Schools

Former Teachers' Union President Calls for Board Support

Doug Perry, who retired in June after 27 years with the district said the teachers' union and School Board used to do "really great things" for professional educators.

With a passionate plea for improved employee-district relations and for a school board to stand up for professional educators, recently retired Doug Perry said so long to a district he served for nearly three decades.

Perry, who retired last month after 27 years as a teacher in the district, thanked past boards of education, past administrations, his colleagues and students for many great years during the public comments portion of Monday night’s School Board meeting.

The former Greenfield Education Association union president said he hoped board members would continue to support the district’s nearly 230 teachers who guide some 3,000 students by maintaining levels of pay and benefits that afforded Perry to live a comfortable life.

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“As past president of Greenfield Education Association and working in concert with past boards of education, we did some really great things for the people that support those 3,000 some kids every day,” he said.

“I’m certainly not a wealthy person, but I was able to buy a home, I was able to put my kids through school and have some savings. All those things were because of us working together for those 3,000 kids.”

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Perry said the role of the School Board, thanks to Act 10 is no longer “to beat back the big, bad union anymore” but instead to take a more aggressive role in academics and ensuring those held responsible for the education of the district’s students are recognized.

“It’s a challenging job. It’s more challenging every day. We work with some very challenging kids and family situations,” Perry said. “It takes a lot of out you. …  I hope you don’t lose site of the fact that there are 226 (professional educators) that you need to be working together and feeling good about what they do and feeling proud about what they do.”

Perry, , was often at the center of attention in the months following the passage of Act 10 by the state legislators. Last summer, he asked that teachers still be a part of the . He was also an during the months immediately following Gov. Scott Walker’s announcement to restrict collective bargaining rights among public employees.


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