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Amy Werbel Thank you for visiting my school commissioner webpage, and for your interest in the public schools and school board in Burlington, Vermont. For more information, please visit the Burlington school district homepage: www.bsdvt.org Comments expressed on this website are mine alone, and do not constitute official Board policies or statements. |
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School Board Update – January 30, 2010
Dear neighbors,
Our attention at the school board has turned momentarily from the budget, which we voted unanimously to bring forward to voters at town meeting day (more on that soon), to teacher contract negotiations. I am very pleased to announce that the Commissioners of the Burlington School District (BSD) and the members of the Burlington Education Association (the BEA, our teacher’s union) have agreed this year to negotiate publicly, which means that those of you who are interested may follow along, attend sessions, etc. Our BSD website has a page set up for all the proposals and other relevant documents to be posted, along with meeting times and locations:
http://bsdweb.bsdvt.org/Board/Negotiations/negotiations.php
If you go to our negotiations page now, you can see the first round of proposals that have been put on the table. Thus far, the Board has proposed a large number of additions, subtractions, and revisions to the contract, along with a salary decrease of 5% in the first year (2010-11) and increases of 1.5% in each of the following two years. The teachers also have proposed some changes to the contract, accompanied by a proposed 5.5% salary increase in each of the next three years. I hope that some of you will take the time to read through the proposals, and let me know what you think as this all develops. If past practice holds, there will be more proposals in the weeks ahead as both sides negotiate to resolve our differences.
I am not going to write more about the Board’s positions here on my website, because negotiations are sensitive, and I don’t want my comments to become a source of friction. My goal here is to let you know that you can follow along if you like. I also invite you to write or call me with your thoughts, questions, etc., and I will respond to the best of my ability. As always, elected representatives need feedback in order to effectively represent their constituents. Personally, I find it a huge relief to be carrying on these negotiations in public, and I am grateful to all concerned for demonstrating their commitment to governmental transparency. Salaries are approximately 85 percent of our District budget, and taxpayers fund them, so it makes a world of sense to me that everyone should see how the process works, and have the opportunity to weigh in with their own comments and questions. This type of “open government” strengthens our democracy; and, in the words of our President, “sunshine is the best disinfectant.”
Stay warm, and do get in touch,
Amy Werbel
Ward 5 School Commissioner
12 Catherine Street
awerbel@bsdvt.org
www.amywerbel.info
802-660-4918
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About my service on the school board: As Chair of the Curriculum Committee, I am an active advocate for enriched arts education and all initiatives that inspire children by nurturing their creativity, curiosity, idealism and cultural competence. I am honored that the Burlington Education Association awarded me the 2006 People's Choice Award for Outstanding School Commissioner.
Brief Bio: I grew up in New York City, where I attended my neighborhood elementary school and then a magnet public middle and high school. After graduation from Harvard in 1986, I worked in museums for a few years and then earned a Ph.D. in art history from Yale in 1996. My two sons who are 16 and 12 attend Burlington High School and Edmunds Middle School. I moved to Vermont in 1994 to take a job teaching art history at St. Michael's College. My specialties are American, African, and African Diaspora art, in addition to special topics courses which focus on Vermont art and/or architecture. My students often construct websites as final projects-their website on Fort Ethan Allen won the Bryan Award from the Center for Research on Vermont. The website on African art is pretty cool as well: http://academics.smcvt.edu/africanart and http://academics.smcvt.edu/africanart3 . Information about my work as a professor can be found on my St. Michael's College homepage. After ten years in the Old North End of Burlington, I moved to Catherine Street in February, 2003. It has been a great pleasure to represent my South End neighbors on the Burlington School Board since 2005.
I write often about the Board, and all those neighborhood updates are posted to the left. Please feel free to check those out, and/or to write to me with any comments and questions you may have at: awerbel@bsdvt.org . Amy