Pay to Play ( or drink or eat or .....) ?

For a while, I did not believe that there really was strong anti-teacher/public education sentiment.  Yeah I thought that since everyone was forced to go to school and everyone complained as we do whenever we are mandated to do something (even if it is for our own good),  that people’s feelings about teachers and public education were like their feelings about going to the dentist – unpleasant but worthwhile.

What started me as a true believer in a sentiment to tear down public education and relegate the teaching profession to the same status as waitressing was reading the news stories and comments in various local and national papers.  I was surprised not only by the misinformation about the life of the teacher (overpaid, underworked and just in it for summers off), but also the system in general ( the US Constitution provides for fire departments, but not schools), and the services it provides (I taught my kids to read before they entered school so why are highly educated teachers needed)

What has sent me completely over the edge is the news story in my local paper, The Altoona Mirror about a local district, Tyrone, who is considering the following in its proposed school budget:

If passed, employees would have to pay $50 annually to have a refrigerator in their classroom or office, $20 for a coffee pot and $15 for a microwave.

What is up with this?  Why would a school district do this?   Well, the missing information is that the teachers refused a pay freeze, citing the fiscally sound state of the school district’s finances. 

This “appliance use fee” sounds like petty retaliation to me!

So let’s run the numbers.  It costs about $6 in electricity (assuming $0.12 /kW hr) to run a 500W microwave for 30 minutes for each school day. And no one runs a microwave for 30 minutes so the cost is even lower. A dorm fridge is about $25 for the school year. A coffee maker? Maybe $7/school year.

So what does the school district hope to gain?  Financially, NOTHING!!!  They just want to wield power, to put teachers in their supposed place.  I wonder if they serve coffee at school board meetings?  Do the school board members pay per cup or does the school district collect a monthly fee?

What is next? Pay Toilets?  Oh that won’t work because teachers never have time to go to the bathroom anyway.