Board of Ed Has an Opportunity

The negotiations between the School Board and the Teacher's Union(TAAAC) have broken down and State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick has formally declared an impasse in negotiations. The union is now considering a "work-to-rule" action among their options. We all know that work-to-rule actions do little more than hurt the students, though it is understandable that without the right to strike the union has few options at their disposal.

The Board of Education has a tremendous opportunity here. Negotiations have broken down over salaries and benefits, the union noting that the average salary of count teachers is 14th in the state. I have no opposition to increaisng pay and benefits for teachers. But what will the union do for the Board of Education and the students in exchange.

This is the perfect opportunity for the Board to adovacte greater teacher accountability. If teachers want to receive a higher wage, they should be held more accoutable for their actions. Greater accountability is something that is very attractive to rank-and-file teachers; it is union officials who oppose greater accountability measures.

The Board of Ed has an opportunity here. Let us hope that they seize it.