EDITORIAL | The Reporter

Note to teachers: Union demands fail the reality test

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Posted - Friday, October 30, 2009 09:41 AM EDT

Not many people work harder or are more dedicated than public school teachers. But even they need to realize that no one is immune to the worst economic slowdown since the Great Depression.

The leader of the Keys teachers union, Leon Fowler, is risking the strong public support teachers have always enjoyed here. The Monroe County School District pays its teachers more than any other district in the state, yet Fowler is insisting that the school board give in to his demand that every teacher get a 2 percent raise, plus an additional “step increase,” which previous contracts have included for all teachers based solely on seniority.

If we were living in normal economic times, or even during a typical recession, we might agree. But what the nation, and in particular the Keys, is going through is far from normal.

To be blunt, anyone who is working now is feeling lucky to have a job in this economy, and almost no one is expecting a raise for a while. That should go for teachers, too.

The school board is being more generous than most employers, offering teachers half the amount of step raises in the previous contract, plus $600 bonuses. Fowler should say “Thank you very much” and be quiet until labor negotiations next year. And if the economy is still in the tank then, he should tell his members to take another one for the team.

Fowler showed, during meetings when the school board debated what to do about suspended superintendent Randy Acevedo, that he’s not afraid to be on the wrong side of an issue. He threatened the school board when some members rightfully questioned whether other school employees may have been involved with financial mismanagement and theft that cost the school district more than half a million dollars.

We were baffled why Fowler wanted to stifle the investigation, when stolen and misspent money means less money available for teacher salaries.

As staff reporter David Ball recounts in this week’s issue, Fowler is at it again. At Tuesday’s school board meeting in Marathon, he led about 150 teachers demanding that they get the full raises he asked for. After board members sat patiently as teacher after teacher stated his and her case, Fowler rudely led a walkout after one member, John Dick, dared explain why the union’s request was being denied this year.

Dick went beyond the economy, saying the three top-performing school districts in the state did not give teachers anywhere near the increases the Keys union is demanding. One of the three, Brevard County’s district, offered no raises at all this year.

It was encouraging to see that some teachers at the meeting were brave enough — and polite enough — not to follow Fowler out the door.

We hope the economy bounces back soon and enough to where employees in most sectors will be able to go back to work and get raises again. In the meantime, Fowler should remember that the people paying teachers’ salaries are weathering tough times, and just maybe they aren’t that sympathetic that someone earning a steady paycheck isn’t getting the raise he or she wanted this year.