President pulls out of race to promote accord
Middletown leader calls on union leaders to step down also
By alison granito
Staff Writer

Middletown Board of Education President Patricia Walsh announced her decision to step down from the board when her term ends in April and to withdraw from the race for her third term.

In an open letter to the residents of Middletown written last week, Walsh said she intends to put the welfare of the district first and that, in order to do that, she feels she must step aside.

"The healing process for our staff and our community will not begin until the impediments on both sides are gone," Walsh said in the letter. "It is a moral obligation of the leaders in this dispute to promote the healing of this district above their own personal considerations for this to be the last strike that Middletown experiences,"

As one of the reasons behind her decision, Walsh cited the report of mediator Ronald J. Riccio, which criticized the leaders of both the board and the Middletown Education Association (MTEA) for allowing personal animosities between board and union leaders to interfere with the troubled negotiations process.

According to Riccio’s report, the atmosphere created by the personal animosities has created a "culture of confrontation" in the school district, leading to two bitter labor disputes in three years.

More than 200 striking teachers and support staff were jailed in December after failing to comply with a state Superior Court order mandating their return to work. The MTEA also went on strike for four days in September 1998.

"Ultimately the kind of school district Mr. Riccio envisions is the same kind that I’ve wanted to see since before I ran for the board," Walsh said in an interview Monday when asked about her decision. "Even if I feel I still have something to contribute, I’ll have to do it from the other side of the microphone and not as a board member."

In her letter, Walsh calls for union leaders to step aside as well, in order to bring an end to the current labor dispute.

Although both the board and the MTEA agreed to accept a settlement based on Riccio’s recommendations on salary issues and health benefits last month, the mediator left it to the board and the union to work out the final details of the agreement.

The board and the union are in the process of the joint development of salary guides for the district’s teachers, which determine how the money allocated for salary increases is distributed among teachers of varying levels of experience.

Board officials asked that the remaining issues be taken to binding arbitration last week.

"Although I have not been able to see the end of this labor dispute, I am deeply committed to the transformation of the culture of confrontation that infects the Middletown school district. I willingly step aside and challenge the union leadership to do the same," said Walsh.

"Regardless of what we think ourselves, the perception of others is that we might be an obstacle that will prevent things from changing in this district," Walsh added Monday.

MTEA President Diane Swaim could not be reached for comment at press time.

Walsh was first elected to the board in 1996 as part of the slate that campaigned against the philosophy of the Back to Basics faction, which controlled the board at that time.

Walsh was endorsed by the MTEA when she ran for her second term in 1999.

Walsh’s decision not to seek re-election ensures that four new board members will fill the empty seats in April. In addition to Walsh’s seat, two other three-year terms are open. Board members Jeanne Osborne and Anne Langlois chose not to file for re-election — Langlois because of a move out of state. The fourth vacancy is a one-year, unexpired term created when board member Judi Arendt passed away last month.