Children Are Pawns

Negotiations between the Ocean View School District Board of Trustees and the Ocean View Teachers Assn. have reached an impasse.

The board says it has given all it can; the OVTA says it isn’t enough. One negotiator shrugs his shoulders and says nothing can be done and drives home to Lake Forest.

The students in Ocean View School District go home and cry. Teachers have discontinued extracurricular programs until they have a new contract. This includes after-school sports and the outdoor education trips to Catalina and Yosemite. Some rumors include dances and graduation.

My present eighth-grader and youngest of five has seen his older siblings make the trip to Yosemite and has anticipated his turn for as long as he can remember. Pictures of eighth-graders at Yosemite are a legacy in our family album. He has worked to earn service points to be among the top 10 students and have first choice of the various hikes and activities. A letter sent home says, “The teachers who will not participate regret that they have to take the stand they have.”

The teachers don’t have to take this stand; they are making a conscious choice to hold the children ransom. The ones getting hurt in this political power struggle are the children who feel used and betrayed by those who say they care.

Some teachers are even using class time to air their grievances to the children. This is wrong and unprofessional. No matter how real the complaints are, the children should not be dragged into the argument.

When the situation is eventually settled, whatever the teachers receive will be retroactive. Whatever the children have lost will be gone forever.

With the children being used as pawns, we all lose.

CAROLYN SESSIONS ALLEN

Huntington Beach