Déjà vu All Over Again ?

I can't help but think of the Movie "Groundhog Day", where the residents of Gobbler's Knob relive the same story over and over...

I dare you ...

Somebody raised a question on an earlier post asking what another poster would propose doing if elected.   That's a great question.   I'm  certainly not running for anything, but here's a few things I would like to hear somebody have the guts to say:

#1:

"The Sandwich Schools are facing tough economic conditions, as are most of the residents of Sandwich.  I agree this is not the time to raise fees, nor is it the time to cut back on core academic resources.  Accordingly, we will be closing the pool effective immediately in order to reduce utility and staffing costs.  If the Town Recreation Department, the Council on Aging, the YMCA, or any other organization would like to take responsibility for the costs of staffing, and maintaining the pool -- including the required capital maintenance work to re-grout the pool, replace the filtration system, and make the pool handicap accessible to comply with the new Federal regulations, they should contact the School Department within the next 14 days.  Otherwise, the pool will be drained, and that space will be renovated when appropriate funds become available.

We appreciate the fact that many people use the pool on a regular basis -- and that they will be irate at this decision.  Unfortunately, the School Department has no choice given the pool's consistent inability to generate sufficient revenue to cover its operating costs.

We also believe that, while this move may seem drastic, it will eliminate the current financial hemorrhaging AND will allow the Community School to preserve its other valuable  offerings, including Adult Ed courses, and the School for Early Learning."

#2:

"We recognize that the most important asset of our school system is our teaching staff.  These are the professionals that actually deliver our only product -- the education of our children.  It unfortunate that egos, union politics, petty grievances, and more egos have prolonged this process excessively. 

Unfortunately, we strongly believe that individual union members are as uninformed of the true status of their own union's negotiations as are members of the general public.  I would invite the Union Leadership to join with the School Committee to publicly discuss the status of negotiations.  This would allow a great opportunity for the union leadership to explain exactly what they are asking the public to support.  This would also allow the Committee an opportunity to explain to the public AND the individual union members what the District is able to afford.  Then, union members can make their own decision as to whether to support the contract, or move to another District which they feel may offer better opportunities.  The taxpayers would also be able to make an informed decision as to what they are willing to support."

#3:

 "We continue to strongly support the concept of a STEM focused education.  We do however realize that there is little local appetite for a $15 million renovation of the High School at this time.  There is also certainly no appetite for spending $40 million to build or rebuild a new K-8 school. 

Instead, we would propose a redistricting process, which would shift current Wing students to either the Forestdale or Oakridge Schools which would allow us to eliminate the Wing building entirely. 

We acknowledge that this plan will still require some renovation work at each of the other schools.  We will. however, be requesting that our designers prepare a scaled-down renovation plan that could be accomplished in phases.  In the event the student population begins to expand, and if there was sufficient local support, we would consider additional renovation or construction at that time. 

While we would prefer to have made all renovations as soon as possible, we recognize that current economic conditions, and the large number of capital maintenance items we, as a town, are facing, makes the concept of a major renovation unrealistic at this time."

#4:

"We sincerely hope that the resolution of these three issues will help to begin rebuilding widespread public confidence in our public school system.  We believe this improved confidence will be crucial in reducing the number of families who choose to send their students to school outside of the District. 

I'm not holding my breathe.

Watch the camel ... here comes another straw !!

Do camels swim?

There was an interesting story in the CCT this week about a new Federal regulation requiring that public swimming pools be made wheelchair accessible by May 21 of this year.

I'm not going to argue about the merits of the law -- it appears to be a typical governmental knee-jerk over-reaction --- but it is the law nonetheless and other public pools have taken the law seriously and begun preparations.

Has anybody heard any local discussion of how we would be funding this required modification at our favorite local Community Pool?

Would it be done before or after we re-grout the pool, and replace the filtration and dehumidification systems?

How much are those new bus fees going to be?

Quote of the week ...

From "Flipper" :

"We need to hear less philosophical, historical, hysterical, rhetorical, theoretical, politically correct Bullshit and hear somebody say what will actually be done!"

Sometimes there are posts that just need to be moved to the top of the pile!

Reality? Not.

I received the following comment to an earlier post -- it so perfectly illustrates the warped perspective of the Teachers Union, that I'm moving it to the top:

Anonymous said... 

Teachers do not get paid to go to Graduation, Canobie Lake Park ( after the school day), write recommendations after school hours, and the list goes on, least of all massive amounts of hours preparing and correcting materials. People take all of these for granted, expecting free labor where they never question overtime with police and fire or other municipal workers. The freebies are gone and now people are seeing what they have been getting for nothing forever- from people who give freely and now want a contract that equals other municipal workers contracts. Why is this so hard to understand? Why are teachers expected to work for free?

The short answer is nobody expects anybody to work for free.

People do expect you to do the job that you get paid for. Teaching, like most professional careers, is not the same as flipping burgers at McDonald's. A teacher may have a specific number of hours in a classroom, but they are also expected to put in an appropriate number of hours outside of the classroom in order to be prepared to meet the objectives and expectations of their profession. That's the job. It's always been that way. If you don't like it find another one.

In the private sector, employees do not have the benefit of tenure. Few professionals have union protection -- they remain employed only as long as they continue to meet specific goals and achievements. Any professional private sector employee who would march out the door every day at 5:00 (never mind 3:00 !!) with the impression that their work was done would soon find themselves unemployed.  Private sector employees routinely work nights and weekends to keep their licenses and professional knowledge current, and to stay on top of their professional work obligations -- NO in-service days, NO prep periods, NO training days, and no ability to show irrelevant videos in class when they are unprepared (or unwilling) to do their job.

Private sector employees may get 2-3 weeks of vacation time (which they may be able to find time to use) -- BUT they definitely don't get 2 weeks at Christmas, a week in February, a week in April, a dozen holidays, and the entire months of July and August off.  And you certainly won't find many private employees heading home at 3:00.

The poster also made a humorous comment when he/she said:

"people who give freely and now want a contract that equals other municipal workers contracts"

Huh?  Other municipal unions (and many of the smaller school unions) took wage freezes for two years in a row.  The SEA has not.  Many SEA members continued to receive annual step & lane raises and longevity pay that well-exceeded inflation.  Depending on how the contract issue is resolved, they may also get a substantial amount of back pay for  FY '11 & FY '12.

How about salary numbers?  According to the Mass. Dept of Education, the average Sandwich teacher makes $69,609  -- an amount higher than the state average, higher than many other area towns, and higher than the towns of Beverly, Duxbury & Cohasset.  In a survey of 328 Districts for 2009-2010, Sandwich is the 107th highest in the state.  Not a huge margin --- but hardly a sign of neglect.  Don't believe me -- look it up on the DOE website.

They're getting almost $70,000 (plus pension, medical, dental, etc.) for a 9 month work year and a classroom day that ends by 3 PM.  Does the Union really think the guys running the dump and plowing snow are getting a better deal? 

Do they seriously want to equate their work situation with Police & Fire personnel? 

Do they really want to have these arguments with parents who work full-time, with minimal benefits, and  minimal time off, and who are now facing school bus fees AND hear that their kid's teacher won't write a letter of recommendation or attend a field trip to an amusement park which may extend their workday by an hour?   

Have they noticed that a large number of Sandwich real estate sales now show a bank as either the buyer or the seller.  Do they want to have these arguments with parents who have been laid off, and may have lost their homes?

Of course they do -- and that arrogant stupidity is why the contract has been unresolved for two years.

Planning to Fail (By Bob Guerin)

Many of us are probably familiar with the proverb: “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” 

If nothing else, the current school committee and school administration have failed all of us in the sense that they have failed to plan. The current school committee and school administration have purposefully decided to ignore several immediate challenges that represent huge impediments to healthy, financially stable school operations. Instead of dealing with the current challenges facing our schools, the Committee and Administration have chosen to discuss academic program changes, like STEM, and school construction projects, like the high school expansion, that are, quite literally, years down the road and unlikely to ever materialize without today’s challenges being addressed head on and definitively now. 

So what are the challenges and obstacles that threaten our schools and have yet to be resolved by the current school committee and school administration? 

In no particular, order the challenges and obstacles include: 

· The unsettled teachers’ contract which represents an unknown financial liability that could easily exceed $750,000 or more. The current school committee and school administrations’ lack of focus and resolve and communication on this issue should alarm parents and taxpayers. It’s well past time to tally the bill and pay up. 

· The unresolved Community School mess only grows worse with discussions of new unfunded pool spending and construction projects. The annual cost of propping up this house of cards is easily $150,000. Fixing this mess permanently and now should be a priority. 

· That the current school committee and school administration seems to unquestioningly believe the student population projections showing continual decline despite all of the permitted and in process housing projects AND the untold number of empty and unsold 3 and 4 bedroom homes in town. (Autumn Wood alone is a potential 300 bedroom project.) Guessing wrong on population trends will cost us big time – I promise! Somebody should recheck these projections and fast before we sell the buses and close the schools. 

· Our reality is that the current school payroll grows at a rate faster than the actual budget increases requiring annual service cuts and or staffing cuts. The schools’ and our towns’ reality is that we can’t afford what we have today; so why does the current school committee and school administration ignore that reality and only plan for years from now? 

Sadly, the list of critical planning areas that I’ve highlighted above that are being ignored by the school committee and administration is just a partial list. 

It’s too bad that our school committee and school administrations’ failures will cost taxpayers, parents and students dearly in the coming years. Plan on it! 

Here’s hoping that the coming election will bring new perspectives and new resolve to the Committee.

A Chess Game with 3500 Pawns ...

The Cape Cod Times noted that the Sandwich Teachers held an "informational demonstration" on Saturday.  Due to an apparent editorial oversight on the CCT's part (can you IMAGINE that?) the following paragraph was left off the story:  "Sandwich Taxpayers and Parents not employed by the School District were unavailable to join the demonstration because they were either busy supplementing their kids' educations or working to pay their property taxes, school fees, out-of-district transportation, healthcare, retirement, etc.".

Its gotten ridiculous.

An eighth grade teacher announced to her class this week that the annual trip to Canobie Lake Park was being cancelled because the teachers had no contract.  She then chose to spend a large amount of her class time detailing her opinion of the status of negotiations with the School Committee -- complete with a timeline drawn on the Board.  It's obvious her class has already taken the MCAS.  Its too bad that the School Committee is keeping their side of the agreement and not debating the contract publically -- it would be interesting to have kids (and taxpayers) hear the other side of the story.

What are the sticking points?

How does the SEA Gang expect to get public support if they won't tell us what we are supporting?

Union-President-For-Life Carlyle ("UPFL") is quoted in the CCT as saying: " It is not the contract. It's the fact we don't have one.".

Sure it is.

One resident has commented that the only thing she doesn't question when she hears the UPFL speaks is her home address -- and that's only because she had looked it up herself!

It's a tragedy that so many Sandwich teachers are so much better than the union officials that claim to represent them. It seems that the union has made every possible effort to destroy public support for the District -- whether its the constant mis-information, the refusal to offer a legitimate compromise on their payroll demands when every other Town Union (including many OTHER School Dept. unions) did two years ago, or their constant bickering and nonsensical grievances that have wasted time and legal expenses.  (Seriously, if a staff member has to be driven home from school because they are too drunk to drive, do you really think his/her termination is grounds for a grievance?  Really?  How about the other drunk who beat his/her discipline only to get busted in another Town?  Was defending those folks a good use of union dues and school legal dollars?  Really?)

What about that little item in the Emptyprize a few weeks back when they quoted the UPFL as saying that the union was available to negotiate any time -- but never asked her about a school committee member's comment about the SEA cancelling the two prior negotiating sessions.

Let's hear it for local journalism!

Dr. Canfield is working hard to navigate through a political-financial minefield and build bridges with taxpayers, and other Town officials.  It would be nice if the UPFL and her team would focus  some of their energy on those union members who don't have tenure, aren't on the top pay step, or don't teach at the High School.

Oh, and maybe think about the students too.