Vertical indifference

Ulyanovsk Governor Sergei Morozov became famous as the initiator of the action of the Patriot on the Day of Russia. Families in which a child was born on June 12 receive gifts from the governor, and a large family in which replenishment appeared on this day can apply for a UAZ-patriot jeep. If you count from June 12, nine months, it becomes clear why on September 12 in Ulyanovsk they christened the “Day of conception”. This year, the action took place for the fifth time: on July 8, two families from rural regions received UAZ. So the regional leadership stimulates the birth rate.

Furried figures are really slightly improved, but it may very well be, this fact will not be pleased, but a burden: in the region there is a process of “optimization of educational institutions”, as called the language of officials, that is, the closure of small schools in the village, and in recently in the city. Closing schools, officials are not talking about an increase in the birth rate, but about the demographic pit into which the region fell along with the whole country. Will there be a school for newborn patriots when they grow up - officials are silent about this.

According to the Minister of Education of the Regional Government of Catherine UBA, over ten years the number of students in the region has almost doubled, from 209 to 110 thousand, therefore, in recent years, more than 150 schools have been “optimized”. The per capita financing system, which was introduced by the federal government in 2006 (“Money follow the student”), demanded a reduction in ineffective expenses, she explains. A similar situation in Ulyanovsk: the number of schoolchildren decreased from 100 to 48 thousand, many schools are filled in half or less. Verdict - eliminate.

More than 30 teachers and parents of students of secondary schools No. 7 and No. 8 announced a hunger strike (it continued from June 24 to July 1), protesting against the liquidation of these schools under optimization sauce. City officials from education slowly decided to close five schools, in the course of the case intimidating those who disagree with this decision. Later, the prosecutor's office gave its assessment of the liquidation, calling it ill -conceived, unprepared and conducted with violations of the law. The hunger strike is an extreme measure, the teachers admit, but the numerous appeals in the instance, including the President of Russia, did not help.

“Optimization” was carried out in the worst bureaucratic traditions: teachers and parents were confronted with the fact, the disagreed director of school No. 7 was fired, teachers who refused to move to other schools were insured by dismissal. An expert assessment of the consequences of liquidation was given by a working group consisting of some officials. The document turned out to be formal, it is not clear from it why these five schools were eliminated, and not others, with a smaller number and with the worst performance. Popular version: someone needed buildings. Officials beat themselves in the chest, assuring that the buildings would remain in the education system and would not be sold to businessmen.

The hunger strikes, of course, might not have been. In most cases, when it comes to the arbitrariness of officials, people swallow the insult and live further, reasoning: nothing depends on us. Social apathy intensified during the years of “vertical” rule, so each case of civil disobedience is considered as an emergency and scares power incredibly: by what right the right, obedient sheep intended for haircuts dared to leave the corral? In this case, people decided on an open protest, because they really had something to lose: teachers - work in their school, the current professional environment, ambitious creative plans, students and parents - a educational institution of walking accessibility. “Who will take our children to school and meet them after lessons, if to the nearest school - more than two kilometers? Who will ensure their safety? " - the parents were indignant.

For a week, people lived in a tent town, in the heat of 40 degrees, drank only water. Women encouraged themselves with a specific humor: “Look, look at what kind of appetizing dog ran”, “Pants are already hanging on me, I become an attractive woman!” Residents of the surrounding houses supplied starving mineral water, journalists tried to learn the country about the hunger strike, human rights activist Igor Kornilov helped to prepare a lawsuit for the city hall. But the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Ulyanovsk Region Galina Edvars called the hunger strike “Amoral”. The head of the apparatus of the regional government, Svetlana Openysheva, paid an unofficial visit to the tent camp, her wish for the participants of the action - “Baba, hot - go to the river!” - instantly became a winged phrase.

It is characteristic that the directors of 36 “prosperous” Ulyanovsk schools showed solidarity not with colleagues, but with officials. An open letter appeared in the local press, in which the directors are accused of colleagues from small schools of parasitism: they say, they delay budget funds and generally live well: “It is easy to give a lesson to 10-15 children ... and receive the same money for their work.” Judging by the style (“it is necessary to conduct ... promotion and enlightenment of an increase in the life of the population”), the letter was born in the office of the Narobraz official, and then was “recommended” to the directors for signing. Obviously, the same hand of the official wrote in this letter: “We know very well that the more children in the classroom and parallels, the higher the level of teaching, the level of competition, the level of training ...”. Comment with the Internet forum: “I am proud that under this disgrace there is no signature of the director of my native school.”

The conflict was resolved only after the intervention of the head of the region Sergei Morozov. It would seem that this is a wise and fair leader: he arrived, he figured it out at everything, gave the necessary instructions, "raised the situation." But dialogue with teachers could be carried out on the eve of the hunger strike and not bring the situation to the extreme. After all, as negotiations showed, the proposals of teachers (to repair the building of the 8th school, to create a sociocultural center in the 7th school) were reasonable, and ultimately they were accepted.

The conflict zone was entirely under the jurisdiction of the municipality, that is, the mayor of Ulyanovsk Alexander Pinkov, who participated in the festival of Sabantuy, spent the day of youth, was satisfied with events, but never met the teachers. In the releases of the press service of the city hall this week-anything but starving teachers. Either the mayor of the uniform was frightened of people, or without a indication from above, he did not decide anything and therefore waited for the chief Sergei Ivanovich to return from a business trip ... It was a pity to look at it: there are frosts and kicks surrounded by teachers, Morozov studies the sentences of teachers, kicks, frowning, fading his face. “So we will do this and so,” says the governor. - Well, Alexander Petrovich, I agree? " “Yeah,” Kise Vorobyaninov squeezes out the Ulyanovsk mayor like “giant of thought”.

On the pre-election posters, Governor Morozov was captured in a strong handshake with single-Russian-Russian candidates-first in the elections to the Legislative Assembly, then to the City Duma. "This is my team!" - read the slogan. Morozov achieved his own: the entire regional and municipal power in the Ulyanovsk region belongs to United Russia. But in a crisis situation, the Teacher’s hunger strike “His” team demonstrated helplessness and indifference.

The State Duma remained indifferent to the fate of provincial teachers. According to the Ulyanovsk deputy of the State Duma, Alexei Kornienko, he initiated a protocol order to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation so that it dealt with the reasons for the hunger strike of Ulyanovsk teachers. The order was not supported by the Duma majority. The chairman of the State Duma Education Committee Grigory Balykhin, elected from the Ulyanovsk region (or rather, imposed by the Ulyanovites by the Party of power), did not make the slightest attempt to help his voters. In general, United Russia once again, like Pontius Pilate, washed her hands.

The Ulyanovsk Governor Morozov is both the builder and the victim of the regional vertical of indifference, no matter how much he was baking at the hardware meetings of the lazy and inaccessible subordinates. On the one hand, he implements in the region - often with ahead of the federal trends, the same optimization, on the other hand, he is forced to delve into all sorts of municipal trifles, because its one -partyists, officials at lower management stages, taught people, easily make gross mistakes, and then they are afraid to fix them when the situation comes to a dead end. And they waited for the wise Goodwin to fulfill three desires.

The system that requires constant “manual control” is non -viable. She does not have civilian stabilizers, there is no permanent feedback system that would make this system stable. The incompetence or self -interest of officials easily leads to a crisis, and there are not enough skills and powers to get out of it. Officials do not want to speak with people or do not know how to speak, and without negotiation prevention, social conflicts are inevitable, which was shown by a weekly hunger strike of Ulyanovsk teachers.

Why did teachers of the 7th and 8th school won? Because they presented clear and real demands and during the action adhere to them sequentially, did not let officials from the city education department intimidate themselves, did not allow them to “blur” their demands on promises and persuasion. Because they held on a monolithic group, united by a common goal - to preserve schools. Obviously, only targeted civil actions are able to withdraw officials from a state of numbness and indifference and force them to doubt their own infallibility.

Author - Free journalist, Ulyanovsk

Photos of RIA Novosti