There are few occupations that require more dedication to a community than that of teachers and other education support professionals. As educators at the William E. Norris Elementary School in Southampton, we take great pride in our school, and in our students.
We strive every single day to create a safe and engaging learning environment. Walk through our school, and you will notice a vibrant learning community.
While we take great satisfaction from our daily interactions with young learners of Southampton, we also expect recognition from the town and school administrators for the work that we put into our jobs every single day. We often come in early and leave late, making sure our students have access to curriculum and materials. We often reach into our own pockets for class materials that go beyond the allowed classroom materials budget. We email parents late and return phone calls outside of the school day. We do all this because we care about our students and our families.
Contract negotiations began months ago, but were delayed by the retirement of the former superintendent and the arrival of the new one. Discussions around a fair contract have now hit significant stumbling blocks. We are disappointed and frustrated that the raise we are being offered is lower than the rate of inflation. That fact, coupled with increases in our health care costs, means we would be worse off under this new contract than we were a year ago.
While we acknowledge that Southampton continues to face difficult budgeting choices, we feel as if we are being asked to pay the price of those town decisions out of our own paychecks. We have decided it is time to let parents and other town residents know of our frustration.
That is why we have begun limiting some of our volunteer activities in the school and will begin picketing outside the school on selected days in the future.
All we are asking for is basic fairness. We hope the residents and elected officials of Southampton will support us.
Stacy Ashley
Southampton
Co-President, The Southampton Teachers’ Association