An aging Hindu master wanted to teach his apprentice an important factor of living life, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it.

“How does it taste?” the master asked.

“Bitter,” spit the apprentice.

The master chuckled and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, and once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.”

As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?”

“Fresh,” remarked the apprentice.

“Do you taste the salt?” asked the master.

“No,” said the young man.

At this, the master sat beside this serious young man who so reminded him of himself and took his hands, offering, “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Don’t be a glass. Become a lake.”

(An ancient Hindu parable)

Will Day was a wonderful, convenient opportunity to take care of things and the plan attorney was great. Will there be another Will Day soon for me to have the papers notarized or should I just contact the attorney they listed with my documents?  The next Will Day will probably not be held until late May.  If you wish to have your will executed prior to that date you should make an appointment to meet with the attorney listed in the mailing you received.

According to my W-2 form my gross pay in 2007 was less than it was in 2006.  I even received a new longevity this school year.  How can that happen?  It appears that this year is the first time that you have opted for the 26 pay option.  This means that from September through December you deferred over 7.3% of this school year’s salary until the balloon check in June.  This would account for a lower gross salary for you in 2007.

My husband and I are planning on purchasing our first home.  How do I obtain a list of attorneys that are part of the Legal Plan?  Unlike the vision plan, a list of participating attorneys is not provided to the Legal Plan participants.  You must contact the Legal Plan office (800-832-5182) and they will assign an attorney for you to use in your home purchase.  If you find that the attorney who is assigned to you is neither conveniently located nor giving you satisfactory services, contact the Legal Plan office and ask to be reassigned to another attorney.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

This letter was submitted to the MTA Executive Board and is re-printed with permission.

November 28, 2007

Dear MTA Executive Board Members,

At this point in my professional career I wanted to send a message to our members and felt the only proper way was through our elected leadership.  Historically, I was raised in Middletown, graduated from Middletown High School in 1969, and started a second career as a teacher in 1982.  I am in my 25th year as a teacher in this district and I am in my fifth year as a union representative.  My career has had ups and downs—the loss of a full time teaching position, the loss of my soccer coaching career, and despite fifteen years of summer school teaching experience, the denial of Summer Institute employment.  So, I speak from experience.

My concerns are with us as a unit of 600 plus.  We now appear to be fractionated when we should be unified and strong.  Due to some things out of our control it seems as if our district is made up of seven different entities, each school with its own distinct issues and problems.  We all need to understand this and allow our union leadership to act for all of us.  My personal opinion is that this is what has been occurring through our MTA leadership for the past five years.

We need to recognize the different issues that large buildings have over smaller ones, older buildings over newer ones, the diversity of our population, and our administrators’ styles, etc.  With 25% of our staff untenured we are in a tenuous postion.  We must educate ourselves in how our union operates.  An issue should go to a union representative first, then a senior building rep who can guide the member about whether an issue is contractual or not.  We should not be going over our representatives’ heads to building or district level administrators on our own.  Issues should be addressed at the building level and only brought to Representative Council if deemed necessary.  I could continue, but brevity is an issue as well.

Finally, all should refer to Sheila MacKay’s article in the October MTA
newsletter about the Union Code of Conduct and read it as often as necessary.

Thanks again for all that you do for all of us.

Sincerely,

Frank Lentino