As a Neshaminy teacher and union member, I’d like to set the record straight on what I view as inaccuracies in your Feb. 8 editorial, “Let teachers vote!”
You reference the need for “secret ballots” and paint a shady picture of union leaders watching over NFT members as we recently debated whether to call for a vote on the district’s “final” contract offer. In conversations within our schools and at the membership meeting on Jan. 2, NFT members made it clear to our leadership that the district’s offer was unacceptable. And through an unquestionably clear voice vote, we let our leadership know we stood with them.
As members of a democratic organization who always decide for ourselves the direction we should take, we don’t appreciate the district’s intrusive attempt to force a vote. Union members have made it clear that we, not outside parties, will decide when we are ready to vote on a package put before us by our bargaining team.
You note that voters must cast their ballots without the fear of threats or intimidation, as if to imply that civil, well-educated professionals are incapable of having an intelligent, open discourse before voting by voice. In fact, under Robert’s Rules of Order, if the voice vote had been unclear, any member would have had the right to call for a secret ballot. You then wrongly imply the “ruling elite” is dominating the membership without strong support from the vast majority of membership. This implication is simply false.
Union members voted overwhelmingly to re-elect every current officer. The advisory team of representatives from each building also recently passed a unanimous “vote of confidence” resolution in our negotiating team. There is no coercion, no iron fists. What you’re seeing is an overwhelming majority of members who continue to place their trust in the colleagues they’ve selected to represent them.
School board President Ritchie Webb’s assertion in the board’s recent press release is correct — NFT members have spoken and we have refused to vote on the district’s “final” offer. For most members, our primary problem is not with any economic piece of the offer, although we are frustrated that the district is now refusing to bargain further when our team has offered to concede on every financial demand the district has made. The concessions we’ve offered would cover the cost of a settlement if we can keep these talks going.
But in spite of the belief the Courier Times shares with some district officials, the Council Rock salary scale cannot — and should not — “buy” away our professional rights and concerns for the climate in our schools and the quality of education we provide our students. Believing that “buying teachers off” is a possibility shows a deep misunderstanding of why we became teachers in the first place.
We’re mystified as to where the Courier Times is getting information about what takes place during our closed-door membership meetings. For you to assert members feel intimidated and are afraid to speak their own minds based on “second-hand accounts” as well as “first-hand accounts via social media” is irresponsible. If you want to know how things happened at our membership meeting or how my fellow members feel, please ask the representatives our members have clearly re-elected (with secret ballots).
Here is the true bottom line: We have spoken. There will be no vote on a “final” offer that strips many critical rights from teachers and students and dissolves years of mutual understanding between employees and administrators. It’s interesting to note that when members of the community hear the facts, they also stand with teachers and have demonstrated much-appreciated support for us. Time and again parents have told me and other NFT members to “Hang in there” — to keep advocating for what’s best for their children and for our schools in this contract.
We’re sending our negotiating team back to the table to work on the substantial list of unresolved issues. We hope the district is willing and able to do the same.
We’ve made great strides. We know an agreement can be reached if both sides work to find ways to close the gaps on the remaining issues. We believe that give and take on both sides can result in a good contract. In the meantime, we respectfully ask members of the school board and the editorial board of the Courier Times to let us decide when and how we will vote on a potential settlement.
(Sue Schneider, Levittown, is a Neshaminy taxpayer and a teacher for 20 years in the Neshaminy School District.)
