No Wonder They Hate Governor Walker… Oshkosh Teachers Got 90 Sick Days a Year
Posted by Jim Hoft on Monday, March 21, 2011, 4:42 PM
Wisconsin leftists protest Scott Walker at the state capitol.
No wonder they hate Governor Scott Walker.
Oshkosh teachers were getting 90 sick days a year… They only worked 180 days a year.
Charlie Sykes reported:
This is what the Walker reforms look like in practice. One dazzling detail: up until now Oshkosh teachers got 90 sick days a year.
Unions representing teachers and other Oshkosh school district workers agreed to freeze wages, pay more for their benefits and allow administration to change health insurance providers in exchange for a one-year extension of their collective bargaining agreements.
The tentative contracts with the teachers’ union, paraprofessionals’ union and non-teaching employees’ union were hammered out in just two days and would cut district payroll costs by at least $4 million in the 2011-12 school year alone….
-The district would no longer pay the employees’ 5.8 percent share of pension contributions. This would save about $2.9 million.
-Employees would pay for 12 percent of their health insurance premiums instead of 5 percent. This would save about $1 million.
-District administration would be allowed to seek bids for cheaper health insurance providers or redesign insurance plans.
-Teachers would no longer receive 90 sick days per year. Instead, they would receive 10 sick days per year that could accumulate up to 90 days. Unused days would not be paid back.
-Seniority rules would no longer apply to paraprofessionals and non-teaching employees when filling vacancies or giving promotions. However, seniority rules would still apply to teachers.
Hat Tip Kathy N.
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Published May 22, 2012 at 5:04 am - 44 Comments
Carbon Pootprint commented:
parasites
John Fembup commented:
Yeah, but don’t forget–some clowns in the administration had to agree.
Steve Bartin commented:
90 sick days! Working class heroes. Class war is here.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/class_conflict_in_obamas_ameri.html
daryl commented:
You can get rid of parasites.
These (.) aholes are an incurable cancer on society’s a**. Unless found and treated early enough it kills.
Ninty freaking sick days plus the substitute teachers pay totals some serious waste of tax payers dollars.
Contessa61 commented:
I know the Milwaukee teachers get to accrue sick days and then cash them in if they do not use them.
Do the regular taxpayers know how much they are being snookered?
Contessa61 commented:
Union facts of Milw. Pulbic School teachers
-Part time teachers working as little as 20 hours per week are eligible for the health benefits
-Teachers can opt out of insurance (covered by the spouse for example) and get cash in lieu of the benefit
-State employees can accumulate sick days and cash them in
-UW instructors and TA’s only got these “Inalienable rights” in 2009 under Doyle
-MPS teachers have three pensions systems and pay almost nothing
-Many contracts require the health insurance provider must the union or union sponsored provider (no shopping for deals allowed)
-Most teachers become eligible for pension benefits with 5 years of work – even part time
-Many contracts have NO Co-Pay provisions
-The NUMBER 1 contributor (not a PAC or party) in the 2010 election cycle was AFSCME ($11.7 million) and number 2 was SEIU ($9.5 million) 100% of that $21 million went to one party and the members HAD NO CHOICE
squeaky commented:
90 sick days a year – what a gig. and can you imagine if the bright lights weren’t fixed on sympathetic doctors signing sick notes for awol teachers.
[Teachers who attended protests at the Wisconsin capitol are receiving their sanctions. School districts are holding teachers to the same requirements for attendance as the students. If students missed school, they are disciplined....]
http://politics.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979098555
gus commented:
The new Marxism. The taxpayer funds the proletariat.
Phoenix Mom commented:
Bravo Walker!!!
centre commented:
…”-Seniority rules would no longer apply to paraprofessionals and non-teaching employees when filling vacancies or giving promotions. However, seniority rules would still apply to teachers.”
So, in other words the lousy teachers can still non-teach students because they can’t get laid off- BUT the serfs in their kingdom ( teaching assistants and aides ), can be laid off regardless of seniority. Demand the best from the serfs and not the royalty?
What genius thought that this move would serve the students interest?
tommy mc donnell commented:
that has to be a misprint. doing away with senority rules in public employment is a big mistake. anyone that thinks politicans care one iota about keeping good employees hasen’t got a clue. all your doing is making the employees have to engage in political activities to keep their job. the people that keep their job will be the ones that payoff the politicans. they usually the ones that are the worst workers.
invisibledude commented:
Damn, 3 months worth of sick leave…..and then 3 months off in the summer time, and how much during the school year itself leave time……..
Go Scott go.
Patriot Act commented:
Please tell me that they were not getting compensated for unused sick days to the tune of 90 per year.
retire05 commented:
Wait a minute, Jim. I think you are misreading the sick days. That would be 90 days in their SCHOOL YEAR, not in the entire year as school is out during June, July and August. If they get 90 sick time during a standard school year (around 190 days per year) they only have to work about half the school year.
Pete commented:
Looking at the face carrying the “Walker sucks Koch” sign…….. I’m thinking she never saw one to know one.
DomesticGoddess commented:
So they get 90 paid sick days, and subs are hired to cover the 90 days! That’s mega millions of dollars!
mike191 commented:
COMMENT 14: most school years are 180 days, the question you have raised is a valid point.Could this be accumalated days?Moreover, in many school districts you can have up to 5 personal days.
Kathteach commented:
Charlie Sykes on WTMJ radio (conservative talk Milwaukee – great guy) verified today that this contract was for 90 days – DAYS – per year – not renewable or accruable but to those who asked – yes – that would be half of the school year.
Any of you ever had your kids come home with talk of the long term sub that is not teaching them anything?
Happens all over Wisconsin – I assure you.
peepeeitus commented:
You people have got to be the most gullible ever. Your poster is flat out lie’n. 90 sick days a year? Are you frikken kidding me? I simply can not believe how many here have fallen for this. No wonder your the most misinformed news watchers around.
Dave-O commented:
#20 – PPeye – No, YOU people are the most gullible ever. You all voted for Obama didn’t you?
DMartyr commented:
90 days is about 4 months, not counting holidays and weekends. That means, in addition to the summer break, Wisconsin teachers could theoretically get 7 months a year off with full pay.
rbosque commented:
Wow, I picked the wrong profession.
Rose commented:
90 paid sick days a year is insane. The negotiators of such contracts should be put on trial. They think they don’t live in the Real World, and don’t have to.
They better enjoy it while they can, in THIS life, they won’t get those “treats” in their next one!
Lindsay commented:
It is amazing that these folks think they are entitled to this sort of stuff. The more of this comes out the madder the taxpayers become.
49erDweet commented:
Who in the world on WI school boards was responsible for negotiating union contracts? It almost sounds as if it were the district superintendent instead of board members who approved those terms. Please tell me I’m mistaken. Or is this just another case of substantiating Mrs. Gump’s wisdom?
LL commented:
I have decided that I won’t work at ANY job that doesn’t offer 90 sick days a year — as a symbol of protest! (send all your taxable donations to me…to feed me and pay the bills while I protest!)
Valerie commented:
Peewee
In addition to the link above, here is another.
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20110319/OSH0105/110318132/Union-concessions-would-save-Oshkosh-district-least-4-million-renegotiated-contracts?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE
90 days.
Wisconsin Teacher Pay is substantially higher than the average household income for Wisconsin.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20110221/pl_dailycaller/wisconsinsteachersmakealittlemoremoneythantheyrelettingon
******************
The quotes are accurate. If you have a beef, take it up with the reporters.
Larkin commented:
And yet, teachers are still considered poor, downtrodden schlubs who are the victims of greedy homeowners that don’t want to pay their fair share.
Why does this meme persist?
a. the media
b. people are lazy and have all of their opinions formed for them by a.
Meanwhile, the government will not close the borders because as the population ages and demographics change, teachers need bodies in the desks to justify their existence and sweetheart contracts.
KansasGirl commented:
Unbelievable.
Betsy Ross commented:
90 sick days in 1 year? I don’t think I’ve been sick 90 days in my whole LIFE!
Hate the Left commented:
Just to throw some salt in this wound, divide the typical Wisconsin teacher’s pay (gross pay, no benefits included) by 180 and you will see what their daily pay is. That’s important, because when they retire with those 90 unused sick days, they will get what amounts to a half-year’s pay at retirement! At least that’s the way it works in Michigan public schools.
So, if a typical Wisconsin teacher makes $60,000 per year, they get a nice little gift of an extra $30,000 when they retire – thanks to the Wisconsin taxpayers.
Also, most contracts are negotiated by the superintendent of schools and his appointees, vs the teachers union negotiating team. Usually the school board is not involved.
Chris commented:
No they don’t get 90 sicks days. It is a form of short-term disability. START RESEARCHING THINGS FOR YOURSELVES!
Page 18
http://www.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/site_uploads/uploads/WandaManning/Master_Agreement_for_2007-2009.pdf
donh commented:
In my own town a substitute teacher was just fired for sticking his hand down the pants of a 10 year old girl, and this is one of the better towns in my state….Teachers are devolving into the lowest scumbags in our society. They belong in correctional facilities, rehab centers, and asylums…. not around my children.
Andrew Sinclair commented:
The 90-day thing is for short-term disability? In the private sector, small-business insurance, short-term disability runs out in 30 days. (This was also true at big companies, but I’ve not worked for a large company in a while so I don’t know if things have changed…but suspect if they have, it’s for the worse, not better.) Starting at 31 calendar days, the long-term disability kicks in. I found out the hard way (hosiptal stay in ICU) that the short-term disability was not paid out in full, but hospitalization insurance payments were considered a deductible and so the STD didn’t pay in full. I’m still paying off the not-covered part of my hospitalization — it started at $30,000.
Chris commented:
@Andrew Sinclair——–what exactly is your point? The article states that teachers get 90 sick days a year. Then everyone jumped on that without doing any research whatsoever. They can’t just call in and say they have a cold 90 days out of the year.
Old One commented:
I am a retired teacher. I got 10 sick days a year and rarely used them but they were cumulative as long as one continued with the same district. Some school districts allow after the 10 days of sick leave those employees with 7-10 years or more of service an additional number of days at 1/2 pay up to a limit of 90 days if one was hospitalized or under long term medical care. When a teacher out on long term sick leave returned to work he/she had to provide doctors verification and undergo an physical exam by a school district designated doctor.
I strongly suspect the 90 days sick pay is only given to long term employees and the 90 days was not compensated at full salary. At least in California where I taught for forty year no school district to my knowledge allowed 90 days of sick leave each year at full pay.
Dave-O commented:
Donh#35 – you have touched on a seldom-reported fact, i.e., that the most vulnerable people in our society are far more likely to be abused by a state or public employee than any sort of religious figure. Even the NY Times has reported on this – believe it or not:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/nyregion/13homes.html?_r=1&src=recg&pagewanted=all
Now, obviously, there are many, many fine and dedicated teachers and other public employees who never engage in this kind of behavior, but the facts demonstrate that parents and guardians have more to fear from state and public employees than they do from religious leaders.
And, as the NY Times article notes, it is the public employee unions that, by and large, prevent the firing of these perverts. (See article above).
Contessa61 commented:
I do believe the teachers can accumulate these sick days and turn them in at the end of their career for cash. Perhaps that is how the only retired people in their 50′s are teachers, police and firemen and the super wealthy.
Sharon commented:
Here’s the TRUTH … if you care to see the truth…
it’s funny how many sites that keep saying this same ol same ol…
http://www.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/staff/sick_opea.cfm
Valerie commented:
“#34 March 21, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Chris commented:
No they don’t get 90 sicks days. It is a form of short-term disability. START RESEARCHING THINGS FOR YOURSELVES!
Page 18″
http://www.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/site_uploads/uploads/WandaManning/Master_Agreement_for_2007-2009.pdf
********************
It’s on page 17, and it is not in any way limited to short-term disability. That is sick leave. What Sharon is citing at #42 is not consistent with the citation by Chris, above. #39 is relating experience from another state.
So much truthiness, so little time.
Patriot Act commented:
Chris and others have apparently not read the contract that they claim we are misinterpreting. Here’s what it says:
“(E) Disability Insurance
(1) All teachers shall be guaranteed up to ninety (90) teaching days of income protection for each teaching contract year in the event of absence due to sickness or disability.”
Seems pretty clear to me that it covers simple sickness!
wanumba commented:
And how EASY it is for them to get “sick notes.”
This count for RICO fraud?
daryl commented:
Let’s face it folks. Teachers are not the most revered, dedicated people we’ve been led to believe.
The Teachers’ Lesson: How To Scam Social Security
http://www.nationalcenter.org/NPA552_Social_Security_Scandal.html
eaglewingz08 commented:
Ninety sick days plus ninety days off in the summer plus vacation days as well. What a gig.
Marisa commented:
I hope the teachers in Oshkosh wake up and realize that, by agreeing to this contract before Walker’s law take effect, only the union comes out ahead. It will still be able to automatically deduct dues from employees’ paychecks and won’t be in danger of having to be recertified by union members. I’d like to see whether union dues will go down with the reduction in benefits. I doubt it.
southernsue commented:
if i were walker and a republican politician or for that matter just republican, i would leave that horrible state, wisconsin. does everybody work for a union in that state? huh?
i would never hire anyone from that state or their universities. they are worthless parasites. leave that GOD awful state to the demons that dwell there. let them become california.
the state is not worth saving. get out republicans, there are plenty of nice states that you can live peacefully in and with lots of republican minds.
Annoyed In Illinois commented:
I can’t believe that the figure of 90 sick leave days in a year is correct. In my suburban NE Illinois district it was 12 days a year.
Unused sick leave days in Illinois were accumulated. I had a bundle because, except for the two-day absence when my mother died and a three-day absence when my dad died, I went 12 years without missing school.
In fact, one had to have stored up at least 180 by retirement in order to obtain a full package. This provided a solid incentive for wavering teachers (and I DON’T count myself as in that category) to come to school when they had a sniffle or didn’t like the fact that it was Friday or Monday.
Any days above the 180 figure were paid off with a $50 per diem check when one retired or plowed into the pension multiplier.
By the way, I paid a compulsory rate of 9.2% into my pension every check for four decades.
As well, I kicked in an extra 2.2% to leave earlier than age 65 over my last decade. The main reasons for getting out of there earlier than once planned? I saw 1) the lower levels of maturity and dedication of students and their parents and 2) the lower levels of maturity, professionalism, and knowledge by YOUNG TEACHERS.
Elaine Blonigen commented:
Please be sure to vote for David Prosser on Tuesday April 5. We can not take the risk that Governor Walker’s bill is reversed. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE on April 5. Reversal means these Union Thugs Win….we CAN NOT LET THAT HAPPEN.
virginia commented:
That’s 3 months out of the school year. When I was little, if a child was absent that much, they were failed because they didn’t show up enough to pass to the next grade. Now add that 3 months (which you KNOW they take) to the 2 1/2 months for summer vacation, and they’re getting almost half the year off, with pay, to sit on their asses and do nothing. And when they are there, they are giving a pass to kids who can’t read, write, speak or spell. Those are the future ‘leaders’ of our country. My father was so wise and so right oh so many years ago…he said the unions will be the death of this country.
Thats Mister Dummy to you commented:
Like others, I followed the link to the contract. The heading may say “Disability Insurance” but the contract co-mingles sickness and disability days so yes- there are in fact 90 sick days a year available.
Further, in that same section, if a teacher is totally disabled (ie not working at all), they still get raises that happen during that time and their disability pay is increased
Thats Mister Dummy to you commented:
I also followed the link that #42 Sharon sited. She pointed to a different bargaining agreement for the OPEA and not the OEA contract cited by everyone else. On that same site is the agreement for the OEA with 90 days per the contract.
The “P” is for “paraprofessionals” in other words, teaching assistants.
Here is the link backing up my statement: http://www.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/staff/Para_Webpage.cfm
This is the link on that site for the actual OEA sick benefits:
http://www.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/staff/sick_oea.cfm
Administrators also get 90 days. In addition, while all the other employee categories have accumulation caps, neither the administrators or the teachers currently have a cap in place.
jukin commented:
There has to be a reason that a 25 kid class at $10,000 per child or $250,000 per year can somehow evaporate.
If as a parent you had to shell out $10,000 per year for a private school would you not demand something better than 34% of the kids being at ther grade level in English and math?
HELL YES you would.
JonnyG commented:
I taught briefly in WI back in 2001. I was under the impression that sick days were decided by the state and not by district. Either way, as a conservative, I got out of that business. It’s not really the teachers that should be put down. They end up doing work over the weekends for grading and planning. In the summer, they have to take college refresher courses on their own dime.
Now, in Wisconsin in 2001, a beginning teacher got an average of $28,000/yr and it has yet to break 30K. The only ones making the money are the public union thugs and the government. Teachers have to put up with other peoples’ kids every day, and as we are well aware of, the parents are not parents anymore and now we got the parents of the parents of the kids who don’t care because these kids are reproducing by the time they’re 13 yrs old.
Kids in high school are likely to have great great grandparents who are still alive while they’re popping out their 3rd kid. Don’t hate the teachers. Hate the damn government that has allowed them to be sucked into the nanny state mentality and the inevitability of financial collapse. The system has collapsed and now teachers are going to have to pay a stiff penalty by being coddled by the government for decades.
God Bless Scott Walker and Wisconsin!!
H1Rules commented:
you won’t see this in the drive by media (loosers).
John commented:
The only parasiting thing here is the eprson who started the blog and all of those who have followed. Spend three minutes, do the research , read the contract and see what reality is because this ain’t it.
K commented:
I am a teacher and no teachers do not get 90 sick days a year. This is probably the most you can save although most districts are much less. Private sector employees have sick days too. Sick days are not paid out at the end of the year either. Some districts use them as a requirement to retire with benefits and some reimburse some of them up to an amount upon retirement as a bonus for not ussing them all. In the end this saves money because only so many can be used. Every private sector company has incentives and bonuses. However, I don’t get a bonus check at Christmas or at the end of the year and I do not have stock options either. Unfortunately the reasearch shows that teachers are surrounded by germs. Children come to school sick after their parents have doped them up on motrin to hide their fever. This is reality. Some parents do the right thing but many do not. Furthermore, teachers cannot plan a serious illness such as cancer around the days we have off. Yes teachers have a higher incidnence of cnacer because they have weekened amune systems. We are also more likely to die 10 years sooner than most private sector working employees with COLLEGE DEGREES. One more myth I would like to clear up, most of us work over 50 hours a week. Last week I did an additional 8 hours over the weekend. Most of the time I take a 10 minute lunch and then work on my lessons so I don’t have to take so much home and have time for my family. If you do the math we work more than private sector employees. Sorry to burst the bubble of all you teacher hating, kidless fools but these are the facts. If you had any brains at all you would know it is impossible for a teacher to receive 90 sick days a year. You really should think about the amount of hurt you have caused a teacher with these comments becasue we are hurting and most of us work extremely hard and if you dare volunteer in a classroom for even a day you would understand. Yes we take volunteers but not many people want to help.
JonnyG commented:
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that questioned the 90 days of sick pay LOL. My teaching degree is in math and physics after all and I thought, “WHOA! Didn’t this person ever learn how to estimate and do partial calculations? I didn’t want to straight out call the person a liar. But I do commend his/her effort at trolling in order to get people to talk about what’s going on. Teachers are not behind the drive to keep public unions. The unions thugs and government officials who get kick-backs are.
Teachers work well over 40 hours a week and they have to endure other peoples’ kid. People who refuse to be parents. They make crap for wages and they have to listen ot angry parents who want to know why their kid isn’t passing, the administration that is pushing for them to pass kids and a government willing to yank school funding if they don’t see some damn A’s and NOW. I quit when I realized that I wasn’t the only person under pressure to fudge scores and adjust the “curve”. It’s horrid.
O commented:
To the moron that called us parasites and said “Go Scott Go,” teachers in Florida don’t get 90 sick days. Direct that comment to the Oshkosh teachers, please. I only get six sick days and five personal days. That’s normal in Florida.
I’d like to see you survive one day in my profession. It’s not two months off. We’re at school during work even in the summer (the good ones anyway) and we’re also shelling out our own money for professional development classes AND supplies for our students. Name one other profession where that’s practically required.
O commented:
EDIT: We’re at school doing work during the summer.
And AMEN to the one that mentioned the parents not being parents. Does your job require you to deal with a child that throws chairs? One that throws tables? One that spouts off obscenities? We have to every day. And we can’t expell them or suspend them – they’re in KINDERGARTENERS. Now you can’t even say anything to a parent about their child without them getting all bent out of shape. They don’t raise their kids but we’re not allowed to either.
I’ll pay my own insurance. I’ll pay into my own 403b, I don’t mind. But I can’t do that if I haven’t gotten a raise in six years.
Thats Mister Dummy to you commented:
What people are papering over is not the fact that a teacher can/would take 90 days of sick leave but that the unused sick leave gets paid back on the back end so its another way to hide money inside the contract for a nice payout bonus at retirement.
JonnyG commented:
I can guarantee neither Oshkosh, WI teacher NOR ANY OTHER PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS IN THE FIFTY UNITED STATES gets NINETY DAYS of vacation pay (not that anyone would actually take that and keep their job, and to boot they can NOT roll over sick leave because if they could, the WOULD, and Wisconsin would be paying for 5 years of sick leave at a time when someone complained of back ache).
Dude, Wisconsin requires a minimum of 180-200 days of full-day instruction. There is no way that a teacher could take off that many days or accumulate in sick days that kind of money. Teachers do not get the summer off. They have to pay to go back to college for further learning for curriculum and changes of teaching style. They’re not spending 18 hours days on the beach.
It’s just preposterous. Can you not do math and estimation along with a reality check of “if this was true, wouldn’t people be talking about it outside of a blog on the internet?”
JayDee commented:
Let’s at least tell the truth here. The 90 is called “Short term disability”, it’s not 90 days sick days that you can spontaneously use. It’s no different than what any other jobs offer when you are sick; like when you have a bypass, or a stroke. I think the lies should stop. People can feel free to find the entire contract at:
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/assets/pdf/U0172067322.PDF
It even has the new contract. Oh, when you read it, you’ll find it’s not all that, so be sure to come back and tell some more bs, like republicans normally do to make things appear so much worse. Enjoy your tea.
(E) Disability Insurance
(1) All teachers shall be guaranteed up to ninety (90) teaching days of income protection for each teaching contract year in the
event of absence due to sickness or disability. Such income protection shall be prorated for teachers teaching less than full
time.
Teachers shall not continue to draw daily income protection benefits after they become eligible for benefits under the
district’s Long Term Disability Plan, however, any unused days shall remain in the teacher’s personal account.
(“Personal account” defined as being those unused income protection days remaining of the original ninety (90) days.)
JayDee commented:
If you would like to write about things, try doing it like this, and support it with documents like I do at:
http://www.tohellinahandbasket.2itb.com/
It’s much more compelling and educational.
JayDee commented:
Lindsay is completely right. This is a “righty” website and was made to make people outraged. If they had to use documents to back up what they say, this page wouldn’t even exist. People need to do their own research, and then make theor own decisions. Don’t believe everything you are told without seeing proof. Almost 200 people died listening to Jim Jones when he said, “Drink the kool-aide.” The people that escaped were ever so greatful.
Roy commented:
greatful? I am grateful I can spell. Thank a millionaire teacher.
Marbran commented:
K (#61), you are a teacher?? Based on the quality of your post, I’m terribly worried about the chance at success for your students.
The contract is very clear: teachers may use up to 90 days of income protection (read “short-term disability”) before switching to long-term disability. School officials may require that a teacher undergo a physical exam at the district’s expense while the teacher is under income protection, however school officials are not compelled to request this. Teachers may also refuse examination for “religious reasons.” The 90 days are reset at the start of each school year, and they are not cumulative nor reimbursable if unused.
“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” – George Bernard Shaw, ‘Man and Superman’
Jerome commented:
These vermin need to be exterminated from the public payroll. This isn’t an employer-employee relationship, it is an infection.