Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland visited Strongsville today to rally with the teacher’s union that has been escalating their campaign of harassment and intimidation against the substitutes who are willing to step up and teach children. Here’s what he told them.
Photo by Cory Shaffer, Sun News
“You have chosen to be a teacher, you have chosen to go to school and study hard and go into our classrooms and teach our children, and you are being disrespected at this time,” Strickland said.
Here is what apparently qualifies as “disrespect”, according to Ted Strickland: $48 per hour. That’s the average wage for a teacher in Strongsville. That’s a $64,500 salary divided by the 1350 hours that they work. (A year of work for most of us is 2080 hours.)
That number doesn’t include their benefits. And the benefits are plenty. Add another $10,000 per year paid by the school for teacher’s pensions. Strongsville teachers currently pay nothing towards their pensions. The school also pays 90% of their health care costs, which results in a cost of only $150 per month for family coverage. Most people, including me, pay over twice that. And don’t forget all of the vacation time and that lifetime pension.
Yeah, Ted. That’s disrespect, alright.
Strongsville Education Association Tracy Linscott said “We’re going to do everything we can do to get back into the classroom where we belong,” Linscott said. “If you had any doubt on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or even when you walked up here, I hope that you have no doubt that we are doing the right thing.”
According to Ms. Linscott, refusing to work for her $60 per hour ($80,869/year) salary is doing the right thing.
It boggles the mind.
