Strike, you’re out!
Today, teachers in the Capistrano Unified School district participated in a walk-out. Instead of going to work, they were on street corners all over south county holding up signs to bring awareness to a huge educational crisis in our district.
I’m not happy about this strike. Students belong in the classroom with their teachers learning and preparing for their future. The teachers know this, the parents know this, and the students know this. Apparently though, the trustees are completely unaware or uncaring (or both).
This situation has been looming for months and the Board of Trustees has had ample opportunity to avoid this mess. At meeting after meeting, parents, students, and teachers begged the board to sit down and negotiate a suitable contract. They refused.
Last week, it looked like there might be a small chance to avoid the strike when the board president issued a press release stating her willingness to meet with teachers. That hope was quickly dashed though when another press release followed clarifying that the trustees were not willing to reconsider any part of their imposed contract.
That left teachers very few options and late last week they authorized the strike. Most of us still wanted to believe that it wouldn’t happen. We hoped and prayed that the authorization vote would finally be the wake-up call to these trustees. We hoped that the student sick-out, the phone calls, the letters, something, anything would get through to them and they would step up and do the right thing.
We hoped in vain. In the end, the trustees have completely failed our children. They have ignored the will of the constituents, and they have violated our trust. What is perhaps most disturbing is that they have spent the past 6-7 weeks “preparing” for this strike and yet by all accounts, school today was a disaster. Only a small number of substitutes showed up, there were no lesson plans, and students watched movies all day. All that time and money spent and in the end, there really was no plan. Thank goodness all the students were safe but beyond that, it was a total waste.
If only that time and effort had been put into reaching an agreement, all of this could have been avoided. True leadership would have placed the priority on avoiding a strike and keeping students in the classroom instead of hiring unqualified subs and renting movies!
We don’t know how long the strike will continue but we do know that this board of trustees does not care about the students in our district. They do not care about parents, teachers, property values, or the future of our country. They are enemies to public education and therefore, they must be removed!
They forced the strike and now we need to get them out!
Tags: Capistrano Unfied, CUSD, erin kutnick
April 23rd, 2010 at 7:32 pm
I’m sorry, but it was the teacher’s union that decided to strike, not the board. You failed to mention that the board responded that they were willing to discuss the so-called temporary language that supposedly is the only real problem the union has. If that is the REAL issue, there is no reason to negotiate the imposed contract - the only thing that needs to be done is to negotiate an MOU regarding restorative language. However, the union felt that the board’s response was too vague and so they chose to strike.
Also, it is completely untrue that all CUSD students who attended school sat around and watched movies. My 4 kids attended elementary school and middle school and had a productive and fun day. There was a plan and I was VERY impressed with the principals at our schools and how smoothly everything went. Was it a “normal” school day? No. But, it hasn’t been “normal” all year given the teachers’ distractions with the contract negotiations (or lack thereof). Even though there were not as many subs, there were also teachers who chose to cross the picket line and teach (for whatever their reasons may be, that’s a personal decision). Plus, the student attendance was low and so even though we had 1 teacher for 2 classes, our ratios were about the same as on a “normal” school day. I know it wasn’t this way at all schools, but I know that you description doesn’t fit any of the elementary, middle, or high schools where my friends’ kids attend.
I am not going to give the board a pass and say that they have done no wrong - that’s simply ignorant. But, to blame the board entirely for this is also simply ignorant. I understand that you have issues with them, and I respect that. However, please try to paint an accurate picture of the situation, not one that is blindly biased.