The Denver Classroom Teachers Association has an unfortunate history in recent years of talking a good reform game while obstructing or objecting to actual reform measures put in place by the district. And the pattern has continued with the union’s recent lawsuit attempting to block the creation of a number of “innovation schools” within the district that ease contract restrictions and permit greater flexibility in meeting students’ needs.
Since we support the district reforms, we obviously hope the lawsuit fails, but it does address at least one issue of interest: Can the district submit innovation plans to the state for schools that are being created and thus don’t have a full staff to vote on the matter? We’re persuaded by the district’s legal arguments that it can, but we can also see why they’re controversial.
Age is just a number. Earth to Ed Bagwell: Men and women are not “practically senile” at age 60. Many, in fact, are still in their most productive years.
Bagwell, the business agent with Teamsters Local 17, which represents more than 1,000 Denver city employees, was reacting to a vote by the City Council to boost the retirement age to 60 and require 25 years of service to qualify at that age. “Now you have to wait until you are practically senile to get your pension,” Bagwell complained.
It so happens that the council did the right thing in adjusting the pension provisions to bring them more in line with growing longevity and private-sector norms. And, by the way, if Bagwell thinks workers at 60 are “nearly senile,” what must he consider those in the private sector who must wait for full retirement until Social Security’s threshold of 66? Other than resentful of the inequity, of course.
How many lawyers does it take . . . ? So you want to be a lawyer? So do a lot of other folks, and law schools don’t seem too concerned about fueling the oversupply. As The New York Times’ Economix blog reports, law schools “are churning out many more lawyers than the economy needs even in the long run.”
The worst offender is New York, where 9,787 people passed the bar exam in 2009 despite estimates from Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. that only 2,100 annual openings would be available from 2010-15. But Colorado wasn’t immune to the trend, either. This state’s need for new lawyers is projected at 547 annually through 2015, whereas 967 people passed the bar in 2009 alone.
A license to practice law is apparently not the one-way ticket to prosperity that many students seem to think — and getting into law school may be the easiest chapter in many legal careers.
Short Takes is compiled by Denver Post editorial writers and expresses the view of the newspaper’s editorial board.
