First off, the district violated the court order by refusing to pay the teachers the full amount they were owed, under the terms of the court order, for their work in October. To add insult to injury, some of the board members indicated that the teachers were only paid in October at all "out of the goodness of their hearts", despite the fact that the district was required BY LAW to pay the teachers. I can't decide if the board members are in fact complete idiots, or if they are intentionally trying to mislead the public. I suspect the latter, but it's hard to tell sometimes.
In any case, the union is filing a motion because the district broke the law. The Seattle Times reported on it: "We expected the School Board to comply with her order," said Hanson. "We complied and went to school, as the judge ordered. We expected the board to do the same. I think they're more interested in punishing teachers."
On another note, in addition to the surprise cancellation of the Heritage program, the district also canceled the 9th grade Hi-Cap (gifted) program because the teacher who was scheduled to teach the program retired during the strike rather than deal with the district's garbage. The French program at Cedarcrest was also canceled, and students who showed up for French discovered they were in drama class instead. The principal at Cedarcrest also banned Halloween. No costumes, no treats, and no mention of the holiday was allowed.
Then there are the charges against the person that the district hired to take over their finances. In short, the guy is a fraud. No school district with an ounce of sense would have hired this guy. And I might as well mention the efforts of the school board that cost the district millions of dollars in state funding. No wonder the district is in bad financial shape. They are wasting all their money on resume-padding projects, instead of trying to make the district a better place for kids to learn in.
A former Marysville superintendent, Dean Farley, wrote a letter to the editors of several local newspapers. The Herald, being an anti-teacher rag, refuses to print it. They claim they can't verify the information, even though they printed an anti-teacher guest editorial that was full of lies. And I thought editorials are supposed to be opinion, anyway, so why are they so determined to verify it when they've never bothered to verify before? As I said, a rag. Not even worthy of being toilet paper. The one paper that actually could get the truth out refuses to try.
I'm also still being harassed by a couple of anti-teacher loudmouths. I'm keeping copies of everything they send to me. They might get a surprise visit from an officer if they keep it up. I hope it doesn't come to that.
T-minus 2 days to the election. I'll report on it as the numbers come in. Remember, Washington is a state that allows absentee ballots, so if the races are close, the results may not be known for almost three weeks. If even one incumbent wins, the chances of Eric staying in this district to watch it deteriorate even further are very slim.
I'll leave you with some thoughts from Dean Farley: "I frequently hear from patrons that the school should be run more like a business, and I fully agree. However, look around you and observe the more successful corporations. They treat their employees with dignity and respect. They hire people based on ability, not on friendships or blind loyalty. They develop incentive plans that include promotion from within. They pay people a fair wage and they are not top-heavy with administrators... I have remained silent for 10 years, but I am thoroughly disgusted with what has happened to this once fine school district."
Update: I just did a little tiny bit of research. There is a page for the results of the Snohomish County Elections which will be updated on election day as soon as the polls close. The final results will be available on November 18th, two weeks after the election. The election officials are supposed to be seated one week after the election is final, which would be November 25th. So I may have something to celebrate for Thanksgiving.
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