A Truth is Not THE Truth

Summary Paragraph: In which Menin argues once again that taking facts out of context can bear little relationship to a universal truth, and wishes things were as simple as some people believe.

One more time. Does the teacher salary matrix, as negotiated 3 years ago, seem somewhat insensitive to the current fiscal crisis we are in? Yes. When I was the only SC member to vote against the approval of the contract at the time, something hard for me to do because I am a teacher, and a former member of a teacher's union, I said we were mortgaging the future, and that if the proverbial bottom dropped out, the teachers would bear the brunt of criticism. I am not Nostradamus; I just believed, 3 years ago, it would have implications down the road.

Is the salary schedule and structure a significant driver in the overall increase of school costs? Yes. The only one? No. Singling out the teachers, and analyzing their contract with no reference or familiarity to exactly what was gained or lost at the table is short-sighted, simplistic, and what those familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous call "stinkin' thinkin'."

Why? Because the analysis makes assumptions that are drawn not from reality, but from the way you think reality is, must be. The teachers have snookered the SC, the SC snookers the community, and what we have here is a whole lot of snookerin' going on. An assumption. A particularly nasty one, because it gains momentum to the degree it can demonize "the other" (fat cat selfish teachers), and do collateral damage as well (that easily snookered, lying School Committee).

So, what do we gain here that is of use to the community? After two of the hardest years our staff have ever had to endure, we are blaming them for all the problems of the schools. After
the SC has finally managed to address a range of problems from building safety to best practices through a reconfiguration that saved $750,000 in one year, and postponed any discussion of building a new school ($30,000,000) for ten years, we are finding a way to blame the School Committee.

Nothing. Nada. In fact, these truths, proffered as so self-evident, damage our relationship with the teachers as we go into contract negotiations. Maybe we'll clean out that rat's nest of ineptitude that has been pretending to be a SC. That's not tough; there will two new members under the worst case scenario.

Is every licensed teacher a good teacher? No.
Is every cop a by the books, honest cop? No.
Is everyone choosing to home school kids doing the right thing? No.
Is every Hollywood star a hedonistic, drug-using moron? No.
Does every player in baseball use steroids? No.

Like I've said before, a goat has a beard, but that doesn't make it a Rabbi.

Are the teachers solely responsible for the increase in costs in the running of schools? When 25% of our budget is used to pay for our statutory obligations to 10% of the student population, and that 25% can vary (upwards, always upwards) by $250,000, no. When utility costs doubled in one year, and every building we have has envelope issues, no. When the state requires every teacher to get a Master's Degree in an accredited program within five years to maintain a license to teach, you are dealing with a work force that needs constant professional development. I haven't finished the research, but I'm betting that aside from cosmetologists no licensed profession starts at a lower average base salary.

Has the time come for a new approach by the entire city to negotiating salaries? Yes, absolutely. We are way, way overdue for it. Can I sit here tonight and tell you what we will put on the table, take it or leave it? No, because that is bargaining in bad faith. There are labor laws prohibiting that kind of posturing on either side before talks begin; engaging in a specific public dialogue about upcoming contract negotiation strategies and goals in a specific way wanders dangerously close to the edge of what is legal; and it is way over the top when it comes to demonizing the second largest workforce in the city.

There will be reforms in upcoming contracts. There will be a reflection, I expect, of the increasing importance of student achievement and professional development, of new approaches to teacher assessment approached in upcoming contracts. It will take time; the reality is that when we sit down with the Newburyport Teachers Association to negotiate, they are represented by the Massachusetts Teachers association; in effect we are sitting down with every teacher's union in the state, and trying to avoid negotiating the same contract with the NTA that everyone else has. We are optimistic.

But anybody who thinks that there will be wholesale changes in one contract, while at the same time using a simplistic analysis of the last teachers contract without any reference to context, is naive, and in my estimation, simply not ready for prime time. Now is not the time for bluster and finger-pointing. You may have discovered a stand-alone context-less truth, but don't try peddling that crap as THE TRUTH. There is no one, single truth, especially when your analysis lacks any context.

That is your truth, and you are welcome to it. At it's very heart, it is divisive and incomplete. The city deserves a better and more honest framing of the issues, and the students deserve an elected official who is able to resist reducing complex problems to simple yes/no, us/them formulations.