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WEAC President Terry Craney Thursday (October 30) called on the the Wisconsin Association of School Boards to stop fighting against teachers and start fighting for children.
In a General Session speech to thousands of teachers and educational support staff at the annual WEAC Convention in Milwaukee, Craney said the school boards' statewide association has lost sight of education's number one priority -- improving the education of children in Wisconsin.
"During the recent budget battle it was interesting to note that the Wisconsin Association of School Boards was nowhere to be found in fighting for modifications to revenue controls, or for improvements in the SAGE or P-5 class size reduction programs," Craney said.
"Where were they? They were too busy fighting against the minuscule change proposed in the Qualified Economic Offer and fighting for a proposal to make the school calendar a permissive subject of bargaining.
"I call upon - no let me restate that - I demand that the Wisconsin Association of School Boards stand up for children; stand up for the mission of public education; and end its petty, destructive battle against school employees. I call on the WASB to stand with us, shoulder to shoulder, in the fight for the rights of Wisconsin's children; join with us in the fight for Wisconsin's model academic standards; and join with us in the fight for fair and adequate funding to meet these goals. ...
"It's time for local school boards to wake up to what their statewide association is doing to their schools and to their children. It's time to challenge them to make their state association's priorities public education and children. I ask you to take this message back to your local School Boards: They need to get their priorities straight. Tell them: Be for kids -- not against teachers."
Craney also attacked the state's collective bargaining law for teachers, known as the Qualified Economic Offer law. In 1993, the Legislature and governor replaced the mediation-arbitration law -- which provided a non-confrontational approach to resolving teacher-school board labor disputes -- with the highly confrontational QEO law.
"As a result of the QEO, 20 years of labor peace has come to an end," Craney said.
"Over two-thirds of our locals do not have settled contracts -- that's nearly 300 unsigned collective bargaining agreements -- with little hope of settlement in the future and no process in place to resolve these disputes peacefully."
Craney noted job actions and talk of strikes are now frequent in Wisconsin schools. He cited conflict in Madison, New Berlin, Germantown, Racine, Waupaca, Northland Pines, Stanley-Boyd, Janesville, and Omro.
"No teacher wants to engage in job actions," he said. "Arbitration was always the light at the end of the tunnel when agreement could not be reached. In 1993, that light was turned out.
"If Wisconsin is to continue to be number one in public education, teachers must be allowed a non-confrontational process to use to settle contracts," Craney said. "Teacher labor unrest ripped communities apart in the 1970s. The governor and Legislature should not allow that to happen again."
Craney also pointed out that the QEO law only applies to teachers and that 70% of K-12 teachers are female. It has had the direct result of holding down salaries for women.
"The QEO isn't a glass ceiling," Craney said, "it's a brick wall."
Noting that a bill to repeal the QEO has been introduced in the Legislature, Craney said, "The QEO must go!"
In other comments, Craney said:
Posted October 30, 1997