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I would sometimes have to remind myself that the primary loyalty of unions is to their existing members, not their potential future members. This is perhaps as it should be, but it seems like Boards sometimes forget this in bargaining. Increasing new teacher salaries doesn't necessarily require new revenue. It requires greater discipline in adding steps for greater seniority.

I also agree with comment below as well - we seem to have an awful lot of administrators. I'd extend this criticism to universities as well - https://wapo.st/3xrd7E2 - for a tongue-in-cheek proposal from a professor at Pomona College that suggests the logical conclusion to the increase in administrator/faculty and administrator/student ratios is to simply eliminate professors and students.

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Great points. Unions are generally incentivized to reward their membership and typically the most loyal and influential are the longtime teachers. Appreciate your perspective on this.

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Before they consider raising teachers wages they need to decrease the Administrative Costs. Our politically lead Teachers Unions and their Administrators are killing the education system in our state. Lowering standards for graduation is inexcusable 😣😥

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I agree. Here, I propose cutting ODE programs and urging local districts to cut programs that aren’t popular or don’t help kids succeed in order to free up resources to pay for more and newer teachers.

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