Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

Every year when municipal budgets are debated throughout Connecticut, a terrible irony takes place. A massive bite - more than half the total budget - is off-limits for discussion. It has already been decided by a handful of people months, maybe years before the budget presentation. That huge bite is the teachers' salary and benefit contract. And it is irrevocable.

With few exceptions, the contract, usually written for three years, is negotiated behind closed doors, routinely approved by local boards of education, submitted to the city council or board of selectmen and, absent any public comment, quietly approved.

The irony is that, for the fraction of the budget not concerned with teacher salaries, town officials conduct public hearings replete with charts, graphs, comparisons, projections and speeches. But the lion's share remains insulated and unexplained year after year. Before the curtain falls on yet another three-year shutout in many Connecticut municipalities, towns and cities must change this model.

I am not suggesting that teachers' contracts be upended; I simply want townspeople to better understand them. What's wrong with convening a forum on such contracts that has the same gravitas and care of a budget hearing? What's wrong with elevating the public's knowledge?

Informing taxpayers is not disrespecting teachers, the teaching profession or negotiators' hard work. Rather, an informational session could be a defining moment dispelling the mystique that has surrounded education negotiations for far too long. Public engagement is, after all, the cornerstone of a democracy. The electorate can be trusted with the complexities and consequences of decisions that affect the quality of their lives and the depths of their pocketbooks. We can handle the truth.

Boards of education are quick to point out their attempts at communication. Web postings, townwide newsletters, press releases and impact statements are all commendable. But they are not enough. Without a public forum at which people can ask questions and seek explanations, these efforts are nothing more than a one-way conversation. The information town residents receive is nothing more than controlled information. Self-navigating through such data is hardly as instructive as a public forum.

Labor negotiations between municipalities and certified teachers are governed by the Connecticut Teacher Negotiation Act. According to the CTNA, the local legislative body, upon receipt of the contract, may remain silent for 30 days and the contract is deemed to have been approved. It can, of course, approve or reject the contact within the proscribed 30 days. Should it reject the contract, a cascading torrent of time-sensitive strictures engulfs the municipality in various levels of arbitration.

The state statutes, however, do not prohibit a public presentation. In fact, the local legislative body (city council, board of selectmen, etc.) has full authority to decide how much or how little public input it will allow, from no discussion whatsoever to an all-day referendum.

In a perfect world, negotiations would be held in the open, with the public invited to observe. Let municipalities bring them out of the shadows, where they have languished for decades. It's time for towns and cities to show respect for taxpayers, who fund these contracts. Open the book and start a new chapter. It's the right thing to do.