The honeymoon is over? What happened to all the love and respect between the newly elected school board members and the teachers? All the hugs and kisses are gone? Do the gifts have to be returned too?

Quick somebody call Dr. Phil and get this relationship back on track.

It’s fairly obvious the teachers have unrealistic expectations regarding this relationship. Did they really think giving the right-wing lunatics the heave ho was going to change the financial realities of Idaho?

Teachers don’t get paid much in Idaho. That fact is not going to change in the next twenty years. Even if the board wanted to give the teachers big fat raises they couldn’t do it right now because where would the money come from?

As a taxpayer, I want to know: Is the district’s administration is top heavy? Do we have too many administrators? Are they making too much money compared to other districts of similar size? Hazel Bauman’s salary seemed outrageously high. How can the district improve the conditions in the classroom without spending more money?

I can tell you giving them more collaboration time is not the answer. The current late Monday start is a burden to parents. Are there retired experts who could volunteer in the classroom? The teachers union has bristled at this in the past and I think it’s time to revisit the notion.

I wish the district and the teachers can find out of the box solutions because at the end of the day the most important thing is student success.

 Update: CdaMomof4 reports: Wow. I was there for about 2 hours. Of that two hours, they were only negotiating for about 45 minutes, the rest of the time they were caucusing - so we the rest of us didn't get to hear any of that. It doesn't seem like they are much closer than they were when I walked in. :( I would have already agreed to the district's offer by now, so I guess CEA won't be asking me to negotiate for them any time soon.

---

---