And yet, I'll bet there were many of our own members who voted for the President, and the next four years could be worse than the last. As Pogo once said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us". On the local scene, while negotiations are virtually at a standstill because of the District's intransigence at the table, they certainly have been active in other arenas. It appears that the District called a strike for us, and even scheduled the date -- November 1. Lesson plans, command posts, cell phones, scabs, and who knows what else all in position. Kind of like playing war. It is fortunate that the membership of the Association saw this thinly veiled attempt to cast us as the "bad guys" as management egged us on. Our "stopping the clock" to permit the Negotiating Team to enter the mediation process was the mature, rational way to act at this time. Our members should be proud of themselves! Apparently not having enough to do, even with their "war game planning", management has also undertaken two other bizarre activities; becoming fashion critics for the staff and putting a freeze on professional conferences. Apparently the first activity began with a review of skirt length and, uh ... cleavage checks. Yes, administrators actually made announcements about both at the end of last school year. Some people were even sent home to change, even though there was no warning, no mention of the so-called problem. One has to wonder if administrators have so little to do that they can spend time "studying" these matters. This year, sneakers and jeans are "out", so they say, without any kind of caveat to allow for those items of clothing based upon words which appear to have been removed from the management dictionary. Words like "reasonable" or "appropriate". Taking it to the extreme, the no sneakers dictum could place every one of our phys. ed teachers in a position of insubordination. Telling a 1st grade teacher that jeans are not permitted on the day s/he teaches finger-painting to her class of 30, is power gone mad. There are very few who would say that torn jeans, for example, would be acceptable dress for staff in a classroom or in the halls of our schools. But there are times when untorn, clean jeans are appropriate dress. Here, the solution is worse than the problem. While management "demands" we dress "professionally", however, we are treated like non-professionals when it comes to conferences, where, apparently, all requests for professional days for OUR members are being denied (unless we are presenting at the conference). Isn't it ironic that in a State Operated District, where improving student performance is of the highest priority, staff members who apply for professional development seminars which would improve and strengthen their ability to provide services to kids are rejected? What's going on when staff members apply to the State Operated District to attend seminars related to their State mandated PIP's as part of their State required professional development and are rejected? It makes no sense. It is short-sighted, in-bred, self-defeating thinking. Yes, strange days are upon us. But, after thirteen years of occupation, we have, unfortunately, grown accustomed to it. Where do we go from here? And so it goes ...
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