This is a final plea for the voters of Starksboro to vote for me David Gratton on Tuesday, March 1st for the Mt. Abe School Board. I believe that my experience studying education in college, the opportunities that I have had to observe schools in other districts, and my experience working as an Educational Assistant in the high school have given me a unique perspective on educational theory and what it is really like in the classroom. I am also a parent that wants my daughters to have the best education possible but, I pay taxes just like everyone else and I understand that we cannot keep throwing money at a problem, like raising the test scores. I know that we cannot keep raising taxes in these economic conditions. I was on track to become a high school social studies teacher and would have been student teaching this semester if I would not have decided that education may not be the best employment choice like it was when I started college five years ago. I am currently seeking employment, but would love to be involved in education in some way.
As I have stated earlier, I believe that there is a substantial amount of money to be save in our schools by district wide as well as county wide consolidation. The main way that this would save money is by combining the administrative functions of the schools in a district, or county, in a single supervisory district. I think that by administering schools more efficiently, is one of our biggest opportunities for savings but, it may also be one of the most contentious. There is a real fear of the loss of local control, the loss of town identity, and the loss of a tradition that we will need to discuss. Personally I feel the benefits out-weigh the drawbacks.
As we heard at Town Meeting today, the future of how education is delivered is undergoing another radical shift. I do not know how much longer students will have to sit in a windowless classroom studying facts that the students cannot see how will ever relate to their lives. I went to a college that had a student directed curriculum and my daughter is in the Pathways Program at Mt. Abe that functions under the same student centered educational approach. I am a believer in this method of education and would like do what I can do to see it become the normal educational experience rather than the alternative.
I believe that when two sides have to negotiate a contract they need to have some realistic expectations. I believe that both sides need to negotiate fairly. I feel that the board’s decision to impose was a draconian measure. I also feel that the teachers are not being realistic if they want to keep their Cadillac health plan and want to keep their step increases. There just is not enough money to pay for it all. I am not saying that the teachers should give in but they should keep their step raise and pay the 20 percent for their insurance or give up the step raise and keep the 10 percent contribution level. To me this is an acceptable compromise. I fault the board for going after a large number of contentious issues such as health care pay raises and step increases as being nonnegotiable. I do not think this kind of take it or leave it attitude is the way to conduct a fair negotiation session.
I feel teachers today are underpaid, unappreciated, and are under attack because they belong to the strongest union left in the country today. It seems that everything the teachers are being put through today is what I went through when I worked in manufacturing from the 1980’s through the early 2000’s. After watching what is going on in Wisconsin, I am even more convinced this is more of an attack on the middle-class. With that said; if I am elected, I promise that I will do what is best for the students and the teachers in the most fiscally responsible way for the taxpayers. I believe that Mt. Abe is going in the right direction and we need to consider how our decisions affect the progress we are making. I think that we as a state need to look at the money we take from Washington a little closer and really understand how much the money we get for signing up for these programs are really costing us. Reading, Math, and Behavioral specialists are great when we are not paying their salaries but when we are obligated to pay for their positions for a number of years after the money has run out is just a way of Washington passing on unfunded mandates to communities. As far as I am concerned, if the state or federal government requires our schools to do something over and above educating our kids, they better have the money to pay for it. I would love it if the state would determine what a good education is and then determine what that education would really cost. Vermonter’s used to be able to educate their kids without the Federal Government telling them how to do it and without requiring people to file reams of mandatory paperwork back to the government. I think that it is still possible to do this and would love a chance to have a hand in guiding some of the change that is coming. I would also like to be in a position to ask some of the tough questions that I have and I am sure that you the voters and consumers of education will have.
Thanks for your consideration.
Check out all of my posts at my Blog: http://grattonforschoolboard.blogspot.com/
