Posted on 06/21/2005 6:17:47 AM PDT by Born Conservative
Board to vote on whether to accept rescinded letter today, solicitor says Crestwood teacher negotiations Board to vote on whether to accept rescinded letter today, solicitor says
Union president says letter was misconstrued to imply mass resignation.
WRIGHT TWP. (PA) – The president of the Crestwood Education Association hand delivered a written statement to Superintendent Richard Duffy’s home late Monday night rescinding a June 14 letter in which he said teachers would be “unwilling to work” if a new contract isn’t inked prior to the start of the 2005-2006 school year.
The most recent letter, like the first, was penned by Joseph Chmiola Jr., who serves as the teachers union president. It reads in part, “I am writing to advise you that to the extent the June 14, 2005 letter was construed as a resignation is hereby rescinded.”
School board Solicitor Jack Dean said the board plans to vote today to accept the “rescinded resignation,” and if it is accepted, will not go forward with plans to advertise for new faculty.
“The union recognized, obviously, that their (original) letter has rightfully been construed as a mass resignation and that the board was willing to accept it for how it was written,” Dean said. “This board went eye to eye with the union and the union blinked.”
Reached at home Monday night, Chmiola downplayed his most recent letter, saying it was nothing more than another effort to clarify the message he intended to relay in his June 14 correspondence.
“It’s real simple, basically this letter says the original letter was not a mass resignation, which is what I’ve been saying all along,” Chmiola said. “They keep saying it was a mass resignation and I keep saying it wasn’t. This is just another effort on my part to get that across.”
Chmiola said he was not pressured by union membership to rescind the June 14 letter.
“I wasn’t hearing that at all, in fact those members I talked to about this (second) letter said, ‘Why are you doing that?’ ” said Chmiola.
Chmiola added he simply wanted to cover all bases.
Dean said board members hope Monday’s correspondence represents a breakthrough in what has been an often bitter, 3-year-long battle to reach a new contract with the district’s 160 teachers.
“We hope this is a step toward some progress,” said Dean. “We have a negotiation session set for July 7 and the board, as it has always done, will go into that session in good faith with the fervent hope of reaching an agreement.”
Health care is the biggest issue dividing the two sides, with teachers resisting the board’s effort to institute a healthcare cost-sharing plan.
Chmiola said the union is serious about wanting to negotiate a deal and that his recent letters were intended to convey that message.
TO: Mr. Richard T. Duffy, Superintendent
FROM: Mr. Joseph J. Chmiola, Jr., CEA President
DATE: June 20, 2005
RE: Letter of June 14, 2005
Dear Mr. Duffy:
Pursuant to our June 20, 2005 conversation, I am writing to advise you that to the extent the June 14, 2005 letter that was construed as a resignation is hereby rescinded.
As we discussed, the purpose of the June 14th letter was to ensure that the District and Association meet over the summer on a regular and timely basis to resolve our longstanding contractual dispute. As you are aware, this has become a most serious matter, as we are now 3 1/2 years without a successor agreement.
Again, the June 14th letter was not a letter of resignation from the members of the Crestwood Education Association or myself or any other individual. No one has resigned and no one from the Crestwood Education Association is resigning from their employment with the Crestwood School District.
As we stated in the June 14th letter, we are stressing the importance of the District and Association meeting and negotiating on a regular and timely basis to reach a mutually acceptable agreement.
Finally, I want to thank you for your call, and for resolving the misunderstanding.
Sincerely,
Joseph J. Chmiola, Jr.
CEA President
District: Teachers resign en masse
Union: No one has resigned (school board claims all teachers resigned)
If I was the board I would say sorry, it stands. Then Hire a new bunch of teachers.
One more example of how the socialist experiment in government schooling/indoctrination has failed.
I concur with one minor correction. Hire a new bunch of NON-UNION teachers.
Sounds as if there was an agreement over the phone, and the board prevailed.
(retired teacher opinion)
I agree, totally. This kind of nonsense is, strangely, traumatic to many students who spent all year bonding with there teachers. To end the year with the concern being shifted from the students to the teachers is insensitive.
If they wanted to do something dramatic, they should've waited to the summer, and not threatened to resign, but resign.
Otherwise, it's just a power play for more money, more goodies, and less work.
One more example of how the socialist experiment in government schooling/indoctrination has failed.
From the mainstream media, we could conclude that all of society has failed. I prefer the latter. I look for other things in life than just at negative articles by pessimistic reporters. If you look hard enough, you find nuggets among all the cowpies that definitely exist in life.
Unfortunately, most of the morons in this country don't understand that the purpose of the school board is to represent the taxpayers. So they vote for teachers to fill the vacancies or don't vote at all. (Fox guarding henhouse)
Gee what a surprise...public employees whining about stuff the rest of us accepted years ago.
What I said has nothing to do with the reporting.
The idea that the sovereign citizens of a free republic would do anything except educate their own children in their own ideals and their own beliefs is rather bizarre....that they would turn over their children and their posterity's minds to those whose whole worldview is hostile to their own is insane.
But, in fact, that is exactly what we've done.
The National Education Association is the most powerful arm of the Democratic Party. Has been for years.
If you compare a list of the delegates to the NEA national convention with a list of the delegates to the Democratic Party's national convention, you will be shocked at how many names match.
The teachers DID NOT threaten to resign . They said there would be a work stoppage . The board interpreted it as a mass resignation . This however, was an error in the interpretation by the board's solicitor . The board backed down because they would technically lose in this matter. You have to read the previous articles to get the angle on the story .
Unfortunately, almost all power has been stripped away from local school boards by state and federal laws anyway. All that is left is a facade.
When a local school board today sets its budget, well over 90% of what they spend the money on has already been dictated from above and from afar.
And the control of the cash amounts to control of virtually everything.
No, the teachers didn't threaten to resign, but the Superintendant took that stand and the Union backed down - not the board.......... finally a school with some cajones stood up to threats by the teachers union.
I did read the article. The "work stoppage" threat is wimpy and ill-timed. If they're so unhappy, they should resign and wait for for the summer to do so.
Whether work stoppage or resignation: the teachers said they would be unwilling to work for the 2005-6 school year if there was no contract. So if there is no contract, then the board is obligated to suspend the school year, hold the teachers' jobs for a year, and the students have to put a year of their life on hold? Why?
Exactly - I thought the board pounded the union - they reacted quickly and said they would begin advertising to fill all positions - it was a game of chicken and the union stepped to the side.........
Hope this guy's not an English teacher.
I agree; it seems that the school board prevailed in this. If they didn't, the PSEA local would NOT have sent a letter such as this.
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