Union President Contributes to Dover School Board Campaign

York Daily Record ^ | 10/27/2005 | Michelle Starr

[Nextrush]

The Thomas More Law Center, representing the Dover Area School District in the federal trial over intelligent design, indirectly made two campaign contributions to political opposition group Dover CARES for a total of $120. Sandi Bowser, president of the teachers union signed over two witness checks....

[Nextrush]

This attempt at making fun shows how union money is getting into Dover School Board race. What this reporter didn't tell us is that the Pennsylvania State Education Asssociation has put around 5-thousand dollars into the Dover CARES group of eight Democrat school board candidates according to the campaign reports filed so far. The union is asking for a 19.1 PERECENT PAY RAISE THIS YEAR in their contract offer to the school district. The district is willing to give 4 percent increases each year for 3 years with a 1 percent merit incentive raise for teachers who earn it. The union's five year contract offer would mean a 965 dollar tax increase for a home assessed at 125-thousand dollars. Teachers are paid an average of over 48-thousand dollars a year now, but the Dover CARES people claim they aren't paid enough. This conflict in Dover began before intelligent design. Back in 2002 the board voted to save over 10 million dollars and renovate the high school. Some people got upset and ran for school board in 2003 as Dover CARES because they wanted to spend more money. They didn't make it past the primary. This year, fuelled by intelligent design, they are the eight Democrats for school board in the November 8th election. The Republican incumbents are running as Doverfirst. (doverfirst.net) They were the only school board in this county that didn't raise taxes this year. All the other ones raised taxes over 10 percent. Now PSEA is moving in to take the board over and tax and spend like the other school districts. Some of the incumbents are involved in the trial and their campaign is behind...I don't live in the Dover district but I understand what is really going on and wanted to let all Freepers know about it.

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

ping.

[Born Conservative]

[moog]

The union is asking for a 19.1 PERECENT PAY RAISE THIS YEAR in their contract offer to the school district. The district is willing to give 4 percent increases each year for 3 years with a 1 percent merit incentive raise for teachers who earn it. The union's five year contract offer would mean a 965 dollar tax increase for a home assessed at 125-thousand dollars. Teachers are paid an average of over 48-thousand dollars a year now. A 19.1 percent pay raise???? Where do I sign up? I think I got about a 1% one this year as a teacher. Sometimes the "pay raises" go towards insurance too. Every year we do pay more and more on that--it's not so bad for me and my wife, but gets rather expensive for those with several kids as it does in many professions.

48 thousand dollars a year average--again, where do I sign up? Sometimes "average" salaries include salary plus benefits. Does this one do so?

[orfeo10]

Interesting take on this topic.

It just goes to show that when the Board went beyond their capacity (and wisdom level) in getting into the intelligent design issue, they lost the ability to do what they should be doing--seeing that the schools provided the highest quality education and the lowest possible cost (without sacrificing the education). They caused lots of money to be spent on the trial and allowed a destraction from what are important fiscal issues.

Plus, they diminished the quality of education in the district by diminishing the role of science and allowing intelligent design to be considered science. The real issue on this has never been about the reality of intelligent design--its been about being able to consider it science. I am a deeply religious person and I find the radical "intelligent design" contingent totally clueless regarding its proper place in education.

The school board blew it and deserved to be voted out of office.

[Nextrush]

I see your brand new here. Your line about quality education at the lowest cost is standard National Education Association doubletalk that is used by the tax and spend school boards that populate the United States in general and Pennsylvania in particular. The issue is waste in education, waste on big new buildings that aren't needed and the salaries and benefits that take up 60 percent or
more of school budgets. Non-public schools do it at lower cost because of lower pay as much as I hate to admit it, but its the truth. This is the waste that the outgoing Dover school board was against.