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Wearing shorts and T-shirts and munching on poppy seed muffins, more than 2,000 Madison School District staffers crowded into the Dane County Exposition Center this morning to catch up with friends and share some laughs -- with their bosses.
The rally's warm, relaxed tone is especially surprising considering that the hectic first day of school is Monday. But the event is the outgrowth of an amazing reconciliation between staff and management.
Two years ago, the two sides were trashing each other in a bitter contract dispute that dragged on for months, but this year's contract was settled early for the first time in recent memory.
"I've never seen so many people giving a standing ovation for their boss before ...I think your morale is up." |
The morning was filled with signs of how much times have changed for labor relations in the district.
Assistant Superintendent Shirley Baum donated her front-row parking space at the Doyle Administration Building as a door prize. The winner of a lunch with Superintendent Art Rainwater put up her fists and cheered.
And when Rainwater took the stage to make a few remarks, the entire room rose to its feet to cheer and clap.
''I hope I can think of something to say after that,'' he told the crowd. ''I have been doing this for 35 years, and that's the first time that's ever happened to me.
''This is absolutely awesome. I wish you could be up here looking at the Madison Metropolitan School District and the people who make it great.''
Sitting in the crowd, Whitehorse Middle School seventh-grade teacher Carol Reuter called the difference between Rainwater and predecessor Cheryl Wilhoyte ''night and day.''
''Art is so much more human and warm,'' she said, adding that it was
a treat to see so many hundreds of teachers getting together outside of
a tense union meeting.
A school district news release called the rally the first of its kind
in more than two decades, but both Reuter and Bev Fluckiger, Spanish teacher,
said they couldn't recall anything like it in their three decades with
the district.
''I don't think I've ever got a free cup of coffee before,'' Reuter said.
School Board President Carol Carstensen told the crowd she thought she would be one of the first ones at the Exhibition Hall by arriving 30 minutes early, but the parking lot was already one-third full.
MTI director John Matthews rattled off a number of the union's wins in the recent contract talks during his speech, but he gave much credit to Rainwater, with whom he shared ''God knows how many sweet and sour chicken lunches'' in efforts to repair labor relations.
Aside from speakers, this morning's crowd heard light-hearted country from Peter and Lou Berryman, plus Madison firefighter Leotha Stanley's ''Be a Friend Choir.''
Before the high school singing group launched into the choir's set, Stanley told the crowd in an incredulous tone: ''I've never seen so many people giving a standing ovation for their boss before . . . I think your morale is up.''
Posted August 23, 1999