EDITORIAL - Two things happened at the latest Friday night emergency meeting of the Madera Unified School District Board of Trustees, the school closures for Madera Unified, like elsewhere in the valley have been extended to May 1st, and all seven members of the board of trustees unanimously gave Superintendent Todd Lile full authority to make unilateral decisions for the district without the need for prior board approval.
The board enacted section 35161 of the California Education Code which allows the board of trustees the right to delegate to an officer or employee of the district certain powers or duties normally reserved for the board itself.
The board authorized Superintendent Lile all appropriate action to respond to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes reassigning district employees, in their capacity as emergency service workers, to perform disaster service activities that he assigns to them.
However, in a time of a national emergency, MUTA Vice President Amanda Wade was more concerned with bargaining and negotiations of contracts for her union’s teachers than ensuring that our community remains safe and students continue to learn during this pandemic.
If Wade got her way the district would be forced to renegotiate teacher’s contracts to move teachers from the classroom to ‘distance learning’ or an online environment if it’s not already in their job description. Obviously, Wade has never read The California Emergency Services Act, and that is not how things work in a time of a state of emergency.
Truth be told I am sure the majority of teachers just want to help their kids learn by any means necessary, but Wade seems to think that she and MUTA President David Holder deserve a seat at the table as a part of the district decision-making team. Well, Ms. Wade, that is not in your job description but if you are truly interested in helping where you can, I am sure Madera County Sheriff Jay Varney could use your and Holder’s help with filling sand-bags.
Now when I first heard the board was going to abdicate their duties to a person that was not elected by the voters of this county, I was concerned. Should one man have that much power with our local schools? But then I realized in times of a state of emergency there often isn’t time to wait for a board quorum to make a decision. We need someone to make decisions now!
When I was in the United States Coast Guard on a search and rescue boat in the middle of the Monterey Bay, the coxswain never polled the crew about how we were going to respond. We simply followed his orders and got the job done. If he needed me to man a rope, hook a boat or enter the water, I did the job he gave me without question.
If we need to move teachers to an online environment from the classroom, Ms. Wade needs to get out of the way of the district leadership. If there are teachers that don’t want to teach our kids outside of the classroom during this state of emergency, the unemployment line is located in the EDD office.
However, I do not believe that is the case. I believe the majority of our MUTA teachers want to do what is right for their kids. I also do not believe that Mr. Lile and the Board are trying to execute a ‘power grab’, an accusation that was made during the meeting. There is a time for bargaining units and negotiations but that time is not during a National Emergency where hundreds of thousands of people’s lives are at stake. In fact, I have been informed that at any time during this situation the Board can take back it’s usual duties simply by voting to do so.
Yes, sadly, teachers are not higher on the national pay scale, but I have also been told by my friends who are teachers; you don’t go into education for the money. All the teachers I know deserve twice what they make, but without the public voting in favor of more school bonds or higher taxes, where is the money going to come from to pay these higher salaries?
That is a question for another day. Another day where we might want to look at Clovis Unified, which does not have a teachers union, and how they don’t seem to have any problems passing school bonds to pay for first-class facilities or keeping their employees happy.
Like with other crises in the past, we will get through this. There will be sacrifice and we may lose many members of this community. But we will get through this. Kids will return to the classroom, MUTA will continue its job of standing up for the rights of their teachers. In the meantime, I am grateful that we have leaders in this community that are more than qualified to make the hard decision when it is called for.
So what is our place in the process during times like these? BVN will continue to help keep the community informed about what is happening in local government. We would also respectfully suggest that regular citizens think twice about approaching current actions from an adversarial angle. Back when we voted for these leaders, we were choosing people we thought would be up to the task. Now, while actually in the ‘thick of the battle’, is not the time to second-guess their decisions. That can wait for the next election cycle.
Speaking for BVN, I would like to say that I stand with our local leaders who I believe would all say, God Bless our community of Madera, Our educators and students, and God Bless the United States of America.
