{"id":205,"date":"2011-12-24T18:07:55","date_gmt":"2011-12-25T01:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/?p=205"},"modified":"2014-12-19T15:09:23","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T22:09:23","slug":"upgrade-education-but-by-due-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/?p=205","title":{"rendered":"UEA Strike Deplored – Upgrade Education–But by ‘Due Process’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/a>Across Utah today there is confusion and frustration, As the two-day Utah Education Association-called school teacher\u00a0strike took effect, parents, children and general public were inconvenienced-and considerably bewildered.<\/p>\n

Go to school? Stay home? One-day recess? No days? The situation began to clarify somewhat late Sunday as most\u00a0of Utah’s 40 school districts backed the resolution of the Utah School Boards Association\u00a0to hold school with whatever teachers could be mustered-volunteer or otherwise.<\/p>\n

How many of the state’s 11,000 regular teachers showed up\u00a0for work\u00a0in defiance of the UEA recommendation had not been determined accurately at presstime.<\/p>\n

The recommendation to attempt holding school in spite of the walkout seemed the proper course, despite the confusion. This seemed especially so since there will be little chance to make up two lost\u00a0days prior to\u00a0summer vacation. Further, to simply capitulate to the ill-advised UEA walkout would smack of “going along” with disregard for contractual arrangements and public trust, without a fight.<\/p>\n

Call the UEA action a “withholding of services,” “recess,” or whatever term, the two-day walkout is still a strike, pure and simple. It’s intended largely as a strike\u00a0against Gov. Clyde’s refusal to call a special session of the Utah Legislature to appropriate more money for education, but it amounts to a strike against the public, too. The children, whose welfare the UEA is pledged to promote, could be the biggest losers – with the possible exception of the teachers themselves.<\/p>\n

Public\u00a0Indignation<\/strong><\/p>\n

If\u00a0public sympathy and support swung to the teachers last week when Gov. Clyde refused to call a special session of the Legislature as his school study committee recommended, it almost certainly swung back as\u00a0a result of the hasty, high-handed and ill-timed ”recess” called by the UEA’s house of delegates in these\u00a0last weeks of school.<\/p>\n

With state revenues running about $4 million in the red,\u00a0and\u00a0since the school study committee failed to\u00a0recommend ways of finding the $6 million in “emergency\u00a0funds” it recommends\u00a0for 1964-65\u00a0the governor apparently has solid reasons for his decision.\u00a0Many people certainly would agree that here in Utah we must not\u00a0launch into deficit spending. We have enough\u00a0of that on\u00a0the national level.<\/p>\n

UEA’s campaign to upgrade school salaries and facilities has great merit. The majority of people, we feel, recognize this and applaud the legitimate efforts in this\u00a0direction. There needs to be a continual upgrading.<\/p>\n

We must remember, however, that education isn’t the only facet of government caught in the financial squeeze. More money is also needed for roads, buildings, welfare\u00a0institutions, police protection, and\u00a0other vital public needs. Each of\u00a0these needs consideration.<\/p>\n

We\u00a0do not feel there is a school emergency great\u00a0enough\u00a0to warrant the rash action\u00a0of the UEA in\u00a0calling the two-day recess. Such a strike violates a public trust, just as would in walkout of\u00a0policemen, firemen, doctors, or\u00a0hospital employees.<\/p>\n

Heavy Appropriations<\/strong><\/p>\n

This state, the Herald believes, does not deserve, the nationwide\u00a0smear it\u00a0is getting for its alleged failures to meet educational needs.<\/p>\n

Although not satisfying the teacher demands,\u00a0this state has not ignored the needs of education by any means, from pioneer\u00a0days to the present. In teacher salaries we are not near the top among states, but, we’re a long ways from the bottom. State and local expenditures for public education in Utah still get a bigger slice of the tax dollar than in any other state.<\/p>\n

Just last year the Legislature increased school finances by $11,600,000, providing for teacher salary increases averaging upward from $600. Funds appropriated\u00a0for all levels of\u00a0public education amounted to 80 per cent of total increases granted by the Legislature.<\/p>\n

These\u00a0gains -and others in the past- have come through orderly process. There is no reason to believe that this state, education-minded from the start, will not continue to support the schools up to the limit the economy will afford.<\/p>\n

Let’s support the UEA program of upgrading education but let’s do it by orderly procedures in keeping with the dignity of our democratic process. For teachers to resort to force or coercion is unworthy of the profession. Further, it sets a deplorable example of disregard for law for the children who look to educators for instruction, moral guidance, and example.<\/p>\n

Some of\u00a0the UEA actions of the past few years have been extreme, to say the least – last year’s long strike threat; pledges to defeat legislative candidates who\u00a0do not support UEA proposals: threats of disciplinary\u00a0action against members who do not comply with UEA resolutions; and attempts to secure power-of-attorney in contract negotiations from prospective teachers about to graduate from Utah colleges.<\/p>\n

Shorter School Year<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday’s meeting of the House of Delegates had a similar ring with the two-day recess order, plus discussion of proposals to shorten the 1964-65 school\u00a0year by 10 days, refrain from contracting for 1964-65 until either a special legislative session is called or the school year is shortened, curtailment\u00a0or elimination of summer programs, and requesting the NEA to\u00a0impose national sanctions against Utah.<\/p>\n

We believe\u00a0the UEA, by such actions, is hurting itself and the cause of education in Utah. Further, it is doing\u00a0innocent children a severe injustice.<\/p>\n

The teachers have been called in n mass meeting Tuesday in Salt Lake City to consider proposals and decide on a course of action. We feel it is time that the \u00a0reservoir of splendid, level-headed, far sighted teachers in this state assert themselves\u00a0instead of\u00a0going along\u00a0with ill-advised actions of an element of leadership which has dominated the picture in recent years.<\/p>\n

Let calm heads prevail. Education has held a\u00a0revered place\u00a0in this state. That reputation has suffered sharply of late because of the harangue and the threats over finances. Let’s get started up the road again. We can move forward when reason prevails and we adhere to the orderly processes of law without threats, coercion, or incriminations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Across Utah today there is confusion and frustration, As the two-day Utah Education Association-called school teacher\u00a0strike took effect, parents, children and general public were inconvenienced-and considerably bewildered. Go to school? Stay home? One-day recess? No days? The situation began to clarify somewhat late Sunday as most\u00a0of Utah’s 40 school districts backed the resolution of the… Continue reading UEA Strike Deplored – Upgrade Education–But by ‘Due Process’<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1843,"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions\/1843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gashler.com\/nlc\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}