THE Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) should be heartily commended for removing Mr Doran Dixon from the list of candidates vying for the post of president-elect later this month.

The decision, we are told, was taken by the JTA’s Credentials Committee in reaction to Mr Dixon’s despicable “mongrel dog” analogy in reference to Education Minister Ronald Thwaites’ announcement that a number of benefits being enjoyed by teachers, among them paid study leave, would have to be cut.

We suspect that had Mr Dixon apologised for the unfortunate remarks the committee would not have taken this action. However, Mr Dixon, a former JTA president and a lecturer at Mico University College, has said he has no reason to apologise.

Obviously, the popular idiom “There’s none so blind as those who will not see” applies to Mr Dixon; for not only does he fail to recognise the indecency of his remarks, but last Friday, at the JTA’s St Ann Parish Chapter Annual General Meeting at which he sought support for his election, he chose to glorify his tastless comments by reeling off the chorus of the popular Baha Men recording Who Let The Dogs Out?

Unbelievably, some teachers in the audience, who really should know better, applauded, ignoring the fact that their union — embarrassed by Mr Dixon’s comments, as well as the equally distasteful remarks made by another former president, Mr Paul Adams, at another JTA function — had apologised to Minister Thwaites.

Mr Dixon has been reported as saying that the Credentials Committee does not have the authority to remove him from the presidential race. He has indicated that he is seeking legal advice on the issue and, as such, we expect he will test the legality of the decision.

How that will play out is left to be seen. However, if it turns out that the Credentials Committee acted outside of its jurisdiction, we hope that decency inside the JTA will outweigh the coarseness that we see emerging and reject Mr Dixon’s ballot.

Members of the JTA need to recognise that Messrs Dixon and Adams have actually done teachers a disservice, for their strong defence of their unfortunate comments have actually shifted the debate from a most serious issue.

The minister has told us that the country can no longer afford the benefits granted to the teachers, and failure to reform them will lead to our not meeting one of the conditions of the funding agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

We, however, empathise with the anger being expressed by teachers, given that the benefits form part of an agreement signed with the Government this year. The Government, therefore, should not have entered into this pact with the teachers, knowing full well what it was promising the IMF.

The challenge now is, what should be done to resolve this dispute, as both sides have legitimate grounds on which to argue. The sooner that is settled, the better. And it should be done without the boorishness that has been displayed thus far.

These truly are the times that try men’s souls.