Justin Katz

Children Are Their Life? No, Children Are Their Leverage.

By Justin Katz | September 1, 2007 |

It occurs to me that several buildings’ worth of kindergarteners began their school experiences last week in Tiverton. What a wonderful early educational experience this would be: The teachers union membership this evening authorized its negotiating committee to call a strike if it deemed it necessary next Tuesday. Amy Mullen, the NEA-Tiverton teachers union president,…

Researching from Outside the Library

By Justin Katz | August 31, 2007 |

In a comment to my post on the Burrillville teacher strike, Pat Crowley challenges me as follows: Justin, I wish you would take the time to really investigate the issues instead of having this ivory tower, knee-jerk reaction. This relates to something that has bothered me as I’ve followed news reports about the Tiverton teacher…

Crowley, You Charmer

By Justin Katz | August 30, 2007 |

Patrick lays on the charm in the public-media negotiation process with the Tiverton school committee: Union spokesman Patrick Crowley replied, “It’s unfortunate that the School Committee has not taken the time to do the math accurately, and in addition to our mediation request we’re going to suggest that they get math remediation as well.” Yup,…

A Finger Here, a Finger There

By Justin Katz | August 30, 2007 |

I’ve been meaning to note the chutzpa of retired state employee Robert Davis’s recent letter to the Providence Journal: Why is The Journal so preoccupied with the money that state workers make? Recent articles have explored who is the highest-paid state worker and how much overtime is being paid, as if the state workers were…

Burrillville Teachers to Students: Let the Pawns Skip School

By Justin Katz | August 29, 2007 |

Shame on the Burrillville teachers for striking. As the people — especially parents — of that town are discovering, there is no better example of the teachers’ unions’ profoundly unreasonable power than their failure to obey the law and decline to strike. The district should fire anybody who doesn’t show up for work tomorrow, and…

Jumping into a Blue State

By Justin Katz | August 28, 2007 |

During a recess, one of the school committee members, a man to whom I frequently wave as he walks his dog by my house, came over to ask what brought me out this evening. For the time being, it’s probably to the good that my answer was simply “to become more involved” (with a reference…

Tonight…

By Justin Katz | August 28, 2007 |

… They actually managed to delay me by involving my extended family in the plot. My brother-in-law’s mother-in-law is moving, and we claimed her washing machine; of course, it had to be taken this evening (of course). But they are too tricky by half, because they moved the school committee meeting from the high school…

Lament of a Newly Engaged Citizen

By Justin Katz | August 27, 2007 |

I feel as if I should be speaking up about the town fees that are rapidly increasing before my eyes, but I really haven’t done my homework on them. I present as an extenuating circumstance the vast learning curve: Tiverton has a lengthy planning document. There’s a massive spreadsheet for the budget. There are countless…

Motivation for Infiltration

By Justin Katz | August 27, 2007 |

My decision to attend this week’s town council meeting was not a reaction to Ed Achorn’s latest Projo column, but it could have been: LOCAL OFFICIALS in Rhode Island talk a good game about financial woes, but they act as if they have money to burn. And they will keep on doing it — as…

Behind Government Lines

By Justin Katz | August 27, 2007 |

[Whispering.] I’ve infiltrated a Tiverton Town Council meeting. They attempted to delay me by placing a slow-driving woman in my path, but I persevered. I expected an attempt to drive me away with boredom, but they inadvisably postponed the actual meeting to make way for professional interviews for labor counsel. No doubt, however, they’ll follow…