We Can Get Past This

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Both sides Need to Listen":

Great positive post - but a few comments.

There are people who have moved out of Plainview specifically because they were unhappy with the schools here.

There are people who have moved out of Plainview specifically because the tax burden was too high or they suffered economic loss. Some people have just aged out and Florida or smaller adult housing beckoned.

There are people who moved here specifically for the schools and the special needs programs.

There are phenomenal teachers in our district. Not all teachers have the same levels of expertise and sometimes the differences between classrooms is very noticeable.

There are teachers with Lexuses and Coach bags too. And there's nothing wrong with that. This is Long Island. We all want to look good and have a nice ride.

Retaliation happens. This is true for any school district and any organization.

Home values in Plainview are not what they could be. Different parts of Plainview are already more or less desireable because of the differences in performance of home elementary schools.

If you just look at Pasadena and Stratford scores we are significantly behind.

If you just look at Parkway and Old Bethpage scores we are doing very well.

Blogs aren't about resolving anything - it's just a forum for discussion and a way for the community to stay informed and get involved. Not everyone can make Board meetings or has the wherewithal to talk in front of a group.

Discussion between the Board and the Union is up to the Board and the Union. The community elects the Board to handle these situations. The Board doesn't send out surveys asking the community what they should do but at other Board meetings that teachers weren't at, the majority of the community seemed to be saying that they were OK with the Board's offer or that it needed to be trimmed.

Teachers who live in our community and pay taxes are supporting their own jobs. But if a teacher's taxes go up $500 a year, their salary increase more than covers that or they will break even.

Parents support their kids education and that's important to recognize but sometimes it's not by choice. After school tutoring centers teaching basic reading and math have become very popular. Paying teachers more money will not eliminate the problems with our curriculum.

Everybody makes sacrifices for their jobs that may or may not get noticed or compensated.

Not everyone in corporate America got raises when the economy was "rocking."

There are many in our community are on fixed incomes.

Plainview is a nice to community to live in and to work in. Centrally located, we have wonderful shopping, supermarkets, a great library, a JCC, doctors and a hospital, a not so bad commute to the city.

As a community, both parents and teachers, we have mourned the horrible and untimely loss of children and adults of our school district together.

We can get past this contract negotiation. We've gotten through worse.