North County Times allows Jill Parvin to lower their 'standards'

The North County Times hits a new low today printing this Jill Parvin tripe:

FORUM: Vista teachers union needs to return money

http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/article_63509623-7cf4-5259-9fb7-2817cc3670d8.html?mode=story

Jill Parvin claims that money needs to be returned to the district. What? How crazy is that? The salary and release time president were NEGOTIATED with the district twenty years ago. So NEGOTIATED contracts are not legal in Parvin's wacky world? Even the North County Times admits most large districts have the same provision with their Association presidents.
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/vista/article_c9e6be3a-c966-5c67-9dbd-d6744ed46385.html?mode=story

The president of the Vista Teacher's Association just like the president of virtually all large teacher organizations in San Diego County and California is released from classroom activities for the term of office. Why? As a MONEY SAVING measure. The president of the union works on employee issues that might otherwise be forced to be settled with EXPENSIVE legal actions. A release time president is the NORM in big districts because it SAVES TAXPAYER MONEY.

The Association PAYS the FULL salary of a FULLY qualified teacher to replace the president. The only reason that the president's salary tends to be higher is that usually a person elected president of an association has been with the district for decades and has moved closer to the top of the salary schedule then a new hire that replaces her. The same thing happens when a teacher retires the new hire costs far less.

By the way the VUSD teacher's salary schedule TOPS out FAR BELOW Parvin's assertion of $92,000 a year. After THIRTY FULL YEARS all of those years spent teaching only in the VUSD, and with 90 post graduate college units, a teacher in VUSD maxes out at $81,262 NOT 92K. How can Parvin claim that the VTA president's salary averages over 92K when fact checking is so easy? How can the North County Times allow a Forum to be published that is not fact checked? I guess if the allegations in a Forum piece match the prejudices of the editorial staff fact checking is unnecessary.

See VUSD teacher's salary schedule:http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/Departments/hr/certificatedHR/Certificated%20HR%20Documents/Teacher%20Salary%20Schedule.pdf

When the president finishes her term of office (two to no more than four years) the president is allowed to return to a classroom somewhere in the district. She is NOT entitled to return to the classroom or the assignment she left or necessarily even the grade level. Upon returning she usually has to re-integrate into teaching with a different staff of teachers, administrators and curriculum than what she had when she left. It is NOT a reward. It is not fun to have to learn a whole different curriculum and to try to accumulate a whole different set of materials.

The release time association president CANNOT spend any time on politics. She would be fired if she did. She must report her daily and even hourly activities to the district admin EVERY SINGLE MONTH or she would be fired. Her main job which often requires twelve to sixteen hour days is managing personnel problems that might in other venues (legal, for instance) cost the district far more money. Her job is NOT fun. It is a grueling, difficult thankless job.

Parvin's article today is just a stalking horse for the re-election campaign in 2010 of ANTI-public education candidate, Jim Gibson. A truly selfish man who has cost the taxpayers of this district as much as forty million dollars in extra costs for VUSD third high school by his stubborn delays and his insistence that a cheap level fully graded site not be used in favor of a site that costs 17 million dollars more to purchase and tens of millions more in grading, permits, and lawsuits. Gibson and his supporters are desperate for an issue so that he is not voted off the board next year as he so richly deserves to be.