Archive: Opinions

Dear Editor,

It’s a sad day when community members can’t believe what has been written in their hometown newspaper.  I am referring to Mr. Veaner’s article regarding the Lansing School District budget printed in the April 16, 2010 edition of the Lansing Star.

We are lucky to have such a diligent reporter for the Lansing community as we have in Mr. Veaner.  He is at most school, community and local events regardless of time of day or year.  At a recent BOE meeting Mr. Veaner even admonished the BOE for holding a meeting on one of the most holy days of the Jewish faith, acknowledging that by doing so the BOE is disenfranchising many of the community members who practice that religion.

It was so disappointing then for me to read Mr. Veaner’s latest article that not only gave only one side of the story of the Lansing budget, but also seemed to openly neglect to report huge portions.  I can only wonder why he chose to do this.

Veaner was articulate enough to quote Mr. Thaler’s rant against the teacher’s union almost word for word, after comparing it to the playback of the meeting that I conducted this weekend.  Why then did he choose to not report on the amount of money that was being given back to the Lansing School District by the teachers’ union? I know that Mr. Veaner always has a tape recorder at the meetings and he dutifully takes notes as the meeting progresses.  I saw him in attendance well before the meeting started and the statements about the teacher giveback came before Mr. Thaler’s comments.  It seems to me to be an obvious choice then to not report all of the news that occurred that night. Division of the masses creates an opportunity for sensationalistic journalism.

What Mr. Veaner did not report is that the teachers’ union has given over $33,000 back to the Lansing community in the past three years in the manner of funding school programs the district was not willing to fund in the 2009 school year, offering scholarships to graduating seniors and promoting literacy through the installation of Bobcat Bookshelves located in the Lansing community (among others).  But at Monday night’s meeting it was announced that the Lansing Faculty Association was also giving $28,000 back to the district with the intent to lower the tax rate for Lansing residents for the 2010-2011 school year. That seems like an important fact to not report.  The money that the LFA is giving back to the district comes directly from their wages.  By contract language it is to be put aside for teachers to use for developing new programs and initiatives in their classrooms through fostering professional development.  That is money that teachers, teaching assistants and nurses won’t be getting next year.

In addition to neglecting important facts of the meeting, Mr. Veaner also characterized the union and the administration as being “at odds” with each other throughout the process.  This is interpretation of recent events is just that, an interpretation.  Perhaps Mr. Veaner is making this innuendo because of the number of teachers that chose to stand up at BOE meetings to explain what could happen if positions are cut.  To be quite honest, it’s anyone’s guess what will really happen to the programs, but the teachers are not at odds with administration. In fact, teachers and principals have been meeting daily in some cases to have open dialogue about the cuts, the kids and the programs at Lansing.

So despite recent reports, teachers, administrators and staff are all working together to make the best of the harsh economic crises that have presented themselves at our doorstep.  Maybe next time, Mr. Veaner can remember the basic principles of journalism: Objectivity and truth.

Sincerely,

Stacie Kropp
7th Grade English Teacher and Lansing Faculty Association President


Editor's Note: Some of those who are so mad at my leaving out the part about monies being given back to the district may not believe that it was an inadvertent omission, but it was.  I wrote a paragraph and a quote from Ms. Kropp, which is on the front page in today's issue where people will be most likely to see it.  In the rush to deadline that piece of the story didn't make the copy/paste from my computer to the online system, and I honestly thought it was there.  I am pretty upset that it wasn't, for what it is worth.  This stuff happens when you are a newspaper with no staff that rushes to deadline every week.  It is too bad it happened in this particular case, as this generous donation to the district is more than newsworthy.

As for the rest I reported it as I saw it unfold.  There is more than one point of view about the school budget and process in Lansing, and just because Ms. Kropp disagrees with some of it or just because some people in the community are more vocal than others doesn't mean that it's not happening, true, or newsworthy.  As a reporter I listened to many different people, not just one contingent.  I reported the whole story honestly as best I could based on as much information I gathered.

In the case of the Thaler quote, Mr. Thaler is one of Lansing's most prominent community leaders, an accomplished attorney and negotiator, as well as a school board member.  How is his statement not news and not a part of the budget story?  It was reported in his words with no inference that it was anything but his point of view, just as Ms. Kropp and many others have been repeatedly quoted in the Star in their own words.

For the record I am supportive of Lansing teachers, and the Star has been overwhelmingly supportive since the beginning.  My editorial stating that our teachers are flexible and innovative enough to excel even with cuts was, in my opinion, an endorsement of how truly exceptional most of them are and how lucky we are to have them.  That some took that as an attack on teachers was surprising, and honestly, to me, disappointing.  But it doesn't diminish the value of the wonderful teachers in our school system.

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