The Bow Education Association (BEA) continues to fight for Just Cause in the current contract dispute. With the confusion and rumors circulating around town, we are taking this opportunity to answer questions that have been posed to us in the last few weeks.
Question: What exactly is Just Cause?
Answer: Just Cause is a guideline for discipline so that educators will not be unfairly disciplined or subject to the whims of administration. It is an agreement that people will be treated fairly, impartially, and JUSTly. It provides uniform direction for all.
Question: Why are the teachers interested in pursuing Just
Cause now?
Answer: The BEA has raised the issue of Just Cause in previous negotiations. Now that our district has grown so quickly, “business as usual” is no longer working. Both management and employees need a system of clear rules and consequences that must be followed.
Question: Don’t teachers already have Just Cause
because of state statutes?
Answer: No. Without the
specific wording of Just Cause in our contract, Bow teachers have little recourse when
they are treated differently from their colleagues, disciplined unfairly, or
professionally maligned. The state statute provides only procedural due process and no
substantive due process. If teachers cannot challenge unjust discipline at the lowest
level, an appeal to the state on procedural grounds is futile.
Question: Doesn’t Just Cause protect bad teachers?
Answer: No. The fact is that it would be just the opposite. If there were specific language about how discipline would work (for example proper investigation and gathering of answers, etc.), then it would actually make an administrator's job easier if that situation truly were to come up. Yet a good teacher--or one who was unfairly accused--would have also have protection.
Question: Does Just Cause tie
administrators’ hands?
Answer: No. Just Cause ensures that both employer and employee know that all teachers are treated impartially following established procedures. It eliminates favoritism and prejudice. Students are held accountable; teachers are held accountable; why shouldn’t administration also be held accountable for its actions?
Question: Is the BEA committed to any particular Just Cause
language?
Answer: No. The BEA has offered numerous proposals to the Board on this issue and has even offered to let the Board make a proposal of language. At no time has the BEA committed to one proposal. The Board simply refuses to discuss it. The BEA finds this baffling since secretaries, tutors, and educational assistants have had Just Cause in their contract since 1995.
Bow’s teachers want a guarantee in the
master agreement that administrators will be fair, impartial, and JUST. If administration
is already managing fairly, then having Just Cause in the contract will not change a
thing. Please call the school board
stating your support.
The BEA’s members are the teachers of
Bow’s children. We are educators, not
litigators, but we must stand firm for the
principles that we instill in our students and your children.