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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > September > 08 > Entry
Let the healing begin?
Huber Heights schools, desperately in need of healing and fence mending, got off to a rocky start last night as the school board ratified a new three-year contract for teachers and support staff.
Board member Carl Fisher, the no vote in a 4-1 decision, called out the teachers during the board meeting, speaking directly to union president Becky Whited, he said, “shame on you for leading our teachers out on strike.”
He went on to say, “Grow up and take responsibility for your actions. I’m afraid this community may pull its support and put us in a financial dilemma — then we’ll all have something to cry about.”
Not exactly the kind of first step toward reconciliation these two camps could really use.
Fisher’s statements and the details of the final deal show two things about a strike that never should have happened — it was the broken relationships that led talks to collapse and in the end it was money that settled the deal.
When talks broke down, the two sides were very close to a deal — too close to not get one done. The sides essentially agreed on pay and were close on health care costs.
During the strike, we heard a lot from the union about other issues like class size, outsourcing and release time. How did those issues get resolved?
—Class size. A new committee will review problem cases.
—Subcontracting. No ban on outsourcing, just a guarantee that no CURRENT teachers lose their jobs to outsourcing.
—Release time. The trade off was two more teacher workdays in exchange for giving up one hour early release days.
Folks those are NOT earth-shattering changes and every one of those issues should have been resolved prior to a strike.
Which leaves us with money. In the end, the union gave the board what it wanted — more employee contributions toward health care — in trade for a one-year free pass with current benefits and another year with a solid 3 percent pay raise on the back end of the deal. They both got a financial takeaway they needed to strike a bargain.
The new contract is a good compromise, but one that was mostly about money and one that certainly could have been worked out without a strike, but for the pervasive mistrust on both sides.
So what do you think of the deal and of Fisher’s comments?
Permalink | Comments (24) | Categories: Schools and Politics
Comments
By keith
September 15, 2006 5:08 PM | Link to this
Now we’ve heard from the hate teachers, from the I know everything about what a teacher does because I went to school once upon a time, and the we don’t want to pay the cost of educating children, I support the teachers. There’s a history with Mr. Kirby. Mr. Fischer’s parent-like putdown to the children (teachers) is typical of many boards. If only those teachers just wouldn’t stand up for what’s right, we could employe more upper administration filling it with our buds and relatives. We can always justify spending more on administration. It’s hard to justify paying teacheres more for quality. As a teacher who heard a retiring teacher my second year say “I worked for peanuts all my life. Don’t you do it” I see that the teachers were run down this path with no other choice by the HH super and the board with help from the chart-school and community-school oriented DDN.By j in huber
September 13, 2006 2:33 PM | Link to this
I will assume that the outside contractors that the Huber teachers are so worried about come from the county. I know of several districts that use county services and those outside contractors are certified teachers that are highly trained and competent. It is often more economically more advantageous for the district to use these services because the county takes care of payroll and insurance. I guess the downside for the teachers in Huber is that these teachers are not members of their union and therefore do not pay dues to the union. Whoa! It all makes sense now, less money for the union, less money to spend on OEA and NEA political conventions. No more trips to Disney World (that’s where they went last year). Have you noticed I haven’t said anything about benefiting the children? It never crossed my mind because that mantra is just a sham, especially for HHEA. Professional unions are a scam because they are only interested in protecting their pocketbooks and have little or no interest in what the average member cares about. I support Huber schools in hiring outside contractors because the district is working to remain economically feasible in these times of budgetary constraints without raising my taxes.By Mary
September 13, 2006 11:06 AM | Link to this
I think bad judgments can be made regarding outsourcing, but having a blanket rule against outsourcing is just as bad. The needs and opportunities for students should trump protecting a teacher’s job. Teahers’ unions and staff and even board sometimes take a stand against opportunities outside the traditional public school, such as the Post Secondary Enrollment Option. Existing money for a student can be diverted to another education source, in this case - colleges. The staff’s tone in the matter was not for the good of the student, but for control of the dollars.By happy hubby of
September 13, 2006 12:18 AM | Link to this
re justteach - amen brother, well stated !By happy hubby of
September 13, 2006 12:08 AM | Link to this
a huber heights city schools teacher and i believe sthat scott’s views are much too simplistic when considering “sub-contracting. First consider supt. kirby’s past life in indiana. he collects indiana retirement,his last district’s teachers went three years without a contract,and the entire special education department was out-sourced to a contractor that runs a “for profit” business. Maybe the hhea feels they can best meet the special education needs in the community. eight years ago, we got a new neighbor behind us, he was a retired toolmaker that moved from kettering. my wife and i both went through kettering schools. he and his wife and daughter(former special needs student) and her daughter (with special needs)gave up a nice home in a very nice neighborhood to move to huber heights.they came here because of the excellent reputation of the district for providing special needs education !!! scott, does this info cast a different light on sub-contract negotiations ?? what was the boe’s real intent on hiring supt. kirby ?? Was the hhea simply being mistrustful as you suggest or were they being very prudent ?? ps - in indiana, it is against the law for public service employees to strike; however ohio law is different !!!By Justteach
September 12, 2006 8:11 PM | Link to this
Kirby and the School Board were assisted continuously by the media in getting their incomplete and sometimes false message out without asking any hard-hitting, newsworthy questions, such as: “Did you outsource positions in your previous district, Mr. Kirby?”, “Were there similar contract disputes that were unresolved in your previous district, Mr. Kirby?”,”Have you suggested ending the contributions to the teachers retirement system (STRS),that teachers receive in place of Social Security Mr. Kirby?” “What was the purpose of the home mailings and phone calls to teachers, if not to intimidate, Mr. Kirby?” “Why did you bring in outside legal advice, rather than rely on the usual representation for the district, Mr. Kirby?”, “Why did you vote to cancel sports and extracurriculars in the case of a strike, and yet order practices to take place? Was this to place pressure on teachers that you had no intention of following through with, Mr. Kirby?” “Why did you say to the press that you would negotiate all night if you had to to reach a settlement,break off talks at 10:00pm, and refuse to meet again for four days until the strike took place?” Until the press in this town loses its bias, does its homework through research, and accurately reports and questions both sides, John Q Public will remain uninformed about many issues.By j in huber
September 12, 2006 1:18 PM | Link to this
Excuse me, old prof, pseudounilateral? Are you making up words now? I admit, I had to pull out the old Oxford unabridged dictionary for that one. Impressive, but, wrong. You represent the old guard that ruined public schools in the past and the elitist “intellectuals” that OEA and NEA political action committees, I mean unions, represent today. As a teacher, I know they don’t represent me. All I want to do is teach, and if that means I must outperform the charter schools, no problem, I already do. And if I am expected to teach my students what they need to know in order to be intelligent and productive citizens, not a problem and if you can see the proof through achievement testing, great, I have nothing to hide. I do the best I can and I expect that from my students. I don’t need you, Mr. Old Prof pontificating about the evils of today’s education system. Just over 50 years ago it was alright to exclude certain populations from your school like African American, the mentally challenged and physically challenged. Oh, the good old days… Pseudounilateral? Give me a break.By hht
September 11, 2006 9:55 PM | Link to this
Dear Steve, I like your idea of having contracts run the same year as board members are elected. The only problem is the board members rotate in elction years:two one year and three two years later. I agree board members get real egos for some reason when serving the public. To Mary, if the Ohio state legislature would fix school funding then school systems wouldn’t have to worry about whether levies are needed or not and how to get them passed. Adminstrators and staff could put more energy into their jobs.By Steve
September 11, 2006 9:44 AM | Link to this
As an outsider looking in (and who lived near the Huber Heights area), I was pleased to see that someone has spoken up against the teachers union. Yes, our children need to have a good education, yes the teachers need to be paid decently,and yes every once in a while adjustments need to be made. But, not at the cost of our children getting the proper education. Unfortunately this problem is everywhere in the U.S.. Teachers do not need to be using tactics like they do to force school boards hands. Instead of the “its my way or we hit the highway” mentality, why not have the renewal of contracts the same year as the boards reelections? This way it makes the potential members of the board look out for the peoples interest not just their own. Just a thought.By Mary
September 11, 2006 7:16 AM | Link to this
Old prof, who do you suppose will pay the state to pay for quality? Does the state have a sugar daddy or is it us local taxpayers all over the state? I think Ohio is already about 3rd in the nation on tax burden. Did you read yesterday’s Dayton Daily News editorial about how much state taxes will go up to do what everyone thinks the state should do? I think the local authorites need to do a lot of scrutinizung on expenditures and quit blaming everything on the state.By Oldprof
September 10, 2006 11:30 PM | Link to this
The waste? It’s mandated in Columbus and Washington DC, by politicians who on the one hand say nobody has to pay for quality, and who on the other hand assume that every teacher is a slacker who will do nothing in the classroom unless there’s a regiment of administrators, a labyrinthine funding formula, and days and days of pseudounilateral standardized tests. The fact is that all of the legislative- and state-directed “education reforms” and “innovations” of the past 50 years are what got us where we are today. As noted architect Stuart Brand so aptly put it, “innovation means throwing away what works.” (By the way, Mary—teachers can’t POSSIBLY hoodwink the public as much as the Fordham Foundation, John Husted, and the State Board of Education have done already)By gth7
September 10, 2006 3:48 PM | Link to this
It’s true that in most other jobs, health insurance contributions are much higher, so in effect, this is a losing argument for the teacher’s union. However, the fact is the pay increases being offered are sad and pitiful. And one last thing: where exactly is all of the money being wasted? Every classroom I’ve ever been in, the teachers are all over people NOT to waste stuff. So, where is the waste?By Oldprof
September 10, 2006 10:14 AM | Link to this
Mary, the big problem is that the health care system in the USA is broken. Our health care is managed by big insurance and corporate medicine, who advertised against the Clinton health care plans by claiming that we’d all have restricted choice of caregivers and long waits—and then delivered exactly what they threatened. The USA has been living in la-la-land for far too long: we don’t think we have to pay for anything and so we get the public services we pay for; we don’t understand that a single-provider system could do no worse than our current greed system while costing less. Please don’t begrudge the few Americans who are able to find a way to maintain a modicum of essential health care.By Mary
September 10, 2006 8:57 AM | Link to this
hhteach, maybe I am misinterpreting your comment about rolling over the contract to protect the levy. However, it sounds to me like a plot to hoodwink the public, then highjack the levy funds later for pay raises and benefits. Today’s Dayton Daily News opinion pages has an interesting and long overdue discussion about teacher pay and benefits along with other education costs.By hhteach
September 9, 2006 7:35 PM | Link to this
Re: Mr. Fisher I think the union was very professional in the entire process of negoitating with the Huber Heights Board of Education. To protect the November levy the union wanted to rollover the contract. When that was unacceptable they offered to negoitate in May and June. June was unaceptable to the board as well as July. The union offered mediation. Ex-board members even offered to get involved and help mediate. I say shame on you Mr. Kirby and the Huber Heights Board of Education for putting the community and HHEA members through this ordeal!By Mary
September 9, 2006 6:58 PM | Link to this
“M”, there are not many employees who get the health benefits teachers do. I believe the average employee contributes around 25-40% to health care, not the 5% and 10% teachers contribute. Pick up the paper and read about the health benefit and retirement pension concessions groups are giving everyday - for example, recently, the Delta pilots pension and I believe over recent years GM employee or retiree health benefits. These are the same types of people who are paying teacher salaries and health benefits, but do not get the same benefits themselves. I do not offer any solutions, other than ripping apart ridiculous CEO compensation packages, but this is the public climate we are in and teachers are public employees.By M
September 9, 2006 3:40 PM | Link to this
I think that Fisher was inappropriate to make the comment in a public forum. As a teacher from another Miami Valley school district we would have been reprimanded at least for making those sorts of comments in the classroom. As far as a teacher missing open house, this normally seems like a big deal but in a case like this where the teachers are supporting their livelyhood they must support the efforts of the union. This in turn will create a healthy working staff for the children. If the principal would have been smart he/she would have postponed the open house, given the circumstances. It is not fair that they would even make the teachers choose between supporting their own livelyhood and an open house. You must remember, teachers have families too. If the teachers are not healthy and happy they can’t give their best to their students. As far as the contract, agreeing to pay more for healthcare is probably a mistake. Once you start paying more for healthcare, the Board will keep wanting to ask for more in future years! I think the teachers were smart to support their union. Without a strong union, the administrators/Board members will walk all over you. Many of them don’t have any idea what it is like to be in a regular classroom in recent years, if at all. If they would listen to teachers there wouldn’t be so much fighting. Teachers go above and beyond for their students every day even when they are not at work (summers, breaks, etc).By Dave
September 9, 2006 2:04 PM | Link to this
The ONLY tax we can directly control is property tax. So folks who are fed-up with taxes take their fury out on schools. We have people run for school board “to stop wasting all this money” and folks who “support our schools and our wonderful teachers”, but not if it means paying any taxes. It’s a bad situation that makes good people act dumb.By Mary
September 9, 2006 12:09 PM | Link to this
Maybe Fisher should be in front of the classroom. He might be intelligent enough to actually teach something. As far as electing educated people (or those with some actual smarts) for a change, I agree. However, our education system is failing to do their part in producing an educated citizenry to know the importance of electing the best for the job instead of someone who tells them what they want to hear.By Oldprof
September 9, 2006 8:55 AM | Link to this
What are Carl Fisher’s credentials, anyway? Has he ever spent a day in front of a classroom—and if so, did he resist the urge to shout insults like a petulent child? Huber Heights citizens, the problem is that you ELECTED A DOLT to your school board, not to mention many other offices. Try electing educated people for a change and maybe you’ll see a difference.By Thespis
September 8, 2006 10:55 PM | Link to this
I knew that we needed to keep an eye out for Thursday’s board meeting. Fisher is an idiot, he will live to regret his comments, and the school board demonstrated a total lack of class and professionalism in the entire circumstance. More on Saturday. www.thespisjournal.blogspot.comBy Mary
September 8, 2006 9:34 PM | Link to this
Although I am not a member of the district and do not know the individuals involved, I sort of admire Fisher for taking a stand. I am sure his outburst reflects his frustration with other board members as well as the teachers’ union. Setting up a committee about class size is sort of a joke when the increase in pay will likely preclude lowering class size with a stressed budget. So the strike was really not about kids, but union greed instead. As far as mending, the wound is not clean yet. Let the infection begin.By proud2parent
September 8, 2006 3:23 PM | Link to this
Mr. Fisher is right. Mrs. Owens’ comments during Mr. Kirby’s interview on the news last night further confirms that the union members need to grow up. That is, if they all act like an 8-year old like she does. Teachers do not usually attend board meetings. I know this, because I do attend all of them. For months now I’ve known that the surplus will run out in 3 years with normal operating expenses. Now with the new contract, it will probably be more like 2 years. Then when we go to the voters, what will happen? As Mr. Fisher said, we’ll be in a financial dilemma. I am embarassed by our teachers. Did you know some did not attend an open house last night, because they attended the ratification instead? Is that really putting our children first? The union has said all along that they were striking for issues that supported our children. From what I have seen of the final contract, there is only one thing that could affect the students - class size. All other issues have to do with what teachers want and have nothing to do with the children. I would agree to pay them more if Huber Heights was a “rich” community. Many of us are struggling to survive. We parents should now demand more for our children from these teachers that say they deserve the higher pay. The union and teachers have lost my respect. It will take a lot to regain it.By j in huber
September 8, 2006 2:51 PM | Link to this
Mr. Fischer is right. While the teachers may have gotten what they think is a victory, it is truly hollow because they have damaged any credibility they or the district has garnered over the last few years. Normally I support the schools in voting for levies and bond issues but I will have to re-examine that blind loyalty. What will happen when these levies fail and the young teachers are cut due budget concerns. I bet the union board members who sought the strike are in no danger of being riffed. And my kids suffer because a of misguided sense of entitlement, maybe we’ll move to Vandalia, at least those teachers have something to brag about. Effective, indeed! Sheer luck is what it is.