jackiedoherty.org

I love this quote from yesterday’s Sun editorial: “We know many elected officials won’t have the courage to buck the vote-getting unions, so the state should lend a hand by requiring unions to relinquish these pricey perks.” (my bold) Obviously this editor is unaware or considers irrelevant the hours and hours (sometimes until 3 in the morning) for more than a year of months on end that the school committee met in negotiations (finally with a state mediator) trying to forge an agreement with the school unions regarding benefits and salary adjustments. When your priority is what’s best for our children, NOT having an agreement or having teachers “work-to-rule” isn’t in the equation. Having unhappy or pressured staff—even the most dedicated are pressured to conform to their union’s call for solidarity—distracts everyone from focusing on the education of our children.

So a RESOUNDING YES to this editor for calling on the state to require unions to relinquish pricey perks because the reality is God doesn’t have enough money to buy these perks out of union contracts—even to grandfather-in current employees and cap future buyback requires more resources than is remotely possible in the near future. Consider this: after about 18 months of meetings, the Lowell School Committee negotiated contracts that included a 2.5% salary increase the first year, 3% subsequently—not exorbitant certainly. Yet, that’s about $3 million more we’ll need for next year’s budget, and it doesn’t include the increases in health care (we spend about $15 million on health benefits and it’s expected to go up at least 10 percent), utilities, heat etc. Just as we have seen our gas, food, and living expenses increase in our personal lives, so have school-department costs. As someone trying to be a fair employer and provide the best education for our children amid rising costs and shrinking resources, lack of courage, as this editor so casually claims, is not the primary problem.