The Maine Teachers Association is alive and well and controlling SAD 22. Not only are the teachers well represented on the SAD 22 board of directors, several board members are past or present teachers, but also a certain guidance counselor is a member of some very powerful committees.

Most notably, Mrs. Arlene Nicholson of Hampden, is on eight of the 10 committees of the B.O.D. One of the committees Mrs. Nicholson is on is negotiations. What is very alarming is that Mrs. Nicholson is also on the negotiations committee at Old Town where she is employed. But there is a slight twist to the situation. In Old Town, she represents the union. As a negotiator representing her brothers and sisters of the Old Town council of the union, her responsibility is to obtain the best possible benefits for her fellow employees. In this case, benefits usually boils down to salary and health coverage.

As a negotiator representing the citizens of SAD 22, how can Mrs. Nicholson debate the points of the contract with the SAD 22 teachers union, when they are the same arguments she would use to argue against the school board in Old Town? This is a glaring conflict of interest. We truly have the fox guarding the hen house. For the taxpayers of SAD 22, remember, Mrs. Nicholson’s salary is derived from teaching in Old Town, not from the stipend she receives as a board member in SAD 22.

Ethics is defined as the principles of right conduct, and what is most appalling in this situation is the majority of board members of SAD 22 condone this flagrant violation of ethics, and most critically, the chairman, Mr. Ralph Thompson from Winterport, who appoints the committees. Roger Middleton Hampden