Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Why these teachers aren't professionals
You're thinking, "he's not going to rag on teachers, is he?" Yes he is!
Not all teachers, but teachers who make this argument:
The teachers unions are always claiming that teachers are "professionals" because they are highly educated, subject to licensing requirements, and (most importantly) because "professionals" get paid more in both money and prestige. There's just one hitch: when "professionals" do work outside of normal business hours, it is not "on their own time" and they do not consider it "volunteering their time." The essence of being a professional is that you work until your work is done. Your workday does not have the same temporal boundaries as non-professionals. You perform the duties of your profession because you are a professional, not because you receive variable compensation for the marginal hour worked. The teachers of Berkeley who are claiming that grading papers is "volunteering their own time" are not professionals, and have surrendered the right to claim that they are.
Now, I understand that these teachers are actually engaging in a work slow down because they are unhappy that California isn't giving them a pay increase. If a work slow down is their only means of exerting leverage and their cause is just, I have no problem with them bargaining in this way. The encrustation of self-righteous bull pucky, though, just hurts their cause. By saying that they will no longer do work "on their own time," they reveal that they consider themselves to be hourly worker bees instead of professional educators. Not only is this argument embarrassing for teachers who actually behave as professionals, but if teachers are just selling their labor by the hour thoughtful observers may wonder why Berkeley does not bring in some scabs.
Not all teachers, but teachers who make this argument:
Berkeley students aren't getting written homework assignments because teachers are refusing to grade work on their own time after two years with no pay raise.
So far, a black history event had to be canceled and parents had to staff a middle-school science fair because teachers are sticking strictly to the hours they're contracted to work.
"Teachers do a lot with a little. All of a sudden, a lot of things that they do are just gone. It's demoralizing," said Rachel Baker, who has a son in kindergarten.
Teachers say they don't want to stop volunteering their time.
"It's hard," said high school math teacher Judith Bodenhauser. "I have stacks of papers I haven't graded. Parents want to talk to me; I don't call them back."
The teachers unions are always claiming that teachers are "professionals" because they are highly educated, subject to licensing requirements, and (most importantly) because "professionals" get paid more in both money and prestige. There's just one hitch: when "professionals" do work outside of normal business hours, it is not "on their own time" and they do not consider it "volunteering their time." The essence of being a professional is that you work until your work is done. Your workday does not have the same temporal boundaries as non-professionals. You perform the duties of your profession because you are a professional, not because you receive variable compensation for the marginal hour worked. The teachers of Berkeley who are claiming that grading papers is "volunteering their own time" are not professionals, and have surrendered the right to claim that they are.
Now, I understand that these teachers are actually engaging in a work slow down because they are unhappy that California isn't giving them a pay increase. If a work slow down is their only means of exerting leverage and their cause is just, I have no problem with them bargaining in this way. The encrustation of self-righteous bull pucky, though, just hurts their cause. By saying that they will no longer do work "on their own time," they reveal that they consider themselves to be hourly worker bees instead of professional educators. Not only is this argument embarrassing for teachers who actually behave as professionals, but if teachers are just selling their labor by the hour thoughtful observers may wonder why Berkeley does not bring in some scabs.
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