Rebuttal to Press Telegram editorial “Smear Campaign”

May 17, 2007

I find it disappointing how the Press Telegram trivializes the concerns of teachers and parents at Edison Elementary by dismissing any activity by parents or teachers as a “TALB” action.  It must be easy to make assumptions about “publicly airing grievances” when you do not know the history of the situation and fail to contact the Edison teachers involved.  TALB agrees that disputes are best resolved behind closed doors.  That is why the “demands” you quote were compiled by a majority of Edison teachers in a meeting last August, behind closed doors, at which almost the entire staff attended.  That is why Edison teachers met with the Elementary Assistant Superintendent to air their dispute behind closed doors.  That is why Edison teachers met with the Board of Education to seek resolution behind closed doors.  Nine months of working behind closed doors has not resolved the issues that distress teachers and parents at Edison.

You also trivialize their concerns by quoting a few of the issues the teachers presented their principal, take them out of context, and make grand assumptions about what “TALB” believes.  For instance, to say the Teachers Association finds degrees irrelevant goes against decades of salary negotiations that compensate teachers for advanced degrees.

What TALB does believe is effective school leadership includes cooperation, collegiality, and respect.  We believe, like the Press Telegram, that school staffs need to “work it out” when there are conflicts.  We do not agree it is good for our students or our members to “suck it up” or move when problems arise.

So please do not belittle the difficulties at Edison by claiming they are manifested by TALB.   Our members want their problems resolved.  They have worked for more than nine months to make that happen.  Why has the district still failed to take any concrete or effective steps to do something about it?

Edison is a great school with great teachers and parents that has deservedly earned many accolades.  It also deserves to have its issues taken seriously by the school district and the Press Telegram.

Mike Day

TALB President-elect