“It's the same old song
But with a
different meaning
Since you been gone
It's the same old
song
But with a
different meaning
Since you been gone.”
If this isn’t
what Richie Webb, President of the Neshaminy School Board has been humming
these days; it certainly is what he is offering up. Despite the fact that the disagreement over
money between the Neshaminy School Board and the Neshaminy Federation of
Teachers has vanished, Webb is still singing the same old song. In expressing his disappointment over the
rejection of the Board’s last offer, he has claimed the provisions they want
are illegal (hard to imagine) and talked about the tools the Teacher’s Union
has used to state their case (strikes, teaching to the contract, etc. which
while not always well thought out have little to do with the merit of the Board’s
offer). He also has continued to talk
about the union as if it was an entity separate from teachers, which he would
like to exclude entirely from decision making.
It isn’t individual teachers who would lose the right to challenge major
changes to their jobs (what they can wear to school, what is in their lesson
plans, how they are evaluated, etc.) but the evil union. The title of his op-ed piece in the Bucks
County Courier Times begins with these two words “Workers' paradise,” a clever way
to echo consistent references by the Board and its supporters to socialism. He ends his piece with this line: “It is time for a
change in Neshaminy, and we appreciate the continued support of the public as
we deliver on this important promise to our parents, tax payers, and most
importantly of all, our students." In one seemingly innocuous line he sets this up as a war in which teh community should take sides and conveniently leaves out teachers in his list of groups whose interests and needs the Board should be concerned with.
So, Despite an
agreement on money, Webb continues to speak in terms of ultimatums, trot out
the bogeymen of evil unions and socialism, encourage the community to take
sides, and generally set this up as a battle to the death. He continues to sing the same old song, even
though it has a different meaning now that the monetary differences are gone. That, unlike the classic cover song by KC and the
Sunshine Band, is a shame.
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