From the Open Houses., 2003

  We are glad that you have come to tonight’s Open House to see your children’s teachers. We are proud of our communication programs for parents, such as tonight's meeting, and gratified by the tradition of community support.  We are sorry that the dispute over getting fair and just teacher rights language into our contract is causing confusion in the town. We are frustrated ourselves by the fact that we are denied rights that are enjoyed by the education assistants in our classrooms. We have a limited means of getting our message out since we will not put the students in the middle of this.  However, it is important that you, as parents and community members, are aware of the following:

·  At the last negotiations meeting in May, the school board came back with a proposal that effectively gutted any progress that had been made toward compromise language. Therefore, when negotiations resume on September 17, both sides are coming to the table with nothing agreed to. We are beginning over after a year of unsatisfactory meetings.

·  Teachers in Bow are currently working under an expired contract. Health costs have risen. Teachers are working at last year’s salary levels with less to show at the end of the week. This is a pay cut and a strain on everyone, especially new teachers.

·  We have lost a number of teachers since this dispute started. There are 14 new teachers in the district this year alone, with one position still unfilled. This is the highest number of educators entering the district since the high school was built.  Good people are leaving Bow.

·  There are still both an Unfair Labor Practice charge and a grievance arbitration outstanding against the school board that have not been resolved.

Thank you for your time.  Please join us in hoping for a quick and fair resolution to this problem on September 17th.

The Bow Education Association

Kathryn Ford, President