By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
Dowagiac Education Association President Robert Kwiatkoski proposed to the school board Monday night a "simple plan to enhance communication" between the board and the DEA.
This proposal from the union representing the district's 165 teachers is inspired in part by feedback from the recent school climate survey, said Kwiatkoski, who teaches government at Union High School.
First, Kwiatkoski advocated, "Board of Education members and teachers meet both formally and informally to discuss the serious issues and just get to know each other. This could be as simple as meeting for coffee. Whenever the board has work sessions, leaders from all labor groups should be represented is another suggestion."
Second, he said, "When the board and association engage in contract negotiations, beginning in 2006, the board should consider having members as a part of the team. The finance committee as a minimum should be present so all decision makers are actually participating. The time has come for us to 'roll up our sleeves' and work together in an honest, open, fair process to solve our shared problems."
Additionally, he said, next year's negotiations need to be looked at as a "problem-solving process. We know what the budget assumptions are, so we all need to be working together on this and not having gamesmanship or anything else involved."