Miller Place school board adopts a budget....

... at what cost?

The agenda handed out mentioned "amendments" to the employment agreements of some of the bargaining units, most notably the teacher's union. My guess is that if the meeting went according to the administration and 4/5ths of the board's plan we would never have learned the details of the deal with the teachers.

Trustee Mike Unger took a lot of heat last night.  He simply pointed out that the deal that the board was about to vote on was not a good one -- AS POINTED OUT BY THE DISTRICT'S OWN LAWYER.  That certainly should have, at least, been discussed among the board before it was presented as the saving grace of the '11 budget season.  What did he get in return?  The ire of the teacher's union, as evidenced by the glares aimed at him from the audience.

As he pointed out, it is a very short term solution to a long term problem, and he is absolutely right -- the problem will be back next year, and it will be worse.  Many in the auditorium wanted to shoot the messenger.

And I hate it that the unions turn every criticism of them into criticism of the teachers themselves.  The union's job is to negotiate the best deal for the teachers.  The board is there to protect the interests of the residents, but the teachers unions have made it an art to equate hard-nosed bargaining tactics with disrespect to the teachers.  And, too often, that tactic works in their favor.  It is nonsense and dishonest.

To the person who equated paying school taxes to buying gasoline at Hess -- do you have any idea how NOT correlated those examples are?  No one is mandated to buy gas from Hess.  One can take the bus, or carpool, or ride a bike.  While gasoline is certainly a necessity, is not purchased by anyone by force of law.  Taxes, on the other hand, are extracted from us at the point of a gun (don't pay your taxes and armed people will show up and escort you away).  You can, in a fashion, "negotiate" what you pay for gasoline by moderating your consumption. Try negotiating your tax bill.

I close with this interesting article on tenure.  It talks about it in the university setting,  but it has the same implications in K-12, too.