Teachers And The State Legislature
Tri Color Times - Granger High School
by Nancy Resendiz
November 29, 2011
ON TUESDAY November 8th, a public meeting was held where the teachers were arguing with Senator Aaron Osmond. They were arguing about collective bargaining and the teachers' right to keep doing this. Collective bargaining, are the contracts where in the school districts and charter schools go into unions. These unions represent each school's employees; the contracts also outline everything from their schedules from pay to policies for leave.
Some teachers at the meeting expressed their very strong feelings to the senator, one teacher from the Davis district said that they (the teachers) no matter how long they've been working can't just be fired any day without any notice. Another teacher that was at the meeting also spoke to the senator and he said that the senate should be helping them with the public education.The UEA says that if the senate eliminates collective bargaining then it leaves the teachers rights unprotected.
Mrs. Carson was one of the teachers from Granger who went to the meeting. Although she didn’t speak to the senator, she was impressed with how many teachers from Granger she saw there. “I was very impressed with how many teachers showed up at the meeting. Over 500 teachers went, which impressed me because it meant that they were giving up their evening, for this meeting. The meeting was only supposed to last one hour but went for about an hour and a half.
"I was also impressed because the senator appeared to be listening to what we had to say which at the end of the meeting because he expressed his feelings and thoughts about what the teachers had said, which meant that he was taking into consideration what we had to say to him,” Mrs. Carson said. She also added that about two weeks after the meeting the senator emailed her saying that he had pulled the bill. Mrs. Carson is an active member of the UEA. She is the building representative, on the board of directors, has held two or three committee positions, and has even gone up to the hill to talk with the senators.
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