Things started out great. For years, my friends and I would brag about our district. I'd go out of my way to encourage my student teachers to apply here. Our district had a reputation for supporting everyone from the students to the parents to the faculty to the administration with valuable trainings, after school programs for parents and students, and most importantly... a level of respect that went in all directions.
Then little by little... a new superintendent and school board slowly chipped away at a beautiful relationship. Contract negotiations became more and more contentious with each passing year. Finally things got so bad a few months ago that over 90% of the teachers supported a strike rather than give into the district's petty offers.
Now before I go any further, I realize the following:
#1: This is a sports card blog.
#2: Nobody wins when there is a teacher's strike.
Well... don't worry... I promise to show off some cards in this post. I just felt like I needed to document this since it's a pretty significant moment on my personal timeline. And although I realize that a work stoppage hurts everyone... especially the students... I feel that at some point you have to stand up for what you believe in and take action.
That being said... at the eleventh hour... our team of negotiators and the district signed a tentative agreement last week. Yesterday afternoon, the teachers voted in support of the TA, so we avoided a dreaded strike.
Now hopefully we can begin repairing the relationship and start to move forward.
While all of this "strike" drama has been unfolding over the past few months, I couldn't help but think about the 1994 Major League Baseball strike and how it impacted everyone from the owners right on down to the fans.
I realize that a work stoppage in baseball and a work stoppage in a child's education aren't the same thing, but if you're willing to squint a little there are similarities. Ultimately baseball fans suffered... just as our students would have. Our superintendent and the school board would be represented by the MLB owners. And right in the middle were the teachers and the players.
Today I wanted to show off a handful of players who were directly affected by the 8th work stoppage in baseball history...
2003 UD Sweet Spot Signatures #TG-AU
2013 Topps Five Star Autographs #FSBA-MW
Baseball fans will never know if Matt Williams had it in him to break Roger Maris' single season home run record before Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa did it in 1998.
1990 Leaf #325
Baseball fans will never know if Larry Walker and company had it in them to bring a World Series Championship to the city of Montreal.
2011 Topps Tier One Crowd Pleasers Autographs #CP-DM
And baseball fans will never know if the New York Yankees (who had the best record in the American League) had it in them to win a World Series Championship and help Don Mattingly secure a World Series ring.
I'm truly grateful that my students won't have to suffer like baseball fans did back in 1994.
I'm truly grateful that my students won't have to suffer like baseball fans did back in 1994.
Happy Thursday and sayonara!
199what. If There's no baseball the year didn't happen. JK. It was rough. It's that season ending strike that caused my distaste for the then large salaries of the players, and have been against them (in all sports) ever since.
ReplyDeleteAthletes and teachers (and really every hard worker that keeps the world going), deserves their fair share for the labor and services they provide. I've yet to ever think they ever are (even the "overpaid" athletes who aren't overpaid at all in the grand scheme of things).
ReplyDeleteNice to hear there's at least a tentative agreement in place. Hopefully it will lead to a longer term agreement. Of course I don't have all of the facts about your situation so I try not to judge. But I agree nobody wins when there is a strike. I admire the way you tied your situation to baseball cards. Thanks for a very profound post!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that a strike was averted. I'm a university professor by day and am extremely sympathetic to teachers' unions!
ReplyDeleteI'm also loathe to be reminded of 1994. I am a lifetime Montreal Expos fan and just the thought of what could have been kills me! (Also, although he didn't play for the Expos, Don Mattingly was my favorite player as a kid and I would really have loved to see him against the Expos in a World Series that year).
I'm a teacher as well (although it's been years since I worked in a school on a full-time basis). It's important to stand up for yourselves, and if there's a strike that's as much on the district as on the teachers, often more so. Hope the new deal works out and your district shows you a little more appreciation!
ReplyDeleteI hope your reps got a fair shake. And I'm glad your kids didn't have to miss a day of your teaching. They would miss you.
ReplyDeleteTeacher organizations here in Texas are just that, organizations. A union is unheard of. Teachers I worked with b*tch and moan and then go out and vote against their own self-interests. It's pretty amazing.
'94 sucked. What If's are hard to live with. Glad things worked out with you for now. Can't be easy.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that the teacher strike was adverted. Definitely the best outcome for the kids. 1994 killed the Expos. I'm convinced they would still be around if their magical season was allowed to play out.
ReplyDeleteGreat cards. Love that Mattingly
ReplyDeleteMy former school was forced to deal with a number of furlough days last year because my state's higher-education system is a trainwreck. It was rough even seeing what my great (and already underpaid) professors had to endure from an outside perspective like mine, and I can't imagine what it must've been like to have to actually go through it. Hope the district situation gets a bit better for you, Mr. Fuji.
ReplyDeleteThe strike sealed the deal for me getting out of baseball. Had a hard time negotiating the strike and college and how collecting was a priority.
ReplyDeleteGlad you avoided the strike. I was at summer camp in 1994 when the baseball strike happened and my mom mailed me the newspaper. Funny.
ReplyDeleteHope your school year goes well in spite of the labor cloud. Nice to have a hobby and friends to help you through. Nice batch of autos!
ReplyDeletejohn miller - yeah, it's pretty insane what certain athletes make. i definitely don't envy their injuries and the fame though.
ReplyDeletezippy zappy - you wouldn't believe the number of people i talk to who say they appreciate teachers and are grateful for our work. it's a very rewarding job. just not really financially. it's honestly pretty sad here in my area. new teachers will never be able to buy a home unless their parents are rich or their spouse has a good job. that seems so wrong.
bbcardz - i avoided posting facts... mainly b/c i didn't want people reading my blog to take sides. bottom line is we avoided a strike (assuming the trustees support the deal... they vote in a few weeks).
sean - i've been a closet expos fan for quite some time and it bums me out every time i sit down and think about the strike. hope you have a great school year!
brett alan - although there were numbers thrown around, the bottom line for many of us was "respect". we teach our students to stand up for themselves. what kind of role models would we be, if we didn't do it for ourselves? hope you have a great school year!
commishbob - it depends on who you talk to. i know people who weren't happy with the deal. others were willing to take anything just to avoid a strike. i'm somewhere in the middle. it was definitely a compromise, which i totally understand is part of the deal. honestly, i think future deals are going to rely heavily on who gets elected to the school board in november. only time will tell.
defgav - hell yeah '94 sucked. it definitely hasn't been easy. morale has been low for years. the good news is outside of the politics, it's truly an amazing profession.
matt - man... if that's true... i'm even more upset about the '94 strike. i miss the expos so much.
sport card collectors - thanks. i think i only have two autographs of his. i'd like to eventually get one of his rookie cards signed and slabbed
nick - thanks nick! i hope so too.
sumomenkoman - the '94 strike opened doors for me. i doubt i would have collected so much hockey, basketball, and football had it not happened.
the lost collector - hmmm... trying to think back to what i was doing that summer. my guess is my buddies and i were taking road trips down to tj
baltmoss68 - thanks. the gwynn was buried among scans. can't believe i hadn't shown that card off before. in regard to the school year and my students... it will be fine. it's a 3 year deal (although its retroactive one year), so we won't have to deal with negotiations for about 1.5 years.