Assigned Reading

Apparently NEARI president Executive Director Bob Walsh is seriously considering a run for governor in 2010. It seems absurd to think that Walsh could mount a serious campaign against titans like Treasurer Frank Caprio and AG Patrick Lynch. Would the same RIers who elected Governors Almond and Carcieri really support a campaign by the face of RI teachers’ unions?

Ridiculous!

But then again, what do I know? The thought Americans would elect an inexperienced, socialist-leaning, black senator as our President seemed to me equally ridiculous not that long ago.

Listen.  Hear that?  It’s the sound of students, parents, and teachers (yes, teachers) celebrating in Providence.  Oh sure, not all the teachers are in the partying mood.  The dedicated, hard working teachers certainly are.  Finally their success will be valued more than longevity.

RI Commissioner of Education Peter McWalters declared an end to bumping in the city.  Citing poor NECAP scores, McWalters circumvented the collective bargaining contract, and mandated that principals now have the right to fill vacancies based on qualifications rather than seniority.  The ridiculous custom of teachers “bumping” those less senior from their jobs will come to an end.  According to the ProJo report, McWalters said:

I’m saying that seniority is not an appropriate way to manage the assignment of teachers based on what we know in the 21st century.  It’s no longer about teacher preferences. It’s about whether the teacher is the best match for that particular student.

Representatives of the teachers union (an AFT affiliate) are already talking with lawyers, and a legal challenge is almost guaranteed.  But like in East Providence, a line in the sand has been drawn.  McWalters is taking a stand and putting what is in the best interest of kids first.  For this he deserves much praise.

The decision could have national implications.  Thus, story has already spread across the country via top education blogger Joanne Jacobs.

…the teacher said he was under no contractual obligation to phone a parent.

There are many good teachers in our public schools.  Most care about kids and want to do what is best for them. But if the music teacher indeed said this to James Petrella, as the Johnston parent alleges in the front page Journal article on work-to-rule, he should immediately be fired.  Can we ever trust a teacher who would only contact a parent if required by a contract?

The contract stalemate in Johnston reveals a significant problem within our public schools:  unionization. What would make a professional teacher believe it is not an obligation to keep a parent informed?  The parent, of course, is a taxpayer who pays the teacher’s salary.  But with a union as a backbone, this teacher feels he is under no obligation to do his best, to impress.  The very minimum is all that is required.  

In what other profession could an employee flatly say to those who pay his salary, “I’m only going to do the bare minimum.”  

A significant problem is the law that mandates an expired contract be recognized until a new one is agreed upon. School districts looking for concessions to save money have no leverage.  Union negotiators can just sit and wait it out.  But it is the very contract itself that is the real problem.  Work-to-rule wouldn’t exist if contracts didn’t outline every aspect of a teacher’s job.  

Teachers demand they be treated like other professionals.  But we must act like professionals first.  Do doctors rely on contracts to determine which services they should provide to their patients?  Do contracts outline every aspect of legal advice a lawyer might have to provide?  Could a restaurant manager walk by a dirty table, and explain to the customer that his contract doesn’t require him to clean it?

Our contracts should be limited to salary and benefits, and perhaps a few basic working conditions such as class size.  It should not be a fifty or sixty page document outlining every single requirement of the job.  We are, after all, professionals.

Contacting parents about students’ progress is a minimum requirement in our profession.  There’s no room for any teacher who needs a contract to tell him to do so.  And because the contract has long expired, there should be nothing stopping Johnston officials from firing that music teacher.

Have we lost all sense of moderation?  At one local school, students were told they could eat none of the treats given to them for Valentines Day.  Referring to the state health and wellness policy adopted by the district, students were allowed to keep their small pieces of candy and lollipops, but had to bring them home unopened.  A flyer reminding parents of the policy was distributed to every student in the school.

It seems ridiculous that such a policy would include special occasions such as Valentines Day.  Why must we always push reasonable ideas to the extreme?

Taking advantage of a law passed in 2007, some public school districts in Georgia have requested that all their schools become charters.  From the Associated Press: 

As the economy worsens, more Georgia school districts are considering converting entirely to charter schools to take advantage of the budgeting flexibility that comes with such a change.

More than a dozen districts have shown interest in converting under a 2-year-old Georgia law that has gotten little participation until now, said Andrew Broy, the associate superintendent for policy and charter schools for the Georgia Department of Education.

Districts that convert to charter systems are exempt from many public school regulations, such as class-size limits, and have more freedom to choose how they meet federal No Child Left Behind Act requirements.

So far, four public school systems have changed to charter districts under the 2007 law that made Georgia the third state, along with Florida and California, to allow such conversions. Texas lets groups start a charter system from scratch.

The Georgia state school board will consider the latest group of charter applicants in spring 2010.

Perhaps these districts see this as an opportunity to return leadership and decision-making to the school level, and out of the hands of unions and ivory tower administrators.

Read more about the endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, and the group trying to save it from extinction.

Then visit the Core Education blog to learn what students thought of the website, and the cause.