Comments to School Board, June 13th

​Good evening.

Here we are again. It has been almost a year since the last time we were awaiting a fact-finder’s report. As you know, the findings are not binding. However, after hearing the proposals from both us and you, the fact-finder will strive to offer recommendations that can either be accepted outright or be used as firm ground for reaching agreements. My hope is that this time we will seriously consider the report and work with it; not refuse to accept it and move toward the crisis of last fall. Just as the teachers accepted the fact-finder’s report last fall, I assure you that we again are prepared and ready to work with the report’s findings so a settlement can be reached.

Let me note that the contracts, bargained in good faith between the School Board and teachers, and the School Board and the paraeducators, sitting as equals at the table, are the last defense that guarantees that the working environments for students are safe, and teachers have the time required to design, execute and assess student-centered educational programming. It is the contract with the paraeducators that ensures students receive the support they need to succeed. The contract, through the compensation package and working condition components, is indisputable proof that the Board wants to retain and attract the best faculty and paraeducators for the city’s students.    
​
While there are some both locally and nationally who would vilify teachers and belittle education, we are not the enemy. We are the ones who work daily with Burlington’s students to make sure each student is challenged and learns the skills and knowledge needed to become a participatory member of the community. We are proud of our profession; we take pride in the work we do, knowing that we do not produce widgets but rather nurture young adults who have individual needs and dreams that can be realized. We also are your neighbors, friends, family, customers, taxpayers and voters. As teachers and paraeducators we take seriously our role as models for that desired community involvement. 

On behalf of Burlington’s some 400 teachers and paraeducators represented here this evening, I extend congratulations to the graduating class of 2017. Some 250 Burlington students will accept their high school diplomas on Friday, in a commencement ceremony that acknowledges and celebrates the efforts of our students to prepare for the next step in their lives, be it career, military or college. Also on behalf of Burlington’s teachers and paraeducators, we look forward to welcoming the Class of 2030 when they begin Kindergarten and the start of their formal educational odyssey in the fall!