On August 3, 2010 I received in the mail a four page glossy brochure titled "Introducing SERVE Seattle: Support, Empower, Recognize and Value Educators in Seattle" I was immediately struck by the color pictures of teachers giving personal one on one instruction to students in an elementary class. Wouldn't it be great to have one student?
It is my assumption that the district with this brochure is putting its best foot forward with regards to this plan so I thought I would do some analysis of what is being offered compared to what we currently have, since that is what contract negotiations are about, the district gives a little and we give a little and everybody gets something. I think it is great how the district can entitle its proposal SERVE which says outright that with this plan it intends to Value Educators, when in fact this entire proposal was developed without any input from our Collective Bargaining Agency and totally dismisses any of the work that has been done collaboratively between teachers, the union and the district on evaluation over the past four years. That's right, the collaborative effort that was committed to between the union and the district in the previous contract has been totally abandoned and replaced with this proposal for evaluations developed exclusively by the district. This is what following through on contract language means to this district, "We collaborate when we get our way." So understanding collaboration with the district means their way or the hiway, which I guess is an employers right, lets analyze what their new proposed evaluation system is about. I will do my evaluation with the intent of identifying specifically what is cast in concrete and what has yet to be developed. And remember anything that has yet to be developed means that a person who votes for this contract is relying on a wing and a prayer on some unknown system at this time which will determine their evaluation and job security.
Cast in Concrete
1. Two hour shorter Fridays for teacher collaboration (some district determined and some teacher determined) and an additional 14 minutes per day of unpaid teaching time.
2. Stipends between $2,500.00 and $5,200.00 for teachers who opt into this program and based on their evaluations can qualify for the extra duties associated with being a Demonstration, Mentor, or Master teacher. (More money spent on certain teachers who will be taken out of the classroom to be replaced by substitutes or new hires and a cost that does not reduce class size.)
3. Doubling the number of STAR mentors to help new teachers. (More money spent on people who are not in the classroom and not reducing class size.)
4. Nationalized computer given assessment tests like the MAP testing going on in the district to evaluate student growth to be used as 25% of the teachers evaluation.
5. New money spent to support administration in putting teachers on Performance Improvement Plans (the step before being terminated). (More money spent on administration and not teacher salaries.)
6. Stipends for teachers who will teach in the district's failing schools.
7. Overall school performance would count for 10% of a teachers evaluation. 10% of a teacher's individual evaluation based on other people's work.
8. 5% of a teacher's evaluation would be based on a survey of fellow teachers, students, and parents. A popularity contest.
To Be Determined (In otherwords we don't know what this looks like but we are being asked to agree to it even though. Watch Carefully.)
1. Multiple Measures would capture teacher performance in
a. Instruction and Professional Practice-Not yet identified as to what the components of what makes good instruction or professional practice but TO BE DETERMINED by the Professional Growth and Evaluation System developed by a joint labor/management taskforce. Read-We don't have a Professional Growth and Evaluation System yet but please believe us that we will develop it collaboratively with labor and according to the literature it will be "fair, comprehensive and reliable." Sign up today for what we don't know we will be using to evaluate you. Here I have an idea. Why doesn't the district and the SEA develop it first before we make a commitment to it. Yah!
b. Classroom Environment-Not yet defined as to what determines good classroom environment. Here I have an idea. Tell us what the components of a good classroom environment are now before we sign up. Yah!
c. Instruction-Not yet defined as to what determines good classroom instruction. Here I have an idea. Tell us what the components of a good instruction are now before we sign up. Yah!
d. Planning and Preparation-Not yet defined as to what determines good planning and preparation. Here I have an idea....
e. Professional Responsibility-Not yet defined as to......
f. TWO measures of student assessments-One is identified as MAP for Reading and Math and I'm not sure what the other one is. I think it is some kind of collaboratively developed end of course assessments but in any case it is either unidentified or undeveloped. Here I have an Idea. Put your assessments together so I can see what I am up against to get my students to learn before I sign on. Yah.
g. TWO teacher-determined measures based on goals aligned with District Standards and WILL BE developed within professional learning communities and approved by instructional managers. I can't even imagine what this looks like so I don't have an idea but once again these measures are not currently developed.
In conclusion this contract casts in concrete that the School District is Empowered to put many of its teachers on Probationary status leading to termination based on undeveloped measurements. In gaining this new power the district is asking that all of the current employment protections against abuses of administrative power be abandoned.
And what are we getting to agree to cede all our curent protections. Nothing unless you agree to SIGN UP NOW for this "Voluntary" program called SERVE.
What ever happened to negotiations between management and our collective bargaining agency that provided improved working conditions, smaller class sizes or increases in wages.
Not this year.
SHMUEL Willner
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