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Show Eskelsen: Lawmakers' numbers like Jello Teachers label foudaef 'a sham' By KRIS JOHNSON Staff Writer FARMINGTON A fired-up group of teachers and parents gathered at an ' 'emergency meeting" Monday to hear Utah Education Ed-ucation Association President Lily Eskelsen tell them the state's educational educa-tional system is in jeopardy. Utah lawmakers are playing a $15 million dollar "shell game" with its educational system, that could keep some school districts from opening their doors in September, Eskelsen said. "This is a sham! You could call this a shell game and sell it to Parker brothers, only in this educational educa-tional plan or game, there are no L winners and no one can understand the rules," she told a cheering crowd of about 500. The game or plan that Eskelsen refered to calls for a 5 percent pay increase for public employees and has earmarked a $14 million surplus for educational programs, which means educators won't know until September if the money will actually actu-ally be available. Moreover, this creates a real problem for the few year-round schools in Utah, whose school year begins in July, said Eskelsen. The UEA president said that another an-other $1 million in funds now earmarked ear-marked for educational programs will be shifted into the pay increase and class-size reduction appropriations. appropria-tions. "The final recommendation of the appropriations bill when push came to shove was to put education as a last priority," Eskelsen said, "the message we want legislators to hear is that this is not acceptable. It will not be accepted by Utah teachers." Eskelsen said the proposed education edu-cation budget "appears" to fund 5 percent of the teacher's salary and benefit package, while taking care of the state's "biggest" problem, which is reducing class size in elementary schools. But that appearance ap-pearance is a facade, she said, because lawmakers propose shifting money already allocated for other educational programs. Even though the total package appears to be 5 percent, that figure should be considered minus 1.8 percent, which will be used as a surplus for employees. Eskelsen said lawmakers numbers are like Jello, "their figures fig-ures slide right through your hands. The numbers are so slippery, some schools will not be able to open in September." 'We will react appropriately ap-propriately to meet the needs of our students," said Eskelsen, adding that she wasn't going to say the "S" word. The lawmakers have 48 hours to put forward an adequate funding package for Utah educators, Eskelsen said. If the money is not sufficient, the teachers will take actions ac-tions of their own. "The United States don't disclose their maneuvers to Iraq, and we're not going to let the Legislature know what the UEA has planned," she said. "For every action their is an opposite op-posite reaction, we will react," said science teacher Newel Standley of the Granite Education Board. "The DEA (Davis Education Association) is frustrated at the energy that was put out last year in getting resolution SCR 9 passed," Joel Briscoe, DEA president, said. The resolution was a legislative SEE TEACHERS ON A-3 LILY ESKELSEN Teachers CONTINUED FROM A-l promise that the salaries of teachers in the Western States would be studied and Utah lawmakers would bring Utah teachers' salaries up to an average of neighboring states, he said. , , But, "This hasn't happened, Briscoe said. "We are asking for 6 percent. This is just a cost of living increase. We might get a one or two percent increase. The meeting was held in Davis County, cradle of teacher dissatisfaction that led to a "wildcat" strike on Sept. 22, 1989 when Davis High School teachers voted to withhold services for a day to protest of the state legislature's failure to meet salary and classroom reduction demands. The strike mood spread throughout Davis County until by the end of the school day nearly 70 percent of the county's public schools were closed. Schools in Jordan and Granite District followed follow-ed suit. A one-day, state-wide unified teacher's strike followed on Feb. 19, 1990. Teachers rallied at Liberty Liber-ty Park in Salt Lake City and at the state Capitol the educators requested re-quested a five-point improvements program. |