I saw her lips move !!

How can you tell when the President of the Teachers Union is distorting the truth?

Easy -- her lips are moving!

As one school committee meeting observer noted, he's pretty sure the only completely truthful statement she makes in front of the cameras is when she gives her address -- but he is even tempted to double-check that!

Another case in point was buried at the end of Emptyprize article this week (Surprise -- the Emptyprize missed yet another opportunity to mix a little news in with their pablum !!).

President-For-Life Carlyle stated that "we will meet whenever the School Committee is ready to meet" yet there is absolutely no follow-up to a school committee member's published comment that they were left sitting at the table when the UNION'S attorney cancelled meetings.  Wouldn't a logical question to the President-For-Life be --  "Hey, you say you'll meet anytime -- yet you keep cancelling meetings -- what gives?".

There was also a comment about the union working for a zero increase in FY '11.  That's bullshit because the FY '11 contract still isn't settled. It may eventually be settled at a 0% -- but if not, her members will be getting retroactive increase checks as soon as the contract is signed.  If they really accepted a 0% for all of FY '11 I can't imagine it would be a secret!!  They have never signed a contract with a 0% increase.  

Then there was a comment about the School Committee reneging on a "tentative agreement" in December of 2010.   Standard procedure is for the members of the School Committee's negotiating team to reach a preliminary agreement with the union (and amongst themselves) and then go back to the full School Committee (plus one Selectmen) for a vote.   Because of conflicts of interest, the current negotiating team has only 2 members.

Given those mechanics, the "tentative agreement" story is questionable at best!  I would suspect that one of the two Negotiating Team members missed a meeting (which happens to people who have real jobs!) and the other one (who has a name very similar to an Australian jumping varmint) decided to advance a proposal all by herself.  I would suspect that once the laughter stopped, it was pointed out that a single member (even one that knew what he/she was doing !) can't reach a "tentative agreement" on anything!

Another opportunity to mix a little "research" into the story would have been to follow-up on President-For-Life's comments on comparative salaries.  As much as we enjoy stats from the Mass Teachers Association - the Mass Dept. of Education provides average salary teacher compensation for every district in the Commonwealth (Click Here). Here's some better details of average salaries for FY '10:

DISTRICT	Average Salary
NAUSET	$80,494
BARNSTABLE	$72,234
CAPE COD	$71,421
FALMOUTH	$71,156
MASHPEE	$69,883
SANDWICH	$69,609
STATE AVG	$68,781
CHATHAM	$68,534
UPPER CAPE COD	$67,543
DENNIS YARMOUTH	$67,513
BOURNE	$66,010
BREWSTER	$65,360
HARWICH	$62,322
ORLEANS	$62,159
PROVINCETOWN	$59,187

The more this nonsense drags on, the more I agree with Mike Merolla (not something you hear every day!) -- negotiations should be televised.  Let the world see what really is going on -- I would bet the whole process could be wrapped up in no time!

I was once criticized by President-For-Life for referring to the "Theatrics of Negotiation"  (when some of her members gave my daughter a hard time during the negotiation of the last contract) -- lately it's become a theater of the absurd.  It's unfortunate that her antics and rancid rhetoric seem to have have continued to prolong and distort the negotiating process.  She seems to have gone out of her way to stick a finger in the proverbial eye of every taxpayer and even members of every other town and school union.  She has done nothing except harm to her cause, her members, her employer, and -- worst of all -- our students.

I hope union members can encourage her to get another hobby.

Killion Kommission: "Ding the Wing!"

Once upon a time, I argued against the idea of consolidating schools because I didn't believe that a Town full of four bedroom colonials would not once again support 4,000 students.   BUT .... that was before hearing that it would cost somewhere well north of $30 million to fix or replace the Wing.  It was also before the huge growth in Choice and Charter Schools.  The reality is that students have already begun shifting from town to town -- based on programs offered, rather than how close the school is to their homes.  Every Town no longer needs to maintain classroom space for every potential student.

Stockpiling empty seats and excess capacity is a luxury Towns can no longer afford.  Consolidation is inevitable if Districts have any hope of providing a quality education in the future.  (See interesting article on school regionalization)

That being said, it was good to see the CCT's article discussing the potential of closing down the Wing and shifting all 7th & 8th graders to a new wing at the High School (would we call it the  "Wing wing" ?)-- a plan that would "only" cost $16 Million (let's call it $20 Million so we can avoid being "surprised" when the cost overruns start!).  

This would likely start a chain reaction of consolidation across Town -- town offices from the Annex, Jan Sebastian, Oakcrest, the HSB, and the Back Table at the Taverna could all be shifted to some piece of the Wing -- even the School Administration could go there which would actually encourage consolidating the two major financial functions under the same roof.  That would also allow the Town to liquidate some assets that are in miserable condition -- which they could not otherwise afford to repair or replace.

BUT .... those old buildings need to be sold.  Nobody can pull a "Clark-Haddad" where six years after the decision to dump the building, folks are still sitting on their hands trying to get the guts to acknowledge that it is a crappy building that we can not afford to maintain -- and that it should be sold -- REGARDLESS of who went to kindergarten there!

We can deal with the Newly-renovated Town Hall later.  I am sure the Hysterical Society, or the local Chamber of Commerce could fight over it --- maybe they could even build a Boardwalk from it -- or sell "free" spring water from the $325,000 faucet to pay the rent.

Buried deep in the story there was also an interesting point about the potential High School renovation displacing The Community School.  I guess that's one way to solve the pool problem --- THAT uprising should be amusing!

It Takes Two to Tango / Norma Rae doesn't live here anymore

The CCT is reporting that the Teachers Union began picketing this morning. Seems logical -- particularly if they are trying to eliminate the precious little public support to which they cling. The Town unions and many of the smaller Sandwich School unions settled for contracts and wage freezes two years ago. The SEA still hasn't agreed to anything.

Maybe the SEA would like to explain exactly what the unresolved issues are? 

 Do they expect taxpayers to support a contract without even knowing what's in it?

I think its time the SEA shows a little "ResPect" (that was the spellling on the sign at SHS this AM -- must have been a math teacher) to the taxpayers and parents who are already working multiple jobs with little vacation time, few benefits, and no pensions.

Now the schools want to triple the K-8 sports fee, and teachers are threatening to not write college recommendations, and cancel after school activities -- even though teachers are paid to "volunteer" for them (see pg 35 of the contract) ?  That should help build support for the schools!

Maybe the School Committee should finally execute the Evergreen Clause (see pg 37, final paragraph) which states:

"In the event the parties commence negotiations for a successor Agreement as provided herein, and such negotiations are not concluded before August 31, 2010, then, in such event, the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect until a successor Agreement is executed; but in no event beyond August 31, 2011." (emphasis added)

Throw the old contract out, and start over.

MY STANDARD DISCLAIMER ON TEACHERS -- My kids have had many great teachers in Sandwich.  My oldest daughter graduated from SHS and is now studying to be a Teacher, my mother and many members of my family were teachers.  I readily acknowledge I don't have the patience to be a good teacher.   I am pro-teacher, but I believe that good teachers should be well-compensated  based solely on their own ability -- just as any other profession.   The biggest beneficiary of union protection are those teachers who could not be retained based on their own abilities and merits.  

Survey This ... (By Bob Guerin)

Almost every time I hear a story or read an article about our school system two things occur. First, I find myself wondering how the staff and administration have let whatever I am reading about happen and second, I try to imagine why such an obvious problem or shortcoming hasn't been previously identified and corrected. 

Today's story, from the Cape Cod Times, highlights discipline and suspensions. 

The story reports that during 2010/2011 2 students at Wing School, 8 at Oak Ridge and 25 at Forestdale School were suspended. I am sure Wing is the smallest of our 3 schools; while Forestdale and Oak Ridge are comparable in size. Still, aren't these numbers alarming? 

At nearly 3 times the rate of Oak Ridge, and twelve times the rate of Wing, Forestdale School is suspending children from a K - 8 school. If we can assume that nobody in grades K through 4 ever gets suspended, then all of this disciplinary nonsense is taking place in just 4 classes -- grades, 5, 6, 7, and 8. 

Either the children of Forestdale are a mob of undisciplined, perhaps violent and chronically prone to unruly behavior clan, or just maybe, the staff or administration of Forestdale is failing our children dramatically. 

Either the neighborhoods of Forestdale are producing and raising a disproportionate number of budding social misfits or the teachers and staff at Forestdale are failing to lead, to teach and to role model. 

Maybe this should signal a problem to someone in Administration. Maybe? 

Maybe we should take a survey? Maybe.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record ...

(If anybody remembers what a record was!) ....

Before the School Department asks for more money -- or triples my K-8 sports fee -- I would like assurances that the money that I already give them is not being used to entertain people who are not enrolled in grades K-12.

Specifically, is the Community School reimbursing the District for all of its operating costs yet?  

How much did the Community Pool reimburse the District for utility usage this year?  Where are those funds recognized in the Budget?

How was construction of the "cabanas" funded?  (I'm going to skip any jokes about what the cabanas have been used for -- or the quality of the supervision in either the locker room or the pool area!)

If the Pool continues to run at a major loss (as the last audit showed that it did), does the School Committee plan to continue to allow the parents paying for Drivers Ed & Pre-School, as well as those taking night courses, to subsidize pool costs ?  Does the fact that such a large percentage of pool users benefiting from this generosity don't even live (or pay taxes) in Sandwich concern anyone? 

And, what about that audit?  Are the auditors coming back to see if the issues raised in their report have been addressed or ignored (again)?

(OK -- Here's the standard Community Pool Discussion Disclaimer:  I think the Community School, including the Pool, provide great programs that benefit people of all ages from Sandwich and surrounding Towns.    If the Town wants to take over the pool, and try to fund it through a Town meeting appropriation, good luck.   But, do not use the tax dollars appropriated to support our kids' education to reduce the cost of swim time for the nice people in Barnstable, Mashpee, Falmouth etc.    They can pay for their own recreation.)

Random Budget Thoughts before I switched to Hawaii 5-0...

I don’t watch School Committee meetings much anymore.

Yelling at the TV and making motions from the couch just don’t seem to accomplish much. (But, then again, I could say the same for many people who are actually at those meetings!) 

I saw most of last night’s meeting, but was forced to change the channel when Kangas started repeating her “thoughts” on the literacy program for the 5th time. I thought there was something wrong with the cable -- she’d finish her statement, and then start over again, and again, and again.

What happened to her? She went from bitching about postage and copying expenses to advocating FOR a $1.3 million budget deficit and saying “Let’s just throw ANOTHER $200,000 on that budget request”. So much for the “Budget Watchdog".

Where was Linehands? The Guardian of All that is Good once again didn't bother to vote on the annual budget – this will be 2 out of the past 3 annual budget votes she hasn't shown up for. Is she ignoring her duty as an elected School Committee member because SEA members were in the room holding signs complaining about their inability to negotiate a contract? Doesn't sound like very good representation for her constituents. 

Speaking of contracts, as of today I have been 9,897 days without a contract! I have managed to maintain gainful employment based solely on my own abilities and constantly-evaluated job performance. On the bright side, I now get 3 weeks’ vacation and a handful of holidays – which gives me time for my continuing professional education – and some time to work a few side jobs to get some money into my self-funded retirement account. 

You want to raise my K-8 athletic fees how much? 

Did I miss the part of the budget presentation when somebody mentioned that the School District was going to stop subsidizing the swimming program for those nice people from Mashpee, Bourne, Falmouth, Barnstable, etc? 

Did I hear somebody say Bus Fees? 

Did I miss the part where somebody said they were going to complete the audit work that was started on the Student Activity Account, Athletic Revolving Account, and Community School Program 3 years ago? 

How about a reserve in this budget for anticipated legal fees and settlements, as well as contract negotiations.  (I don't need specific numbers --- I just want to know these issues have been considered.)

I’m sure they must have had those discussions while I watched Steve McGarrett & Co. save the world.