But I’ve got to take issue with the idea that Dan Waters could be some sort of Moses for this stand-off. He may be TE Proud, but we have seen no evidence of his admiration for teachers. This is a superintendent that hasn’t met with his teachers (at least at the high school) in 5 years. He has a zero profile with his staff. I know many teachers that have not spoken to him since he hired them years ago. There is a very practiced and intentional distance that Dr. Waters has set up between the staff and the administration. It is a tense, uncomfortable, and awkward atmosphere–for administration and staff alike. Perhaps there is a business model that suggests that management should keep their distance from staff, that there needs to be separation to keep order, etc. If that’s the case, it’s just another example of how much education is not a business. If there is a profession that needs proximity and familiarity, it’s teaching. If there is a profession that involves “handholding,” it’s teaching (and nursing of course). Many elementary teachers were probably leading little We Are the Worlds all day today. This is not an atmosphere that’s been created by the teachers. But, admittedly, now that it’s so entrenched, it’s hard to imagine a sing-a-long. The funny thing is: it doesn’t actually take much to make us feel like we’re important. It is small little gestures–the kinds of gestures that teachers offer students–that can move us. Unfortunately, it is often a gesture-less place.

The impression many commenters to this blog have about teachers is wrong. We did not enter the profession out of greed. A teacher’s day allows no opportunity for vanity. It is a daily reminder of humility. It involves a lot of frustrating failure. There is no bull-dog mentality of getting all we can at the expense of others. If we are stubborn is out of protection. Our classrooms are often quiet places for reflection, risk, and reward. We do not compete against the classroom across the hall.

And before you slough this off on the PSEA, I can assure you that whatever commentary you’ve read, whatever message you’ve received from our union, is the voice of the teachers. As much as people like to picture puppets, that is simply not the case here. We would love to tell you more. We’re teachers; we like talking. But we can’t speak at school board meetings. We are not invited guests. The result is that you’ve got a bunch of people on the board who are talking about the research they’ve read about classroom size or teacher degrees–and no one allows a primary source. So, I suppose folks on this blog can keep saying that the PSEA has all the power, but that’s not going to make it any more true.

Because everyone has at one point attended a school and sat in front of teacher, many seem to think they know what it means to teach. I have visited a cardiologist once, but I don’t plan on telling him where to cut.

So Andrea, I can’t speak to how it was back in the day, but I can tell you now that a humanitarian ballad will not bring us all together. I think most teachers would settle for a little courtesy and respect–a feeling that the powers-that-be were interested in conversation. Every indication suggests otherwise.

I would also love to know what about the TEEA offer is so “extreme it’s not worth scrutinizing.” Those seem like hollow words. Scrutinize away.

This is one of the “perks” to employers to legally circumvent these taxes in another form of non salary “income” to employees. So if there is movement on benefits and an equal movement in the other direction of salary increases it seems to me this would be MORE expensive to the district. Make sense?

I have such strong memories of how this worked when Carol Aichele and I sat down with Paul Slaninka, Lou Miller and Ken Foelster. No PSEA rep. No lawyers in the room. Just information and the art of the possible. That’s what is lost here. The art of the possible. Everyone wants what they want. I do not believe the union can be busted, but the PSEA needs to step away. They do not have the best interests od the district. Union leadership is about union power. Has to be. Survival.
District leadership is about district survival.

I think your posts accurately capture the notion of “union busting”, the tenor of the School Board and their negotiating strategy, including their opening offer. As you suggest, the healthcare “salvo”, was intended to get their “heads out of the clouds”. Posturing, hopefully on the way to a solution that is equitable for the taxpayers, students, and teachers.

A further thought – I am not necessarily endorsing the board’s tactics here. I might take a different approach were I still there (I probably would be board president right now, I was vp when defeated in the 07 election). But I don’t want to say too much about tactics, one way or the other. I presume the board is doing what they think is necessary in order to end up where they need to be

This is all about negotiation. I settle lawsuits all the time as part of my work. If I have a claim for $1,000,000 and we think it is worth $500,000, I don’t start by offering anything near $500,000. I have to start a lot lower than that or I will never end up where I need to be. Now, if you are dealing with a party you know to be unrealistic, your opening has to be really low (sometimes offensively so) in order to get their heads out of the clouds. If you go for “transparency” as many have suggested here – throw out your real number – they never believe you, and all you have done is reinforce their idea that the case is worth $1,000,000 and in the end you will pay that if the plaintiffs hold firm.

Again, opening salvos are all about sending a message. I think the message is “we are really facing a fiscal crisis – we have already cut everything we could think of operationally, and now we are going to have to start cutting things that directly affect the kids and hurt the program. We are out of options and we need major concessions from the teachers in order to make this work.”

I had the pleasure of going to the 5/6 music concert at VFMS tonight. The auditorium was filled — even saw some lazy teachers there working at 9:30 and taking applause. Saw one of those overpaid administrators (in charge of music) there, who was spending half the evening there and heading to TEMS since it was also their concert. (Note: THIS IS SARCASM….occurs to me some here are a little rigid)

Going to an elementary orf middle school concert should be required of every negotiator, every taxpayer and all the union reps. Parents already attend (though I cannot tell you how depressing it is for me to see how many people in the audience are preoccupied with their cell phone screens…but that’s for another day).

They ran out of programs, so I dont’ even know who to credit for the performances, but when the stage was lined with children, accompanied by one of the band directors playing guitar, and the kids were singing “We Are The World…and the words (which I hadn’t heard in a long time) were sung as solos by verse, I thought about what Coal said above — growing weary with the rhetoric….so like Ray does when he reports on a school board meeting, I hope you’ll indulge this report on the concert: (with these song lyrics sung so beautiful by boys and girls who count on us):

“We can’t go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God’s great big family
And the truth, you know, Love is all we need
REALLY — LISTEN PEOPLE :)
When you’re down and out, there seems no hope at all
But if you just believe there’s no way we can fall
Let us realize that a change can only come
When we stand together as one…

We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
Its true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me”

TE Schools are terrific places to go and to work. We have wonderful people who work for us and with our children. We have wonderful children with supportive parents. Kids arent’ in 6th grade band because they walk to rehearsal at 7:15 in the morning.

How can we solve this? Trust. I don’t know how you get there though. I’m certain a strong voice could lead us out of this mess — and I wish the Board was not using administrators at the table — because Dan Waters could navigate this for us if he wasn’t tasked with riding the ship. I believe that. Dan is so TE proud he bleeds Stoga Crimson. He admires teachers. At least when I worked with him, teachers admired him. They have all grown up together. But since he is the messenger this time around, I’m not sure what can happen. The union doesn’t trust the district — and after these grievances, the board certainly doesn’t trust the teachers. If the board reads here, maybe they will re-think where the leadership can come from. You have to have a strong understanding of the underlying issues, and the numbers, and the options. It doesn’t take negotiation. It takes leadership and trust. There is no path to follow — so we need to build one.

Please.

I know people want to believe that the board has the best interests of the community in mind but I disagree. If they truly did, they would never have hired a known union busting lawyer to represent them. They could easily have made the same demands themselves. These techniques come right out of the handbook. I have seen them used firsthand. If busting the union was not the goal, then why the complete elimination of health care coverage for family?That’s not even realistic. Does anybody really think that is justified?

These types of demands are used to force the hand of the union. Yes, they have a continuation of status quo if nothing is agreed upon. But, they are hoping that the demotion of the higher paid teachers will get them to cave on some issues. Usually, the elders in a union are more involved then the younger members and of course have more Influence.

I hope that cooler heads can come together and hammer out a compromise. That would be true collective bargaining. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the next meeting will result in a unanimous vote to demote the highest paid teachers and then it will get real ugly.

The system is there ….. TC, TD, TE, TF…..it’s just not sustainable because it presumes a return, it doesn’t earn one.