Support Dartmouth teachers
Last month there was an excellent article in the Standard Times about the disgraceful treatment of teachers and paraprofessionals in the Dartmouth Schools.
Matt Ferreira reported on Dartmouth Educators Association members’ concerns over contract negotiations during the public comment portion of a School Committee meeting. The educators’ two main issues were affordable health insurance — the Dartmouth School District pays one of the lowest percentages of employee health care costs of any district in the state — and a living wage for teaching assistants who currently make between $17-$26k per year currently, which is not a living wage.
The outgoing school superintendent has claimed the District is negotiating in good faith but pleads poverty. This is a steaming flatbed of manure. For anyone who’s been paying attention, giving teachers decent healthcare and paraprofessionals a living wage would cost roughly an extra $1 million — the same amount as the astroturf for the Friday Night Lights Memorial Stadium, or 25-50% of the stadium’s entire projected renovation costs — costs which the incoming superintendent gushed over in more than one School Committee meeting.
So here’s a choice. Football or quality education? Dartmouth’s budgets and contracts are both expressions of priorities.
Many Dartmouth families are here for the schools. So if the quality of schools is really all that important, then it’s time residents voiced a little support for and some solidarity with Dartmouth educators — which includes not only teachers but licensed professional staff like nurses and guidance counselors, teaching assistants and clerical staff — in their efforts to get more affordable health insurance and a living wage.
In case folks haven’t noticed, teachers are leaving the profession in droves and there is a nationwide teacher shortage. Between having to outfit their own classrooms out of pocket, preparing lessons on their own time, dealing with un-supportive school committees, Moms for Liberty and other Conservative culture warriors — not to mention struggling to keep the lights on in their own homes — teaching has become a dead-end job for many in the profession.
If you are interested in joining an organized effort to support Dartmouth teachers, please let me know.