“Please set aside some time this fall to elect one of our own to the Board” — David Mielke, Teachers Union President, from the June 14 edition of this newspaper
So much for “one of our own” including substitute teachers when the Teachers Union recently made its endorsements.
I can understand why the Teachers Union and the Assn. of Classified Employees would not want to make a political endorsement of me.
It might antagonize the political machines and “good old boys” who are opposed to a reformist “muckraker“ like me.
Nevertheless, I will be approaching teachers and classified employees directly before and after school to convey my positions.
The No. 1 issue, I will be telling our teachers and classified employees, is that under no circumstances will I vote for taking furlough days off!
I am willing to put that pledge in writing, which I have done now.
The School District is spending over $6 million on consulting and lawyer fees out of a budget of $53 million. I think there is room to cut hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyer fees in labor negotiations and special needs.
Can’t we negotiate informally over a cup of coffee without having to lawyer up and be in an adversarial situation?
Instead of contracting out for so many outside services, why can’t we keep the people we have and do more in-house work?
We need change, not the status quo.
We are not going to solve the budget problems that are threatening the viability of our schools by holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.”
Mr. Zirgulis, a candidate for the School Board, may be contacted at zirgulisr@yahoo
