We told you about this last week on the Victoria Taft Show and now Big Government has picked up on the story here.
The Manager at On Point Credit Union in McMinnville was fired after the McMinnville Teachers Association complained about her. On Point used to be the Portland Teachers Credit Union.
What was the manager’s offense? She worked on a Chamber of Commerce Committee which sent out a survey to local business owners about the contract negotiations between teachers and the district.
The results were that the business community wanted the contract to be settled quickly, keeping as many teachers in the classroom. The thugs at the teachers union didn’t like that result because that meant the business community was in favor of no raises.
The On Point manager read the results of the survey at the meeting.
Now, this memo was read by Leslie Van Blaricom at the school board meeting on 2/14. Members of the teacher’s unions contacted her employee and subsequently she has now been fired from her position at OnPoint.
Here’s the letter that led to the woman’s firing:
The Government Affairs Council of your Chamber of Commerce has identified an issue that we feel has potential lasting impact on our community and would like to share both a perspective and invite your feedback.Currently, the McMinnville School District and the local teachers union are involved in month 11 of collective bargaining over a new teacher contract. State revenue declines have led to smaller projected allocations to K-12 schools. For current budget news, please see the News Register Article at the following link: http://www.newsregister.com/article/46806-school+budget+gaps+grows+more+6+millionThe bottom line: both the district and the union are negotiating over money our district does not have and does not expect to receive. We feel the business community should provide a message of support for settlement of the negotiations (which are now in mediation) that maximizes the number of teachers the district can retain to keep class sizes smaller for our children.The district should not spend any additional money towards teacher salary and/or benefits if doing so will require the district to reduce teaching positions and increase classroom sizes to pay for them in order to meet its budget. We should hope the union would see the benefit of smaller class sizes on their members workload and student performance but to date, they have continued to insist on additional wage and benefit increases even though the district indicates that such demands could mean the loss of as many as 40+ teaching positions.We know many business people, concerned citizens and parents in our community feel, as we do, that they support teachers and appreciate what they do. We do not want to be perceived as opposing teachers and/or education but want to stand up to the unreasonable demands of the teacher’s union given the current state, local and national economic conditions.We believe this has long-term community and business consequences. The Chamber and many of its member businesses have supported local education, including the $68 million bond measure that updated and expanded many of our educational facilities. Although we opposed Measures 66 and 67 last year, they passed and have not live up to the challenge of fixing the funding crisis. Our fear is that failure to hold the line on expenses will result in new calls for business taxes at a time when both the business community and the local economy cannot afford it. We urge that your voice be heard on this issue and we intend to share it.Please let us know how you feel about this issue.
Tell ’em where you saw it. Http://www.victoriataft.com
