Teacher Pay

UP IN THE AIR AND SURREAL

TEACHERS' PAY

By Stephen Wilson

Russian teachers like American are under increased pressure to perform.

             I was going on an errand as my eye caught a peculiar poster. It was no

             ordinary poster. It was not just another poster encouraging people to

             vote in choosing  Moscow's mayor in the impending election due on

             the 9th September. The poster showed brokers dawning bowler hats

             and business suits, all identical, floating in the air. It reminded you of

             a surreal painting by either Chagall or Dali. But this poster perhaps best

             sums up the unreal atmosphere in which this election is being conducted

             and how people are often floating through life in some kind of trance

             or living in castles in the air. At first I thought it was an advertisement for

             Hugo Boss suits or simply new suits. But then I noticed below an appeal

             to vote.

             But the unreality of this poster is matched by the hype used to promote

             the Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. In one brochure all kinds of unsubstantiated

             and inflated claims have been made . For instance, the average school

             teacher in Moscow monthly salary rose from 39,000 rubles in 2010, to

             70,000 rubles in 2013 to 90,000 in 2018. The leading local education

             official claims it is even bigger citing a staggering 110, 000 rubles. So

             which is the actual figure-  90,000 or 110,000?  Or do men in Hugo

             Boss suits float around in the air? In fact, none of those figures are

             correct as average salaries often conceal more than they reveal. The

             picture is a lot more complex than even we first thought. Second City

             Teacher made some inquiries and came across a music teacher who

             was working a full time job and receiving 35,000 rubles. One teacher,                

             who refuses to be named, and knows a lot of teachers who work full

             time, believes a more accurate monthly figure is somewhere between

             60,000 and 70,000 rubles. But even this figure doesn't do justice to

             vast pay differentials between teachers who claim they receive far

             less. And often those teachers who obtain this 60,000 rubles are

             not working the minimum 18 hour 'stavka' or full time schedule, but

             the equivalent of two stavkas. In other words, they are effectively

             doing two full-time jobs!  Oksana Chebotareva recently met a

             school teacher, Olga, who claimed to earn 90,000 rubles a month

             in Moscow . "She told me she had to work very long hours for this

             salary. But she has to do a lot of paperwork, preparation and reports."

             When we go beyond Moscow a more complex picture emerges. For

             example, in the Samarskoi   region of Russia officials claim that teachers

             earn 30,000 rubles a month. Yet a teacher of Social Knowledge, in a rural

             village states : "They claim that the average pay of a teacher is 30,000

             rubles but this untrue . A full time job amounts to 18 hours . There is a

             pay rise out of the school budget . But how can you achieve this ? You

             get this extra rise out of the success of students taking Olympiads and high

             quality scientific work undertaken by students under the supervision of

             teachers . But some of this high quality work goes unrewarded. I do 14

             hours and receive 15,000 rubles plus a rise leaves me with 19 to 20,000

             rubles. ... They will give you a rise for half a year and afterwards none.

             Attaining 30,000 rubles can only be done by doing two jobs. But this is

             physically hard and the quality of preparing for lessons suffers."

             Natalie , a teacher of Russian from Samara stated : " Young teachers

             are running away from schools . Why do such work when a higher

             ranking experienced teacher only receives 20,000 rubles even with

             extra lessons ? In order to earn your living, you need to do around two

             full time jobs - not 18 , but 28-30 hours ".

             According to some estimates, a rural 

             teacher can earn from 9,000 to 13,000 rubles a month.

             But if the salaries of school teachers are rising then this is not translated

             by increasing satisfaction. On the contrary, a recent survey undertaken

             by Rosstat found that while in 2014, 53.2 % of teachers expressed

             dissatisfaction with their salaries, in 2016 this rose to 65.3% .            

             The reasons for this are not hard to find. The rise in teachers' pay has

             come at a dreadful price. Because some parents believe that the

             teachers are well-paid, they expect them to vastly improve the performance

             of their children. Highly unrealistic expectations are placed on teachers.

             Classes can be taken from a young teacher on the whim of a complaining

             parent. It is as if a consumer model of education has arisen. Instead of

             the consumer is always right, the parent is always right. A teacher of

             Russian Natalyia stated: "Earlier, parents were the first assistants of

             class management. Now a new generation of parents has grown up

             who see the role of teacher as an educational servant, forgetting they

             are not in the private sector but in a state school. All kinds of invented

             complaints are sent to the administration and above".

             Russian teachers have never been under more pressure. They have

             to work more hours, do more paper work, face more complaints from

             parents who are assumed to be always right, and teach pupils who

             are also stressed out because they have virtually no free time. And

             the curriculum is constantly changing . One history textbook which

             history teachers were using can suddenly be removed to be replaced

             by a new one. This means all the existing history textbooks which

             have been used are simply thrown away even if they are reasonable.

             A student of history is expected to learn, in detail, not just the history

             of early Russia, but all the periods up to the 21st century and be able

             to answer complex questions in the Unitary State Exam on why this

             particular Russian white army lost a battle in the Russian Civil War.

             School students don't have that much time to cram all those facts

             into their brain. Many of them are under pressure to learn two foreign

             languages as well as daunting equations in mathematics which are

             at times, more appropriate for university students.

             If teachers do receive 'higher pay' rises it comes at a price of virtually

             being deprived of free time not to mention the negation of their

             authority in the classroom by all kinds of officials, parents and

             vested interests. Now if a teacher could soar away into the sky without

             falling he might just do it!

             I would like to acknowledge the assistance of the Journal Russian Reporter

             who did a brilliant investigation into the pay and conditions of Russian

             school teachers. { issue 17,{456} 27 August - 10 September 2018

             КАК ФОРМАТИРУЮТ ДЕТЕЙ  ИТОГИ ВСЕХ ШКОЛЬНЫХ РЕФОРМ

             ГЛАЗАМИ УЧИТЕЛЕЙ

Why Sustainable Schools?

Do we want just a few sustainable schools?
By Jim Vail


The Chicago Teachers Union has been promoting its Sustainable Community Schools Initiative in which neighborhood schools compete to get grant money won in the last teachers' contract that will disburse about $10 million to about 20 schools.

Certainly, we all can use the extra money in our schools to hire more teachers, buy more textbooks, fix leaky roofs and crumbling walls, add more after-school programs, etc, etc.

But what message is the CTU sending by promoting a competition in which of the hundreds of schools encouraged to apply, only a fraction will win the grant money. Don't we all need this money for our neighborhood schools? Every school deserves it!

This whole Sustainable Schools initiative sounded a lot like the Race to the Top in which the winning schools and its students go to the top, while many children in the surrounding failing schools fall down.

Public education was never about winners and losers as the corporate entities want us to believe today with the over emphasis on standardized testing to prove what everybody already knows - those with more resources test higher. A union represents all its teachers, while a public education educates all its students. 

The problem today is that the funding mechanism is skewed toward different gimmicks that promote a gap between the schools of haves and have nots. Take the Tax Increment Financing or TIFs scam in which tax money can be used by the mayor as a slush fund to finance his own pet projects at the expense of democratic control. A majority of the TIF monies - which rob from the schools overall - is given to magnet schools at the expense of the neighborhood schools.

The Sustainable Schools model is laudable - a model that recognizes 'transformative' services with 'family and community partner involvement at the core.' The idea is to promote lower class sizes, a broad and rich curriculum, extracurricular activities, wrap-around services, additional support for English learners, better access to early learning, parent engagement, etc.

But this initiative is not combating 'the chronic defunding' of public education. Many schools will not win this grant money - are they any less deserving? 

A more equitable way to fund public education is to fight for all the public schools we have to be fully funded and not dangle some grant money to a few lucky ones. 

The CTU states: "The current CTU contract with CPS includes a provision to pilot 20-55 Sustainable Community Schools by 2019. In reality, however, every school in the city needs to be an SCS. The ultimate goal is for all schools to have robust staff, programming and parent and community engagement."

Some sustainable schools sends the wrong message.

Patrick Gordon

PATRICK GORDON  A SCOTTISH SOLDIER OF MISFORTUNE 

By Stephen Wilson

Stephen Wilson next to grave of Patrick Gordon in Moscow.

            At last! It was endlessly perplexing. After a never ending odyssey it was found.

            We had been searching for the grave of General Patrick Gordon in the German

            graveyard in Moscow  for years. But no matter how much we looked in this

            graveyard, his grave proved elusive. Then, with a stroke of luck, Oksana  

            Chebotareva embarked on a free excursion of the graveyard where the

            historian Alexi Thomasmart led her to this largely secluded boulder. The

            inscription on the gravestone was in German. The guide, Thomasmart told

            Second City Teacher that: "Many Russians make the error of believing that this

            is the grave of Francis Lefort as they notice his name is also on it but the

            inscription only points out he was the companion of Lefort." The guide also

            pointed out that the name 'German graveyard' is a misnomer as the cemetery

            caters for all foreigners. I and Jim Vail recently encountered the gravestone

            of an early 19th century teacher,who had been married to a Russian and died

            in Moscow. Somethings never change over the centuries.

            If we finally found the grave of Peter the Great's boon companion, Patrick

            Gordon,we almost certainly won't find the grave of Lefort. That is because

            he does not have one. Nobody knows where his grave is. It has vanished

            into obscurity. All that remains in the graveyard is his ghost who is reputed

            to haunt the cemetery in the early hours of the morning with faint music

            coming from his flute.

            We would not have found this gravestone without the provision of a free

            excursion. All summer, the local authorities have been providing at least

            500 free excursions, in Russian, as well as a few in English. What is more,

            many of those excursions are led by very enthusiastic and excellent

            guides. They consider this work not as 'just another job' but rather a passion.

            For instance, one guide, Maxim, gave us an intriguing excursion around most

            of the buildings which the writer Mikhail Bulgakov stayed in.

            

            But who exactly was Patrick Gordon? The mention of his name among

            most local Russians and Scots draws a blank stare. I never even heard his

            name surface when having a lesson on Peter the Great at school. General

            Patrick Gordon was, next to Francis Lefort, one of Peter the Great's right

            hand men. He was a mercenary born in 1635, near Aberdeen in Auchleuchries.

            As a Catholic, due to discrimination, he found he had no future prospects at

            home in terms of entering university or taking up a military career. Seeing no

            future in Scotland, he went abroad to seek his fortune . After 2 years in a

            Jesuit college in Brandenburg, he dropped out to pursue a military career as

            a soldier of fortune. Gordon changed sides more than four times. He fought

            for the Swedes, then the Poles, then again, the Swedes, and Poles again.

            Each time he was captured , he changed sides. In 1660, the restoration

            happened so Gordon decided to return home to Scotland. But just before

            he left, he bumped into a Russian officer who made him a tantalizing offer.

            Gordon was offered the rank of major if he signed a contract for 3 years.  

            Gordon agreed. He signed! But he had made the biggest mistake in his life.

            After entering  and serving Russia he discovered the contract was

            meaningless. They would not allow him to return home. When he kept asking

            permission he was threatened with imprisonment or exile in Siberia as 'a Polish

            spy'. His experience lends substance to a common joke in Scotland. 'It is easy

            to get into Russia but very difficult to get out'.  

Gordon served under at least 4 Tsars who included Tsar Alexis, Fedor , the Regent Sophia and of course Peter the Great . The last Tsar he liked the most because Peter the Great

            greatly respected his knowledge and was an enthusiastic pupil of him.

            Gordon, who was brave, had traveled much and was endowed with a lot

            of practical wisdom, appealed to Peter. Both admired each other. When Gordon

            died in 1699, Peter the Great was at his deathbed and closed his eyes. Peter the

            Great greatly mourned him. He declared: "The state has lost in him an ardent                        and courageous servant who has steered us safely through many calamities. "

            

            Without Gordon's timely assistance , Peter the Great might have been overthrown.

            According to Kochan and Abraham's work 'The making of Russian History ':

            'Gordon's friendship was of critical importance to Peter in 1682, when he rallied

            the foreign mercenaries to Peter, thereby sealing the doom of the Regent Sophia.'

            How did Gordon managed to live in Russia for so long when he yearned so much

            to return to Scotland? Gordon did not feel at home in Russia. In the diaries ,he

            presents an unflattering picture of his hosts whom he considered vain, boastful

            and deeply prejudiced against foreigners. In one excerpt he writes: 'Strangers,

            were looked upon as a company of hirelings and best {'as they say of woman'}

            but necessaria mala {a necessary evil} : no honors or degrees of preferment to

            be expected here but military, and that with a limited command , no marrying with

            natives, strangers being looked upon by the best sort as scarcely Christian, and

            by plebeians as mere pagans and the worst of all the pay small.' The Patriach

            protested when Peter the Great invited Gordon to a christening of his son. Many

            Russians resented the fact the foreign officers received higher pay than them

            as well as better terms of service. Some wanted to drive all foreigners out of

            Russia. Gordon must have felt this prejudice and taken it hard. A brilliant

            Russian historian who has recently translated Gordon's diaries into Russian,

            Dmitri Fedosov confessed to us at a lecture: " I just don't know how Gordon

            managed to endure staying for such a long time in Russia with such an attitude

            towards Russia". It seems that he remained because he was a prisoner. Gordon

            was given permission to visit Scotland twice on the condition he return. Should

            he have violated this agreement his wife and children would have been punished.

            The diaries reveal an almost stereotypical Scot. Gordon meticulously, in painfully

            minute detail describes everything he bought and at what price. He was very

            frugal, disciplined and drank well. He had a strong sense of honor and fought

            duels against anyone who dared to deeply offend him. Unless one has the

            diligence of a conscientious historian, you can skip the tedious passages on

            how he purchased every item and at what price for more important details

            concerning how he fought the Turks and acted during the revolt of the Regent

            Sophia.             

   

            Although Patrick Gordon was a great soldier, he hardly proved the best sailor .

            Being made a Vice Admiral , he once nearly sank the yacht he was sailing in

            by confounding the crosses in a cemetery on the coast with the masts of

            ships he was supposed to be following. From this perspective , he might forgive

            Russians for believing  his gravestone  belonged to Francis Lefort!

Russian Pension Reform

RUSSIAN REFORM OF PENSIONS

By Stephen Wilson

 

MOSCOW -  During the 18th century, the legendary Frederick the Great was obsessed with

building the best army in Europe. He strove to turn Prussia into the greatest

military power in Europe. Investing so much money into the military he became

notoriously mean. He was so stingy he never bought a new overcoat. And most

of his older soldiers did not receive a pension. So they were reduced to begging

in the streets. They came back to haunt him. Whenever he entered a new

town they converged on him asking for money. If he was in a good mood, he

would toss them a coin as if throwing a bone to a dog. But if he was in a foul

mood he roared to his guards: "Drive the scum away!"

Russia is not Prussia. However, the public declaration and the way that

Russian pension reform is being implemented in Russia indicates not only

contempt for ordinary Russians, but a failure to distinguish Russia from Europe.

For instance, Russians die faster than the majority of people in Western Europe,

their pensions are far lower and it is not uncommon to confront pensioners

begging all round Moscow. If they are not selling things they can be seen lining

the streets selling flowers grown from their dachas or fruit. Svetlana Wilson

stated: "I saw this frail woman selling this tattered undergarment which I

realized nobody would buy. So I just decided to purchase it."

Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev declared that the retirement age would

be increased from 60 to 65 for men by 2020, and 55 to 63 for woman by 2034.

The government justifies their proposals on the old grounds that the ratio of

working people to retired has drastically decreased. Whereas in the 1950's

there were five able bodied men to one pensioner, now there are just a bit more

than two able bodied men. The government has less money to sustain the current

system. They also argue that since life expectancy has increased to 71.3,

there are now far more older people to take care of. The Prime Minister has

attempted to reassure anxious aging people that special labor exchanges will

be established to either retrain or offer them work. But how the mortality rate

suddenly jumped from 59 in 2010 to 71.3 in 2018 remains a mystery!

Those proposals are not new. In 2010, the then finance minister Alexei Kudrin attempted

to implement later retirement plans to 'balance the books'. But the proposals

were withdrawn following outrage and mass protests. And again, the Russian

government is facing mass demonstrations all over Russia that threaten

social disorder. Most Russians are indignant . This is indicated by a petition

against reforms which got 2.6 million signatures. An artist Svetlana Wilson

who receives a pension of 14,000 rubles stated: "The government do not

understand that Russia is not Western Europe. The quality of life here is very

bad. We have low wages, poor medical care and most men die around

the age of 65. I can't imagine anyone who is in favor of those reforms. We

don't have manufacturing industry . The factory where my mother built planes

for many years has closed down." 

The Institute of Economics claims that as many as 18% of men would die before they got their pension. This seems a gross underestimate . Yelena Boyko, an accountant stated: "I think this is an attack on people. I'm angry. The Russian government has been wasting

money on the Olympic games, the World Cup, renovating parks in Moscow,

and financing a war in Syria. They should be improving the pay of teachers,

doctors and retired people. Yet Putin travels around in an expensive jet plane

while the Prime Minister of Croatia just came on an ordinary plane without

V.I.P. status. Who do you think pays for all the luxury travel and feasts he

enjoys? Ordinary Russians pay for this out of their own income via tax."

What infuriates some Russians even more is the fact many politicians and

professions enjoy a relatively early retirement age. The retirement age for

the Federal Service Bureau is 35, and politicians 45. A member of the Russian

parliament can obtain a handsome sum of 63,500 rubles a month. This sum is

three to five times the average pension who usually acquires 14,500 rubles a

month. A manager called Dmitri told me: " Not everyone gets the same pension.

It varies a lot. My grandmother who receives 14,000 rubles, at 74, has to teach

two students a day at her apartment. Yelena Boyko stated: "My mother worked

for 40 years but only gets 14,000 rubles a month. It is insulting."

However, some teachers have even claimed the reforms might actually lead

to greater protection for the jobs of some teachers. This is because some

teachers at institutes have been forced to retire even when they don't want to.

Oksana Chebotareva stated: "Some teachers would welcome having their

work extended as retirement age represents a pretext for dismissing them. Some

teachers don't look forward to getting a pension which is a lower than their

existing wages." Some younger people stated that reaching retirement age

can represent a death sentence. They can lose their main sense of purpose in

life by retirement as work offers them a structured routine and the company of

colleagues.

It is important to note that the new pension reforms will not only be a blow against

the old but their children and grandchildren. Grandparents play a vital role in

looking after their grandchildren allowing parents to go out and work. This is

very important for divorced or single woman who would be unable to cope with

juggling their work schedule with domestic obligations. However, it seems unlikely

that there will be jobs available for people in the provinces. If companies are

highly reluctant to employ people at forty or fifty, it is doubtful they will employ

people at 60. In some rural villages there is no work for young people, never

mind old! The rate of unemployment in Russia has long been underestimated.

But it is instructive to visit a local graveyard in some towns. There you will find

the graves of people who died in their thirties and forties from alcohol, drugs, and

stress of all kinds. They died from what we call the despair diseases.

The Russian language does not appear to have a word for retirement as we

understand this in Europe. They tend to say, "Go on the pension." With the

new reforms they won't be going on the pension but the pension will be

running away from them. It will be like a phantom pension. You can see it but

you can never catch or touch it. It is not tangible.

What is especially traumatic about those new reforms is that while in Soviet

times Russians received free education, medical care and pensions, now they

are losing a third sacred cow. That is, they have no right to free education, free

medical care and even a modest pension. But you can at least turn into a ghost

or shade which haunts graveyards.

Online Education

NEW RUSSIAN REFORMS PROPOSE DIGITAL SCHOOLS

By Stephen Wilson

 

 

MOSCOW -- While in the kitchen I hear a long-suffering teacher in the next room groan in

exasperation "It has become disconnected again". Her computer has

yet again broken down. She has a break until the computer goes on again

and the on-line lesson resumes only to be delayed again by a further

disconnection! Finally, she resolves to continue the lesson by mobile phone.

I have lost count of the times she has cursed her computer . But what is the

solution? Try to persuade the computer to behave itself? Buy a new one?

A new computer is often beyond the disposable income of your average

Russian teacher. Get it fixed? Well, often the cost of repairing it surpasses

the actual price of some laptops!

What some teachers find bewildering is how many people presume everyone

without exception owns a computer and that the introduction of computers

represents a progressive step. Yet many people just can't afford a computer

nor do they welcome an aching spine or stressful headache. The proposal

for that is to take eye ointment and even painkillers for a sore spine. And

pharmacies are everywhere in Moscow. There are about four or five in just

one small street where I live. I wonder why?

The latest proposal by the Russian government to introduce Digital schools

has aroused anxiety among many Russian teachers.

The government is seeking to establish 4,200 digital schools as well as

a special program to train teachers in on-line technology. The government

proposes to replace printed paper books by electronic books in a minimum

of 11 subjects as well as invest 507.3 billion rubles in the creation of Digital

schools by December 2020. School students tests and even homework will

be marked by digital means or automatically. The move would mean not so

seriously ill school students at home could do their homework. The state

argues that such technology will not only modernize schools but allow teachers

to deploy more interesting methodologies. When Olga Avgustan, a specialist

in information technology came to a school to give a talk on the merits of

technology she found teachers were unenthusiastic. "They told me that

such computers were just too expensive for schools. They thought they

would be inconvenient. I argued that the use of such technology might

make their lessons more interesting for the students. In general, I

found many school teachers conservative". 

However, the argument that such technology is too expensive seems to be perceptive and vindicated by some examples. Leonid Perlov, a geography teacher, stated such an

enormous amount of money was invested in such technology at his school

they could not even buy him a globe! An English First school went bust

because it invested too much of their budget in the latest electronic boards,

computers and video equipment. Maybe they should have just continued

using inexpensive white boards!

However, it is not the cost which is the main worry about this technology. It

is the adverse health impact which is rarely addressed by those proponents.

Vsevolod Lukhovileskii, the chairman of the Union Teacher stated:

"This idea is very dangerous. It can lead to several unpleasant consequences.

Firstly, research indicates that a child must not be left in front of a computer

for too long as their eye sight gets worse. ... It will also lead to massive teacher redundancies. This is economizing on people."

Parents of school children also express similar concerns. An English student named Vitali 

who has two children informed me, "I would be worried about the eyesight of my own children as they are already spending too much time in front of a computer." 

It is strange that while parents and teachers are attempting to protect children from overusing new gadgets, officials seek to promote them. This may well be an attempt by companies and officials to make a fast profit from selling gadgets as well as cutting the cost of education. It can be viewed as a crude commercial measure rather than a genuinely effective educational idea. As usual, the teachers and the Union Teacher have not

been consulted about this so-called 'modernization' or rather commercialization

of schools which we have witnessed in America with ill consequences concerning

not only education but in ruining physical and mental health.

Well, you can always kick your computer to see if it works again if it breaks down

during an on-line lesson. It might not do the trick, but you will feel a bit better.

Just don't take painkillers for your backache!

 

Stalingrad Veteran Interview

'IT WAS LIKE A DAY IN PARADISE' 

INTERVIEW WITH WAR VETERAN

By Oksana Chebotareva

Second City Teacher was fortunate enough to befriend and attain an

interview with a 96-year-old war veteran of the Great Patriotic War,

Alexander Dmitrivitch Levin, a lieutenant who worked with the counter

Intelligence group known as SMERSH. Oksana Chebotareva listened

to the veteran for hours in his home city of Kishinev, Moldova, where

he was awarded a medal just two years ago by the Russian consulate

for his brave role in the Battle of Stalingrad. Unlike many war veterans,

Alexander is not reticent .On the contrary, he is more than happy to

spend hours reminiscing about his wartime experience. He seemed

indefatigable. He could have spoken incessantly into the night was it

not for a relative who wanted to go home. When leaving he informed

Oksana that, "I'll tell you the second half later". Well, we are dying to

know! Levin reminded me of a veteran I had met by accident in

Moscow while waiting for an English student outside his apartment.

He told me in a matter of fact way about being on a barge at Stalingrad

and the terror of coming under German bombardment.

Levin said he was 96 and in good health. He was enjoying life. The

old proverb : 'Old age is no joy' does not seem to apply to him!

"I am looking forward to reaching 100 ". He seems very cheerful,

warm, friendly and an affirmative person. It is difficult to believe he

was a lieutenant who worked in the Counter-intelligence Unit

SMERSH. He spoke to us about his experience at the Battle Of

Stalingrad, the Battle of Budapest as well as his poignant meeting

and friendship with an Italian prisoner he had captured in Kishinev.

It is worth noting that the Russians did not seem to bear a grudge

against the Italians for their role in the war. There are stories of

Italian soldiers capturing a Russian female partisan and letting her

go because they felt sorry for her. Marshal Zhukov even made an

agreement which allowed Italian prisoners to be released and

to return home to Italy rather than remaining in long - term captivity.

Second City Teacher:  Could you tell us about your experience at the Battle of Stalingrad?

Alexander Demitrivich Levin:  The fighting was terrible. It was so bad that the wounded were rarely taken or rescued from the battlefield. They were just left to die on the battlefield.

I did not like this. I was lying on the ground.

I could not walk. So somebody made a stretcher out of a slate roof I saw on the ground

and tied it to a horse. Then he took me to the nearest medical station. It was a

horrible place to see. The surgeon on duty was like a real butcher. I did not

like how he was cutting into the wounds of soldiers to extract bullets with a knife.

All this was being done without any painkillers . There was not even vodka to

relieve the men.

Alexander Levin

You fought at the Battle of Budapest. How was that?

It was very difficult . We received no aerial support from Russian bombers. The

Russian air force did not want to bomb the underground metro stations because

they knew that civilians had taken shelter there and did not want to kill them.

The Hungarians fought to the last drop of blood. We were amazed at how brave

the Hungarian soldiers were. We really respected them for this.

And how did you meet up with the King of Romania?

We were assigned as a kind of body guard around him in the sense we

organised a security cordon around him. King Mihai I of Romania was

a great guy. We got on well with him. He shook hands with all my men but
his wife only shook hands with me.

There was a rich Hungarian too who we stayed with and treated us all to a beer.
We had a big feast there with dancing, and there was a romance with one
Hungarian girl, the daughter of the rich Hungarian where we stayed.

{Editor's note: Romania changed sides from Germany to the allies during

the War. The King played an important role in this changing of sides}

We liked the King so much we decided to give him a decommissioned ship as

a present with his name inscribed upon a metal plate we put on it.

What happened to your unit while in Kishinev?

My military unit was sent in advance to make sure there were no remaining

pockets of resistance in one part of the city . That is there were no longer

any bombs, snipers or saboteurs. After we had made a zone safe it was

the commanding officer's role to paint a message on the wall, with his name,

informing other troops that this place was safe. While we were searching the

cellars we came across one Italian soldier with curly hair who was hiding, and

we found his rifle in another room. He surrendered. One of my men shouted: "Let us

waste him". I told him, "Stop talking nonsense. We are taking him prisoner.

He can peel the potatoes for us". For the rest of his captivity he cooked for us.

I never liked this talk of killing unarmed prisoners. Then I noticed the Italian

eyes started to gleam when he caught sight of an accordion. It was clear to

us that he could play it so he played for us an Italian song called 'the Blue

Handkerchief '. {Now many people assume this is a Russian folk song but

it has Italian origins} We asked him to play the accordion and he could play

it well. He could even play some songs in Russian. We grew to like him very

much. I decided to let him go and place him on what I thought was a safe

train heading for Italy . When he said farewell to us he had tears in eyes and

started to cry. I don't know what happened to him. I spent a lot of time

wondering and worrying whether he had survived.

How did you experience the Day of Victory?

We ended the war while staying in one of Goebbel's castles in the Austrian

Alps. I recall how beautiful everything was. The fruit trees were all white

and blooming. Then we heard what was a horrible explosion or eruption of

thunder as if a bomb was going off. We thought we were being attacked

by partisans . We jumped out of the windows and took up positions ready

to shoot . But there were no partisans. Then we saw that people were throwing

up their hats into the air and some saying : "It is our Victory Day " and "We are

alive " . I can never forget the sky . It was so clear, crisp and transparent.

Everything looked beautiful. It was as if we were with God in paradise.

So you believe in God?

Yes, and I noticed that whenever my men entered a house and noticed

icons or crosses upon the wall they always took off their caps.

Sub Problems

Will CTU Address Huge Sub Problems?
By Jim Vail


While the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) runs around town throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars at candidates running for office, a huge problem concerning getting substitute teachers in the schools has not been addressed in the legislature.

People I talk to are still scratching their heads about why the CTU spent upwards of half a million dollars (some are saying to check out the IL Board of Elections site because it's far greater) to elect union employee Brandon Johnson as a Cook Country Board commissioner?

The Cook County is not overseeing the schools - that's the state and the mayor's office that determines the budget.

The CTU has huge budget problems that forced it to eliminate two field rep positions - not revealed at the House of Delegates meeting in June when the delegates voted in favor of the budget. However, the field reps showed solidarity and banded together to save the two positions.

Some could say the union has been reckless as it digs deeper into the political mine field, while teachers' woes continue to mount.

One very big concern for teachers all over the city is the problem of getting substitute teachers. Many classes such as bilingual, special ed, music, art, etc. have to be cancelled because there are no subs.

Why is this?

One big reason that an executive board member said he would address in the upcoming bargaining for a new contract is that teachers cannot bank their sick days. In other words, once teachers have banked 40 sick days, they can no longer use them to cash out after retirement or leaving the system, forcing teachers to 'use them or lose them.'

Also, teachers must use their three personal days during the school year, or again, lose them.

A remarkable grievance was filed by Susan Zupan from Taylor Elementary School on the South Side a couple years ago about all the missed preps teachers have because of the lack of subs. The grievance was finally settled and money was made available to the school.

While the CTU publicized this victory, the real story behind it hasn't been told. Zupan told me and others that she went through hell to file the grievance as she battled her principal. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) did everything to not honor it - although the money did come.

According to the contract, teachers are owed pay when they miss their prep period to prepare for classes. However, Zupan said the last contract took out language to allow such a grievance to be filed again.

The state just passed a new law to address teacher and substitute shortage throughout the state. Now people with just an associate's degree or 60 college credit hours can sub (CTU said this will especially be helpful for the PSRP's who can now sub if they lost their jobs) and retired teachers can sub 120 days instead of 100.

But not in Chicago! 

The state pension law is written so that Chicago retired teachers still can only sub 100 days - not 120 days like the rest of the state.

Just like Chicago is the ONLY city in Illinois that has an unelected school board comprised of members appointed by the corporate mayor to pass criminal budgets like this latest one that gives more money to white and wealthy communities at the expense of the black and Hispanic schools and further bankrupt the system by building new schools where the surrounding schools are under-enrolled and the student population continues to drop. Well, it actually mirrors the city's overall strategy to build high-priced condos with tax dollars (TIFs) while destroying affordable housing to kick the working class low income people out.

So why isn't the CTU addressing this sub problem for retired teachers and sponsoring a bill? 

I sent an email to the CTU political dept. and I am awaiting an answer.

The Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) trustee Bernie Eshoo said they are absolutely in favor of increasing the days for day-to-day subs in the city. She said the CTU should be working on insisting that CPS hire reassigned teachers. She said a big problem is that TAT (Temporary Assigned Teachers) positions are being filled by subs because it is cheaper for the school.

Another problem for retired teachers subbing in Chicago is the 100 day penalty, which Eshoo said is very punitive. She said some teachers who only subbed one day over the allowed 100 days owe the pension board thousands of dollars, which would further deter our valuable retired teachers from subbing. The trustees have repeatedly questioned how this can be fixed in the legislature.