. It's about manditory training that is held after school hours (without pay). It's about 31 kindergarteners in one classroom. It's about 34 6th graders in a classroom. It's about turning in data that takes hours to complete but having no time to do it. It's about spending 18 hours on reportcards. It's about being told that we aren't doing enough. It's about being ignored when we ask for things to support our kids. It's about running out of copy paper in May. It's about only getting one sponge each trimester. It's about not having tissue in the classroom. It's about being ignored when we voice what we want training on. It's about manditory meetings that have nothing to do with our students and their education. It's about having a different amount on my paycheck each month. It's about no heat in the building during the winter. It's about teachers getting injured by violent students that are forced back into the classroom. It's about spending so much precious teaching and learning time on test prep. It's about being expected to have everything prepared in your classroom when you are stuck in a meeting up until kids walk in. It's about not having enough desks or so many desks that you can't fit them all in the room. It's about protecting our students and giving them opportunities.

It's not all about money.