From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc. (FCTO)
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone:
860-524-6501
August 1, 2007
Please
read this excellent op ed as
written by Flo Stahl which
appeared today
in the Hartford
Courant. Florence Stahl is president
of the Avon
Taxpayers Association, a former member of the Avon
Town Council and Board of Finance, and a FCTO Board Member.
Please
forward to your email lists. Susan
Taxpayers Deserve A
Closer
Look At Teacher Contracts
August 1, 2007, Hartford Courant Op Ed by Flo
Stahl
Every year when municipal budgets are debated throughout Connecticut, a terrible
irony takes place. A massive bite - more than half the total budget - is
off-limits for discussion. It has already been decided by a handful of people
months, maybe years before the budget presentation. That huge bite is the
teachers' salary and benefit contract. And it is irrevocable.
With few exceptions, the contract, usually written for three years, is
negotiated behind closed doors, routinely approved by local boards of
education, submitted to the city council or board of selectmen and, absent any
public comment, quietly approved.
The irony is that, for the fraction of the budget not concerned with teacher
salaries, town officials conduct public hearings replete with charts, graphs,
comparisons, projections and speeches. But the lion's share remains insulated
and unexplained year after year. Before the curtain falls on yet another
three-year shutout in many Connecticut
municipalities, towns and cities must change this model.
I am not suggesting that teachers' contracts be upended; I
simply want townspeople to better understand them. What's wrong with convening
a forum on such contracts that has the same gravitas and care of a budget
hearing? What's wrong with elevating the public's knowledge?
Informing taxpayers is not disrespecting teachers, the teaching profession or
negotiators' hard work. Rather, an informational session could be a defining
moment dispelling the mystique that has surrounded education negotiations for
far too long. Public engagement is, after all, the cornerstone of a democracy.
The electorate can be trusted with the complexities and consequences of
decisions that affect the quality of their lives and the depths of their
pocketbooks. We can handle the truth.
Boards of education are quick to point out their attempts at communication. Web
postings, townwide newsletters, press releases and
impact statements are all commendable. But they are not enough. Without a
public forum at which people can ask questions and seek explanations, these efforts
are nothing more than a one-way conversation. The information town residents
receive is nothing more than controlled information. Self-navigating through
such data is hardly as instructive as a public forum.
Labor negotiations between municipalities and certified teachers are governed
by the Connecticut
Teacher Negotiation Act. According to the CTNA, the local legislative body,
upon receipt of the contract, may remain silent for 30 days and the contract is
deemed to have been approved. It can, of course, approve or reject the contact
within the proscribed 30 days. Should it reject the contract, a cascading
torrent of time-sensitive strictures engulfs the municipality in various levels
of arbitration.
The state statutes, however, do not prohibit a public presentation. In fact,
the local legislative body (city council, board of selectmen, etc.) has full
authority to decide how much or how little public input it will allow, from no
discussion whatsoever to an all-day referendum.
In a perfect world, negotiations would be held in the open, with the public
invited to observe. Let municipalities bring them out of the shadows, where
they have languished for decades. It's time for towns and cities to show
respect for taxpayers, who fund these contracts. Open the book and start a new
chapter. It's the right thing to do.