Dear Colleague,
There has been no shortage of education legislation in
Sacramento over the past month. Perhaps the most contentious was SB 441, a tame
bill that would have made slight adjustments to the current teacher evaluation
system. (http://unionwatch.org/parents-students-businessmen-mayors-reformers-civil-rights-groups-conservatives-liberals-et-al-vs-teachers-unions/) Reform
groups like StudentsFirst, EdVoice, National Action Network Los Angeles and
many others were in favor of it, with only the teachers unions opposing. Not
surprisingly, the legislators, not wanting to run afoul of CTA, killed the
bill.
At the same time, Bhavini
Bhakta, a former teacher of the year, wrote an eloquent blog post about teacher
quality, tenure, LIFO, etc. on the StudentsFirst website. Currently teaching in
Arcadia, she has been bounced from school to school because of our
state-mandated seniority rules.
In my 9 years of teaching, I have worked alongside teachers who go above and beyond to ensure the success of their students. For these teachers, it doesn’t matter how many hours it takes, or how many supplies they have to purchase – they are committed to delivering an effective and engaging lesson everyday.
What bothers me about my profession is that we operate under the notion that all teachers are the same. We believe that they are all effective, they are all impacting kids positively, and they all work to ensure students learn.
While I’ve worked alongside phenomenal educators, both veteran and novice, I’ve also worked alongside ineffective educators, both veteran and novice.
And it breaks my heart to see highly effective teachers receive the same “satisfactory” rating on their evaluations as those that clearly need significant and immediate assistance to improve.
Talking about the
state education code, we sent out a special email last week about the Students Matter case. (For a quick
refresher on this pending litigation, go here - http://www.ctenhome.org/PDFdocs/CTENLTL11-12.pdf ) The lawyers are
looking for teachers who want to become involved in the case and sent me the
following to share with you:
For far
too long, the voices of teachers have not been included in the conversation
about the future of education and what's best for our students.
The
upcoming 20-day trial for Vergara v.
California will offer teachers the unprecedented opportunity to be
heard and make a difference. Vergara
v. California is sponsored by Students Matter, a national nonprofit
organization dedicated to sponsoring impact litigation to promote access to
quality education. The groundbreaking statewide education lawsuit, filed by
nine California public school students, challenges the state laws that
handcuff K-12 administrators from making personnel decisions prioritizing
teacher quality and serving the best interests of students.
In
May, the court granted the Motion to Intervene filed by the California
Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers,
allowing the state's two largest teachers unions to join the State of
California in defending the status quo and keeping the state's harmful and
outdated laws in place.
As we gear
up for trial, set to begin January 27, 2014, Students Matter is launching a
statewide effort to elevate the voices of teachers advocating for change in our
public schools. If you would like to join the conversation around the
future of education and why having equal access to quality teachers is a key
component of giving our children the quality education they deserve, please
contact Jackie Matthews at jmatthews@griffinschein.com.
On another reform
note, E4E’s Ama Nyamekye wrote a compelling op-ed in Huffington Post in response to the United Teachers of Los Angeles
vote of no confidence in LAUSD chief John Deasy. She criticized the union for missing
“a critical opportunity to have a substantive conversation about what could
transform Los Angeles schools, instead forcing teachers to simply choose
sides.” She went on to say,
• We need our union to be more transparent and informative
• We need our union to be solutions-oriented
• We need our union to fight for teachers and students
We wish Ms. Nyamekye
well in her quest, though if past efforts to reform the teachers unions are any
indication, it is doubtful that her ideas will be realized. To read her
article, go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ama-nyamekye/los-angeles-school-reform_b_3088825.html
In fact, if there is
any doubt where CTA stands on reform issues and their advocates, the union
sponsored a resolution at the state Democratic convention last month in
Sacramento.
WHEREAS, the political action committee, entitled Democrats for Education Reform is funded by corporations, Republican operatives and wealthy individuals dedicated to privatization and anti-educator initiatives, and not grassroots democrats or classroom educators; and
WHEREAS, the billionaires funding Students First and Democrats for Education Reform are supporting candidates and local programs that would dismantle a free public education for every student in California and replace it with company run charter schools, non-credentialed teachers and unproven untested so-called “reforms”;
To see a clip of CTA
president Dean Vogel’s talk at the convention, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ung8bB7lA4U For my two cents on the resolution, go to http://www.city-journal.org/2013/cjc0516ls.html
The lawsuit we wrote
about in the April letter is going forth. As the press release states,
The Center
for Individual Rights (CIR) today
filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on
behalf of 10 California teachers and the Christian
Educators Association International,
challenging the constitutionality of California's "agency shop" law, which
violates the First Amendment by forcing public school
teachers to pay annual fees to
support powerful teachers' unions extensively involved in political
activity. The suit was filed against the lead defendants, the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the National Education Association (NEA), as well as 10
affiliated local teachers' unions, and local school officials.
To continue reading
the press release, go to http://news.yahoo.com/center-individual-rights-files-suit-behalf-non-union-160000721.html To read the actual complaint, go to http://www.cir-usa.org/due_complaint1.pdf
Confused by common
core? You are not alone. Here is a brief video which has six noted education
reformers weighing in on the subject - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Ev2ceWxSM&list=UUu5zghH1Ohi5kCk-VFjkuVA&index=1
As California’s
fiscal future isn’t exactly rosy, it would behoove teachers to start looking at
other pension options. A recent National Council on Teacher Quality post tells
us that teachers aren’t as wedded to the “defined benefit” type of plan that many
of us have come believe is sacrosanct.
There must be many
state policymakers across the land who feel trapped between the fiscal reality
that their teacher retirement systems are teetering under huge deficits that
only continue to grow and the political perception that teachers are determined
to keep their defined benefit pensions.
But
is that really how all teachers feel? A new study from Dan Goldhaber and Cyrus Grout adds to the growing evidence that
many teachers are quite open to other types of pension plans. Goldhaber and
Grout look at data from Washington state, where teachers have been able to
choose between a traditional defined benefit plan and a hybrid plan that
combines a defined benefit component with a defined contribution
component.
To continue reading, go to http://www.nctq.org/p/tqb/viewStory.jsp?id=33616
As
always, we at CTEN want to thank you for your ongoing support. We value your
feedback, which in turn helps us meet your needs by keeping you informed and
provoking lively discussion.
Sincerely,
Larry
Sand
CTEN
President
