Deliberative Session Update
August 9th, 2008A couple of brief points from and about today’s Deliberative Session.¹
One, the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association continued their immensely appalling attempt to prevent any improvement to the schools or district by seeking to block the special election for a third time on Thursday.
Let me say that again: Judge Tucker was obliged to rule for a third time against the taxpayers group. He voted in favor of the district despite the original obstructionist objection from the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association and he ruled against their motion for reconsideration, and now he’s ruled against their motion for an injunction.
One would think the Taxpayer’s group (all five² of them) would have noticed crossing the line from “dedicated to their goals”³ into “asinine.”
*Sigh* That’s what I like about the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association. They’ve only got one story to tell, and once you’ve heard it, they’re not needed anymore: Taxes bad. Schools bad.
Got it, thank-you. Meanwhile, those of us looking for solutions will be hanging out in this little place we call “reality.”
In the same vein…
The teacher’s contract did pass the Deliberative Session this morning. Of course, it did so with some antagonism. One individual who identified himself as a member of the Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association did stand up and make a motion amending the contract.
Of course, if that motion had passed it would have meant the contract would have to go back to the School Board and the Teachers in order to be approved, thus violating the judge’s order, as that could not occur before the September 9 voting date.
This was pointed out, and our Monadnock Taxpayer’s Association representative explained that he knew this and didn’t care.⁴
The good news is that the motion failed, with only twelve people voting for it. Now what needs to happen is the same overwhelming sort of support to occur on September 9.
1 For the record, I wasn’t there and freely admit there may be mistakes with some portions of this account. A good friend passed away this Wednesday and I was with the family making funeral arrangements, so much of this is second-hand. If there’s an error, please note it in the comments and I’ll correct as soon as possible. ↺
2 However vile those goals may be… ↺
3 I’m taking a guess here, since they refuse to publish a list of their membership. Gotta love people who hide their names in the shadows. It’s so very American… John Hancock, I’m sure, is pleased the way they’ve used their freedoms. ↺
4 Shows so very much respect for the rule of law, yes? ↺
August 9th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Special elections are for emergencies. Since when is getting a RAISE an emergency? I’m sure if I told my boss that my getting a raise was an emergency, he’d laugh me right out of the factory.
Judge Tucker has broken the law. Maybe because of what goes on in the schools people are thinking public education has worn out its welcome. Maybe it’s not just ‘for the children’ anymore.
Maybe if they didn’t spend so much money on frivolous consultants and wacky programs that belong on Oprah and not in the schools, people would have some faith in the system.
There are even a lot of teachers that agree with this. Some of us might even belong to the MSTA!
-wink-wink-
RJH:
And the beautiful thing is you’re caught red-handed lying about being a teacher in the district, “not rich.” But I’ll handle that Monday.
August 9th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Thanks for the update RJH, was sorry to miss the meeting but I had a family commitment.
Lets hope for a great start to the school year with teachers finally getting a contract in place.
The haters will continue, but the district, and apparently the judicial branch of government, is catching on to their obstructionist ways.
One of these days we need to compile a list of all the legal cost the MSTPA has cost the taxpayers of the district.