Talking about talks

Having declared impasse in contract negotiations, the United School Employees of Pasco has asked the district administration to enter mediation as a path to quicker resolution than taking their arguments to a magistrate.

The School Board has said that's just fine.

"We have said yes," Terry Rhum, the district's lead negotiator, told the Gradebook. "We're interested in doing whatever we can do to get where we need to be."

Rhum also has asked the USEP to return to the table to discuss exactly where their positions diverge, although he admitted the board had given him nothing new to offer: "To promise something that you cannot deliver is not an option for us."

USEP president Lynne Webb welcomed the district's willingness to mediate.

"I'm hoping it will help us move the process along, because certainly the process wasn't working with them handing proposals across the table," Webb told the Gradebook.

She wasn't much interested in another sit-down outside mediation, though, suggesting that would simply delay the movement toward a resolution on pay and benefits.

Comments

[Patrick Kent]

Dear Joe 2,
Just because my Irish Catholic father had the unfortunate luck to have an English last name, I have heard these lame statements my entire life. I hate Superman. He Sucks. I wish whoever created him had named him Joe 2 then you would know what I am writing about. God rest Christopher Reeve and his wife, I pray for their family and their children's loss, but I hate the fact that he brought it to such popularity during my formative years. Superman/Kent jokes are lame. Been there, heard that. Get original. Pat is Pat, and Patrick is Patrick, got it. DE DA DE!

[Patrick Kent]

Dear Rahm,
Is this the same Rahm Emmanuel who said after the Democratic victory in the House and Senate during 2006 "F*!k the Republicans!"? President Elect Barack Obama's new Chief of Staff, one of the chief partisan architects of the Democratic reemergence in politics, is truly a person devoted to unity and non divisiveness when it comes to politics. DE DA DE! Time for some basic facts of life as we take many a Republican out of their state of denial. First, for an issue to be divisive the public must be made aware of it by the press and become outraged. Please speak up folks if the Union Card Check Law is a sexy story that the press is salivating to cover. What, why am I hearing only crickets. Anyway. Next, the press must take a position opposite of the president for the issue to gain traction and controversy. Again, I ask you to raise your hands folks if you think the media will go against their hand picked savior of America from the evil policies of George Bush and the Republican Party. Oprah, stop crying over your darling Barack Obama and causing people not to want to raise their hands! Still nothing. Wow. President Clinton's mistake which caused his First Term to be muddled up in the divisive issue of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Homosexuals in the Military was in taking a position that the press didn't approve of. This Civil Rights Issue was one that the press cared about and talked about endlessly on talk shows such as Meet the Press. The media is generally liberal and not allowing equality based upon sexual preference is a sexy story to the media. That is where Clinton screwed up. If Clinton had said that he wanted homosexuals to be able to openly serve in the military the story would have ended with him after that statement. He would be enlightened and agree with the press. It would have been put on the Congress to meet this verdict, and they would not because of the Republicans numbers at the time, and Congress would have been blamed and not Clinton. Guess what. The press champions labor unions and demonizes big business. They support the Card Check Law. Because of the Press the issue of the Union Card Check Law will be a non issue, and thus not covered. Non issue means non divisive to most of the American population. Got it. The Democratic Party isn't going to touch the Union Card Check Law with a ten foot pole, but instead grasp it tightly in their embrace and pile on top of it as it passes both the House and Senate on its way to be signed into law by President Barack Obama. Mr. Former Union Lawyer and Community Organizer. The press will give more coverage to Barack Obama's dog than to this law. Those are the Facts of Life. Do you understand now how the game is played? Didn't you learn anything from the press and their coverage in this last election? I thought you had figured it out after this last election. The Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041)will pass without a hint of controversy, discounting of course Rush, Hannity, Ingrahm, and others. Game Over. Power to the Teachers. Got It?

[Patrick Kent]

Just got off of work and am surfing my Blackberry on one of my favorite topics of education when I ran across mom5 statements. Dude, mom5, you rock! Love your well thought out and reasoned prose. AWESOME!!! Keep it up!

[mom5]

Joe 2/Big Al, you are again showing your 3rd floor relationship with your own attitudes of superiority.

Working for any school district does not strip us of our 1st Amendment rights as American citizens to be critical in emails, blogs, newsprint etc. and even be whistle blowers if need be.

Yes we do understand that being critical on District email is unprofessional and inappropriate, but not in the free press.

Kenny is right about her close call....53%/47% win. HF needs to look at the stats and see where she can improve rather than be so heavy handed in her managerial approach.......
at least that is what a true professional would do.

Teachers are told to look at their stats and see where they can improve, so why should HF be any different with her election stats and improve the relationship with her employees?

For those who feel the need to protect HF from bloggers, let me remind you that by virtue of the fact that she is an elected official and holds an elected position, she has made herself a target of criticism by voters.

Teachers are voters and taxpayers too, so they do have the right to be critical like Joe Q. Public.

Any threat made by HF's mannequins from 3rd toward any of us bloggers suggesting we cannot be critical, can easily be interpreted as threats to our constitutional 1st amd. rights...so don't go there.

[Joe 2]

"Pat" Connolly -- is "Pat" Kent your alter ego???? Superman, Clark "Kent" kind of thing going on here??????? Your all professional, rational, factual (most of the time) as the Superman/Connolly guy, but then you change in the phone booth and become a ranting nut known as Patrick Kent??? Just a thought! Unfortunately some of your posts are sinking to his level, thus the Superman theory!??!?!?!

[Kenny Blankenship]

Pat, now you know according to the District that it's unprofessional to use sarcasm in an email. And I suppose a blog as well! Let's not forget... the Superintendent may have won re-election, but 50% of those who went to the polls did NOT vote for her!

[Pat Connolly]

"Big Al",
Yes, you're right.

Hide boys, Big Al has looked into his crystal ball and found us out.

I can't take the lying anymore. I've always dreamed of giving up the satisfaction I get as a teacher for the shackles of an administration job. Oh, to be able to exchange the ecstasy of seeing a new idea take hold in the mind of a young person for the sheer joy of dealing with obnoxious parents (not all are, most are not, but I'd get to deal with the really crazy ones if I was an administrator) or explaining the latest administrative edict to my overworked and underpaid staff.

Yes, we're pathetic. We're so pathetic we can't even come up with sophisticated names under which we can post our whiny drivel. That's why we hide behind our real names.

And for those of you who are still reading with the Minnows, this post is intended to be sarcastic.

[Kenny Blankenship]

Hero, Big Al, You both know nothing of what you speak! I have been sitting on the Union side of the table since day one. The District has brought very little of substance to the table. Terry Rhum knows full well where the positions diverge and the District refuses to reprioritize the budget and make its employees a priority. They have known that they were going to put the screws to the employees since January!

[publicschoolteacher]

Awww, Big Al, are you still mad about the comment I made about your name? I am sorry. That was a cheap shot.

Hero, the union wanted the contact taken care of months ago. It has been the district that keeps canceling meetings and whatnot. I believe it was no political stunt.

[Big Al]

The only Hero we've been reading about on this blog (up until Nov 4th that is)has been Steve Donaldson. So this has to be him blogging in so the Pat brothers can try and argue their losing points. Seems like the union doesn't do anything wrong and the district doesn't do anything right (as proven by the hiring of Pat Connolly, publicschoolteacher, and all the other cry babies!) Pat Connolly is disgruntled because he can't make administrator and Pat Kent can't get past elementary school, always trying to connect the dots, staying within the lines and learning how to spell and say words with more than two letters. You guys are pathetic!

[Rahm]

Not going to happen Kent. Too divisive for a first term. WE won't be touching it with a ten foot pole.

[Patrick Kent]

Dear Hero,
OK, once again for the misinformed and ignorant masses, let us hold hands and connect the dots. LA, LA, LA, CONNECT THE DOTS! USEP is not a certified union because Florida, along with 21 other states in America, is a Right to Work State. These laws prohibit a union from forming and being certified by the National Labor Board and from officially recognizing them. USEP is categorized as an association, bearing none of the powers of a union, such as striking. Unions are illegal in Right to Work States for this and other reasons. Just Wait for the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 800, S. 1041), better known as the Card Check Bill will have a massive effect on state and local politics. This Bill is heavily supported by Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and it will get rid of Right to Work Laws and allow unions in every state of the nation. Then USEP can behave like a normal, certified union, instead of like what is presently, a weak association. USEP will then be able to strike when employers such as Scarf Girl and the Pasco County School Board negotiate in bad faith and violate terms of a legal and binding contract. It will be legal then by federal decree. Got it? Do you understand now, or do I need to draw a picture for you Hero? DE DA DE!

[Pat Connolly]

Hero (to whom?),
"The only reason the contract was held up was for USEP to make the Super look bad for the election." What's This Foolishness?

You seem to claim to be a teacher, yet you are unaware that the reason there is no contract is because the District has refused to even put an economic proposal on the table to discuss. Have you not been paying any attention to anything since last May?

How could USEP have agreed to a contract without an offer being presented? Oh, that's right, probably in the same way YOU've accepted the Rolling Stones offer to be Mick Jagger's replacement. What, you haven't accepted their offer? Oh, that's right, they haven't made you that offer. But you should go ahead and accept it anyway - better quit your job and sell your house so you can go on tour, and don't forget to divorce your wife so you can take advantage of the other "perks" of being a rock star.

[Hero]

The only reason the contract was held up was for USEP to make the Super look bad for the election. Hey fellow teachers: How do we decertify this group?

[teacher, too]

OMG, more BS. Rhum knows where the positions diverge - wasn't he paying attention at the negotiation sessions when USEP told him their positions?

This is really raising my morale.