Whaling City Information - - NB Teacher's Union Official Bitch Slaps New Bedford's New Superintendent of Schools

Oct 25 2008

NB Teacher's Union Official Bitch Slaps New Bedford's New Superintendent of Schools

Written by Dave Gould

Saturday, 25 October 2008

NEW BEDFORD, MA - Several things are accepted as truth amongst the coffee shop and talk radio crowd with regards to the New Bedford educational system. It sucks as an educational venue and it is corrupt from the Mayor to the Super to the unions to the teachers. Under the former administration and under the former Superintendent Mike Longo, this representation was seemingly expected and tolerated. However, most corruption is a point of view and not necessarily an illegal act. With Mayor Lang's new hire, Dr. Patricia Bonner, this was all supposed to change. New Bedford's educational system was to become the land of milk, honey and tolerance and cooperation. The Mayor led us all to believe this would be true with his Faustian eloquence.
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- Download Mr. St John's Letter to Patricia Bonner (PDF)

Well guess what folks, all is not well in LaLa Land. New Bedford's various educational power groups have their fur up and it is beginning to fly. Louis St. John, the current President of the New Bedford Educators Association has very much gone from being a Patricia Bonner supporter to a Patricia Bonner detractor. The way he tells his story, this current antagonistic relationship is singularly the responsibility of Patricia Bonner and her George C. Patten attitude. In his letter to the Mayor, Mr. St. John states, “I share this with you (the Mayor) because of the stark contrast I have experienced between Dr. Bonner's promises of cooperation and her subsequent actions. I would go as far as to say that I feel Dr. Bonner's actions expose a strong anti-union, dictatorial style.”

Apparently, as told by Mr. St. John, he 'inadvertently' discovered a copy of a letter that was to go to teacher's regarding the August 25th Professional Day. The start times in the letter did not match the start times in the contract and Mr. St John, being the dutiful union representative, alerted Dr. Bonner's office of the perceived error. According to Mr. St. John, her response was adversarial. She claimed their was no error, she would not change the letter and basically the teacher will simply have to deal with it. And OH... no overtime either. Over the next two days, Dr. Bonner refused to converse with Mr. St. John. Being the union President, he informed his members to abide by the terms of the contract and not Dr. Bonner's letter with regards to the Professional Development Day.

Naturally, Dr. Bonner was little miffed and chose to attempt to intimidate Mr. St. John a few days later. As he put it, “her demeanor was indigent and hostile.” He further states that Dr. Bonner referred to the current just signed contracts as “that antiquated document”.

At another meeting to discuss the format of grade three report cards. Mr. St. James reminded her that there are contractual guidelines she needs to adhere to. Dr. Bonner apparently retorted that she was doing what she wanted and was implementing her changes the next day. Further, she is accused of threatening to deny the Association their due process. The discussion of intimidation then descended to a new low for a public official. She threatened to send a letter, holding it up, to the Standard Times. This letter would discredit the teachers of New Bedford and the association they pay dues to and especially, Mr. St. John, their leader. This author had to giggle at this threat. Come on folks, who actually pays to read the Standard Times except Jack Peterson. An empty threat, but none the less an unprofessional threat. If Mr. St. John's accounts are accurate, then Mayor Lang chose one hell of a managerial tyrant. A person it seems that disregards the law and obviously does not deserve the respect of the citizens she actually works for.

There is more and you can read the entire letter for yourself. What is truly disconcerting about this letter and the many other very public fights over problems with the New Bedford educational system is it's the kids and the future of the city that is suffering. The very people who are charged with the precise adult task of educating our kids are acting like irascible brats. I feel for Mr. St. John and I have no sympathy for Dr. Bonner. She chose to apply for the position of Superintendent and she is exceedingly well compensated for this task. She needs to remember that she works for the kids and parent's first. She needs to realize that the teachers are the extension and implementational tools of not her wishes and demands, but those of the needs the kids, the parents and the future needs of our society at large. Kids are not stupid and teachers should not be treated as disposable chattel. I can guarantee that much of this bad behavior is telegraphed to the students, affecting their performance and happiness. I hope for the sake of New Bedford that the Mayor, the Superintendent and the Union can resolve their attitudes and differences soon. However, after witnessing Mayor Lang's desire to protect the things the citizen's complain most of, I am not confident he is capable or interested in solving this issue either. I simply expect him to say “We are working very very hard... etc..... and not actually mean it.

I predict this problem will still exist when we return to the polls in 2009.

Pit City continues...

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 October 2008 )