Page One

At the School Board meeting on May 3rd, the board excepted the challenge of PFIST (Parents For Increased Salaries for Teachers) for a forum on May 16th, where both the union and the board could give some real answers to the community. Board President Joaquin Rivera, (a teacher himself) advised the community to put pressure on both parties, the board and the union, or the forum could be blocked. He pointed out that both sides would have to allow the mediator to lift the vow of silence that has kept us uninformed up until now. He also said that the public had a right to hear both sides, and that the board wanted for that to happen. The board spoke more freely that night than I have ever witnessed in my 5 years as a PTA officer, and I think they enjoyed that freedom. 

Barry Fike, president of the BFT (Berkeley Federation of Teachers), was there and challenged the board to listen to the community. 

Everyone left that night with a clear understanding that both the union and the board had committed to the forum, and the next day Joaquin Rivera began looking for a location, as PFIST had also requested that the district provide the venue. 

By Friday, Berkeley Arts Magnet had been selected, and PFIST had requested that the PTA Council sponsor the event. We immediately requested that the League of Women Voters moderate the event, as they are experts in this area. 

I was stunned when on Sunday, PFIST advised me that Barry Fike had informed them that the union had not actually been invited to a forum. I was stunned, because I don’t think that there was a parent or a teacher in that room who didn’t leave with the clear understanding that both sides had agreed to attend. 

I immediately wrote a letter outlining that understanding to Barry Fike, Joaquin Rivera, and to Jon Marley, founder of PFIST. Because I was occupied at the Capitol on Monday, I e-mailed the letter on Tuesday. 

Apparently my letter was too late, because a “blackout” has been declared on all communications, from all parties. It would appear that something has effectively blocked that critical forum from taking place, and we need to know what that was. We as a community need to put the pressure on. We have one week to have the blackout lifted, and the planing of the forum will continue. The forum will take place on Tuesday the 16th of May, 7 p.m. in the main auditorium at Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary School. Volunteers will be needed for the setup and breakdown of chairs and tables, and possibly traffic and crowd control. 

I ask that the League continue planing the format for the event, as they will make all of the rules and set all of the guidelines. 

We must move forward, the forum must take place, because we as a community deserve to be informed. This forum is our only chance for that, and we must insist that the blackout be lifted, and the Forum go on as scheduled. I will be at B.A.M. on the 16th, either inside for the Forum, or carrying a sign out in front. I don’t think that I’ll be alone. 

I call on every man, woman, and child to write a letter demanding that the forum go on, and to make three copies: one for the board, one for the union, and one for the mediator. And ask for a response. 

---------------- 

Mark Coplan is president of the Berkeley PTA Council.