CWD teachers host public forum

The Cottonwood Teachers Association organized a community meeting last week to explain their side of a dispute with the Cottonwood Union School District.

"What started out as a disagreement over how to apply a salary formula for the 2006/2007 school year has resulted in the Cottonwood Union School District waging war against the teaching staff," Cottonwood teachers stated on a handout from the meeting.

The meeting at the Cottonwood Community Center on Thursday, Feb. 12, marked 958 days since the teachers had an updated contract.

"We understand that this community has been greatly affected by the situation at hand. There are many people who have close relationships with the board members as well as with the teachers," said Cottonwood teacher Teresa Madison.

"It has become an emotional argument, when in fact it is a business deal gone bad," she said. "The teachers would like to encourage you to learn both sides of this issue, and then we would like to urge you to let the district know that you would like this dispute to end."

A paper with the phone numbers of Cottonwood board members and the superintendent was handed out as community members filed in.

More than half of the district's 59 teachers stood in front of the crowd to introduce themselves at the start of the meeting. Then CTA negotiator Susan Boilon presented a PowerPoint in an effort to clear up rumors and half-truths.

"The intent is to show you actual numbers, decisions, events and timelines and documents so that you can make an educated decision," Susan Boilon said.

The PowerPoint presentation put together by the teachers association included information about the salary formula in dispute, funds the district had received to pay teachers, money spent on attorney fees, negotiation updates and more.

"The last settlement offer the teachers made to the district was not accepted, rejected or countered. It was simply ignored. The fourth and last meeting was with a state mediator with progress being made," the CTA stated.

Teachers expressed concern that if the mediated negotiations didn't start moving forward in a timely manner, the process may force them into a strike, something they said they did not want to do.

"We would like to find ways to avoid that," Boilon said. "We want to restore a positive work environment, and restore the quality of education," she said.

The event ended with a question and answer period. Although it was meant to be neutral and free from comments, it was clear there were people from both sides of the issue present, including at least two teachers from the district who expressed concern with the Cottonwood Teachers Association.

Robert Lowden, the district's interim superintendent, attended the meeting as a neutral spectator. He addressed the crowd at the close of the meeting, saying he would have a written response to the night's discussions available within a week.