Superb Op-ed by Retired AFT Member John Vidovich about Lack of Equity in Mon. Co.
It’s 1988 all over again for schoolteachers
Dominion Post 2/20/2011
BY JOHN VIDOVICH
I am a retired Monongalia County teacher. During the past 30 years, I have taught thousands of students and would do it all over again. In that time, I was actively involved in the processes that would bring about better pay and working conditions for teachers. I lobbied in Charleston, wrote to and met with legislators, and wrote letters to the editor, to mention a few. I do not apologize, as some would have me do, for trying to achieve a level of fair pay to benefit my own family and children.
I kept copies of some of my letters to the editor. Recently, I gave a copy of a 23-year-old letter I wrote to The Dominion Post to my AFT (American Federation of Teachers) representative and told him to show it to politicians during the legislative session. It was uncanny how it clearly showed nothing has changed in the past 23 years. The same points of dissatisfaction with pay and lack of respect for the teaching profession in West Virginia I made in 1988 are still being made in 2011.
I am a retired Monongalia County teacher. During the past 30 years, I have taught thousands of students and would do it all over again. In that time, I was actively involved in the processes that would bring about better pay and working conditions for teachers. I lobbied in Charleston, wrote to and met with legislators, and wrote letters to the editor, to mention a few. I do not apologize, as some would have me do, for trying to achieve a level of fair pay to benefit my own family and children.
I kept copies of some of my letters to the editor. Recently, I gave a copy of a 23-year-old letter I wrote to The Dominion Post to my AFT (American Federation of Teachers) representative and told him to show it to politicians during the legislative session. It was uncanny how it clearly showed nothing has changed in the past 23 years. The same points of dissatisfaction with pay and lack of respect for the teaching profession in West Virginia I made in 1988 are still being made in 2011.