Teachers need union to preserve educations ‘second to none’

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader of March 25, 2008.

I have been a Catholic school teacher in the Diocese of Scranton for the past 37 years, and, Bishop Martino, you need to know how I and other teachers are feeling.

We are devastated by the accusations you have made about us. For more than 30 years many of us have taught in your schools. We have given of ourselves unselfishly to educate the Christian youth of our community. Our graduates have become doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, proprietors and even priests. We have provided for them an education steeped in Christian values and – to borrow words from Bishop Hoban’s alma mater – an education “second to none.”
Catholic education is our life, not a stepping stone to public schools. We have offered thousands of hours beyond our 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. workday.

We have coached, provided extra-curricular activities, spent countless hours grading and offering extra time to our students to help them learn, for little or no remuneration.
We are also active members in our parishes, as well as Eucharistic ministers, lectors, leaders of music and teachers of classes for public school students – to name a few of our out-of-school tasks.

We are not greedy people and neither are our union leaders. You have been in this diocese only for a short time and do not know us. The teachers who unselfishly spend hours representing us are dedicated Christian teachers. They care for the conditions aimed at the betterment of the teachers, but mostly for the students. They care for a just class size and working conditions that will provide for our students the best education they can receive.

I need to tell you that our union president, Michael Milz, is one of the best teachers I know. He gives countless hours to his students, even offering instruction in the evenings and on Saturdays so they will be prepared for their AP History exams. I cannot speak for the other schools, but when you closed our school, Bishop Hoban, you told the public that we were in terrible debt. We know that was not the case. Yes, we would have been incurring future expenses to repair the heating and cooling system that was 36 years old, as well as other repairs needed to the building. But that had nothing to do with the salaries or benefits of the teachers. You are probably also not aware of the number of scholarships that were provided to our students, funded by the teachers and service staff.

What is most upsetting is the fact that you do not seem to care what happens to our diocese. You will close our churches and schools, and then you will move on. You do not care to get to know us, or that Catholic education is an integral part of our lives. This is obvious to us, because you refuse to speak to us or even respond with dignity to our letters.

We are presently working very hard to make Holy Redeemer High School a school that also will be “second to none.” We have wonderful students, parents, and excellent teachers and staff members.

But we need the support of our union to secure the rights that we and the students deserve, so we may educate our students to the best of their abilities.

Barbara Hogan Plymouth

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Scranton Times Tribune of March 25, 2008.

Two-way street

Editor:

I know it was not his intention, but in my mind Monsignor Donald A. McAndrews’ March 13 letter was describing Bishop Joseph Martino when he wrote, “In our society today we see a continued declining respect for authority of any kind on the part of many people, not just the younger generation. This problem exhibits itself in the attitude ‘No one can tell me what to do and I’ll do whatever I want.’

“Is that not the attitude that the bishop has taken with closing churches and schools and denying the teachers union? Does he care about his flock or is he just interested in the money?

I believe that the church’s money went to pay off the lawsuits that the church was involved in, because some of the bishops did not protect their flock when they just transferred the priests that were in question. Also, money went to pay the defrocked priests for the rest of their lives.

Monsignor McAndrews was right to say we were instructed to respect people of authority by our parents, but this respect must go both ways.

We must remember that Bishop Martino may be a man of God, but he is still a man, and therefore he can make mistakes. I do not believe that it is God’s will that we close his churches and his schools of Catholic teachings.

DAVID B. TAYLOR