By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. – Is there such a thing as too much transparency?

The Douglas County Federation of Teachers seems to think so.

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The teachers union that earlier this year requested its contract talks be made open to public inspection is calling it quits and asking the state to step in with a resolution.

The DCFT’s request for total transparency was seen by some as a “calculated gamble” to expose the “extremist majority on the Douglas school board.” Such a gamble would only pay off if parents and taxpayers thought their representatives on the school board were out-of-touch ideologues.

That hasn’t happened.

Douglas County board members have used negotiations to push for common sense reforms, like ending automatic dues deductions from teachers’ paychecks, and giving teachers the freedom to choose from a variety of bargaining agents – instead of granting “exclusive” representation rights to the teachers union.

Taxpayers seem to think such requests are reasonable, which would explain why the DCFT is refusing to continue open contract talks, and is asking “the state Department of Labor to intervene in the standoff,” reports EdNewsColorado.org.

The district’s lead negotiator, Assistant Superintendent Dan McMinimee, summed up the situation in a letter to DCFT President Brenda Smith.

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“To be clear, we are asking for a choice for our teachers … you are asking for a monopoly,” McMinimee wrote. His argument is bolstered by the fact that only seven in ten Douglas County teachers belong to the union.

At the heart of this standoff over dues deductions and bargaining agents is this question: Who should control Douglas County’s public schools – taxpayers or union members?

Union leaders know that if teachers are allowed to sign up with another union or pay their dues when (and if) they feel like it, the DCFT’s days of power and influence are over.

That would allow school officials to determine, for example, the length of the school day or school year, without getting express written consent of union leaders. In other words, the taxpayers’ representatives would be allowed to run their own schools, free from those meddlesome teacher unions.

This would silence the voices of teachers, unions charge.

Not really. Like any successful business does, district officials would continue to seek the advice from their employees who are directly serving the clients. Teachers are on the frontlines, and any worthwhile school district will value their insights.

The idea that teacher unions are the only thing keeping district officials from running their schools into the ground is laughable. District officials are held accountable by their bosses (the taxpayers), and can easily be replaced, should they fail to provide students with a quality education. None of that can be said for teacher union leaders or members.

These are the philosophical arguments at the heart of contract talks in Douglas County, and the DCFT doesn’t have much of a response. It brings to mind an old saying about lawyers: “If you have the law on your side, argue the law; if you have the facts, argue the facts; if you have neither, pound the table.”

But instead of pounding the table, the DCFT is walking away from the table, and hoping the state will impose their will on the Douglas County school board.

Stay tuned.