Pasco Superintendent Sends a Trick Disguised as a Treat

On Thursday night, Pasco Superintendent Browning “trick or treated” school employees in the form of an email.

At first it seemed like a treat was really a trick. Like a child who has done something wrong and runs to be the first to tell his side, the Superintendent issued a premature statement about bargaining with USEP.

The teams had barely ended their session when the Superintendent sent a lengthy email (obviously prepared in advance) to all district employees telling his side of negotiations. But like a child who tattles on himself, the Superintendent’s “story” leaves out some very important information.

One piece of such information is that the district team presented the proposal mentioned in the email ONLY last night to the instructional team. The ink was barely dry! Plus the proposal had not even been presented to the SRP team, which had met just the evening before. USEP has not had an opportunity to weigh the pros and cons of the proposal or meet with our SRP counterparts to discuss.

It is obvious that the Superintendent’s email was planned to inflame teachers and SRP in hopes that you would pressure USEP to capitulate. Judging from the responses, employees saw through the trick!

While the Superintendent tries to pit teachers against SRP, veteran employees against newer employees, USEP seeks to bring everyone together and represent the best interests of all teachers and SRP.

From the beginning, the Superintendent has sought take backs with very little offerings for employees. USEP has resisted the Superintendent’s efforts to provide minimal salary increases that are bought and paid for by diminishing rights and benefits for teachers and SRP.

Rest assured that the USEP bargaining teams will closely examine the district’s latest proposal and will soon reveal the real back story to the bill of goods the Superintendent is trying to sell as well as the “trick” behind the “treat.”