When a Tree Falls in the Forest . . .

. . . does it make a sound?  Similarly, if an American soldier serving in Afghanistan falls in combat, has a death occurred?  The consideration of these questions should not be taken lightly, because the two are analogous.
 

This little marble paperweight which sits in my office
serves as a good prompt to consider the essentials in life.

A tree crashing to the floor in the wilderness throws out sound waves, whether anyone is there to hear them or not.  Lately, the sound of America’s troops falling in the vast reaches of the failed nation of Afghanistan conjures up the same related phenomenon.

But are we hearing them collapse to their deaths?  Or are we simply ignoring the reverberations of their fall as if, because we are not present to hear them, it is not happening? 
 
As I suggested in my last post:  Are the sounds and memory of their sacrifice being heard and memorialized only by the surviving next of kin and friends with whom they might have enjoyed more time on earth?

Obscured and Lost in the Fog of War

It seems obvious that we should remember the contribution of our men and women who have served and of those who are still serving in the Armed Forces of this nation.  Few Americans would deny this.
 

Likeness of Raritan Borough's WWII hero Sgt. John
Basilone, mounted on a truck of the Marconi Lodge
in the September, 2011, local parade.

Paradoxically, however, it is anything but obvious that we sufficiently honor these heroes.  Mostly, it is the families and friends of those who have died or who have been wounded and disabled in our recent wartime engagements that are left to pick up the pieces and to justify their loss.
 
Except for the American troops on the front lines who are fighting in desolate places like Afghanistan, the rest of us seem to have become too detached, going about our lives as usual – no sacrifice is asked of us, and none is offered. 
 
“Just keep signing the checks, and don’t ask questions,” the politicians in Washington seem to be intoning.

Upbeat Attitude between Negotiation Teams Indicates that a Labor Contract Settlement May be Within Reach.

It looks like a deal may be in the works between the teachers and staff of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association and the Bridgewater-Raritan School District on behalf of the parents and taxpayers of our two communities.

Messrs. Beatty, Lerner, and Krenetsky, after the
conclusion of this evening's meeting.  (Bergeron Image.)

In an interview at the conclusion of this evening’s BR-BOE meeting, Steve Beatty, President of the BREA disclosed that he and the Chief Negotiator, Joe Krenetsky have been in informal talks with board negotiators Evan Lerner and Jeff Brookner in a series of recent meetings which took place outside of the formal mediation process that is still in place, should talks break down once again. 

From the spirit evident in the room this evening at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville, though, it appears that both sides have grown exceedingly weary of the contract impasse which is now over a year old and growing.

Furthermore, pressure has been building for months on both the board and the union to settle:  Tonight’s board of education meeting was filled wall-to-wall with the red jerseys of respectful, yet forcefully-evident-by-their-presence teachers whose numbers spilled out into the corridors of the conference room.

Which American Soldier Will be Asked to Take the Last Bullet in Afghanistan?

President Obama meets with Afghan President Hamid
Karzai earlier this month, when Mr. Obama visited
U.S. Troops at Bagram Airfield.
(TV Screenshot, Dick Bergeron)

The answer is coming more clearly into focus:  Not one more. 

The Afghan war represents a conflict that was begun with justification.  But it has morphed into a struggle that is being prosecuted under a strategy that our leaders in Washington can no longer adequately explain.  Furthermore, it is being conducted under restrictive rules of engagement which unnecessarily place American lives in danger.

When American troops invaded Afghanistan in 2001, most of us supported the initial objective.  It was clear at the time:  Capture or terminate Osama bin Ladin and permanently neuter the threat of the Taliban. 

Thanks to the protective umbrella cast over bin Ladin by Afghan’s neighbor and our other untrustworthy ally Pakistan, it took over 10 years to accomplish the first objective.  Achievement of the second is nowhere in sight.

Finally, Some Meat on the Bones.

I don’t know how it happened, but it did:  The Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education decided to lay its cards on the table about the status of labor negotiations with the teachers’ union, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association. 

Officials of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education
Association at the March 27, 2012 BR-BOE
Meeting in at the Wade Administration Building
in Martinsville.  (Bergeron Image)

It is a watershed moment.  Not in recent memory can I recall that the BR-BOE has ever done this.  Nor has the BREA.  Although there have been press releases from both parties and informative interviews with the media, much of the information provided has been piecemeal and incomplete.

The Board’s current disclosure of its own view of the situation was released on May 10^th in the form of “Frequently Asked Questions”.  This document has opened up a new line of communication with the public that I hope will continue. 

Up until this release, only the board and the union have been in the loop with full information.  Yet, it is the public that pays the bill.

Local Teacher Speaks Up

Kelly Hadfield, a 2nd grade teacher at the Van
Holten Primary school in Bridgewater reads from
a prepared text at the April 10th, 2012 meeting
of the BR-BOE meeting. 

As promised in my blog post of May 1st, I am presenting the full text of comments made by Kelly Hadfield, a second grade teacher at the Van Holten Primary School in Bridgewater. 

She conveyed her thoughts to the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Board of Education during one of the public comment periods afforded by the agenda that evening.  Also, as promised, they are being shown without commentary on my part. 

Ms. Hadfield began as follows:

“I’m going to start off by saying I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was 7 years old.  I have not and will never regret my decision and choice to become a New Jersey public school teacher.
 
However, never once did I think a teacher would have to put up with so much insensitivity and disrespect from people who claim to have the children’s needs first.

Differing Realities

On April 10^th, I attended a meeting of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education at which its members deliberated upon and adopted a plan for relieving overcrowding at the Adamsville Primary School.  The solution was to move certain students and programs to the Hamilton Primary School which, conversely, has been operating below capacity.

Arvind Mathur offers his views on redistricting at the
April 10, 2012, meeting of the Bridgewater-Raritan
Board of Education.  (Bergeron Image)

Board members and the school administration were quick to point out that they would carefully monitor this change to see how well it works out.  Should adjustments or another wider approach to redistricting become necessary, the administration and the board will address the situation at that time.  The board as a whole was not comfortable with making any district-wide redistricting changes now.

What struck me the most, however, was not so much the discussion and resolution of the agenda item described above, but a subsequent statement on another topic delivered with force and passion to the full BR-BOE by a young teacher during one of the two periods reserved for the public to address board members.