Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski joins Scott Busboom and Doug Wolfe on WZUS Decatur Radio. They discussed double-dipping in Illinois for retired government workers and possible solutions to Illinois’ pension crisis. The segment starts at 153:00.
Wirepoints piece:
Details emerging about Chicago Teachers Union’s upcoming contract show just how divorced its demands, both extreme and expensive, are from the reality at Chicago schools. It’s not just about massive salary increases, but also about money for migrant students, climate initiatives, abortions and gender-affirming care. About blocking parental notification. Count on CTU’s demands to veer further from reality until the public finally says no.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about a new law passed by the Democratic supermajority and signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker that results in brazen election interference, keeping Republicans off ballots; about a referendum that tests the waters for a renewed progressive income tax hike; about how the Parental Notification referendum question was knocked off the ballot; and why laws like that pass so easily.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 5/4/2024.
Gov. JB Pritzker calls it “ethics” reform.
It’s rare to see city leaders in Chicago take an open, unabashed stance on the collapse of literacy. To complain is deemed as too political, too racist or too anti-public schools. So it’s refreshing to see Willie Wilson, a successful businessman and leader of the black community, call for a literacy initiative “with the goal of getting 100% of Black students reading at grade level.”
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
Wish this were true in K-12 in Illinois. Teachers start and they don’t leave.
Your 2nd sentence is confusing in that nationwide roughly 40-50% of teachers depending upon the region resign within their first six years of employment. You might well live where the retention rate is better, of course.
The quit rate for those working for state and local education in government (ie public schools), as measured by the USDOL, was 0.4% in June 2021. It was the lowest rate of any industry in the USA. That rate was 3-15x lower than any other industry. In fact, look up this rate at any point since the USDOL began tracking these numbers and you’ll find that Education consistently ranks at or near the bottom of all the professions for those quitting. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Teachers leaving to pursue other opportunities is not some alien phenomenon. I changed my profession… Read more »
I know several teachers who quit because they were embarrassed – so many of their peers where effectively incompetent ( all public). One became a postman and was very happy for it – not having to work with pompous fools was worth it to him.
You’ve given a piece of anecdotal evidence true in one case but only presumed true in a much larger sense. Not necessarily a credible assumption to make really.
Although no credible data purports levels of incompetence for teachers, your statement has merit. I had an Interdisciplinary degree and worked years within the Social Service’s . Many incompetent college graduates chose social services given its low entry intelligence bar . Same goes for teachers. The diligent ones continue studies ( personal, seminars, etc. ) to enhance their intellectual prowess to better serve.
Well, its new to me since that’s not generally been the case over a long time period previously. Maybe the last couple of years were an exception because of COVID.
The quit rates from 2020,2010,2000,1990… will tell you the same thing: Not only do public sector educators rarely quit their school district, but they rarely leave the profession. Might more teachers be considering leaving than in decades past? Probably, but that is to be expected as the number of teachers has greatly increased in that timeframe as well. There’s a lot of misinformation out there regarding teacher shortages, mass exodus out of the profession, etc. Are there some teacher shortages, such as STEM teachers in rural districts? Of course, but those shortages exist in all sectors and are amplified in… Read more »
Well, I have to say this is all a revelation to me and counter generaizations about the topic of teachers leaving their first teaching job over a long time. But, I believe you were quoting overall percentages of teachers leaving rather than just those leaving from their first (and maybe only in most cases) teaching job. I think its generally a good assumnpption that most surviving their first half-dozen years will be teachers eventually eligible for a pension, If that’s the case it would largely mask the numbers of teachers quitting early even though that might well be a somewhat… Read more »
Because “teacher shortage” gets more clicks and feeds into existing folklore while journalists would rather lean on anecdotal information and Randi Weingarten soundbites than do the research themselves. “Farmville can’t find AP Chemistry teacher” makes for a juicier headline than “50 teachers apply for single English teacher position in River Forest”. I agree that most of that small percentage of teachers quitting is probably comprised of newer teachers, but it doesn’t change the fact those newer teachers are being replaced at as fast a rate as they are leaving (USDOL similarly report on hires). Again, there will always be skillset… Read more »
Oh, be frugal with your use of the phrase “skill set” here since nearly almost none think that term can even be applied to teachers. Their skill set, if there is one at all, is that of the slothful grifter most will retort.
I believe that many teachers may not leave their profession, nonetheless, they resign school districts in greater porporttion to work in better and safer districts. Chicago urban ( and a myriad of mid to large US cities ) core may have a higher side of teacher’s resigning to find work in better teaching climates.
Portability. It’s much harder to get tenure these days, which means a lot of hopping from university to university. Best to have a retirement you can take with you.
Yes nixit – this is the reason