Most teachers have in their contract what are called "personal days." This allows you to stay home from work and attend to "personal" matters. Depending on the individual district, teachers normally receive 1 or 2 of these days per year which they can use for whatever they want. They can use it if friends or family are visiting from out of town, if they are getting married and want to use the day for a weekend honeymoon, or if they just need a day off from work.
Again, you typically get 1 or 2 of these each year. Districts have "black out days" which you cannot use your personal days on. You must also submit a request 5-10 days ahead of time to schedule a personal day.
Some at the legislature object to teachers using this day to come visit their legislators. So much so, that the Arizona senate recently discussed a measure which would require teachers to reimburse school districts for any days they took off from school to go to the capitol to talk with their legislators.
Feeling that this is something better managed between the teachers and the school district, I began an email exchange with Senate Majority Whip Pamela Gorman (R-North Phoenix). In the back and forth (about 5 emails) I made the following point to which she did not reply.
A missing GOP vote sends Senate committee home early
You need a subscription to the AZ Guardian to read the story ($10 a month for educators), but here is a summary. The senate Natural Resources Committee had a full agenda of contentious bills to discuss and vote on yesterday. Senator Gorman was absent, which left 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats to do the work. They passed a few bills before coming to the first contentious one, SB1259. It would allow mining companies to delay clean-up work on mines they said they were no longer mining due to the economy. Republicans liked the bill. Democrats did not like the bill.
It failed along party lines, 3-3, but would have passed if Senator Gorman had been in attendance. Why was she gone? She had taken a "personal day" to attend a national meeting of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee.
Sensing defeat of other bills the Republicans wanted to pass, chair John Nelson (R-Glendale) adjourned the committee very early and will, presumably, require another day to get the work done.
Let's review. Teachers who want to take a day off from school to go talk with their legislators are bad. Legislators who want to take a day off to go work on their re-election bids is fine.
Hypocrisy? I emailed Senator Gorman and asked her that. I wonder what her reply will be.
Again, you typically get 1 or 2 of these each year. Districts have "black out days" which you cannot use your personal days on. You must also submit a request 5-10 days ahead of time to schedule a personal day.
Some at the legislature object to teachers using this day to come visit their legislators. So much so, that the Arizona senate recently discussed a measure which would require teachers to reimburse school districts for any days they took off from school to go to the capitol to talk with their legislators.Feeling that this is something better managed between the teachers and the school district, I began an email exchange with Senate Majority Whip Pamela Gorman (R-North Phoenix). In the back and forth (about 5 emails) I made the following point to which she did not reply.
The House and Senate Education committees meet while I teach. I am the first to say that a teacher needs to be with students, but there are times when it is equally important for a teacher to be with legislators-- especially when discussing public education. I will again state that the "shut up and teach" brb is simply mean-spirited. Any attempt to paint it otherwise might be seen as hypocritical. For example, are legislators ever absent from caucuses, committees, or floor votes? If so, are they lobbying the community for support on a bill or seeking relationships to help with their re-election bids? Are you required to reimburse the state for that time? Do legislators give back their per diem if they are not at the capitol or if someone purchases the meal that day? Or is it assumed that legislators are professionals and can balance out the needs of their job in a variety of ways?The phrase in boldface will become meaningful shortly. I'm not sure why she did not reply to me at that point, but I did see the following news item covered by the Arizona Guardian today.
A missing GOP vote sends Senate committee home early
You need a subscription to the AZ Guardian to read the story ($10 a month for educators), but here is a summary. The senate Natural Resources Committee had a full agenda of contentious bills to discuss and vote on yesterday. Senator Gorman was absent, which left 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats to do the work. They passed a few bills before coming to the first contentious one, SB1259. It would allow mining companies to delay clean-up work on mines they said they were no longer mining due to the economy. Republicans liked the bill. Democrats did not like the bill.
It failed along party lines, 3-3, but would have passed if Senator Gorman had been in attendance. Why was she gone? She had taken a "personal day" to attend a national meeting of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee.
Sensing defeat of other bills the Republicans wanted to pass, chair John Nelson (R-Glendale) adjourned the committee very early and will, presumably, require another day to get the work done.
Let's review. Teachers who want to take a day off from school to go talk with their legislators are bad. Legislators who want to take a day off to go work on their re-election bids is fine.
Hypocrisy? I emailed Senator Gorman and asked her that. I wonder what her reply will be.
I love it when you play "gottcha" with state legislators. There is no doubt that the AEA members are being punished for exercising their 1st amendment rights.
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