Of the Pot and the Kettle and Politics

The Bucks County Technical School (BCTS) voted to maintain the ninth grade by a vote of 11-1. There are 14 votes, and they needed 8. You wouldn’t think that there was any doubt about the legitimacy of the vote. Nonetheless the opponents (there are two, one of which was working and couldn’t come to this month’s meeting) said that their opponents “were trying to control the vote,” and that there “was a lot of politicking going on.” Why are they saying this? Well, they hail from the two smallest school districts that feed into BCTS, and are very concerned with how much they have to spend on the technical school (determined according to a formula they agreed to). They wanted ninth grade to be dropped because it would save them money. They didn’t get what they wanted. The vote controlling and politicking apparently took place last month, when the decision was postponed. If the vote had taken place last month, with only eight members present, two of them the opposition, it would not have passed. So putting the vote off until the votes were there to pass it was politicking. Wanting the vote to take place when the majority necessary to keep ninth grade was not present (even though a majority of the board and the necessary number to keep ninth grade existed) apparently isn’t politicking. This is called hypocrisy. They are keeping ninth grade … tell us why you are upset with the decision and shut up about it. Everything can’t be decided by consensus … as big a fan of compromise and cooperation as I am, even I realize that. When the time comes that a vote takes place and some people don’t get what they want, we have to be able to move on without nastiness and angry recriminations. Anger is fine. By all means tell the majority why they made a mistake, but try to check the classless and baseless accusations. They don’t create anything positive. The less political decisions at any and every level are seen as the culmination of battle and the more as a product of negotiation the better we will be.