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However, this is not the reason I am writing you today. I am writing to you not only as a resident of New Hampshire, but as the current president of the Fall Mountain Teachers’ Association, an affiliate of the NEA-NH. Today my colleagues and I will work our 825th day without a contract. This extends back to June 2004. Teacher morale is at an all-time low in our district.
We are losing high-quality, dedicated teachers to other districts that have settled contracts. And sadly, we are losing teachers to other professions and jobs due to the lack of pay increases over the past three years.
In the time we have been without a contract, we have proceeded through the steps of mediation and fact finding. Last year, a fact finder’s report was placed on the ballot.
This article was not recommended by the school board or budget committee of the district, and this was indicated on the ballot.
Therefore, I believe, the communities of the Fall Mountain Regional School District, voted the fact finder’s report down.
At the deliberative session, teachers were called “seasonal, part-time workers” and were made to feel devalued, demoralized and disrespected.
After a “cooling off period” the process of negotiating began again. It was realized quickly by both sides that the stalemate was caused by the issue of health care. While the two sides continue to meet, the process of scheduling a fact finding session has been put into motion. The association fully expects that whatever the fact finder recommends will not be accepted by the school board and budget committee and will again be defeated at the polls.
While health care is a hot topic in the political arena and has also been labeled a state and national problem, it is the sole reason my colleagues and I have gone without any salary increase, including cost of living, for the past three years, while at the same time the amount deducted from our paycheck has increased due to our contributions to health care.
The school board argues that we did receive an increase because of the increase in health care premiums; however we cannot present our healthcare card to the mortgage company or the grocery store for payment. In my opinion, the school board doesn’t care that this is our reality.
Our situation is a grave one, governor. In my 19 years in this district I have never felt so discouraged and defeated as I do at this time. Because of state law, we cannot strike. I have been asked in my capacity as president if striking would make a difference. Of course it would. Our neighbors in Vermont are able to strike, and some have. Of those schools, a settlement is reached within a few short days. Because we in New Hampshire cannot strike, we enter into a job action known as work to rule.
Simply stated, this consists of working to the letter of the contract-arriving and leaving at the contracted times, not volunteering for additional non-paid activities, not chaperoning dances, etc. But we are teachers. We want to work with our students and provide as many educational opportunities as possible.
One of your goals as governor of New Hampshire is to improve education. I am not asking that you fix our specific situation. I am simply making you aware of how some of the teachers that you speak so highly about in your state are being treated. Teachers do not enter the profession to get rich. They do, however, believe that earning a competitive wage isn’t too much to ask.
HEIDI A. GOVE
President
Fall Mountain Regional High School
134 FMRHS Road
Langdon
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