Strike problems not for governing body to resolve Mayor frowns on seven-day Middletown teacher walkout

Staff Writer

By ELAINE VAN DEVELDE

Strike problems not for governing body to resolve
Mayor frowns on
seven-day Middletown teacher walkout

MIDDLETOWN — Tradition dictates that the mayor holds the keys to the city, not its schools.

So goes the story in Middletown, where in light of the recent teacher strike, as much as the mayor may have wanted to give relief to residents by helping jar a few education doors open, it was just not within her or the governing body’s jurisdiction.

With the township all twisted up over the strike, many angst-ridden residents directed their frustrations toward the township to vent and/or ask officials to intervene.

"We were getting about 15 calls a day," said Township Administrator Robert Czech.

While Mayor Joan Smith said it was upsetting that she couldn’t possibly return all the calls because she is only a part-time mayor, she did say she wouldn’t have been able to do anything anyway.

Having many of the right doors slammed in their faces and not knowing where to turn, Smith said, residents came to the steps of town hall where people tend to think all doors lead to the same solution.

"It’s not in our jurisdiction. It upset the residents tremendously, but the Board of Ed members are the elected officials in this matter," she said.

"To my knowledge, there are two different types of boards of education: the elected, which Middletown has, and the appointed," said Czech. "With the appointed [board], without getting into too much detail, in essence, the governing body has more input.

"With an elected board, as Middletown’s, the only role the governing body has is when a budget is defeated and the governing body is charged with sitting down with the board and making cuts. That’s it. Some people tend to think that the governing body can always step in and resolve any situation in town if they have to. That’s just not the case. The only elected officials with any power to make decisions are the board of education in this type of a situation (the strike)," Czech said.

On the strike situation itself and people as public employees, Smith’s said, "These teachers are public employees, and as public employees, the public entrusts them. Though I’m glad they’re where they should be now — back in school — they should have gone back to work immediately. Being a teacher is being given a public trust and the striking teachers broke that trust [with their actions]."

Smith added that while she knows the shaky economy has people rocking right now, she didn’t think that the money was the real issue that a large segment of the public was enraged over when the teachers walked out, wanting more of a public contribution toward their benefits than the board was willing to give.

"I was not hearing that it was a money issue," said Smith. "I was hearing that it was more about educating our children and, in effect, holding the town hostage. They (the teachers) broke the law. We trust them with our a children. The civic lesson here is not that a public servant should go to jail to stand up for what they believe in, but rather that there is a right and a wrong way to take a stand and make a point. The right way here would have been to go through the process. The other way, it was a souring experience all around.

"Teachers, by and large, are good, dedicated people. I’m puzzled as to why they chose this illogical and illegal action. I’m just glad they’re back in school and all seems to be calm. The children count on their credibility and reliability," Smith said.