A View From a Tredyffrin Easttown School District Teacher

I received a comment from a ‘concerned teacher’ in the Tredyffrin Easttown School District.  Rather than seeing this comment buried on an old post, I thought it deserved front page attention. I urge the TESD teachers to present their views on the budget crisis in the school district; it’s important that we hear all sides.

It is easy for us to get caught up in this looming school district tax increase and possibly overlook the staff  and how they will be impacted by the loss and/or decrease of programs, services, etc. Does the ‘concerned teacher’ make fair statements; does he or she represent how the majority of the TESD teachers are feeling? Should the value of our school district teachers outweigh the cost to the taxpayers?  How does the teacher’s contract work — does that mean their jobs are safe from 2010-11 budget cuts?   Does a real possibility exist that the school district budget crisis will require staff reduction in TESD?  It would be great if some of our school board members could help us understand – their comments would be greatly appreciated.  Remember, you can submit comments anonymously, and without email addresses.

Concerned Teacher writes . . .

I hope that when you post and talk about the delusional tax increase of 7.2% in a township ranked 499 out of 501 in millage rates in the entire state of PA, you realize you may be costing me my job as an extremely dedicated teacher in the district. And I also hope that you realize that our lack of passion in demanding health care reform (yes, a public option) enabled Blue Cross to increase the rates on our teacher benefits 28% which has incurred 5 million of the 9.25 million dollar deficit that is about to cause me to lose my job.

But you can continue to rant about your minimal tax increase possibilities to fund the educational system that is consistently one of the top 5 in the state and nation while teachers like myself fall by the wayside and desperately look for ways to support our families come June of 2010. Your quest to stay way more comfortable than you really need to be will cost you the quality of education for your children, and casting teachers, unions, and pensions as the villains of your community is reprehensible. Take a breath, step back, and be thankful for what you have…and realize that you may need one less SUV to pay for it rather than putting teachers out of work.