Educational Reform on the CHEAP: It's the Salary Schedule that we're talking about.

The other day by school email we all received notice from Don Kennedy that there would be no step increases in the coming year because the district couldn't afford it and the only thing that may prevent that from happening is that the district might be prevented from doing that by the collective bargaining agreement. When we asked Olga Addae about this email she said that it was not in reference to the certified staff and it was only relevant to those who were not represented by the SEA. That doesn't make any sense. Don Kennedy said straight out that it was his intent to prevent the step increases unless the collective bargaining agreement prevented him from doing so. Apparently, Don Kennedy and the current SSD administration doesn't really understand that they can not act independently outside a collective bargaining agreement like they do in South Carolina where there are no unions. Don Kennedy intended to stop the step increases of all certified staff. He found a way to save the district money by stopping the step increases in the teacher negotiated contract. Ok, let's talk money since this is really all about MONEY.

You know I keep on calling out Michelle Rhea, the DC superintendant, as the poster child of union busting teacher blaming school reform. But I have to let you know that Goodloe-Johnson is going to one up Michelle Rhea. She's going to bust the union on the CHEAP. If your not following the story in Washington D.C. part of the offer that Michelle Rhea made to teachers who signed on to the new contract, making teachers compete with one another, is that the good teachers would be paid $100,000.00. I'm not really sure of the details and I know that she got private financing to afford the offer but at least she had the courage to truly Value her educators who could do the work for her and the DC school district. Let's look at the VE of the district's SERVE proposal; Support, Empower, Recognize and Value Educators.

Value: How exactly am I being valued? From what I understand if I join SERVE this year I am valued an increase of 1% on my salary and in the second year of the contract another 1%. And if I don't join SERVE, which is v0luntary I will get no increase in my salary throughout the terms of the contract. I guess in this regard this means the only Educators who are Valued are those who join SERVE now. (I think this money might all be going to TRI and not the base salary but you'd have to check me on that.) This increase of 1% in two consecutive years will perhaps makeup for the loss of the two LID days paid for by the state. So in fact if we don't join SERVE today we will be making less money during this contract. Net ahead for the district. Net behind for the teaching corps. I don't feel VALUED by either the size of the raise 1% in an environment of 3% annual inflation nor do I feel VALUED by having a gun put to my head to VOLUNTEER to join SERVE so that I can get a little, very little more money to feed my family. What about the R of the district's SERVE proposal? Maybe I will gain VALUE through being recognized.

Recognized: I think the way the district wants to RECOGNIZE me for my excellent teaching is to provide me with stipends and a title for becoming either a Demonstration, Mentor or Master teacher. Yeh. But now let's really look at how the Goodloe-Johnson administration intends to get on the cheap, busting the union and making teachers compete with each other, which at least Michelle Rhea was going to pay me $100,000.00. I think for a $100,000.00 I might consider putting myself in competition with the rest of my fellow teachers to prove that I am the best and most effective teacher but what is Goodloe-Johnson offering me to betray the trust and collaborative spirit that dwells in an environment where Money is not the focus but children and their well being are. Let me see and I frankly don't know or even care about the real numbers but I think for a demonstration teacher I get a $2,500.00 stipend, for a Mentor teacher, a $3,200. stipend and a master teacher a $5,200.00 stipend. Woohoo. Can't you see the dollar signs ringing up in my eyes. This is truly on the cheap. But here I have a suggestion and in making this suggestion I hope to clarify how a Certified Staff Collective Bargaining Agreement is made so you will understand how crucial it is that you stand behind your union now and help them succeed in these negotiations when everywher in the nation, the city and the local news they are viewed as the primary impediment to good education.

Steve Puliken, the previous Executive Director of the SEA, who shepherded over many years of peaceful and collaborative relationships with the SSD in pre- Goodloe-Johnson days, said to me once, "I think the stupidest thing we have is 15 steps to get to the highest pay grade in the teaching field. I think there should only be five." If you have ever taken the time to read your collective bargaining agreement, you would find in appendix A, the Seattle Public Schools Certificated Non-Supervisory Salary Schedule. When Olga Addae was saying that what Don Kennedy was referring to was non representated staff, she was referring to the fact that as part of our Bargain we attach the Salary Schedule which shows what every certificated staff is paid at every level of education and every level of experience (Step). This means that Don Kennedy can't just arbitrarily stop the STEP increases because the Salary Schedule is an agreed upon addendum to the contract. What is agreed upon can not be changed. (I am wondering if they are trying to press the union to take the salary schedule out of the current contract.)

So let me explain the difference between a teacher's year to year (semi-guaranteed contract) versus say a similar contract in the business world. First of all outside of union work there is no guaranteed step increases over a 15 year duration and even in most union shops you will not see anything out 15 years. Why you may ask? Well, putting aside the fact that this schedules are really driven by the design of the salary schedule established by the legislature to pay teachers on the basis of education (currently under attack at the state level) and the basis of experience (currently under attack in these contract negotiations) what is the most striking about the salary schedule is to try to compute the average salary a teacher would make over the life of a 15 year contract. Given most professionals start at about 60K in the business world, let's see what a teacher's salary would be on average over 15 years. Using the BA plus 45 credit hours plus an MA (which probably represents $150,000.00 investment in a state school system) as the entry level salary including TRI the beginning salary is $50,062.00. Presuming you get at least another 45 credit hours so you are BA plus 90 and a masters the ending salary would be 70, 718.00. The average salary over 15 years is approximately $60,000.00. That makes this profession paying an average of the entry level professional salary for most other professions if and only if you work for 15 years. Other professions 15 years in are making deep into six figures. But okay, we're teachers were not in it for the money. So what is this all about?

The negotiations currently going on between the district and the union are all about THE SALARY SCHEDULE. The district wants to hire you AT WILL with no guarantee of a 15 year contract and the union wants to hold the district responsible to keeping you hired if after 5 years you prove yourself a competent teacher that they keep you on for the next 10 years so you can get the average salary. If the district is able to hire and fire at will then this salary schedule which is negotiated into our contract is meaningless and the promise of a future of improved income is contingent on an evaluation system. This is what we call seniority. We protect teachers who can make it through the steps to be given a continuiing certificate and try to secure for them an employment where they can get married, have children and afford a house and ultimately retire.

I understand what Steve Pulkinnen was telling me. 15 steps is an infinately long time to earn the highest salary you are ever going to get as a teacher so it would be better if we just got to it in five steps over say a ten year period. This would change the dynamic of education a lot but let me tell you, the district and not anyone is going to get you to the highest salary in shorter than fifteen years, that would be too expensive. So this salary schedule is going to stay in place and not be even impacted by the new titles of recognition; demonstration, Mentor and Master teacher. In order to get to the highest pay as a teacher despite your success in being evaluated you are still going to have to work for 15 years. Now this truly doesn't make any sense. If the new goal is to become a Master teacher, which means that you've made it regardless of education and regardless of experience isn't that the time you should be paid at the top of the Salary Schedule. Hey, young teachers, just think of it you are so good you get back these spectacular evaluations, you become a master teacher, you get to share your skills with all of those dinosaurs and Guess What the district is going to pay you at the highest level. NOT.

So please understand this is all about the salary schedule and giving the district the ability to hire and fire teachers AT WILL without any protections from the collective bargaining agreement. And if you think the district won't look at high paid employees and say, hmm, I think we can save some money by getting those old dinosaurs out of the way, think again. You just saw Don Kennedy try to strip you of your STEP.

On the other hand if Goodl0e-Johnson wanted to be generous and say to all of us. Here's what I'm going to do. If you join serve and become a demonstration teacher whereever your at you'll make no less than $65,000.00 and if you make it to Mentor teacher you will make no less than $85,000.00 and if you make it to Master teacher you will make no less than $100,000.00. Well you know for that kind of contract I just might put on my running shoes and compete with all of my fellow teachers, but for a $5,200.00 stipend? For these kinds of dollars I think I'd rather keep the collaborative nature of our business and let Goodloe-Johnson go back out to her business friends and see whether she can rustle up the hundred's of millions of dollars in permanent private financing that it would take to make such an offer. And even Bill Gates is not in this for the long term with his money. Just the short term, long enough to transform schools to small schools until that reform movement self destructed, and just long enough to destroy our union, our only protection against all the forces that today, are mistakenly blaming the Teachers for the failure of the public schools. There are lots of problems in the public schools but starting off to solve them by stripping teachers of their defenses against the uncertainty of market forces is certainly the wrong way to go about it and if they succeed it will take many years to repair the damage it will do and in the mean time many committed and excellent teachers will have been shown the door because they just weren't magicians and couldn't resolve all the problems in society that came into their classroom.

SHMUEL