After a Shooting, Deputy Overcome with PTSD

My Broken Officer

Training, Treatment Lacking for Cops Suffering with Post Traumatic Post Disorder

by Susan Motes Bentley

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is something I never thought about very much. As a cop’s wife, I had been through several close calls and thought I had run every scenario that might happen to my husband Brandon through my head. PTSD was not one of them.

Then on October 21, 2009, the phone rang.

It was Brandon.
 
“Susan, I’m okay but I had to shoot a guy. I’m okay. I’m okay. I can’t talk, but I wanted to let you know I’m okay.”
I asked, “Are you hurt? Are you okay?”

I told him, “ I love you. I’m on my way.”

He replied, “Susan, I’ve gotta go.”

Then silence.

I called our attorney to ask him to head to Spartanburg. Then I called the principal at our daughters’ school. Then I started to loose it.

I called my Mom. I told her that Brandon shot someone and that I didn’t know what to do. That’s all I could verbalize. I kept crying and trying to get my composure but everything inside was falling apart.

The 45 minute ride took forever. A million things went through my mind. Would he be hunched over on the ground weeping? Would he be screaming? Would he be silent and fall apart once he saw me?

When I saw him he was calm, speaking in a low tone, and smoking. He had no expression. He didn’t seem like he wanted me to hug him or even get close.

He told me he was okay and that he had to go and talk to his supervisors about the incident. I remember him saying, “I don’t know if they will let you stay in there with me.”

Just then another cop came out the door, looked at Brandon, smiled,  and said, “Welcome to the club.”
    My husband did not react or speak. For the next few hours we were separated. I was put in an office with two of Brandon’s supervisors. They must have asked me a hundred times if I needed anything, if I was thirsty, if I was hungry. They told me Brandon was going to be fine.

During that time I had one request. I told them that I needed to know the condition of the man Brandon shot and that if he died I needed to be the one to tell him what happened.

 Again, the officers insisted he would recover.

When we finally got home we hugged our girls tight. Brandon continued to act calm, but it was an eerie calm. I stayed up all night checking the news websites for updates. Then around 5:30 am I read the words that I prayed I would not see. “Man Shot by Deputy Dies.”

I didn’t wake Brandon. The truth was, for him, sleeping had to be far better than the reality that awaited him when he woke up.

The next few days included Brandon’s supervisors visiting the house and phone calls from anyone and everyone including a lot of reporters who wanted to get information. It was like the world was still spinning but we were not moving.

I suggested we go to the shooting range. I thought maybe shooting again would help him. He didn’t want to go. That would be the last day in his life he would ever pick up a firearm.

 It wasn’t until ten days after the shooting that I got a glimpse of what our future might hold. We were downtown for a Halloween celebration with the girls. I could tell Brandon was not as outgoing as usual. Then a balloon popped across the square and he hit the ground.

Stunned, I looked down, checked the girls. and then kneeled next to him. I told him,  “Honey it’s okay. It was a balloon.”

That night while Brandon was sleeping he jumped up, started yelling and hit the floor. Who was this person? What had he been through that was so God awful that he was in this kind of fear? Who was the heartbroken man behind those beautiful hazel eyes?

Things have never been the same. With every day, Brandon became more withdrawn, more hostile, more hopeless. The passion for life that once filled his eyes and soul seemed to have turned to resentment. And he seemed very lonely.

I contacted the Sheriffs Office and begged for help. This Department, that prided itself on being there for their officers and having a number of chaplains available, suddenly could not be bothered with Brandon — their broken officer.

After seeking the help of an attorney, the Sheriff’s Office gave me a name of someone Brandon could talk to. We went to the appointment. As  Brandon started to talk the look on the therapist’s face went from caring to concerned to disbelief.

At some point she stopped and said, “I’m so sorry but I don’t deal with trauma, I’m a marriage counselor.”
I knew with every passing day I was losing a little more of the man I married. I had nowhere to turn. I started to feel defeated.

 One day our oldest daughter told me some of the kids at school were saying her father was a coward because he wasn’t back to work yet. I tried to console her. I told her that we lived in a small town and that people would always talk but that her father was not a coward and that she should be proud of him. I said that he did what he had to do on that terrible day so he could come home safely to his family.

I frantically searched online for a doctor who could help Brandon. I prayed that God would help me find someone quickly. Brandon was slipping away from us into a very dark place.

I will always believe that God came through for us. He directed us to the doorstep of Post Trauma Resources and Doctors Larry Bergman and Dr. Roger Deal. Without their advice and counsel Brandon would not be alive today.

Since 2009 both men have been there helping Brandon through the darkness, over the mountains, through the valleys. During the hardest parts of his journey, they have been a literal lifeline.

As Brandon’s wife, my life stopped in so many ways on that day in 2009. Working outside of the home was not an option. I couldn’t leave the girls alone with Brandon because he was so unpredictable. And it seemed important to stay close to my husband. I was worried he would slip back into an even darker place than he already was and that he could easily hurt himself or even worse.

 All this made me feel like an overprotective mother trying to shield Brandon from anything that could trigger those dark thoughts.
I never could have imagined the hell that PTSD would be. Foolishly I had always thought it was something that happened to traumatized war veterans.

Brandon was not informed about the dangers of PTSD while attending the South Carolina Law Enforcement Academy. He had never had one training class or even as much as a conversation with another officer about the very real threat of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Since the shooting, Brandon has cut himself, burned himself and attempted suicide.  The images of what he saw during his law enforcement career haunt him. It’s not just that one call where he was forced to shoot someone. It’s all the calls, all the images, all the experiences that came before.

Like the call with a father frantically screaming over his child’s lifeless body. Brandon did CPR until the EMS people arrived and took over. He knew there was no way to bring that baby back and he was devastated.
Or the time a woman laid all her personal information neatly out on her kitchen counter — every bank account and every lock box. She had also cleaned her home top to bottom. Then she shot herself in the heart.

The suicides, homicides, domestic disputes, traffic stops where he never knew if the driver had a gun, take their toll. The crying children who could not be comforted, the innocent who could not be rescued.
So much pain, so much horror, so much trauma.

PTSD brings with it a paralyzing fear and vivid memories of all those traumatic calls. There are night terrors that lead to incontinence. There’s paranoia, possessiveness, and utter hopelessness which naturallyleads to a person to think that suicide may be their best option.

This has been our journey. It has defined who we are as a family. And we are not alone. There are people all over this country and throughout the world who are suffering; suffering I truly believe might have been prevented had there been some training in the academy or on the job training on PTSD and suicide prevention.

 “Police PTSD-The Hope Project,” is a Facebook support group I began because of the lack of support available for Brandon, me and our daughters. The reaction to the Facebook page has proven to me that PTSD is pervasive and a silent killer among our law enforcement officers who not only put their lives on the line everyday but also routinely deal with situations that can scar them badly.

Statistics show that more officers commit suicide each year than are killed in the line of duty which makes it imperative that we do more to  prevent and treat PTSD.

Education about the issue should be offered to all our officers before they serve one day out on the street. Mandatory training classes should be held regularly as well as mandatory counseling sessions for the officers and the families of officers who are suffering.

The single most important we can do for people who go through something like Brandon did, is to provide immediate help afterwards.

The stigma has to be erased and that begins at the top. Our chiefs and sheriffs have to show that they understand that PTSD is a very real and tragic reality that their officers and deputies will likely face during their careers.

The condition needs to be seen for what it really is — a disabling disorder that can happen to anyone. It is just as real as a bullet wound, if not more so.

To date no agency in South Carolina has mandatory training on the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and there is no class offered during initial training at the state’s Academy.

The time for change is now, Every second that goes by without taking action means that our officers could experience a trauma on the job, develop PTSD, and not be as lucky as we were to find the right doctors.
The tragedy is that they may start to think that suicide is their best option and that is something we just can’t accept.

Susan Motes Bentley is the founder of “Police PTSD-The Hope Project” and the wife of retired and disabled Deputy Brandon T. Bentley.

Michigan Governor Betrays working folks

Detroit Free Press
December 8 2012

Two years ago, a newly elected Rick Snyder told the Free Press editorial board he was determined to be a new kind of governor -- a pragmatist focused like a laser on initiatives that promised to raise standards of living for all Michiganders.

And until last week, we believed him.

For two years, we supported Snyder as he took painful steps to restore Michigan's fiscal stability and confront a crisis in which plunging tax revenues and mounting obligations to retired workers threatened to cripple the state's cities and school districts.

We criticized the governor for signing legislation that burdened a woman's right to choose, condoned discrimination against gays, and beggared colleges and universities to pay for business tax cuts.

But we also indulged many compromises Snyder maintained were necessary to advance his pro-growth agenda. And when ideologues on the right and left mounted campaigns designed to hamstring state government by limiting its authority to raise revenues, regulate labor relations, and fund critically needed infrastructure, we joined the governor in opposing them.

In short, we trusted Snyder's judgment.

That trust has now been betrayed -- for us, and for the hundreds of thousand of independents who voted for Snyder with the conviction that they were electing someone more independent, and more visionary, than partisan apparatchiks like Wisconsin's Scott Walker or Florida's Rick Scott.

Last week, in an abrupt about-face Snyder's defenders said was born of his frustration with organized labor, the governor unleashed a legislative blitzkrieg that seems certain to bring a bill barring closed-shop contracts to his desk next week.

He has already promised to sign it.

Watching Snyder explain his right-to-work reversal was disturbing on several levels.

His insistence that the legislation was designed to promote the interests of unionized workers and "bring Michiganders together" was grotesquely disingenuous; even as he spoke, security personnel were locking down the capital in anticipation of protests by angry unionists.

Snyder's ostensible rationale for embracing right-to-work legislation -- it was, he insisted, a matter of preserving workers' freedom of association -- was equally dishonest.

The real motive of Michigan's right-to-work champions, as former GOP legislator Bill Ballenger ruefully observed, is "pure greed" -- the determination to emasculate, once and for all, the Democratic Party's most reliable source of financial and organizational support.

Off track for a better state

Michigan voters have never trusted business interests or organized labor to govern Michigan unilaterally, and they have been appropriately wary of schemes to secure a permanent advantage for either side. Thus the ignominious demise of Proposal 2, which a majority of voters correctly perceived as an attempt not just to tip the scales of labor negotiations in unions' favor, but to lock them there for decades to come.

Snyder and other critics of Proposal 2 called it an overreach -- and we agreed, even when proponents warned that Snyder and his Republican legislative allies would move to crush the labor movement if the voters rejected Proposal 2.

Nonsense, we assured them -- Gov. Snyder is smarter than that. Too many of Snyder's higher priorities would be jeopardized, we reasoned, if he picked a needless fight over right-to-work.

Our reasoning was sound, and it remains so. What we miscalculated was Snyder's resolve to buck his own party's most irrational ideologues and keep his eye on the main prize: a better Michigan.

It's all about politics

Like the failed labor initiative it seeks to avenge, Snyder's right-to-work legislation is an attempt to institutionalize Republicans' current political advantage. Everything else is window dressing, and most of these diversionary talking points are demonstrably false.

The argument that right-to-work status makes states more competitive or prosperous is refuted by a mountain of evidence that shows right-to-work states trailing their union-friendly counterparts in key metrics like per capita wealth, poverty rates and health insurance coverage.

Snyder's contention that workers' First Amendment rights are compromised when a union they have freely elected to bargain on their behalf proposes a contract making union dues compulsory is equally specious. Employees are always free to reject such a contract or decertify the union that negotiated it, just as stockholders can force the ouster of corporate managers they deem unresponsive to their needs.

Snyder has long acknowledged that steamrolling right-to-work legislation through the Legislature would have enduring negative consequences for productive collaboration between workers and employees. His decision to embrace such legislation now destroys, in an eye blink, the trusting relationship he and his business allies have struggled to establish.

It also yokes a governor who once aspired to be seen as a new kind of Republican with the most ideological, backward-looking elements of that party -- the very people whose exclusionary vision of the country's future was rejected by voters in last month's election.
Trust betrayed

Snyder's closest brush with candor came when he suggested that his endorsement of right-to-work was less than voluntary -- a decision "that was on the table whether I wanted it to be on the table or not."

But that is less an excuse than a confession that Michigan's governor has abdicated his leadership responsibilities to Republican legislators bent on vengeance.

What reasonable person now believes that Snyder has the will or the wherewithal to deliver Michigan, or even his own party, from the failed politics of division?

Michigan voters who provided Snyder's margin of victory in 2010 feel betrayed, and they have every justification. If he was ever serious about being the governor who brought Michiganders together, Snyder has just sent himself back to Square One.

Hurricane Sandy shows cops for what they really are

Editorial: December 2012 issue
American Police Beat

The recent super storm known as Sandy has devastated parts of the East Coast and taken over 100 lives. The Jersey Shore, Atlantic City, Staten Island, Long Island and scores of other communities in New York and New Jersey are still trying to get back to something like normal.

As is usually the case when disaster strikes, we saw inspiring tales of citizens helping each other out in a tough situation. Even the national nightmare that was the never-ending 2012 presidential campaign was put on hold as adversaries put politics on hold in order to help those impacted by the storm.
But what really stood out was the performance of the brave men and women of public safety. Not only did first responders have to make sure their own families were safe, they then had to put on the uniform and go to work saving others.

Despite submerged cars, huge power outages, transformer explosions and just about everything else, law enforcement officers somehow managed to get the job done. Families trapped in the attics of their residences were brought to safety. People who lost everything were secured food and shelter.

 Even beloved family pets that might have washed away by the floodwaters were rescued and reunited with their owners.

Not everyone made it, including NYPD Officer Artur Kasprzak — a six-year veteran of the NYPD. He managed to get six family members to safety before he was tragically lost to the storm.

It’s during these kinds of disasters when the general public sees the vast majority of cops for what they really are— selfless public servants dedicated to serving and protecting their communities come hell, or in this case, high water. It’s one of the rare times when the public is more likely to see a photo of a police officer hauling a wounded dog out of a sewer than a misleading or selectively edited use-of-force video on YouTube.
Some people have said, “there’s never a cop around when you need one.” But that tired cliché couldn’t be further from the truth. When disaster strikes people desperately need the police for a variety of reasons. And 999 times out of 1000 police respond quickly, compassionately and professionally.

That last part’s important. There are lots of folks these days that quite frankly don’t think cops are necessary. These are the people who talk about fiscal cliffs, pensions and unfunded liabilities. Cash strapped cities all over the country are laying off cops and in many areas replacing them with untrained, unarmed civilian volunteers.

These people will say that there’s nothing particularly heroic or complicated about what public safety professionals do and that the climbing cost of policing is unsustainable.

Some buy that proposition and some don’t. But one thing’s for sure — when disaster strikes police officers can make the difference between life and death for residents and citizens. For a lot of us that seems like the kind of insurance that’s well worth paying for.

No one’s slamming security guards, civilian police volunteers or anyone else that isn’t a certified peace officer. But the kind of commitment and dedication that real cops show time and time again when Mother Nature freaks out is not something you can teach. The kind of person that immediately starts thinking of others when disaster strikes is a special breed.

Some call them heroes. Others call them cops. But whatever people call them they sure come through in the clutch. It seems like that’s the kind of thing that’s worth preserving and protecting.

Labor News Update from Ron DeLord including Chicago Teachers Strike analysis

The Gospel According to DeLord
News Update September 21, 2012

By Ron DeLord

The aftermath of the Chicago teachers strike is yet to be determined, but perhaps the Chicago Teachers Union and the Mayor overplayed their hands and made the debate public, nasty and personal. I would predict no winners. It is my opinion that in this political and economic climate public sector unions need to stay under the radar if at all possible.

Fights with the city, county or state over minor issues need to be delayed until another day. Concentrate on preserving all of your wages, benefits and pensions. Being realistic is more important that being right.

We are in a long term transition and we need to be focused on making decisions that lay a framework for the next generation of officers, The fight to survive has just started.

I am continuing to experiment with presentation of articles and commentary. In this News Update I posted the article and highlighted key comments and points but in a random cut and paste. Many people are looking to see what is of interest to them and they do not need the entire article. If you want to read the entire article please click on Read More. Denver Police Contract Negotiations Break Down

Denver Negotiations Fall Apart
CBS News 4 has learned that negotiations for a new contract for Denver police officers have fallen apart with no deal reached, leading to binding arbitration which began Tuesday and is expected to last into next week.

The current contract between Denver police and the city expires on Dec. 31.

One contact said the two sides were eyeing a multi-year deal for Denver’s nearly 1,500 uniformed officers, but disagreements arose over potential raises along with seniority issues and work hours. The source says that police negotiators were asking for a raise in at least one of the years of the new deal.

Unable to cobble together a new collective bargaining agreement, an independent arbitrator began hearing from both sides this week. That arbitrator will listen to arguments from both sides and decide which proposal will be accepted as the new contract between the city and police. The arbitrator’s decision will be final and cannot be disputed or appealed.

While police were angling for a raise, it’s no secret that the city has been looking for cuts. The city has said it faces a $94 million budget shortfall next year and an ongoing structural deficit of about $30 million per year.

Denver firefighters agreed to accept $6 million in cuts over the next three years during their recent contract negotiations. The firefighters union agreed to no raises next year and 1 percent raises in 2014 and 2015. They also agreed to give up their $550 per employee uniform cleaning and maintenance allowance for 2013 and 2014.

But police negotiations have proved more problematic leading to a breakdown and the binding arbitration process.

Chicago Mayor Set To Shift Focus To Police, Fire, Transit Union Contracts

CHICAGO (CBS) – With the two-week trauma of the Chicago teachers’ strike now behind him, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has turned his attention to other labor challenges ahead.

Police officers, firefighters, and transit workers are all either in contract talks, or getting ready to start negotiations.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine looked into how the outcome of the teachers’ strike might affect other public employees.

Perception is sometimes more important than reality, and if the perception is the teachers gained by taking a hard line and hitting the picket lines, even if Emanuel ended up getting most of what he wanted, other public employees might be tempted to take the same approach as the teachers.

“I actually think this strike is going to embolden other unions to take the mayor on,” said John Tilmon, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think-tank.

But the firefighters’ situation is somewhat different. They perform what’s described by state law as “essential services,” and aren’t allowed to strike.

Neither are police – whose negotiations are expected to be the most difficult – nor transit workers, who might be closer to either agreement or impasse than either of the public safety unions.

Read online. Miami-Dade asks employee unions to approve redesigned health-insurance plan

A contentious healthcare concession imposed earlier this year on Miami-Dade's nearly 26,000 county employees will almost certainly be history Thursday night after commissioners sign off on a new budget.

But the county won't be done wrestling with rising healthcare costs.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez's administration has warned employee unions that, beginning Jan. 1, health-insurance premiums for their dependents, such as spouses and children, will rise 20 percent. The hikes could be avoided, the administration says, if the unions agree to "redesign" the health-insurance plan to raise co-pays for doctor visits and prescription drugs.

Under the most popular plan the county offers, the co-pay to see a primary-care doctor would increase to $15 from $10. The co-pay to see a specialist would rise to $30 from $10. And a 30-day supply of prescription drugs would go up to $15 from $10.

The alternative for that same plan: hiking bi-weekly premiums for family coverage to $345 from $288.

Under either scenario, the county would continue paying HMO premiums for its employees.

Regardless of what happens with the insurance plans, employees will likely get some good news: When the new budget year begins Oct. 1, they will probably no longer be required to contribute an additional 4 percent of their base pay toward healthcare costs. A narrow majority of commissioners imposed that concession in January, on top of the 5 percent of their pay that employees already contribute toward healthcare.

That 20 percent comprises a nearly 12-percent increase in healthcare costs last year and an 8 percent increase this year. The county agreed not to raise premiums last year -- but that was a one-year deal, Gimenez said. Now, the county needs to make up for that by passing along last year's and this year's higher costs to employees, in the form of 20-percent dependent premium hikes.

"The single people will be subsidizing the family premiums, which I don't really see that there's a fairness there," Blackman said. The police union has yet to tell the county if it will bring the proposal to a vote. Police Benevolent Association President John Rivera said the union has asked the county for more information to verify its healthcare cost estimates.

"We walked out of there with more questions than answers," Rivera said of the PBA's meeting with the county's healthcare consultants. "If we're satisfied with what we get, we will certainly let the members make the choice."

LA Mayor Villaraigosa Defends Pension Reform Plan Against Union Opposition

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa began his push for city pension reform Wednesday. The city of LA is trying to reduce its pension obligation by cutting benefits for new employees. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Sept. 19, 2012.

Even as city worker unions threatened to sue over a Los Angeles pension reform plan for unveiled this week, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa defended his administration's proposal.

The plan, which would move the retirement age for new workers from 55 to 65 and would reduce the amount of final compensation, would save taxpayers up to $4 billion over 30 years, the mayor said.

The "common-sense plan" is "the next step of putting Los Angeles back toward a more sustainable, long-term fiscal path," Villaraigosa said.

The plan includes:

capping the maximum retirement benefit at 75 percent of final compensation, instead of the 100 percent currently allowed;

limiting cost-of-living increases to 2 percent;

increasing employee contributions to benefits;

eliminating retiree health care benefits for dependents; and

using a three-year average to calculate benefits to prevent pension "spiking."

Additionally, benefit amounts currently calculated at 2.16 percent of salary times the number of years worked would be reduced to a 2 percent rate.

"Every dollar that we save on pensions today is a dollar that we can spend on other city services," Englander said.

City unions have been quick opposed to the proposal, with a court fight not out of the question.

"This proposed ordinance is unsound and unlawful," said Service Employees International Union Local 721 President Bob Schoonover. "It's a full embrace of the CAO's vacuous plan to create a second tier in city worker pensions, which is a frontal attack on all city workers, future and present."


Ron DeLord has more than 40 years of service as a police union official at the local and state level. He is recognized as one of the leading police union contract negotiators in the United States. He has negotiated more than 150 police contracts. Ron is the co-author of six published books - two on police power, politics and confrontation,  two on interested-based bargaining, and two on the history of Texas Lawmen. He has been on the guest faculty at the Harvard Law School since 1993 for the Harvard Trade Union Program and two Police Union Leadership Programs. He has conducted more than 50 seminars on public sector union leadership, power, organization, media and political action.

Ronald G. DeLord PLLC Attorney at Law
30320 La Quinta Dr Georgetown, TX 78628-1171
Tel. (512) 461-9420
Email - ron@rondelord.com Web - www.rondelord.com Blog - www.rondelord.com/gospelaccordingtodelord

Chicago Teachers Strike: Why we need to support it

Pasted below is a news story from the publication InTheseTimes. Here's a paragraph from the story describing the crux of the conflict, something that police associations can certainly relate to with the huge effort underway to privatize all aspects of the public sector including education and  public safety.

Link to story: http://truth-out.org/news/item/11497-chicago-teachers-strike-for-fair-contract-but-really-for-better-schools


But at its heart, the strike is over the union's deep opposition to what it calls a "corporate reform agenda" that pursues a competitive or punitive relationship with teachers, rather than a collaborative one. Examples include blaming teachers and unions for educational shortcomings, promoting private but publicly financed charter schools, focusing on high-stakes tests and tying pay to merit. The Chicago Teachers Union has instead pushed for smaller classes, enriched curriculum, better supplies and facilities, fairer and fuller funding (including the return of some public revenue long diverted into "TIFs" to subsidize developers), more counselors and support staff, respect for teacher professionalism, and a bigger say for teachers in their schools.


Chicago Teachers Strike for Fair Contract (but Really for Better Schools)
Wednesday, 12 September 2012 14:06 By David Moberg, In These Times | Report

Early this morning, Chicago teachers organized picket lines at all entrances to William H. Ray Elementary School in Hyde Park on the city's South Side. They were joined by dozens of students, parents and local community residents. It was the first day in 25 years that the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU)--the first teachers union in the country--had gone out on strike, and picketers banged drums, gobbled doughnuts, waved at passing motorists (and the driver of a passing waste truck), and chanted with militant cheeriness: "Lies and tricks will not divide/parents and teachers side by side."

Late Sunday night, the union leaders decided that, despite some progress in the nearly year-long contract negotiations, the school board had failed to satisfy the union's 29,000 teachers and support staff in several key areas.

CTU president Karen Lewis, leader of an internal reform movement that took the union's top offices in 2010, said the offer from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) did not preserve medical benefits and did not provide adequate job security in a system thrown into turmoil by school closures and charter school openings. CTU also objects to a new system for evaluating teachers that relies heavily on improvement in student test scores.

Lewis said the two sides are not far apart on the issue of pay, including compensation for a longer day that CPS imposed this year. Sources differ as to the amounts on the table: Mayor Emanuel said the board offered a 16 percent raise over four years; board president David Vitale described the proposal as 3 percent in the first year, then 2 percent each of three following years; and the CTU characterized neither its latest proposal nor the CPS response.

But at its heart, the strike is over the union's deep opposition to what it calls a "corporate reform agenda" that pursues a competitive or punitive relationship with teachers, rather than a collaborative one. Examples include blaming teachers and unions for educational shortcomings, promoting private but publicly financed charter schools, focusing on high-stakes tests and tying pay to merit.

CTU has instead pushed for smaller classes, enriched curriculum, better supplies and facilities, fairer and fuller funding (including the return of some public revenue long diverted into "TIFs" to subsidize developers), more counselors and support staff, respect for teacher professionalism, and a bigger say for teachers in their schools.

That clash puts the union at odds with CPS, the mayor and President Obama--whose education secretary, Arne Duncan, boosted the corporate-reform agenda as former Mayor Richard M. Daley's school superintendent. It also represents a more forceful rejection of such reforms than espoused by the national union, which nonetheless supports the CTU strike.

Unfortunately, CTU's leaders have not pierced effectively through the cloud of misinformation coming from the mayor and allies (including groups with a financial stake in charter schools) to make clear what they're for and against. Also, a new state law limits the union's ability to negotiate many of the most important policy issues.

But Emanuel's unpopularity among unions has lifted union support, including backing from UNITE-HERE members working in the school lunchrooms, who offered to join teacher picket lines even though the food workers' earlier negotiation of a contract precludes their joining the walkout.

Emanuel said the strike was unnecessary, unwanted (by him), and wrong--"a strike of choice."  But one teacher tells In These Times it was virtually inevitable given Emanuel's insulting, disrespectful attitude towards teachers and the union, his unilateral imposition of major changes without consultation and his hostility towards most public schools. I asked John Cusick, a union delegate who has taught fifth grade for 12 years at Ray School, what he thought of Emanuel calling teachers' action a "choice," not a necessity. After a long pause, he said, "We don't have a lot of choices in CPS. We had no input into the longer school day. We're given no input into how the day is structured. We're given no input into whether the barrage of testing our students are undergoing makes sense. We have no choice in electing a school board. That's a choice we'd like to have."

Instead of experienced professionals having a voice, the board consists of rich people such as billionaire hotel heiress Penny Pritzker, whose businesses benefit from TIF funds that divert money from schools. Meanwhile, she sent her children to the private University of Chicago Lab School (as Emanuel now does), which she praises for its generous, well-appointed facilities. Lab is a few blocks from Ray (a fine public school that my kids attended), but worlds apart in amenities.

"We'd like to be involved in discussing class size," Cusick adds. "We'd also like more social workers and youth guidance counselors. We'd like to be funded to the hilt like [the rich northern suburb of] Winnetka. Last year Ray had classes with as many as 41 students. Let's have those choices."

And beyond those strictly educational policy choices, there are the critical environmental issues--violence and poverty. "We do think there's a crisis in American education," Cusick says, "and it has to do with poverty, but officials offer charter schools. In ten years they'll realize charter schools don't solve the problem. We don't need quick fixes. We need long-term commitment and investment."
Originally published at InTheseTimes.com

Stockton bankruptcy based on lies by Ron York

Stockton, California Bankrupt? It's A Lie!

by Ron York
June 28, 2012

Last night the city council voted to file for Chapter 9 Bankruptcy.  There is just one problem - Stockton is not bankrupt. Looking at the latest audited financial statement (6-30-10) I found the following significant facts:

The governmental funds had a net operating loss of $3,503,000 on $283,726,000 in revenue for FYE 6-30-10 - 1.25%. That is pretty benign stuff.

The General Fund had a net operating loss of $5,058,000 on $177,784,000 in revenue.  $4,793,000 of the total loss was due to some "bean counter" bookkeeping entries.

Since 2001, the governmental funds have grown at an internal rate of 2.37%.  That rate is respectable when compared with a 4% growth rate by the national economy and an inflation rate of 2.5% over the same period.

In 2001, total revenue was $229,777,000. For 2010, revenue was $283,726,000.

The General Fund had a unrestricted fund balance equal to 4.28% of annual revenue.  That is low, but workable.

Sure revenue for 2010 is down from the peak of $360,201 in 2007.  Compare that with 2001 - a 57% increase in just six years. Does anyone really think that is the normal growth rate.

Forget using the accrual balance sheet to make a case for going into the drink.  It is made with a bunch of large manufactured numbers for infrastructure and associated depreciation.  I have more confidence in Enron's balance sheet.  At least they had real depreciation schedules.

The trail for Stockton's journey to bankruptcy was paved by Vallejo, which was not really bankrupt either.  That's right, Vallejo was not bankrupt in 2008.  They were just pissed off.  Vallejo needed a workout consultant, not bankruptcy lawyers.  The same is true today in Stockton.

Bankruptcy has a lot of appeal.  A newspaper editor once said "Doctors bury their mistakes.  Newspapers print their mistakes."  With bankruptcy, a city gets to have their mistakes reincarnated, which can then be redacted.

The City of Stockton has engaged Marc Levinson, Vallejo's bankruptcy attorney. Marc is a great guy and a good lawyer, with a line of b.s. comparable to Johnny Cochran or David Boies.  I sure hope the employees hire a worthy opponent.

During the Vallejo bankruptcy proceeding, the employees used The Harvey Rose Firm as their financial experts.  Marc really sucker punched Roger Mialocq, the lead expert, who was playing it straight, as an expert should.  I would like to see a rematch between these two.  This time it would be like the Battle of Little Big Horn, with Roger and an army of consultants coming over the ridge, that ends with Goldilocks Levinson laying on the battlefield.

In the end, I do not think the truth really matters.   Everyone is caught up in the depression mentality.  Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.  Those preaching conventional wisdom say Stockton and other California cities are bankrupt and they are not going to let the facts get in the way, because in their hearts they know they are right. It is funny that these same prophets do not find it strange that the city has not released its 2011 audit.

I did a little snooping around to see what I could find.  Holy Cow!  The 1% sales tax distribution from the state was up 3% for FYE 2011 and up 10% for the current year.  That looks like a depression me.  "Hey buddy, can you spare a dime."

Once a family had an adult son who had some real mental problems - he thought he was a chicken.  When asked by a neighbor why they had not gotten help for their son, the father said they needed the eggs.

The Tea Party needs the eggs.

Ron York if the founder of policepay.net. He can be reached at: rjynegotiator@gmail.com

If Ballot measure passes it will be a disaster for cops

THE EPICENTER: PENSIONS UNDER ATTACK

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Jim Unland and I am the current president of the San Jose Police Officers' Association. I want to introduce you to the first installment of The Epicenter. All of our associations have been on the defensive and have seen attacks on our benefits. Here in San Jose, we have unfortunately found ourselves at the epicenter of the pension reform battle. I will use this communication tool to send you updates about our fight.
 
If you would like to receive these updates, email me at junland@sjpoa.com. 
 
I will do my best to keep these messages succinct, relevant and timely. Make no mistake - our fight is your fight. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is on a mission to radically change the way in which police officers and other public sector workers are compensated. His crusade has brought him national and international attention. All eyes are upon him to see if he can create a roadmap around our vested rights. If he succeeds, others will copy his methods. Your future and ours rests on beating back his relentless pursuit to destroy what has been promised us.

Mayor Reed and his allies on the San Jose City Council have voted to place a ballot measure before the voters of our city this June. If it passes and is implemented, San Jose police officers would see their contributions to retirement costs rise to more than 40% of their salary. COLA's could be suspended. Disability retirements would become a thing of the past. With language so restrictive, an officer who is shot and paralyzed would not be eligible for a disability retirement. To add insult to injury, that same officer would not even be guaranteed other city employment. In essence, he could be fired for having been shot and paralyzed.

— Jim Unland President 
San Jose Police Officers’ Association
junland@sjpoa.com