Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 14, 2008 THINGS THAT GO CHA-CHING!

Actually started typing this entry last night...in the wee hours after midnight. Saw that my mood was somewhat bitter...decided to "sleep on it"...wake up refreshed...with new-found hope...

Hey...I tried!

Back to editing...

I was going to go back and find links for you to click on...editions of CAT Tracks that bemoaned the expenditure of educational dollars on lawyers, legal settlements, and such...educational dollars that could be spent on students...or the people who educate them.

Then a thought crossed my mind...a sign that was posted at strike headquarters back in 2002. Three little letters...representing three little words. Since the three little letters are "FTS", well, you know that the three little words were NOT..."Still Love Ya". (Actually, my original "sample" three little words were "I Love You" from an old song/movie. But, this morning, my thoughts returned to strike headquarters and my/our dearly departed buddy/chief negotiator...Steve Kohn. He and Julie - BOTH of them - are smiling at the "three little letters"...HELL, Steve probably wrote them...I KNOW he said them...many, many times!)

Anyway...

Who needs to venture into the past "bleeding of the district" when we have "Exhibit A" from the current "Open Accounts Payable List" - i.e. the list of bills paid by the District this past month...

"Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan & Jacstadt, P.C." is the legal firm that replaced "Robbins, Schwartz & Nicholas" at the bargaining table.

So...instead of adding $10,096.57 to whatever monetary offer the BOE is considering, THAT amount went to a negotiator! Now you understand the true meaning of "Cha-Ching"!

CAT made it plain on "Day One" of negotiations...back in May 2008...that it would look unfavorably upon the expenditure of thousands, and thousands, and thousands of dollars on people to fight employees instead of putting that money into employee salaries. Well...we have NOT changed our opinion on that matter.

For a District preaching financial doom and gloom, it is UNACCEPTABLE to spend thousands, and thousands, and thousands of dollars on legal representatives, administrative benefits, administrative trips, administrative assistants, etc. while holding captive monies guaranteed to employees in the contract - i.e. the vertical step that you were supposed to receive on "Day One" of this school year!

You want an analogy...a cutting-edge "current events" example...one that is sweeping the nation by storm? How about the "federal bail out of the economy"...at taxpayer expense...to give stockholders dividends and to give CEO's generous end-of-the-year bonuses for running the business into financial ruin!

Taxpayers are justifiably pissed (pardon my French). Since you, Dear Teacher, ARE a taxpayer AND an employee of "financially distressed" Cairo School District Number One, you are justifiably DOUBLE PISSED (with NO need for apology! In the Bible, I think it's excused under the heading of "righteous indignation".)

CAT has been PATIENT! We trust that our patience is NOT seen as gullibility or stupidity...or WEAKNESS!

Cairo School District is in better financial shape NOW than it was three years ago...when it gave reasonable raises and benefits to its employees. The "dire circumstances" cited TODAY - e.g. declining student enrollment and declining local tax base - also existed in 2005!

So, Dear Cairo School District Number One...do NOT come to the bargaining table on November 24th (OOPS...make that DECEMBER WHENEVER) waving "Hoover Flags". (For you "youngsters" or the historically challenged..."Hoover Flags" are a 1930's Great Depression reference to pants' pockets turned inside out.)

It is time for the administration of Cairo School District Number One to reach out to its employees...to reward them for their loyalty...to show appreciation for their efforts.

In June 2008, the BOE Team told us that they needed to raise starting salaries...that CSD #1 needed to be competitive with surrounding Districts...that each year we were falling further and further behind. CAT was NOT surprised...and agreed. Interim Superintendent Bill Rogers had raised this same issue back in January 2008. CAT took the BOE's concern into consideration when it drafted its monetary proposal...submitting it to the BOE on August 19, 2008.

So...there IS agreement on the direction we need to go.

The BOE is NOT behaving as if there is a monetary crisis in CSD #1. THEY spend money on THEIR priorities.

So, Dear Board of Education...it's time to make your employees a priority!

SHOW US THE MONEY...

POSTSCRIPT: Three additional comments...

• "Robbins, Schwartz & Nicholas"...the old negotiators. Don't feel too sorry for them; they probably feel sorry enough for themselves. BUT...they DID get the consolation prize. Robbins et al were paid $1,485...probably typed a letter or two explaining why James Gibson is unworthy to teach in CSD #1. (James' case is still "out there"...talk about CHA-CHING!)

• "Sanders and Sanders"...another "BOE ATTORNEY"...was paid $390. (Maybe they take phone messages when the other two teams are busy!)

• Finally, with all that money flowing out of the District, is it any wonder that "Paper Chase 2008-09" is now appearing at CJSHS. Yes, the annual paper shortage has hit once again. Teachers at Cairo Jr/Sr High School are being told two weeks before Thanksgiving that there will be no more paper until after Christmas!!!

  Even though the CAT Bargaining Team was assured by the BOE Team that this "crisis" would NOT be revisited this year - YES, we put it on our "list of demands" - it has reared its ugly head!

  Has anybody checked into the price of a ream of paper lately? Wonder how many reams/cases of paper could be purchased with an all-expense-paid trip to HOTlanta? With any one of the aforementioned attorney fees?? With a new administrative assistant to the Superintendent??? (This list could go on, and on, and on, and on...)

  So...no paper for assignments and tests at CJSHS until after Christmas. Why "Christmas"? Did the office use the last sheet to write a letter to Santa?

It is sooooo demeaning to work in Cairo School District Number One...