Public school teachers are well compensated. Yet, some appear happy to accept donations from students, who typically earn nothing. Video at the end of the article.
We all know the familiar propaganda. Public school teachers work for peanuts, while giving their everything to our children, who they love as if they were their own. Public school teachers are heroes, they are worth their weight in gold and we have to pay them more money, always, to make sure they earn a living wage.
But not everyone sees it this way. Many public school teachers are part of a heavily organized voting block for the far left. Teachers unions heavily lobbied the CDC to recommend mask mandates and school closures during Covid-19. To this day they fight to keep schools closed and children masked.
Here's a recent example of a masterful psy-ops, psychological warfare operation, spreading complete misinformation to influence the public's voting behavior:
The story they want voters to hear:
As part of her graduation project, a Chandler Unified School District, CUSD80, student started a gofundme campaign, raising $6,000 to help teachers pay off student loan debt via $1,000 stipends. She made national news. Everyone is made aware of how poor teachers are, and how their students love them so much that they even pay off their student loan debts. The student can be seen on video saying that she has seen first hand how her teacher parents, both work in CUSD80, struggle with student loan debt. It's also a powerful emotional argument for student loan cancellation, a political priority of the left. Student loan forgiveness means that people who have paid off their loans, and those who never had them because they didn't go to college, are forced to pay off the loans of those who have racked up student loan debt, with their taxes.
The real story:
In truth, public school teachers are very well compensated. The average teachers salary in CUSD80 is around $65,000, for about 9 months of work per year. By comparison, the salary of the average Chandler resident is $45,000, working around 11 months per year. The student in question actually has parents who both work as teachers in CUSD80. It is a fair bet that the parents played a large role in their daughter's fund raising school project. Instead of a grassroots movement of students raising money for teachers, the real story hence is that some teachers essentially astroturf by raising money for teachers themselves, from students and others. With both parents working for CUSD80, and both making an average of $65,000 a year, plus generous benefits, said student, bless her poor soul, lives in a household making $130,000 a year, far above the Chandler median of $82,000, which is already above the US median of $67,000. Rough times indeed. Pay up, or we go on strike and make you miserable, as unionized school teachers currently on strike in Minneapolis are doing right now and as Arizona public school teachers did in 2018.
The video, see bottom of the article, also shows a CUSD80 teacher who claims to be in student loan debt, accepting a check from the student. She says that she is currently enrolled in a graduate program, which of course costs money and leads to even more debt on top of her college loans. Parents can rest easy knowing that their children are taught by people who appear to have no concept of personal responsibility, budget discipline and living and spending within their means. Why penny and dime when you can use children to blackmail parents and taxpayers into giving in when the teachers unions call for the next strike, pay increase or budget override? As long as people allow themselves to be so morally blackmailed, their children will continue to be indoctrinated by socialists controlling the public education system.
Here is how student loans can actually be solved:
Everyone pays back their own debts.
Allow bankruptcy for student loans. If someone defaults, make the lenders pay the price, not the public. This will lead to better lending discipline, with lenders asking questions if a women's studies or African American studies degree is really worth the $80,000, or so, price tag.
Hire teachers without education certificates and without college degrees if necessary, to enable people to teach without having to spend a lot of money on certifications.
The problem with public schools is that they are run by teachers, often unionized teachers, who have political agendas and work for teachers and staff, not students and parents. Look at almost any school board in the nation and you'll find current or former teachers running it. The board of CUSD80 consists of:
Barb Mozdzen - former CUSD80 teacher
Lara Bruner - current CUSD80 teacher
Joel Wirth - former CUSD80 CFO
Jason Olive - parent
Lindsay Love - social worker and Black Lives Matter operative
The Superintendent, Frank Narducci, is also a former CUSD80 teacher.
It seems unreasonable to expect reform, budget discipline and focus on the needs of children and parents from groups of people who mostly work for the interests of staff, and in some cases, their own political agenda.
Unless parents and taxpayers start paying attention and realize that school board members have the power to tax everyone in the district they oversee, whether they use public schools or not, nothing will change. Parents and taxpayers must stand up and nominate good candidates and get those candidates elected to school boards. These candidates must be willing to use the power their voters gave them to break the status quo. American, including Arizonian, public schools are among the best funded in the world yet deliver far below average results.
The next CUSD80 board meeting is on 9 March 2022 at the W Frye Rd administrative building.