On this past Thursday night, Mr. Sherpinsky and Mr. Sullivan expressed their true feelings regarding the demotion of 36 teachers last spring.  During discussion of the preliminary budget, Mr. Sullivan voiced his satisfaction with the demotions.  “We would have had to cut deeper this year,” he said.  “We wouldn’t have demoted the people that we had to demote and they would still be around. We would have had to get that $1.4 million back plus...”  Mr. Sherpinsky expressed his agreement by talking over most of Mr. Sullivan’s remarks.  Speaking with reporters, Mr. Sherpinsky then inexplicably blamed teachers for the current deficit saying, “All that money is going into labor and benefits. You cannot hold that group (teachers) harmless.”

It certainly sounds to me like Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Sherpinsky want it both ways—they are pleased with the demotions that will save the district $1.4 million in salary costs every year, but they still blame the teachers for the budget problems.  They balanced last year’s budget and got a $1.4 million head start for this year at the expense of 36 of our teachers—and now they want more.  In addition to the demoted teachers, the board has cut 47 other teaching positions, saving the district another $3 million in salary and benefit costs, and still teachers are held as scapegoats.  Many teachers questioned the veracity of the board’s salary freeze proposal last spring—they did not trust their intentions or believe that a freeze would protect programs and jobs.   With the comments that were made on Thursday night and the cuts that are on the table, I believe that these teachers were right.

In spite of the questionable decisions made by this board leadership, our teachers keep the district moving forward by consistently providing outstanding educational programs for our children.  We have redoubled our efforts to make up for the job losses already experienced in our ranks.  How does the constant bullying of teachers help to solve the problems that we face?  For our part, we will continue to work hard to educate the students in the North Penn School District.  Instead of blaming teachers for the current situation, we would ask Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Sherpinsky to focus on balancing the budget without devastating the outstanding programs that have been built over many years.

Sincerely,

Alan Malachowski
President, North Penn Education Association