Whose side are we on, anyway?

Frontiersman editorial board

Last week Frontiersman ran an editorial relating to the ongoing labor dispute between the Mat-Su School District and the Mat-Su Education Association. Feathers have flown as some MSEA members felt targeted by the editorial. Some members have contacted the newspaper to express their dismay, but none of them has been willing to write a letter to the editor or be identified in an article or editorial.

"I won't give you my name, either," a woman identifying herself as an MSEA member said. "Because there will be retaliation." Some teachers, it seems, are concerned that if they publicly voice their opinions and concerns, the district administration will target them for retribution. It is just one of many accusations against the district being made by teachers who are obviously frustrated with the difficult situation facing them and the district.

A man identifying himself as a teacher earlier in the week said he agreed that teachers were probably asking for too much, but said he also believed the district could come up with more than it has offered so far. Some of the accusations being used to support those arguments include that there is "hidden" money in the district budget, or that the budget is artificially inflated, with some built-in cushions that could be used to settle the dispute, hire more teachers, or solve some of the other problems facing the district. When pressed, however, no one can point to specific areas where that money is hidden, or where the extra cushion funds exist.

Barbara Morris, MSEA's president, said the fact that the district can't hang on to funds left over at the end of the year, the way Anchorage's district does, contributes to the problem. She said, for that reason, the district has to protect itself by over-budgeting some line items to account for unforeseen emergencies. District spokeswoman Kim Floyd agreed that the requirement for the district to spend or lose the money in its budget is a problem, but she described it a bit differently. Floyd said if the district budgets some cushion into some line items, and then doesn't need to spend that money, it's accused of hiding money, but if it budgets accurately and spends every dime, it's accused of being irresponsible.

Both sides do agree about some things. They both agree education is the most important factor in the equation, and both sides agree the tension would be greatly reduced if education was funded more adequately. Everyone concerned about education in our community should also agree with those two points.

The district will soon invite business leaders with economic experience to inspect its budget. If there's hidden money to be found, this group should be able to find it. The Frontiersman has been accused, by different groups at different times, of taking sides on this issue. We have. We've taken the side of students, and we hope our local legislators will put as much effort into developing that resource as they have in developing others. We also hope if funds are located in the district's budget, they will be spent in the way that best benefits students and learning.