In fact, it
couldn’t have been closer—since it passed 14 to 13 with four members of the
ruling Popular party
breaking ranks and voting no. And the final product wasn’t entirely without a
few sweeteners. For one thing, teachers over 55 with 30 years of service
actually got an increase in the minimum pension to $1625, and there’s a window
for teachers with 28 to 30 years to retire with 70% of their monthly salary.
Oh, and teachers got a raise of $25, as well.
“They
haven’t been doing their jobs,” said a friend, just now. Her child is being
home-schooled, but parents who can afford it send their kids to private
schools. Why? Because if Missi
or Míster—as teachers
are known here; it’s a Puerto Rican thing—is sick, the school lets the kids go
home. Or maybe home, since nobody may be there; so that means the streets. So
if—unreasonably—you insist on knowing where your kids are and what they are
doing, you shell out eight to ten thousand per kid per year for a private
school.
Well,
somebody came out and said it, namely an adviser to the president of the
House; and here,
dear Readers, are his intemperate words:
“Faltan cada
rato. Trabajan cinco horas diarias. Tienen 60 días de vacaciones al año. Ganan
más que el salario promedio anual. No pagan seguro social. Salen de la escuela
antes que los estudiantes. Llevan 15 años con los mismos planes y materiales.
Ah, pero ni pal car...jo le pidas que pongan de su parte porque te muerden, te
gritan suciedades y te rompen las puertas. Sí. Así son”, dijo Hernández en una
entrada a su cuenta el pasado 19 de diciembre.
El mismo
día, Hernández declaró: “Y si después de pasar por 12 años por 12 manos de
diferentes maestros no aprendes inglés, agradece a un maestro o a los 12 que no
hicieron ningún esfuerzo por lo que se les paga”.
(“They call
in sick. They work 5 hours a day. They have 60 days of vacation a year. They
earn more than the average annual salary. They don’t pay Social Security. They
leave the school before the students. They’ve spent 15 years with the same
lesson plans and school materials. But don’t frigging ask them to do their part
because they bite you, shout obscenities and break down the doors. Yup, that’s
how it is,” said Hernández in an entry on his Facebook page on 19 December.
The same
day, Hernández declared, “And if after 12 years of passing through 12 hands of
different teachers you don’t know English, thank a teacher or the 12 who didn’t
make any effort to do what they’re paid for.”)
Understandably,
the teachers were howling—nor did it help that Hernández has a contract for
$84,000, whereas the base salary for teachers is $21,000. Hernández’s boss came
out and stated
that the opinions were not his nor the House’s, and that he regretted that such
expressions had been made.
Did
Hernández back down? Nope, he responded to The New Day’s lead—which used the word insulto and yes, it means what you think—and
said this:
No he insultado
a nadie. Di mi opinión basada en mi experiencia en las escuelas donde han
estudiado mis hijos. Sin faltar respeto a nadie".
(“I haven’t
insulted anybody. I gave my opinion based on my experience in the schools where
my children have studied. There was no lack of respect for anyone.”)
Well, the governor
has just signed
the legislation, and the teachers? They’re threatening a strike, which—according
to the governor—is unconstitutional.
It’s the
usual story: who is to blame for the sorry situation we’re in? The usual
culprits…
…everyone
and no one!
