WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:04.799
<v Speaker 1>It's night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WBS Constance.

2
00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:12.359
<v Speaker 2>Well, if you are a student in the Marblehead, Gloucester

3
00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:16.719
<v Speaker 2>or Beverly school system, no school tomorrow, now, I'm sure

4
00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:18.640
<v Speaker 2>a lot of the kids are cheering. Hey, no school

5
00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:20.839
<v Speaker 2>tomorrow and the other day off. Okay, well maybe not

6
00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:24.160
<v Speaker 2>all kids, but some. But I'll tell you who's probably

7
00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:27.199
<v Speaker 2>not cheering, and that's the parents of the kids in

8
00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:31.239
<v Speaker 2>those schools. Because when you think of this sort of

9
00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:37.880
<v Speaker 2>social contract that exists between taxpayers and the communities in

10
00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:41.880
<v Speaker 2>which they live. One portion of that social contract is

11
00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:47.439
<v Speaker 2>the taxpayers pay taxes, primarily real estate taxes in most

12
00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:52.240
<v Speaker 2>Massachusetts communities, to support the essential services, which include fire,

13
00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:56.159
<v Speaker 2>police EMTs. Your house catches fire, there's a robber coming

14
00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:59.640
<v Speaker 2>in your house, someone is choking, or someone is having

15
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:02.600
<v Speaker 2>a metal emergency, you want to think that there'll be

16
00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:06.079
<v Speaker 2>a fire truck that pulls up, a police car or

17
00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:09.640
<v Speaker 2>some sort of an ambulance. One of the other parts

18
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:12.040
<v Speaker 2>of the social contract is if you have children, or

19
00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:14.920
<v Speaker 2>if you live in the community, you support the school system,

20
00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.879
<v Speaker 2>and school systems in public school systems in Massachusetts are

21
00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.599
<v Speaker 2>quite expensive compared to many other states around the country.

22
00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.439
<v Speaker 2>But we pride ourselves on the quality of the public

23
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:31.000
<v Speaker 2>school systems. We have very active teachers unions here in Massachusetts,

24
00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:35.840
<v Speaker 2>including the MTA, which are embarked on a very successful

25
00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:41.640
<v Speaker 2>ballot initiative this past fall in which they knocked out

26
00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:48.959
<v Speaker 2>the MCST tests, the Comprehensive Assessment Survey, and I suspect

27
00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:51.879
<v Speaker 2>that we will see the teachers' union becoming more and

28
00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:57.400
<v Speaker 2>more active. Right now, there are three communities that tonight

29
00:01:57.480 --> 00:01:59.879
<v Speaker 2>are trying to figure out what will their kids do

30
00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:06.000
<v Speaker 2>tomorrow in Marblehead, Gloucester, in Beverly because school is out,

31
00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:09.599
<v Speaker 2>because the teachers' union is on strike. Now, I'm not

32
00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:13.000
<v Speaker 2>particularly interested in trying to negotiate on behalf of the

33
00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.319
<v Speaker 2>school committees or on behalf of the teachers union. The

34
00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:23.639
<v Speaker 2>teachers union always wants more money. That's understandable. That's understandable. However, However,

35
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:29.639
<v Speaker 2>most people view benefits of being a teacher compensating, maybe

36
00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:32.400
<v Speaker 2>for not making a million dollars a year. Teachers do

37
00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:35.479
<v Speaker 2>not make a million dollars a year. They are highly compensated.

38
00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:40.520
<v Speaker 2>In most or in many Massachusetts communities. They make six figures.

39
00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:46.199
<v Speaker 2>They work from September to June. They have I would

40
00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:50.560
<v Speaker 2>say a fairly ample number of vacation days holidays during

41
00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.000
<v Speaker 2>the year. They work about one hundred and eighty school days.

42
00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:56.719
<v Speaker 2>They have in many respects on the ability to carry

43
00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:00.680
<v Speaker 2>over their sick days. They can once called bank days.

44
00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:05.919
<v Speaker 2>They have all sorts of parental leave when they have

45
00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:09.199
<v Speaker 2>a welcome a child. There are a lot of companies

46
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:13.240
<v Speaker 2>that do not provide parental lead, certainly not paid parental leave.

47
00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:18.439
<v Speaker 2>And the teacher unions now are flexing their muscles in Massachusetts,

48
00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:24.199
<v Speaker 2>and we will see more more teacher strikes in Massachusetts

49
00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:26.240
<v Speaker 2>in the days, in the weeks, and the months and

50
00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:31.039
<v Speaker 2>the years ahead. Last winter, there was a nearly three

51
00:03:31.080 --> 00:03:33.560
<v Speaker 2>week teacher strike in the city of Newton, and at

52
00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.759
<v Speaker 2>that time Mayor Ruth Ann Fuller was beside herself because

53
00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:43.719
<v Speaker 2>teachers in Newton are very well compensated, and of course

54
00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:48.240
<v Speaker 2>eventually the strike was settled. The bottom line is the

55
00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:52.000
<v Speaker 2>teachers' union and the teachers are paid through the city

56
00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:55.680
<v Speaker 2>by the taxpayers, simple as that. So when there's a

57
00:03:55.719 --> 00:04:00.879
<v Speaker 2>teacher strike, besides the inconvenience that inflict on the family

58
00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:04.400
<v Speaker 2>and on the students, it also means that at the

59
00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.960
<v Speaker 2>end of the day, the cost will be incurred by

60
00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:11.240
<v Speaker 2>the residents of that particular community. Oh, there's some other

61
00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:16.399
<v Speaker 2>revenue streams that come in, but the bulk of the money,

62
00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:21.639
<v Speaker 2>the salaries that teachers receive, come from the taxpayers in

63
00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:27.439
<v Speaker 2>their respective communities. Now, if you've noticed, and maybe you

64
00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.920
<v Speaker 2>haven't if you haven't been paying attention, but most often

65
00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:33.920
<v Speaker 2>teachers strikes occur at two points during the school year.

66
00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:37.759
<v Speaker 2>They either occur when the school year commences in September,

67
00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:42.079
<v Speaker 2>or they now occur during the school year. So the

68
00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:45.279
<v Speaker 2>teachers striking Newton and end Over, and I think there

69
00:04:45.319 --> 00:04:48.600
<v Speaker 2>was wubrin if I'm not mistaken, they occurred during the

70
00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:52.920
<v Speaker 2>school year, and you have now three communities up on

71
00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.040
<v Speaker 2>the north Shore, Beverly, Gloucester and marble Head. I don't

72
00:04:56.040 --> 00:05:00.040
<v Speaker 2>want to say that those three strikes are coordinated, but

73
00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.759
<v Speaker 2>it wouldn't surprise me if they were, because of the

74
00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:07.040
<v Speaker 2>geographic proximity of those three communities. So I made a

75
00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:11.879
<v Speaker 2>simple proposal last night, and I kind of came to

76
00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.839
<v Speaker 2>it during the program, and I want to hear if

77
00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:17.920
<v Speaker 2>you agree or disagree with me in this. We have

78
00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.680
<v Speaker 2>a legislature in Massachusetts that does not want to stand

79
00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:24.800
<v Speaker 2>up to the teachers' unions. With that we know, okay,

80
00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:27.600
<v Speaker 2>the teachers' unions are now one of the most powerful

81
00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:32.319
<v Speaker 2>political organizations in Massachusetts. We've invited the head of the

82
00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:35.480
<v Speaker 2>teachers' union, the mass Teachers Association, to commit and join us.

83
00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.680
<v Speaker 2>He's more than welcome any night. His name is Max Page.

84
00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.000
<v Speaker 2>We'd be more than happy to have him come on

85
00:05:41.480 --> 00:05:45.800
<v Speaker 2>and discuss what the teachers' unions really are looking for.

86
00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:51.040
<v Speaker 2>If you're interested, go to the Massachusetts Department of Education

87
00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:55.240
<v Speaker 2>slash teacher salaries and you can see how much teachers

88
00:05:55.279 --> 00:05:58.279
<v Speaker 2>the average teacher in the school system the community in

89
00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:02.240
<v Speaker 2>which you live receive. Okay, you'll find that interesting. Make

90
00:06:02.360 --> 00:06:06.600
<v Speaker 2>note that the statistics there are from calendar year twenty twenty,

91
00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:09.600
<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty one. For those of you paying attention, it

92
00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:14.519
<v Speaker 2>is now November of twenty twenty four, so those statistics,

93
00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:18.439
<v Speaker 2>those salaries, as generous as they as they appear, are

94
00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:21.720
<v Speaker 2>already three years old. So I have a simple solution

95
00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:27.639
<v Speaker 2>to avoid what is being inflicted on people, families, students

96
00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:30.480
<v Speaker 2>and parents in Marblehead, Gloucester and Beverly, and that is this.

97
00:06:31.480 --> 00:06:34.839
<v Speaker 2>Teacher strikes are illegal in Massachusetts, but it doesn't matter.

98
00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:38.079
<v Speaker 2>I believe that at least two of the teachers' union

99
00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:41.439
<v Speaker 2>should have been in court today. Listening to the various

100
00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:45.879
<v Speaker 2>news stations tonight, it didn't appear that those court hearings occurred.

101
00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:51.000
<v Speaker 2>And that's often the case. A judge says, you got

102
00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.800
<v Speaker 2>to be back, we've got to stop this strike by

103
00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:55.680
<v Speaker 2>noon on Tuesday. Well, noon on Tuesday comes, and noon

104
00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:59.199
<v Speaker 2>on Tuesday and Wednesday comes. Occasionally there's a judge who

105
00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:01.879
<v Speaker 2>will stand up to the teachers union, but that's some

106
00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:06.959
<v Speaker 2>few and far between. So here's my simple proposal. If

107
00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:12.879
<v Speaker 2>let us say a contract, a teacher's contract in any

108
00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:17.639
<v Speaker 2>Massachusetts community is to end, they all end on June thirtieth,

109
00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.399
<v Speaker 2>at the end of the of the school year. So

110
00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:24.439
<v Speaker 2>what I would suggest is that the union and the

111
00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:29.000
<v Speaker 2>school committees should be informed by the state legislature that

112
00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:35.839
<v Speaker 2>one year before the contract is supposed to be renewed,

113
00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:42.560
<v Speaker 2>which would be the following September first. So when when

114
00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:47.079
<v Speaker 2>the final year of the school contract is about to

115
00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:51.040
<v Speaker 2>begin on September first, the previous July in August, the

116
00:07:51.240 --> 00:07:55.839
<v Speaker 2>union and the school committee or whoever's the bargaining agent

117
00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:58.920
<v Speaker 2>have to spend some time not during the school year

118
00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.240
<v Speaker 2>but in July and August negotiating. Now, if they can

119
00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.439
<v Speaker 2>negotiate an agreement a year ahead of time, that's great,

120
00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:11.680
<v Speaker 2>much better than negotiating an agreement a year into the contract,

121
00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:14.879
<v Speaker 2>which of course makes it possible for them to strike

122
00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:18.600
<v Speaker 2>during the year. Now, let's assume that they have. Let's

123
00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:23.680
<v Speaker 2>just use as an example. Let's assume that these contracts

124
00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:27.279
<v Speaker 2>were due to be renewed on September first of this year,

125
00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:29.839
<v Speaker 2>which I think they were. That means that a year ago,

126
00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.600
<v Speaker 2>in the summer of twenty twenty three, July and August

127
00:08:32.600 --> 00:08:37.000
<v Speaker 2>the twenty twenty three, there should have been contract conversations,

128
00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:44.960
<v Speaker 2>serious discussions begun. If they completed their negotiations successfully and

129
00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.840
<v Speaker 2>everybody was happy, which is unlikely because one side will

130
00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:54.519
<v Speaker 2>always fight the other, then they start in September. They

131
00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.360
<v Speaker 2>would have started in this September to the final year

132
00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:02.399
<v Speaker 2>of the contract. Okay, so the contract ends. The last

133
00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:05.120
<v Speaker 2>year of the contract ends on June thirtieth. On that

134
00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:10.200
<v Speaker 2>next summer, the union and the school committee is forced

135
00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:16.360
<v Speaker 2>to negotiate, and that negotiation would be overseen by some

136
00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.360
<v Speaker 2>sort of a mediator or an arbiter, and eventually it

137
00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:24.759
<v Speaker 2>would be binding arbitration, which would mean sometime around August fifteenth,

138
00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:27.799
<v Speaker 2>the arbiter would say to both the union and to

139
00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:31.919
<v Speaker 2>this community, I want your last and final offer, and

140
00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:37.279
<v Speaker 2>then the arbiter would decide what the contract will be. Okay,

141
00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:40.399
<v Speaker 2>now I know that that would drive the union crazy,

142
00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:44.720
<v Speaker 2>it probably would drive the school committee's crazy, but it

143
00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:49.600
<v Speaker 2>would force an agreement binding arbitration. So that means that

144
00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:52.120
<v Speaker 2>if there would be an incentive built in for both

145
00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:55.080
<v Speaker 2>to be more reasonable and if they weren't, if let's

146
00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.559
<v Speaker 2>say the union said we want ten, twelve and fourteen

147
00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:02.120
<v Speaker 2>percent of the next three year contract and the community

148
00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:07.000
<v Speaker 2>offered I don't know, you know, two four and six

149
00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.279
<v Speaker 2>on a three year contract, then it would be after

150
00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:16.799
<v Speaker 2>the arbit to decide which it is, and the arbita

151
00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:19.279
<v Speaker 2>could go completely for the school committee or go completely

152
00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:21.720
<v Speaker 2>for the union. I'll be somewhere in between. That is

153
00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:26.200
<v Speaker 2>my humble proposal, because if that proposal was ever adopted

154
00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.480
<v Speaker 2>by our legislature, it would ensure that there would be

155
00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:38.799
<v Speaker 2>no strikes during the school year because one the negotiations

156
00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:41.559
<v Speaker 2>would have occurred a year ahead of time, would have

157
00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:43.799
<v Speaker 2>begun a here ahead of time, and they would have

158
00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:46.600
<v Speaker 2>to have been done in July and August during summer vacation,

159
00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:49.919
<v Speaker 2>so the union leaders they would have an incentive to

160
00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:53.440
<v Speaker 2>get the negotiations over with, as would the school committee.

161
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:56.399
<v Speaker 2>I think it's a pretty simple idea, and I think

162
00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:59.240
<v Speaker 2>that it is one that we should look at very

163
00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:02.519
<v Speaker 2>seriously here in Massachusetts. Now, I'm going to open up

164
00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:06.000
<v Speaker 2>the phone lines. I'm going to hope that I hear

165
00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:07.480
<v Speaker 2>from you. If you agree with me and you think

166
00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:10.279
<v Speaker 2>it's a good idea, tell me. If you disagree with me,

167
00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:14.279
<v Speaker 2>tell me why. Bottom line is there is a social contract.

168
00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.000
<v Speaker 2>I'll come back to where I started. This is not

169
00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:21.879
<v Speaker 2>the UAW, the Autoworkers of America on the line, This

170
00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:25.440
<v Speaker 2>is not Boeing, This is not even radio and TV

171
00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:30.639
<v Speaker 2>stations employees. This is a social contract that exists between

172
00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:35.440
<v Speaker 2>the community and the teachers. No one has drafted these

173
00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:38.159
<v Speaker 2>teachers to become teachers. No one has forced them to

174
00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:43.279
<v Speaker 2>become teachers. They have asked and studied to become teachers.

175
00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.399
<v Speaker 2>There's a lot of benefits to being a teacher. One

176
00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.840
<v Speaker 2>of them is not you know, million dollar salaries. Now,

177
00:11:49.879 --> 00:11:52.000
<v Speaker 2>if you work long enough, if you work thirty years,

178
00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:54.720
<v Speaker 2>you can make three four million dollars as a teacher,

179
00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:56.519
<v Speaker 2>and you're going to get a really good pension at

180
00:11:56.559 --> 00:12:00.399
<v Speaker 2>the end of the day. But your job is to

181
00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:04.279
<v Speaker 2>educate kids and not go out and strike during the

182
00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:07.279
<v Speaker 2>school year. Six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty

183
00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:10.200
<v Speaker 2>six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. I am

184
00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:14.080
<v Speaker 2>deadly serious. This is what should be adopted. I'm sure

185
00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.360
<v Speaker 2>there will be people who will of all sorts of objections.

186
00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:18.120
<v Speaker 2>That's fine, let's hear them, let's get them out on

187
00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:20.039
<v Speaker 2>the table, and I'm sure there'll be some people out

188
00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:21.559
<v Speaker 2>there are going to say that's a pretty good idea.

189
00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:24.840
<v Speaker 2>Give me a call. Six one seven, two, five four

190
00:12:24.919 --> 00:12:27.519
<v Speaker 2>ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.

191
00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:30.120
<v Speaker 2>I'm trying to make you think that I don't care

192
00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.559
<v Speaker 2>what you think. I just want to make sure you're thinking.

193
00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.440
<v Speaker 2>I thought about this last night. This is what I've

194
00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.360
<v Speaker 2>come up with. Come up with your own idea, come up,

195
00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:40.799
<v Speaker 2>let's but let's talk about it back here on Nightside

196
00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:41.360
<v Speaker 2>right after this.

197
00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:45.399
<v Speaker 1>Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World

198
00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:48.679
<v Speaker 1>Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.

199
00:12:49.799 --> 00:12:52.200
<v Speaker 2>Okay, when I use the word social contract, I'm using

200
00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:56.399
<v Speaker 2>that specifically because there is a contract here that's above

201
00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:01.279
<v Speaker 2>and beyond salary. The salaries for teachers in Massachusetts are good, Okay,

202
00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:06.039
<v Speaker 2>are good. I've heard about some of the things that

203
00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.679
<v Speaker 2>are being asked for, like recovery rooms for teachers and stuff.

204
00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:14.360
<v Speaker 2>Come on, guys, come on, you picked the profession. Okay.

205
00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:19.600
<v Speaker 2>Every job has its pluses and every job has its minuses,

206
00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:24.559
<v Speaker 2>and you cannot eliminate every inconvenience, every minus from a job.

207
00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:26.840
<v Speaker 2>Sometimes you're going to get a kid in a classroom.

208
00:13:26.840 --> 00:13:28.799
<v Speaker 2>It was tough to deal with. I want you to

209
00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:31.600
<v Speaker 2>have support on that. But at the same time, you

210
00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:34.559
<v Speaker 2>have engaged in a social contract. You have said I

211
00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:36.039
<v Speaker 2>want to be a teacher. I want to be a

212
00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.840
<v Speaker 2>teacher because I want to teach kids, not because I

213
00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:41.320
<v Speaker 2>want to walk up picket line. Let's go to the calls.

214
00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:44.279
<v Speaker 2>Agree to disagree, that's fine, it's I just want to

215
00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:47.039
<v Speaker 2>have a conversation because I think this is going to

216
00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:52.080
<v Speaker 2>be soon a very critical subject for people in Massachusetts

217
00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:56.240
<v Speaker 2>to look at and consider and actually come to a conclusion.

218
00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:59.320
<v Speaker 2>Justin and Marlborough, Justin, thanks for calling in. How are

219
00:13:59.360 --> 00:13:59.720
<v Speaker 2>you tonight?

220
00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:04.440
<v Speaker 3>Welcome in good stings sense to taking back call. I

221
00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:07.840
<v Speaker 3>like you, I like your idea and I think the

222
00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:12.440
<v Speaker 3>teachers to be grateful, because what annoys me is that

223
00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:16.720
<v Speaker 3>it's against the law to strike, and laws don't mean

224
00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:19.960
<v Speaker 3>anything in the state. We have an attorney general that

225
00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:24.000
<v Speaker 3>was hard to say it's not illegal to be illegal.

226
00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:27.799
<v Speaker 3>I mean, it's amazing to me. And what happened in

227
00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:32.399
<v Speaker 3>Franklin back in the nineteen seventies, this would solve all

228
00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:34.799
<v Speaker 3>our problems. They invested to teach.

229
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.440
<v Speaker 2>Refreshed my recollection. What happened to Franklin.

230
00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.799
<v Speaker 3>Justin the Franklin teachers, I think it was very nineteen

231
00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:46.480
<v Speaker 3>seventy eight went on strike and my neighbor was a

232
00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:50.399
<v Speaker 3>state trooper and his wife was a teacher, and they

233
00:14:50.440 --> 00:14:53.159
<v Speaker 3>made the front page of the Boston New Boston Globe

234
00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:57.840
<v Speaker 3>because he arrested her and they spent a week in jail.

235
00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:01.879
<v Speaker 3>They got strip searched. Trust me, the Franklin teachers never

236
00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:02.960
<v Speaker 3>went on strike again.

237
00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.080
<v Speaker 2>Wow, was his wife the head of the union.

238
00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:10.840
<v Speaker 3>No, I don't as soon as soon as a junior

239
00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:11.799
<v Speaker 3>high math teacher.

240
00:15:12.039 --> 00:15:15.919
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well, normally, very rarely did our teachers put in

241
00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:20.879
<v Speaker 2>jail because they all were a contempt here. I didn't

242
00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:24.279
<v Speaker 2>realize they were all put in jail. I gotta go

243
00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:27.879
<v Speaker 2>back to check. I know, well it is illegal. But

244
00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.919
<v Speaker 2>what happens is the judgment committed. The judge will say,

245
00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:32.519
<v Speaker 2>look to the union leaders, if you don't order your

246
00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:35.679
<v Speaker 2>teachers back to work by tomorrow at eight o'clock, we're

247
00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.720
<v Speaker 2>gonna find you ten thousand dollars a day, and if

248
00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:40.360
<v Speaker 2>you don't come back the next day, the final will

249
00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:42.320
<v Speaker 2>be double the twenty thousand. Then it will be double

250
00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.559
<v Speaker 2>to forty thousand. So what happens is sometimes when they

251
00:15:45.559 --> 00:15:49.919
<v Speaker 2>finally do settle, the judge will say, okay, you have settled.

252
00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.159
<v Speaker 2>We're going to cut the fines back to ten thousand

253
00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:56.279
<v Speaker 2>dollars and that'll be paid by the Massachusetts Teachers Association,

254
00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.799
<v Speaker 2>and of course it'll eventually be recaptured in the dues

255
00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:02.399
<v Speaker 2>from the from the teachers, because the dues are going

256
00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:05.840
<v Speaker 2>to go up. And everybody kind of figures it's a wash,

257
00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.879
<v Speaker 2>but it's just not fair. The people who are victimized

258
00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:11.919
<v Speaker 2>here are the kids and the parents of kids. Most

259
00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.559
<v Speaker 2>parents work during the day, you know, particularly if the

260
00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:21.519
<v Speaker 2>kids are older, maybe they have a babysitter but lined up,

261
00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:25.399
<v Speaker 2>or what happens if if they don't have a babysitter

262
00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:27.879
<v Speaker 2>lined up during the school day because they assume that

263
00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:29.840
<v Speaker 2>kids are going to be in school. What do they

264
00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.960
<v Speaker 2>do for their job? It's it's it's nothing.

265
00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:38.720
<v Speaker 3>And none of the teachers in Newton looked stressed or

266
00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:40.960
<v Speaker 3>worried when they were on stress. They didn't have the

267
00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.000
<v Speaker 3>wory of getting arrested. They didn't having fun.

268
00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.399
<v Speaker 2>Oh it's like it's well, I don't think they enjoyed

269
00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:51.639
<v Speaker 2>being outside in the middle of January. But putting that aside, yeah,

270
00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.200
<v Speaker 2>it was, uh, it was kind of a party atmosphere.

271
00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:59.240
<v Speaker 2>So that's yeah, that's something that I think is troubling.

272
00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.600
<v Speaker 2>I really do think it's troubling, and I think that

273
00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:06.400
<v Speaker 2>I think that my proposal is one that the legislatures

274
00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.000
<v Speaker 2>should consider because I think this teacher strike thing is

275
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.960
<v Speaker 2>only going to get worser in Massachusetts as time goes on.

276
00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:14.720
<v Speaker 3>Justin, I hope you listen to you, Dan. I look

277
00:17:14.799 --> 00:17:17.359
<v Speaker 3>forward to seeing the dan Way.

278
00:17:21.799 --> 00:17:28.640
<v Speaker 2>Teacher. Yeah, the the the teachers strike law. We'll see. Thanks,

279
00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.200
<v Speaker 2>talk to you soon. Have a great night. Good I okay,

280
00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.759
<v Speaker 2>all right, So that opens up one line at six, one, seven, two, five, four,

281
00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:37.279
<v Speaker 2>ten thirty. When we get back, I got Claudette, I

282
00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:38.880
<v Speaker 2>got Bill, and I got some room for you at

283
00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:45.119
<v Speaker 2>six one, seven nine. I'm making a very serious proposal.

284
00:17:45.400 --> 00:17:50.839
<v Speaker 2>I hope that someone in the legislature's listening and says, hey,

285
00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:55.119
<v Speaker 2>this is something. All this is doing insane to teachers unions. Look,

286
00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:59.720
<v Speaker 2>start your negotiation a year in advance. If so happens

287
00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:03.000
<v Speaker 2>that you come to an agreement, that's great, that provides

288
00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:07.519
<v Speaker 2>continuity of school. If you don't get together on an

289
00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:12.480
<v Speaker 2>agreement a year in advance, then the summer before you

290
00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.480
<v Speaker 2>got to go back to school without a contract. I

291
00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:16.559
<v Speaker 2>don't want teachers going back to school without a contract.

292
00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:19.279
<v Speaker 2>You got to have a negotiation. And it's only in

293
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:23.440
<v Speaker 2>July and August, okay, and on August fifteenth. If you

294
00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:27.079
<v Speaker 2>haven't come to an agreement, if everything hasn't been decided,

295
00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:30.480
<v Speaker 2>if everything hasn't been decided, then you are going to

296
00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:35.160
<v Speaker 2>submit to the to the arbiter or the mediator, you know,

297
00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:41.240
<v Speaker 2>be compulsory or compulsory arbitration, compulsory mediation, and they will decide.

298
00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:44.400
<v Speaker 2>So it's the same way that goes on in professional

299
00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.400
<v Speaker 2>sports when a player and a team kind of agree,

300
00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:52.279
<v Speaker 2>depending upon the situation. Sometimes they say to a player,

301
00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:55.079
<v Speaker 2>go ahead, go find somewhere else. You can't do that

302
00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.960
<v Speaker 2>with teachers. You can't do it with teachers. But we

303
00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:01.079
<v Speaker 2>got to do something that's going to change the dynamic

304
00:19:01.480 --> 00:19:05.079
<v Speaker 2>and stop the teacher strikes for the sake for truly,

305
00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:07.400
<v Speaker 2>for the sake of the students, and for the sake

306
00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:12.000
<v Speaker 2>of the parents and the families of the students. I

307
00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:14.440
<v Speaker 2>firmly believe in what I'm saying. I hope you'll agree

308
00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:16.799
<v Speaker 2>or disagree. I don't care which, but I'd love to

309
00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:19.079
<v Speaker 2>hear from you coming back on Nightside.

310
00:19:20.279 --> 00:19:25.400
<v Speaker 1>Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm telling you Boston's news radio.

311
00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:28.920
<v Speaker 2>All right, back we go. Let me go to Claude Dette,

312
00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:32.559
<v Speaker 2>who is joining us tonight from New Bedford. Claude ed

313
00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:33.799
<v Speaker 2>welcome to Nightside. How are you?

314
00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:37.480
<v Speaker 4>I'm fine? Thank you yourself.

315
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.359
<v Speaker 2>Doing just great. I don't know that I've ever had

316
00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:42.359
<v Speaker 2>the pleasure of you calling my show. Is this your

317
00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:43.039
<v Speaker 2>first time calling?

318
00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:43.359
<v Speaker 3>Now?

319
00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:45.640
<v Speaker 4>A first time call?

320
00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:47.440
<v Speaker 2>Well, you're going to get you a role of a

321
00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:50.160
<v Speaker 2>posse of my digital studio audience. You go right ahead.

322
00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:51.039
<v Speaker 2>What's your thought on this?

323
00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:54.720
<v Speaker 3>Uh?

324
00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:58.559
<v Speaker 4>I am a former teacher. I've not since retired, but

325
00:19:58.759 --> 00:20:02.480
<v Speaker 4>in New Bedford and nineteen sixty eight, we were the

326
00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:09.759
<v Speaker 4>first ones to go on strike, and people were arrested

327
00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:14.319
<v Speaker 4>and they went to jail. And this was done the

328
00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:16.079
<v Speaker 4>teacher beginning of the school year.

329
00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:18.400
<v Speaker 2>No, let me ask you, was it the teachers or

330
00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:22.039
<v Speaker 2>the leadership? Did they arrest teachers? Just teachers as well

331
00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:22.599
<v Speaker 2>as the school.

332
00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:34.759
<v Speaker 4>They arrested teachers the I think they did direst some administrators,

333
00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:37.839
<v Speaker 4>but they had to separate after that.

334
00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.480
<v Speaker 2>They had no What I meant was normally what I've

335
00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:42.799
<v Speaker 2>seen happen is that they have. When I was a

336
00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:47.519
<v Speaker 2>reporter and TV clad, they would order the union leaders

337
00:20:47.599 --> 00:20:49.559
<v Speaker 2>to tell the union to go back to work, and

338
00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:53.119
<v Speaker 2>then they would threaten the union leaders with prison. Justin

339
00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:56.480
<v Speaker 2>talked about teachers being arrested in Framingham. I you know, again,

340
00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.960
<v Speaker 2>I'm not interested in seeing teachers being arrested. I don't

341
00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:02.440
<v Speaker 2>think that's a good thing. Did you think about my

342
00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:06.319
<v Speaker 2>idea about forcing them to have the negotiations? Seems to

343
00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:08.839
<v Speaker 2>me like they always wait till they've been working without

344
00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:11.319
<v Speaker 2>a contract for six months, and I just think that's dumb.

345
00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:12.319
<v Speaker 2>Get it done early.

346
00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:13.799
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

347
00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:19.400
<v Speaker 4>True, I agree with you on that most certainly. Getting

348
00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:27.599
<v Speaker 4>back to the new Bedford situation, the strike occurred prior

349
00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:31.920
<v Speaker 4>to the beginning of the school year, so that was

350
00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:41.079
<v Speaker 4>pretty good. But I'm curious, as do the teachers in

351
00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:46.880
<v Speaker 4>those areas around Boston. Do they get their health insurance

352
00:21:47.000 --> 00:21:49.599
<v Speaker 4>from the school department? Are they given that?

353
00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:55.079
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I believe every teacher in Massachusetts gets their health insurance.

354
00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:58.319
<v Speaker 2>I'm sure that is a part of the contract negotiation,

355
00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:02.519
<v Speaker 2>and they should get their health insurance from the community.

356
00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:07.359
<v Speaker 4>Well, right, I guess they do it in New Bedford now,

357
00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:10.160
<v Speaker 4>But I remember I paid my own health insurance.

358
00:22:10.599 --> 00:22:10.799
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.

359
00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:13.720
<v Speaker 2>I mean, things have gotten better for teachers unions, as

360
00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:15.920
<v Speaker 2>they should have, but I think we've reached a tipping

361
00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:21.000
<v Speaker 2>point when the teachers' unions they most teachers in Massachusetts,

362
00:22:21.160 --> 00:22:25.200
<v Speaker 2>even in the smallest communities, are making you know, on average,

363
00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:28.359
<v Speaker 2>eighty thousand dollars, okay, and in a lot of communities

364
00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.440
<v Speaker 2>they're making one hundred thousand dollars, a salary that you

365
00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:36.240
<v Speaker 2>can't even you would not have even talked about. Obviously,

366
00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:40.319
<v Speaker 2>the economy is different today. You couldn't live today on

367
00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:42.480
<v Speaker 2>what you were paid when you were a teacher. So

368
00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.759
<v Speaker 2>I don't mind seeing teachers having competitive salaries. I mean

369
00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:47.079
<v Speaker 2>I would support that.

370
00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:48.720
<v Speaker 5>Well.

371
00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:55.559
<v Speaker 4>I retired in two thousand and three, and I was

372
00:22:55.640 --> 00:23:02.240
<v Speaker 4>on maximum pay for my step increase was fifty six

373
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:03.720
<v Speaker 4>thousand dollars.

374
00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:08.519
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and again back twenty years ago, that was a

375
00:23:08.680 --> 00:23:12.359
<v Speaker 2>pretty decent salary. You weren't going to become a millionaire,

376
00:23:12.519 --> 00:23:17.039
<v Speaker 2>but that was a decent salary. When I graduated from college,

377
00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:21.400
<v Speaker 2>which was, you know, in the last century, I actually was.

378
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:25.039
<v Speaker 2>I was an English major before I went to law school,

379
00:23:26.039 --> 00:23:30.559
<v Speaker 2>and I had a minor teaching certificate. And at that time, teachers,

380
00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:33.440
<v Speaker 2>this was in the nineteen seventies, you could look forward

381
00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:36.200
<v Speaker 2>to making maybe twenty thousand dollars as a starting teacher,

382
00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:39.720
<v Speaker 2>and I thought to myself, Wow, twenty thousand dollars over

383
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:43.680
<v Speaker 2>career thirty years, that's going to be six hundred thousand dollars. Obviously,

384
00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.920
<v Speaker 2>salaries have increased across the board since then as well

385
00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:54.480
<v Speaker 2>they should. But teachers now, on average in Massachusetts, you know,

386
00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:58.079
<v Speaker 2>there are exceptions, but you can look at the Department

387
00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:04.559
<v Speaker 2>of Education statistics can eighty ninety thousand dollars on average. Now,

388
00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:08.559
<v Speaker 2>starting teachers make less, experienced teachers make more, but on

389
00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:12.119
<v Speaker 2>average eighty ninety thousand dollars, and many teachers now make

390
00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:16.720
<v Speaker 2>in excess of one hundred thousand dollars, which is fine.

391
00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:19.599
<v Speaker 2>I don't have a problem with that, but I think

392
00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:24.839
<v Speaker 2>that those salaries should be decided in advance of a

393
00:24:24.839 --> 00:24:28.279
<v Speaker 2>school year and the teacher should not use the students

394
00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:30.640
<v Speaker 2>as leverage. That's what I'm saying.

395
00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:35.759
<v Speaker 4>And I have another question. Are these teachers being paid

396
00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:37.079
<v Speaker 4>while they're on strike?

397
00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:38.960
<v Speaker 3>Are they drawing?

398
00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:43.759
<v Speaker 2>Well, no, I think that in one of the communities,

399
00:24:43.799 --> 00:24:45.640
<v Speaker 2>I think it was marvel Head, the teachers have been

400
00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:48.599
<v Speaker 2>told they will not be paid during while they're on strike.

401
00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.880
<v Speaker 2>But what happens is when they finally come to an agreement,

402
00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:56.440
<v Speaker 2>the union will say to the school committee, look, we

403
00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:59.400
<v Speaker 2>want you to give us back pay for the one

404
00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:01.720
<v Speaker 2>week or if we run strike. In the school committee

405
00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:05.160
<v Speaker 2>at that point, well, we'll go ahead and pay them

406
00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:08.440
<v Speaker 2>because that money was budgeted. So that's what that's generally

407
00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:11.599
<v Speaker 2>what happens in the situation. In situation likeage, the school

408
00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:13.559
<v Speaker 2>committee as part of the agreement. You know, at that

409
00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:17.039
<v Speaker 2>point we're all singing Kumbai yah and the glad that

410
00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:19.400
<v Speaker 2>the strike is over. So the union has all the

411
00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:24.640
<v Speaker 2>leverage here in my opinion. In my opinion, Claudette, thank

412
00:25:24.680 --> 00:25:26.559
<v Speaker 2>you for what you did as a teacher. I'm sure

413
00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:29.640
<v Speaker 2>that you have a lot of pride in the young

414
00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:32.799
<v Speaker 2>men and women who you run into today at the

415
00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:35.599
<v Speaker 2>grocery store or on the street, and they'll say, hey,

416
00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.680
<v Speaker 2>how are you remember me? I was a student of yours.

417
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:43.319
<v Speaker 4>Oh yeah, that happens all the time. Let me say

418
00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:47.559
<v Speaker 4>you one thing, if you became if you became an

419
00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:54.279
<v Speaker 4>English teacher, yep, you would be working long hours every day,

420
00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:59.279
<v Speaker 4>correcting essays and everything else. English teachers had it the worst.

421
00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:02.279
<v Speaker 4>I mean when you know people are saying, oh, the

422
00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:05.559
<v Speaker 4>only work six hours a day now because you've got

423
00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:08.279
<v Speaker 4>to bring home all your correction and all this other

424
00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:11.599
<v Speaker 4>stuff and you have to do your lesson plans.

425
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:12.359
<v Speaker 3>Do you know what?

426
00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:14.359
<v Speaker 2>Do you know what time I start to work every day?

427
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:16.400
<v Speaker 2>I do a show from eight to midnight. What time

428
00:26:16.440 --> 00:26:20.759
<v Speaker 2>do you think I start working every day? Oh?

429
00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:21.960
<v Speaker 4>I don't have no idea.

430
00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:25.920
<v Speaker 2>Nine o'clock in the morning. I'm on the phone at

431
00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:29.480
<v Speaker 2>nine o'clock in the morning with my producer Marita uh,

432
00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:31.599
<v Speaker 2>and we're going over, Okay, what are we thinking about?

433
00:26:31.920 --> 00:26:34.920
<v Speaker 2>You know what, what are the possible issues we can

434
00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:39.519
<v Speaker 2>talk about tonight? Okay. So and again I do it

435
00:26:39.559 --> 00:26:41.440
<v Speaker 2>because I like it. Do I have to do it? No,

436
00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:44.039
<v Speaker 2>I could quit tomorrow if I wanted to. But I

437
00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:47.319
<v Speaker 2>like my job and I enjoy conversing with people like

438
00:26:47.400 --> 00:26:49.599
<v Speaker 2>yourself and learning from you and learning from Justin and

439
00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:53.799
<v Speaker 2>Marlborough from different different experiences. For me, that's the best

440
00:26:53.799 --> 00:26:55.279
<v Speaker 2>part of the day when I get a chance to

441
00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:58.200
<v Speaker 2>talk with you. But during the day it can be agonizing.

442
00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:00.200
<v Speaker 2>What what stories are we going to cover? What are

443
00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:02.319
<v Speaker 2>we going to do? Are people going to be interested

444
00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:06.160
<v Speaker 2>in this? You know, I'm not getting overwhelmed with phone

445
00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:09.039
<v Speaker 2>calls on this topic, but I'm sticking with it because

446
00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:11.960
<v Speaker 2>I think it's an incredibly important topic, not only for

447
00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:15.039
<v Speaker 2>the Comwalth of Massachusetts. It's important for the teachers' unions.

448
00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:17.920
<v Speaker 2>It's important for the students, and it's important for the parents.

449
00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:20.960
<v Speaker 2>This is not the sexiest topic in the world to

450
00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:22.640
<v Speaker 2>talk about, Claudette, but I'm.

451
00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:24.319
<v Speaker 3>Oh, I know, I'm.

452
00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:25.839
<v Speaker 2>Committed to doing it, and I can't tell you how

453
00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:27.640
<v Speaker 2>much I appreciate that you would take the time to

454
00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:30.559
<v Speaker 2>call and share your experience and thank you for the job.

455
00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:32.799
<v Speaker 4>Okay, sir, thank you very much.

456
00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:35.559
<v Speaker 2>Dan, You're very welcome. Hope to hear from me again. Thanks.

457
00:27:35.640 --> 00:27:38.640
<v Speaker 2>Thanks claud thank you very much. Maybe I hope so

458
00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:41.480
<v Speaker 2>looking forward to your second call. No applause in the

459
00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:44.880
<v Speaker 2>second call, but you got the applause tonight, Thanks Claude.

460
00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:47.640
<v Speaker 4>Okay, thank you, good night, six.

461
00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:51.160
<v Speaker 2>Seven, good night six one seven, two, five, four, ten thirty.

462
00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:53.759
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to talk about this till ten o'clock. Okay,

463
00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:57.000
<v Speaker 2>Bill and Natick awaits on the other side. And if

464
00:27:57.000 --> 00:27:59.480
<v Speaker 2>you don't think this is an important subject, you're not thinking.

465
00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:02.079
<v Speaker 2>And if you're not thinking, you shouldn't be listening to

466
00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:04.880
<v Speaker 2>Night Side, because that's what my job is is to

467
00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:08.000
<v Speaker 2>make you think. I don't care what you think. I mean,

468
00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:10.839
<v Speaker 2>you know, I care what you think, but I just

469
00:28:10.920 --> 00:28:13.359
<v Speaker 2>want you to think think about this. This is a

470
00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:16.759
<v Speaker 2>proposal that I think is important, not because I came

471
00:28:16.839 --> 00:28:20.079
<v Speaker 2>up with it, but it is a reform that we

472
00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:24.599
<v Speaker 2>could consider here in Massachusetts which might make life easier

473
00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:29.279
<v Speaker 2>for parents, for students, and for teachers. The union won't

474
00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:32.759
<v Speaker 2>support this, I guarantee you that. I guarantee you that,

475
00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:36.279
<v Speaker 2>but if teachers think about it, they'll realize this will

476
00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:39.880
<v Speaker 2>make their lives easier and it'll make their students' lives better.

477
00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:42.720
<v Speaker 2>And that's what I think. Good teachers are all about.

478
00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:44.839
<v Speaker 2>Will be back on Nightside right after this.

479
00:28:46.279 --> 00:28:49.200
<v Speaker 1>Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World

480
00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:53.039
<v Speaker 1>Place Side Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.

481
00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:56.240
<v Speaker 2>Next is Bill and Natick. Bill, I appreciate you holding

482
00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:57.960
<v Speaker 2>on you Next on Nightside, go right ahead.

483
00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:00.559
<v Speaker 6>Well, I was a pleasure talk to you.

484
00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:04.880
<v Speaker 5>My background is I've never been a teacher, and I

485
00:29:04.920 --> 00:29:08.519
<v Speaker 5>wouldn't want to be one. However, I am an elected

486
00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:11.359
<v Speaker 5>town meeting member. My neighbors wrote my name in without

487
00:29:11.400 --> 00:29:16.559
<v Speaker 5>telling me, and they've re elected me for forty seven years.

488
00:29:16.759 --> 00:29:19.680
<v Speaker 5>But I just want to say that I'm not surprised

489
00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:24.359
<v Speaker 5>that I agree with you on your plan. I agree

490
00:29:24.359 --> 00:29:26.480
<v Speaker 5>with many of the things you've said over the years.

491
00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:32.839
<v Speaker 5>But what strikes me in particular about these three towns

492
00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:38.160
<v Speaker 5>I would like information. I would like to know when

493
00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:45.559
<v Speaker 5>either side first requested to Bogging about the contract. You know,

494
00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:47.680
<v Speaker 5>was it at the end of the school year or

495
00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:48.720
<v Speaker 5>was it beforehand?

496
00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:52.839
<v Speaker 6>The other thing that, yeah, Bill.

497
00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:54.480
<v Speaker 2>Hold of a second, I don't have an answer to

498
00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:56.599
<v Speaker 2>that question, but I will tell you I think that

499
00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:02.000
<v Speaker 2>human nature, you tend to put the things off, you know.

500
00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:05.519
<v Speaker 2>I don't care if it's doctor's appointments or dentist appointments,

501
00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:07.960
<v Speaker 2>or you've got to go to the store. I think

502
00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:10.799
<v Speaker 2>people we tend to kind of, Oh, the Patriots game

503
00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:13.400
<v Speaker 2>is on, I'll watch them, you know, That's all I'm saying.

504
00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:17.160
<v Speaker 2>And I think that the proposal I'm making would force them.

505
00:30:17.559 --> 00:30:20.960
<v Speaker 2>You know, in professional sports, if you're a professional athlete,

506
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:24.400
<v Speaker 2>the team has to offer you a contract by a

507
00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:27.400
<v Speaker 2>certain data you become a free agent. They you know,

508
00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.359
<v Speaker 2>they got to make a decision, and then you've got

509
00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:31.200
<v Speaker 2>to decide by a certain date if you want to

510
00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:35.200
<v Speaker 2>accept that offer or not. There are there are there

511
00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.319
<v Speaker 2>were rules and regulations imposed because if you did that,

512
00:30:38.599 --> 00:30:41.160
<v Speaker 2>the Red Sox would open the season in April and

513
00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:43.920
<v Speaker 2>half the team would be minor league Baseball players and

514
00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:46.119
<v Speaker 2>the lot of the guys would be sitting sitting at

515
00:30:46.119 --> 00:30:51.200
<v Speaker 2>home waiting for a contract offer. It'say, now, no, I'm

516
00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:55.200
<v Speaker 2>just no, no, but I just they were just say,

517
00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:58.920
<v Speaker 2>you're joking here, but you want to see your best

518
00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:01.599
<v Speaker 2>players on the field on opening day. Same way with

519
00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:04.079
<v Speaker 2>the Patriots. You know, they got to report the camp

520
00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:06.319
<v Speaker 2>by a certain date, and if they don't report the

521
00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:08.359
<v Speaker 2>camp by a certain date, they get fot. I mean,

522
00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:12.119
<v Speaker 2>it just makes common sense is what I'm truly trying

523
00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:14.039
<v Speaker 2>to say, And so that's.

524
00:31:13.559 --> 00:31:16.680
<v Speaker 5>I agree with you wholeheartedly. But one of the things

525
00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:21.000
<v Speaker 5>that strikes me about this situation is I would consider

526
00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:23.839
<v Speaker 5>a teacher strike an emergency, wouldn't you?

527
00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:26.400
<v Speaker 2>Yes? I would.

528
00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:31.319
<v Speaker 5>Yes, if I was a school community member and I say, well,

529
00:31:31.359 --> 00:31:32.960
<v Speaker 5>we want to buy it first thing in the morning,

530
00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:36.240
<v Speaker 5>at nine o'clock, or if these two towns didsa at

531
00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:39.519
<v Speaker 5>nine o'clock and ten o'clock. One of the towns says, no,

532
00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:41.279
<v Speaker 5>we can't get together at three o'clock.

533
00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:44.200
<v Speaker 2>Well, I think the time to begin the bargaining would

534
00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:47.799
<v Speaker 2>have been months ago. They should because.

535
00:31:47.599 --> 00:31:48.839
<v Speaker 5>Now we have an emergency.

536
00:31:49.200 --> 00:31:51.079
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I get it. No, I get it. I totally

537
00:31:51.160 --> 00:31:52.880
<v Speaker 2>get it. Yeah.

538
00:31:52.920 --> 00:31:55.599
<v Speaker 5>So that makes me suspect a little bit more. I

539
00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:58.920
<v Speaker 5>always want the facts, and I agree with you. I

540
00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:01.480
<v Speaker 5>think your plan is a way to go, and I

541
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:02.880
<v Speaker 5>wish we could all adopt it.

542
00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:06.240
<v Speaker 2>Well, let's see, I wish I had more people responding

543
00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:08.000
<v Speaker 2>to the call tonight. But that's okay.

544
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:11.759
<v Speaker 5>This is one that this is a shortness I've ever waited.

545
00:32:12.279 --> 00:32:15.119
<v Speaker 5>I've called it times over the years, but most times

546
00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:15.799
<v Speaker 5>I can't wait.

547
00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.119
<v Speaker 2>But no, I just say that and I do appreciate.

548
00:32:18.200 --> 00:32:20.240
<v Speaker 2>But I what I'm saying is that this is one

549
00:32:20.279 --> 00:32:23.920
<v Speaker 2>that makes people think. And I don't know. I I'm

550
00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:26.880
<v Speaker 2>not going to put the same show on the radio

551
00:32:26.920 --> 00:32:29.559
<v Speaker 2>every night. I mean, I'm I spend time during the

552
00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:31.920
<v Speaker 2>day trying to come up with even if it's the

553
00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:34.160
<v Speaker 2>same subject, I want to get a different angle on it.

554
00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:35.519
<v Speaker 5>I want to get a different And you do a

555
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:37.000
<v Speaker 5>good job, you know.

556
00:32:37.039 --> 00:32:39.279
<v Speaker 2>So well, whatever, and I'll do it as long as

557
00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:41.640
<v Speaker 2>I can. And when when my time is up, you'll

558
00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:43.200
<v Speaker 2>have another talk show host.

559
00:32:43.480 --> 00:32:46.440
<v Speaker 5>Who maybe I'm in real estate, do a lot of

560
00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:49.079
<v Speaker 5>rentals and I'll be eighty next year. But you know,

561
00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:50.480
<v Speaker 5>I'm going to do it as long as I can.

562
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:52.920
<v Speaker 2>You got it all right, because you like the job.

563
00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:55.119
<v Speaker 2>That's what it comes down to. Bill. Appreciate your call

564
00:32:55.240 --> 00:32:55.599
<v Speaker 2>very much.

565
00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:57.880
<v Speaker 6>Thank you, Okay, you for being man.

566
00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:00.000
<v Speaker 2>Thank you very much. Good night. Let me go to

567
00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:02.119
<v Speaker 2>Mike and Lynn. Mike your next time nights. I appreciate

568
00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:02.599
<v Speaker 2>you calling in.

569
00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:05.680
<v Speaker 6>Go ahead, Mike, Hey, mister Dan, how are you doing today.

570
00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:08.599
<v Speaker 2>I'm doing great. Go ahead, Mike. What's what's your take

571
00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:08.920
<v Speaker 2>on this?

572
00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:14.359
<v Speaker 6>Mike taking this? I do agree with the teachers Per's

573
00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:17.680
<v Speaker 6>good people. And if you do the math, ninety percent

574
00:33:17.720 --> 00:33:20.480
<v Speaker 6>of the workforce they are women and they are good people.

575
00:33:20.519 --> 00:33:24.519
<v Speaker 6>I gotta tell you this story. In two thousand and two,

576
00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:28.319
<v Speaker 6>I was a single father living in North Quincy. Now

577
00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:32.680
<v Speaker 6>I live in Land, and I will remember always missus Lyon.

578
00:33:33.160 --> 00:33:35.599
<v Speaker 6>My daughter was going to PMS. I didn't know what

579
00:33:35.759 --> 00:33:38.839
<v Speaker 6>PMS is, and she helped me and she used to

580
00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:43.839
<v Speaker 6>check on me every Saturday. So ninety or one hundred

581
00:33:43.880 --> 00:33:47.200
<v Speaker 6>percent of all the teachers there are women, and there

582
00:33:47.240 --> 00:33:49.920
<v Speaker 6>are good people, and they deserve the best.

583
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:53.880
<v Speaker 2>So the question, though, is this, This is the question.

584
00:33:54.039 --> 00:33:57.039
<v Speaker 2>I don't disagree with you, okay. As matter of fact,

585
00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:01.720
<v Speaker 2>I think teachers become teachers all the right reasons. Now

586
00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:04.119
<v Speaker 2>I do think that some teachers get burned out, but

587
00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:07.319
<v Speaker 2>that's a story for another day. It just seems to

588
00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:12.599
<v Speaker 2>me that once the school year starts, the contract should

589
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:15.800
<v Speaker 2>be in place. The teachers should be satisfied, they should

590
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:18.320
<v Speaker 2>know what they're receiving. How would you like to be

591
00:34:18.360 --> 00:34:20.559
<v Speaker 2>a parent. You said you were the parent of a daughter,

592
00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:24.119
<v Speaker 2>single dad, How would you like to have been I

593
00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:26.960
<v Speaker 2>assume you probably were working and your daughter went off

594
00:34:26.960 --> 00:34:29.920
<v Speaker 2>to school, and you went off to work and the

595
00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:33.960
<v Speaker 2>difficult set of circumstances. I get it. How would you

596
00:34:34.119 --> 00:34:36.880
<v Speaker 2>like to have seen the Quincy teachers you and you

597
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:39.000
<v Speaker 2>go out and strike? How would you be able to

598
00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:41.039
<v Speaker 2>take care of your daughter during the day and still

599
00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:44.119
<v Speaker 2>go to work. You couldn't do both things simultaneously, right.

600
00:34:44.679 --> 00:34:45.800
<v Speaker 3>I couldn't do both.

601
00:34:45.800 --> 00:34:48.039
<v Speaker 6>But I agree with them, and the reason why I

602
00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:51.800
<v Speaker 6>think because they have three months off in the year

603
00:34:52.760 --> 00:34:55.920
<v Speaker 6>and they getting paid. They don't getting paid enough. They

604
00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:59.480
<v Speaker 6>can even afford to have a house. They have to

605
00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:05.840
<v Speaker 6>have that or boyfriend so they can make cup four expensive?

606
00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:11.000
<v Speaker 2>How much? Let me ask you this. You live in Lynn, right,

607
00:35:13.639 --> 00:35:14.760
<v Speaker 2>do you own a house in Linn?

608
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:19.000
<v Speaker 6>I own a house in Line A play and I

609
00:35:19.079 --> 00:35:20.199
<v Speaker 6>guess you pay?

610
00:35:20.280 --> 00:35:25.079
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, you pay your your taxes. I understand that. What

611
00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:27.800
<v Speaker 2>do you think the average teacher makes in Linn?

612
00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:34.079
<v Speaker 6>You know, in the Linn publics fifty sixty five Maybe

613
00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:38.039
<v Speaker 6>if they're lucky, ninety thousands, but I don't think so.

614
00:35:38.360 --> 00:35:39.280
<v Speaker 6>To be honest with you.

615
00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:44.239
<v Speaker 2>Okay, I'm going to tell you what they make. Okay.

616
00:35:44.280 --> 00:35:53.199
<v Speaker 2>In I'm looking at the state reports here from uh

617
00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:56.599
<v Speaker 2>this is twenty and twenty to twenty twenty one. So

618
00:35:56.639 --> 00:36:00.599
<v Speaker 2>these are the latest numbers they have. Okay, the latest

619
00:36:00.679 --> 00:36:04.559
<v Speaker 2>numbers that we have is from twenty twenty one. The

620
00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:09.800
<v Speaker 2>average salary in Lind, the average salary in Linn four

621
00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:13.199
<v Speaker 2>years ago eighty two, one hundred and sixty two dollars.

622
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:16.920
<v Speaker 2>That's not a bad salary four years So.

623
00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:19.679
<v Speaker 6>You've got to you've gotta have to keep in mind

624
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:25.800
<v Speaker 6>the expenses. They have a lot of expenses. They have children,

625
00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:27.960
<v Speaker 6>They have kids, they have a house.

626
00:36:29.159 --> 00:36:31.280
<v Speaker 2>Shure they do. How much should they? How much should

627
00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:34.360
<v Speaker 2>the how much? Then? If if the teachers salary, average

628
00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:37.039
<v Speaker 2>teacher salary is eighty two thousand dollars four years ago

629
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:40.280
<v Speaker 2>in Lind, it's probably about ninety five thousand dollars today.

630
00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:43.440
<v Speaker 2>But let's assume it's ninety how much should teachers in

631
00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:47.519
<v Speaker 2>Lind What should the average salary be? Give me a number, I.

632
00:36:47.480 --> 00:36:52.199
<v Speaker 6>Will say, honestly, not only in Lint, No, I'm talking

633
00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:56.880
<v Speaker 6>about in Lind one twenty one.

634
00:36:55.920 --> 00:36:58.159
<v Speaker 2>Hundred twenty Okay, good luck with that.

635
00:36:58.639 --> 00:36:59.079
<v Speaker 3>You're you.

636
00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:02.199
<v Speaker 2>I hope you you realize that you'll be paying for that,

637
00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:06.119
<v Speaker 2>so your real estate taxes will go up dramatically. And

638
00:37:06.239 --> 00:37:08.559
<v Speaker 2>I think you're a better person than I am to

639
00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:11.960
<v Speaker 2>think that the teachers should be, on an average receiving that.

640
00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:14.519
<v Speaker 6>Much money because you know, you know the reason why,

641
00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:17.679
<v Speaker 6>the reason why they go to work every single day,

642
00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:20.840
<v Speaker 6>and they too kids.

643
00:37:21.079 --> 00:37:24.320
<v Speaker 2>And I'm gonna put up with callers. Hey, Mike, I

644
00:37:24.320 --> 00:37:26.280
<v Speaker 2>hate to do this to you, but I'm flat out

645
00:37:26.280 --> 00:37:28.800
<v Speaker 2>of time. Have you called before since your first time calling?

646
00:37:29.880 --> 00:37:31.199
<v Speaker 6>This is my first time calling.

647
00:37:31.400 --> 00:37:33.239
<v Speaker 2>I gotta give you a bun and a clause and

648
00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:35.519
<v Speaker 2>I'm looking forward to your calling back. You a great caller.

649
00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:38.639
<v Speaker 2>Thank you, Mike. I appreciate it very much. We had

650
00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:42.320
<v Speaker 2>done with this topic. Sadly, we will change topics right

651
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:44.239
<v Speaker 2>after the ten o'clock news Here at night Side
