The ignorance and bias of the Globe editorial staff can be seen throughout this editorial. Performance pay as a reform? Does the Globe have any idea that 12 years of bowing to the bubble sheet gods have done nothing but turn off kids to learning. And now they want to insure that teachers chain themselves to a #2 pencil. You should turn your attention to the dying newspaper industry...and leave education to teachers (And definitely NOT Bain and Company)

theres reforms needed all right but they ain't all coming from the teachers union. there IS NO school dept. there is however one person who makes all the decisions and then hides behind his well paid puppets who are paid to take the heat. care to guess who that gutless nitwit is? ma

Our education system is a mess, get rid of the unions and lets get back to basics. The average salary for the boston teachers is 84,000, that's a nice salary with life time benefits. It's certainly not about the kids anymore, most Americans feel our public schools are poor. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/march_2012/just_23_rate_u_s_public_schools_as_good_or_excellent

To use the Globe's word, what's pathetic is the the Globe ignores who is responsible for the dearth of enrichment activities in the schools. Over the past three decades the BPS has gutted the arts to the point where students, especially teenagers, are forced to sit still all day with little to no release of energy or creativity. migh links "back to basics" with disbanding the union. Folly! The BPS itself has disbanded the heart of the learning by its ever increasing reliance on bubble forms.

For years and years, I've read the Globe and watched as the quality and value of the paper has diminished. In fact, when the Globe was a Union paper, the quality of the paper far surpassed what now poses as a major, urban daily paper. The experience and expertise of the writers is clearly nowhere near the caliber readers of the paper once enjoyed. Yet, editorial after editorial, you insist on diminishing teachers and our Union as failures. I wouldn't begin to try and tell you how to improve your paper or the working conditions of the staff. However, I'm sure that the staff at the Globe does have a strong idea about what would actually improve the paper--perhaps actually paying for experienced writers for example. The job of a union is to protect workers. The BTU protects workers while maintaining the best interests of children. Please actually step into a school, actually speak to Boston teachers, and experience what we deal with day in and day out. If you only listen to reports from highly funded think tanks, your paper will continue to lose quality. I know this editorial, sadly, is not based on any kind of real understanding of teachers.

The teachers, at 84 grand a year (according to migh), make only 9 grand more more than the toll takers, at 75 grand a year. So you've got to ask yourself this question: Are the toll takers paid too much or are the teachers paid too little? My personal opinion is that 84 grand is not enough for a good teacher and too much for a lousy one. But compared to the ludicrous compensation and benefits of other public sector employees - firefighters and cops especially - the good teachers are definitely underpaid.

The reason for a union is to protect its members and to seek better working conditions for same as well. It is laughable that this editorial should state there has been a lack of leadership from the BTU. President Richard Stutman has worked diligently and patiently with a bunch of empty suits, and a missing superintendant, to craft a just contract that is in the best interests of students and teachers. Our students deserve opportunities for arts enrichment, etc. but the providers of such extras should be compensated.

No one ever mentions what is in the best interests of the taxpayers in these discussions. Who speaks for us at the table? The city can't seem to manage any union negotiation without ending up tossing things into the hands of a mediator, where if past mediations can be used as an indication, will screw the taxpayer. Public sector unions seem to be focused on ensuring that work rules and processes exist to protect the lest deserving of their members at the expense of the majority who deserve better. I'm not sure if teachers want to be treated as professionals or as auto workers. To both parties in this dispute, this is one Boston property taxpayer who is fed up with your collective antics.

Great article BG! It should be noted that at 1.9 years a teacher is given tenure for life. Also, the chance of ever being fired for a teacher is 2.9% in Mass. This is insane!! It's about the kids, right?

If unions are the problem, then what's up with the states do not have teachers unions? Not one in the top 20%, and most in the very bottom. And as for performance pay, I say NO WAY! Competition and collaboration do not mix, teachers will indeed be chained to a #2 pencil, and more kids will drop out! Average Rank Across 4 NAEP TestsNext to each state is its average rankVirginia....... 16.6Texas......... 27.3N. Carolina.. 27.5Georgia.......36.8Arkansas.....38.9S. Carolina...38.9Arizona........43.3Alabama......45.5Louisiana.....47.8Mississippi...48.6

"This school year alone, 370 Boston teachers took up positions in schools based solely on seniority and certification with little or no involvement of the principal, according to a recent report by the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. This inability of managers to select staff can make for a miserable school climate. In one bright spot in the otherwise dreary negotiations, both sides appear to see the value of limiting seniority as a factor in teacher transfer and reassignments." MCAS QUESTION: If a school system closes 10 schools, and there are 370 teachers without placements, on average, how many teachers taught at each closing school? The author of this editorial apparently hasn't heard that DR. JOHNSON CLOSED TEN SCHOOLS LAST JUNE! Dr. Johnson also "raced to the top" which caused BPS teachers, at "turnaround schools," to do the "march of the penguins" for the last two years! I'm sure you have read my "informational rant" on Sam Tyler, president, of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau (BMRB). We all know he has ulterior motives and they are ugly. He is intentionally clueless about the Boston Public Schools hiring process. So let me explain the process. Excellent, Experienced, Veteran Teachers, who go to "the pool" chose, by SENIORITY, 3 schools they would like to teach at, that have open positions. Maybe a school is close to their home, has the hours they like, is known as a good place to teach, etc. The principals, in those schools, have the opportunity to choose 1 of the 3, Excellent, Experienced, Veteran Teachers who selected their school; it's fair, and it's WIN, WIN for all involved! It's a well know secret that many principals, of schools with a less than stellar reputation, do not hire people during the job posting period and wait for the pool. This is the only way they are able to get experienced teachers to work at their school! They hope to win teachers over once they are assigned and get to know the kids. Dr. Johnson would like a west coast model of teacher placement where she can tell teachers where to go and "everyone serves at the will of the superintendent." There a teacher is notified in August as to where they will be teaching in September. Administrators rotate and are never in the same building more than three years. Using this model, a teacher or administrator never develops ties or allegiances to a building or community. All bow to the queen! Was the author of the editorial at the BPS/BTU negotiation table? Lately, it seems that the only two people who weren't there negotiating, were me and Dr. Johnson! The BTU is "limiting seniority," that's news to me, and doesn't sound right! "Seniority" in the Boston Public Schools is a good thing! Seniority represents the difference between "just a job" and a vocation! It is a Badge of Pride, and represents the commitment a teacher made to Boston Public School children. Boston Public Schools is one of the top urban school districts in the USA; teachers with Senior

continued: Was the author of the editorial at the BPS/BTU negotiation table? Lately, it seems that the only two people who weren't there negotiating, were me and Dr. Johnson! The BTU is "limiting seniority," that's news to me, and doesn't sound right! "Seniority" in the Boston Public Schools is a good thing! Seniority represents the difference between "just a job" and a vocation! It is a Badge of Pride, and represents the commitment a teacher made to Boston Public School children. Boston Public Schools is one of the top urban school districts in the USA; teachers with Seniority accomplished that!

You have been hoodwinked; there are no "collective antics" with the Boston Teachers Union! The BTU has been at the negotiating table for 22 months! Dr. Johnson has not gone to meetings and has abdicated her responsibilities to handmaidens! Boston teachers want what's Fair to them and good for students. I would suggest that the Boston taxpayer look toward getting the 40 large "not-for-profits" hospitals, universities, and cultural institutions (who own over half the total for all commercial property in Boston) to pay the 25% of what they would pay for municipal services if they were not tax exempt. (If you want to lead the charge, Sam Tyler at the Boston Municipal Services Bureau, and Paul Grogan at the Boston Foundation have their addresses.). Mayor Menino is even giving them FIVE years to do it (as a homeowner and taxpayer in Boston, I wouldn't)! He is even willing to give them "community service credit" up to 50%, bringing their contribution down to 12.5%! (Again, I wouldn't)! If these groups were not tax-exempt, they would be paying $404-million and if they were paying even a percentage of their fair share, we would not be having this discussion. http://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/PILOT_%20Task%20Force%20Final%20Report_WEB%20_tcm3-21904.pdf