School Board Member Apologizes for Teacher Insult

Watertown school board member and new blogger Fred Deutsch has apologized for his comments earlier this week that suggested teachers should stop whining about their pay and keep their opinions to themselves. On Wednesday, Deutsch took Baltic teacher Tara Melmer to task for comments she made to KELO abotu the inadequacy of education funding in South Dakota. He suggested Ms. Melmer keep her opinions to herself and not "fan the flame" while our legislators are "busting their rumps to solve a very difficult problem."

Deutsch caught a little heck from Watertown educators, including Steve O'Brien (a guy I wouldn't want to catch heck from) and this blog. At first, Deutsch responded by casting further doubt on Ms. Melmer's character:

First, I don’t know Tara Melmer. Obviously she can say whatever she wants to say. I suppose her parents must be proud of her for having the conviction to express what she is passionate about, even in light of the embarrassment it may have caused them. I have no way of knowing if she weighed the potential ramifications of granting an interview, or if she simply interpreted the opportunity as a fun moment for a young lady to shine in the spotlight. Regardless, she made her point and her message was heard [Fred Deutsch, response in comments section of "Stop Whining," School-of-Thought, 2008.03.06].

Deutsch also took a gentle swipe at the professionalism of the state-level teachers' association:

Concerning the participation of educators in legislative decision-making, allow me to provide you my unvarnished opinions and observations. On a local level, I see the teacher’s association as shining examples of professionalism. Even during historical times of disagreement and tension with the school board, I’ve seen nothing but exceptional professionalism. I can’t say that I’ve seen the same on a state level. I base this entirely on letters to the editor I’ve read in state papers and copies of emails from state educators/educator lobbyists that have been forwarded to me by legislators. I would classify these letters as passionate expressions of strongly held ideals and opinions – letters that were communicated in such a way as to be probably less than ideal instruments from the education community to facilitate meaningful change [Deutsch].

Deutsch received a couple more "passionate expressions of strongly held ideals and opinions" on his blog, including a well-reasoned and evidenced argument from Watertown educator Rich Mittelstedt.

And then Tara Melmer herself contacted Deutsch. That communication was private, but it elicited this public apology:

Obviously, you didn’t say or do anything wrong. I did.

The Mittelstedts and Steve O’Brien gently slapped me upside the head for my comments (I posted their comments on the blog), but when I received a full-blown spanking on another blog (click here to review), I had to think about how to respond. And the more I thought about it, the more I could see my words were stupid. I regret saying them and I apologize. I hope my words did not cause you any distress [Deutsch, "Apology to Tara Melmer: My Words Were Stupid," School-of-Thought, 2008.03.07]

Fred, Rich, Steve, Tara, even me -- we're all trying to give our kids a top-notch education and our teachers a moral, competitive wage. Vigorous public conversation open to all is one part of making that happen. Casting personal aspersions on any participant in that conversation won't move us toward that goal. Apologies and respect like that expressed by Mr. Deutsch will.

postscript: Oh, and that 3% increase in education funding that started this discussion? I heard last night from Senator Dan Sutton that that increase isn't all state money; part of it is a requirement on the local districts to come up with more money on their own.