TDN Letters to the Editor - Sunday, June 30 School closures and red flags Austerity is a powerful adversary of the working class. Communities are forced to prioritize and wage heavy-hearted battles for the services they believe are necessary to maintain a quality of life. Chicago, for example, just closed 50 schools earlier this year. However, Longview is not Chicago. When it comes to our schools, we have the advantage of a stronger influence in the democratic process. At the June Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council meeting, delegates representing thousands of area union members unanimously endorsed the Save Our Schools campaign, along with Longview School Board candidates C.J. Nickerson and J.D. Rossetti. These endorsements were made on the basis of how the school mergers and the candidates themselves could affect labor, including loss of jobs and crowded schools. Cowlitz County is unique. We have prime industrial land, sound infrastructure and low energy rates, making future business and population growth likely. Should we not be planning ahead for the future? With the LEA’s resolution of no confidence in the process that led us to the current recommendation to close schools, there are plenty of “red flags” to be worried about. Lack of teacher input, questionable data, lack of administration neutrality, are some of the concerns with the process. All we ask is that the School Board compare apples to apples, stick with the issue at hand, listen to teachers and the broader public, and make certain the facts and figures are correct before making any decision. Kyle Mackey Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Central Labor Council President
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 04:40:41 +0000
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