[Vision2020] Column on MSD in the Daily News

[Tbertruss at aol.com]

Bill et. al.

A while back, Jack Wenders and/or Dale Courtney both kept insisting on V2020 and in the Daily News that the work year for MSD teachers was only 180 days.  This was a figure they used to determine the pay of MSD teachers if they worked a full work year at the rate of pay they received for 180 days, to compare their pay with other professions who work a full year.  Of course they were aiming to show that MSD teachers were over paid compared to other professions, with cushy vacations other professions do not get, etc.

I researched the issue of the MSD teaching year in number of days worked by teachers, and discovered that they do in practice work significantly over 180 days, depending on how you determine "work" days.  I put my findings on V2020, and wrote a letter to the editor in the Daily News which they printed, informing Wenders and Courtney that they were wrong about the 180 work day year figure for MSD teachers.

Never did Wenders or Dale Courtney admit they had underestimated in any way the actual days worked in a year by MSD teachers.  In fact, Courtney demanded on V2020 I post a retraction for errors I had made public, though when I pointed out I did not know what errors he was discussing, I heard nothing back from him.

We all have our biases which lead us to filter the facts and theories we apply to suit our agenda.  But from what I have gathered, Wenders is so committed to proving that MSD teachers are pampered and over paid, that he does not fairly consider all the facts and theories involved.

Ted Moffett