Pressure Grows For Teachers To Make Peace With District

After serving up Beaumont burgers on Monday night (see the Advance story here), the Langley Teachers Association has been asked by both the School Board Chair and the editor of the local paper, to drop the personal attacks on Superintendent Cheryle Beaumont and work constructively with the District and other stakeholders.

Joan Bech, who most would put on the side of the teachers philosophically and politically, opened last night's School Board meeting with a strong statement calling on all partners to work together (from the Star):

After months of personal attacks on superintendent Cheryle Beaumont, the Langley Board of Education has warned critics to stop.

In a statement that opened Tuesday's public board meeting, chairman Joan Bech said that "slurs and attacks on school district employees" are not welcome.

Speaking to a packed gallery of approximately 115 people, Bech said: "During the last few months, some individuals have repeatedly articulated a position, both in the media and at public meetings, regarding the school district's superintendent and finance department staff. If such a concerted campaign were waged by anyone else, against any other school district employees, these same individuals would be the last to support it."

Bech said that the board hopes that the participation of education partners on important topics such as the budget "will be respectful and professional. The board's decisions are strengthened by practical, relevant and factual suggestions."

Although she did not mention the organization by name, Bech's comments were likely aimed at the Langley Teachers Association which, along with a small group of people who remain upset with the previous board's decision to turn H.D. Stafford Secondary into a middle school, have continually targeted Beaumont.

Even Advance editor Bob Groeneveld, who is NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, a right-wing, anti-union type, calls on the LTA to bury the hatchet:

Right now, with protests in Victoria, nastily satirical barbecues, calls for Beaumont's dismissal, and snide comments all around, teachers are building a history of distrust and ill feelings that will be difficult to set aside when the dust finally settles. And it won't matter whether that dust settles under Beaumont's feet or on her packed bags; teachers have alienated much of the school board and helped create an atmosphere of animosity that will linger for some time, no matter who sits in the superintendent's chair.

That there is something wrong in Langley School District is without question - if everything were right, there would be no massive deficit with which to contend.

Like the teachers, we still can't understand why the provincial government, which has already stepped in to deal with lesser situations in other districts, isn't taking a direct interest in Langley.

But for the kids' sake, teachers need to work with, not against the superintendent.