More Coffee, Please

The town of Sullivan is edging closer to suing the school district. Seems like we have more lawsuits than any truly meaningful conversations—I’m hoping it’s just perception, but as this is the third storm I’ve seen on the horizon, I think not.

The central issue is early retirement for teachers. This has been a hot-button issue for the last two years, and a major reason there was no contract presented to the voters in March 2007. Originally Designed to save the district money by allowing older, top of the pay-scale teachers to retire and make way for younger, cheaper teachers, apparently it no longer does so in the minds of some. Since the time of its original inclusion it’s become the target of anyone looking to stir bad blood. There’s always anger at teachers—they have “all that time off”¹—and for a working class community, allowing “those leeches” to leave early just seems so unfair. “I don’t get to…why should they?”

I don’t have the numbers to say whether or not it saves the district money. I’m decades away from being effected by it myself, but my experience has been it’s needed. There are many top-notch teachers I would like to see stay long past their retirement. There are many bottom rung monsters I would like to have seen brought to pasture years ago. Since I think a bad teacher harms more than a good teacher helps, I’m happy to see them go, even if we do lose a few gems along the way.

What I do know is it was negotiated in good faith. The board and the union sat down, worked it out, and presented it to the voters as best they knew how, in the same manner they had presented dozens of other contracts.

I’m going to make this really clear—they did what they had always done. The volunteers on the board—many of whom have expressed to me that they do this work unpaid and for their community—presented the contract as they have always done. It was voted on and approved by small town citizens, by volunteers, with no doubts, with no lawyers.

And then…well, enter the sour grapes. Lovely, isn’t it? Call a lawyer, and tear apart what was done, what was said, what “t” wasn’t crossed and what “i” wasn’t dotted. I’ve no doubt everything asserted by Sullivan is true, and I have no doubt once again that this will be another loophole which will invalidate a contract. It’s happened before, earlier this year.

So there will be a win, and the folks will sit back, satisfied. “A win,” they will say, “and all is now right.”

But it isn’t. Because all it means is there will need to be more lawyers, and less citizens. Integrity will matter less than words on paper, and costs will be higher as lawyers for the school board, union, and towns scrutinize each contract. The process will become more like business, less like self governance, and more angry, more bitter.

There’s a big difference between what is legal, and what is right. There’s a major difference in winning a battle and losing the war. I pray my students understand this when they leave. I wish the folks down the road did.

1 I love this lie. It’s dealt with better here and here than I could.

Gregarious

Share This