Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I Love the Neshaminy School Board

The Neshaminy School Board finds itself locked in a battle of wills with the teachers union … a pretty nasty winner takes all type of battle … and that is whole the problem. The Teachers Union is supposed to be self interested. Their job is to look out for the interests of teachers. That’s OK. Teachers are allowed to be self interested. The fact that they work with children doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to be paid fairly or get good benefits. Teachers Unions should keep the long term health of the school system in mind if for no other reason than because it is in their interest to do so, but they are supposed to secure the best deal they can for teachers.

The school board is in a different position, or at least it should be. They aren’t supposed to be motivated by self interest. They aren’t supposed to do what is best for the board. They are supposed to do what is best for the school district as a whole (including teachers). They certainly are not supposed to be targeting the teachers union as an enemy. It should not be that a defeat of the teachers union is a victory for the School Board. Residents shouldn’t be lining up to declare sides. No one should be putting signs on their front lawn declaring their love for the school board. No one should be spewing venom against teachers on the facebook site and blog of a member of the school board, misleadingly titled as if they are official, and no one should be throwing insults left and right on their own “taxpayer” website. The School Board is supposed to be engaging in negotiations as if it is more of a partner than an adversary.

Unfortunately, the Neshaminy School Board is pretty adversarial. Unfortunately, people do have signs that declare their love for the Neshaminy School Board. Unfortunately, board member William O’Connor does have a blog and a facebook page, which seem to serve as places for people to gather and cheer on the board in their fight with the evil and misguided union. Unfortunately, Larry Pastor (a ‘taxpayer’ with a few dozen axes to grind), does have a site, ‘Taxpayers for a Fair Neshaminy School Budget,’ which is full of personal attacks, half truths, innuendo, and just plain old ignorance.

Many on the School Board and among their ‘supporters’ seem to think that the problem is that they aren’t getting their message across. They seem to believe strongly that they have the better of the argument. They may be right … but I don’t care. Message is immaterial when you behave in the way that the board and their supporters have. Approach matters. Process matters. Negotiations should be handled in good will. Compromise and cooperation should be the rule of the day. Insults and snide comments should not. The Neshaminy School Board has created a battle with the teachers union, and has tied itself to people like Larry Pastor who seem capable of little beyond insults and conspiracy theories. The Neshaminy School Board has vacated its responsibility of looking out for the best interests of the district as a whole, and has become a private interest in and of itself … an object of love and fealty. There really is only one way out of this mess. We need a new school board, one that will leave the destruction of unions to somebody else and just do its job. That is the bottom line. Larry Pastor would have to find someone else to insult, but the rest of us would be better off.

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