Another School District Disbands Their Union

crossposted

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation's Liberty Live blog has the scoop about the St. John's Education Association voting to decertify the union and throw in with the Northwest Professional Educators instead. That makes them the second school district this decade to do so, following the lead of Sprague-Lamont in 2004.

Good for them. If a group of teachers wants to go it alone that's absolutely their right. As a local president I know that I lean on my Uniserv representatives pretty heavily and wouldn't want to fight some of the fights I've had to fight without them (and here's a public thank you to Sally, Pat, and Mike for the work they do).

I think, too, that Sprague-Lamont is an interesting case. If you wander over to the OSPI website and look at the financial data for the district (you'll have to hunt, because Sprague-Lamont is actually Sprague and Lamont until school consolidation happens), but here's some of the information you'll find:

• In 2004 the Lamont School District had a .6 principal and no superintendent. By last year they had budgeted for a .180 superintendent (at a cost of $23,315)
  
• In 2004 "Teaching Activities" accounted for 47.21% of the spending in Lamont. In 2009, that had gone down to 45.53%
  
• In 2004 the salary and benefits package for the .6 FTE principal in Lamont added up to $47,487. The budgeted amount for last year? $57,650. That's a raise of better than $2,000 a year.

In Lamont, then, the percentage of the pie spent on teachers has gone down, while at the same time the principal is making $10,000 a year more (out of a budget of about $811,000) and they have superintendent spending that they didn't 5 years ago.

At the same time, the number of students enrolled full-time at Lamont has dropped from an average of 36.89 in 2004-2005 to an average of 32 last year. Declining enrollment, less money for teachers, but they've added a superintendent and upped the pay for the principal.

But that's only the Lamont part of the school combination, where the kids go for middle school. What about Sprague, the larger district that takes the students for K through 5 and high school?

• In 2008-2009, the principal made $73,416 a year, up from $65,225 in 2004-2005.
  
• In 2004-2005, Sprague had a full time (1.0 FTE) superintendent, but by 2008-2009 that had been cut down to .540. Success!
  
• But wait....in 04-05 that Superintendent made $80,000 a year, but in 08-09 it was $69,944. That's because they raised the base salary that the Superintendent's take-home salary is figured off of, and the practical effect is that a nearly 50% cut in time only amounted to a 12.5% cut in spending. I guarantee you no teacher is getting that deal.
  
• In 04-05 "Teaching" was 51.67% of the budget; "Unit Administration" plus "Central Administration" adds up to 16.8%. In 06-07, the last year for which actual numbers are available right now, "Teaching" had a slight uptick to 51.68%; Administrative costs went up to 17.45% of the district budget. They're holding the line on teaching costs, but not on administration. Why do you suppose that is?

At the same time, Sprague has dropped to an average of 79.39 students in 08-09, down from 92.54 in 04-05

The great hope is that the relationship between the teachers and the administrators isn't adversarial, but the other great hope is that there is two-way accountability. It's a romantic notion that the Northwest Professional Educators puts forward, that "professionalism" can win all in the workplace, but in Sprague-Lamont, with a neutered "professional association", the administration has been lining their pockets while the district is withering on the vine.

It will be interesting to look at St. Johns in 5 years and see what their trends are.

takin' it to the streets YouTube

While we're all Bellevue, all the time, might as well point out the unorthodox route the Bellevue teachers association has used to get its message out to the community:

The Bellevue School District teacher's strike just got more interesting as teachers started posting their side of the story on a popular video-hosting Web site.

And parents by the hundreds are taking notice of their online message as the strike enters its second week.

The Bellevue teachers union has posted at least three videos on youtube.com, each with its own theme.

You can view all three videos at the link.

"Legacy media" used to define the message; whatever biases they held determined how much, how often, and how favorably you would hear or see unions in the news. No longer.

don't smile--you're on candid camera

I remember reading about the Everett EA's accusation that Cascade High School officials had been secretly videotaping a journalism teacher with a crudely hidden camera, and thinking, It's so crazy it just might be true.

It was true.

"Deputy Superintendent Brandsma authorized video monitoring from the hallway looking at the door to Kay Powers' classroom to determine if students were frequenting her classroom late at night or on weekends in violation of school policies and the district directives to Kay Powers," the report said.

Powers and her students were banned from using district equipment to publish an alternative newspaper. Powers' firing followed the district's discovery that a student had used a classroom computer to copy files from an e-mail account to his personal laptop for use in an alternative student newspaper.

It was unclear whether Brandsma would be disciplined; he could not be reached for comment on Friday.

The hidden camera was supposed to be in the hallway outside of the classroom, but the company hired to install it placed it on the ceiling inside Powers' room, according to the report. The camera was directed at the classroom door, the report said.

A video showing individuals from the waist up coming and going from the classroom was delivered to Brandsma. But now the video's "current whereabouts are unknown," the report said.

Patterson also concluded that there is "no evidence that any audio recordings were made."

Whitehead said she never saw the video recording and it played no role in her decision to fire Powers.

"My determination to terminate the employment was not retaliation. It was not an attempt to interfere with her free speech rights, and it was not based on any information seen or heard from any form of video or audio surveillance," she said.

Union leaders said they are glad the district now admits the camera was used.

"It does prove what we have been saying all along, that the district ... had practiced surveillance," said Kim Mead, president of the Everett Education Association. "I just find it so disappointing that they believe it is OK to treat employees in this manner."

So disappointing? How about "outrageous," "stupid," or "so tragic it's positively Shakespearean?"

Really?

Took the time to read the EFF's most recent newsletter this morning, and there was an introductory message from their new Director of Labor Policy, Sonya Jones (I've mentioned her before.) She doesn't like unions--that's kind of a prerequisite for the position--but I plain can't relate to the thought process when I read things like this:

I believe that just about the only thing more dangerous
than environmental zealots are labor unions, so it is with
great anticipation that I come to you as the new Director
of the Labor Policy Center at EFF.

The most dangerous things in Sonya's world are labor unions and environmentalists. It must be nice to have lived such a charmed life where those are the biggest concerns you have.

Welcome to the quagmire, Sonya.

go ahead, ask

Tomorrow, I'll spend an evening listening to Gary Alexander, Brendan Williams, Sam Hunt, Karen Fraser, and Tim Sheldon at a union-sponsored legislative forum in Tumwater. WEA prez Mary Lindquist might make an appearance, too.

If I get the chance, I have one question for the folks in charge.

Terry Bergeson is up for reelection. Would you support a change in leadership at OSPI?

If you have some music you'd like a state muckety-muck to face, suggest a question in the comments. I'll report back later.

Update: As is sometimes my custom, I'm liveblogging the event over at 5/17.

Shoreline teacher strike: just the quotes

Via the Times article. The strike begins--and ends--tomorrow. But the hurt will last until summer, at least.

"The reputation of the district is in jeopardy with the actions of the association. There wasn't a town here originally, there was a school district, and people moved here to be a part of that."

--Sue Walker, Superintendent


"[Ben] lost it. He said, 'Why me? Why me? Why did they pick me?' The right that we have to a good education, by this decision by the administration, has been hindered."

--Sharon Reijonen, parent


"We're trying to use our resources more effectively than we have in the past."

--Dan Mann, School Board member


"Before we do something this instructionally damaging, we believe we should have exhausted all possible avenues for revenue generation and for cost reduction."

--Elizabeth Beck, Shoreline EA co-president


"This is the first time in my teaching career I have ever been embarrassed to be in this district. They're sucking the soul out of Shoreline."

--Kaydee McGillivray, longtime elementary teacher


"There's definitely a sense that in this whole struggle to bring the financial picture back into line, there's been a certain callousness and overlooking what's happening in the classroom. It's past the eleventh hour, it's past the twelfth hour. It's the third week of school."

--Ed Coleman, parent


"I don't think the strike is going to change what's going on, and I think it sends the wrong message to the community. Frustration and disappointment are my primary emotions at this point."

--Mike Jacobs, Board president

The administration could at least make some sort of conciliatory gesture: move into tents to save on building costs, and fight the budget battle as if it's a real war. We're all in this together, right?

Shoreline teachers strike to protest class sizes

Taking Thursday off, with a vote of no confidence for the Supe. From a Seattle Times update:

Elizabeth Beck, union co-president, said the strike vote was in response to a move by the district to shuffle elementary-school students between classes, resulting in some class sizes as large as 28. The no-confidence vote was the first in Shoreline in at least a decade, she said.

On the district Web site, Walker wrote that the district had added seven elementary teaching positions on Sept. 13 to deal with too-large classes in nearly half of the district's elementary classrooms. Those new teachers are to shuttle among overloaded classrooms, providing extra help during portions of the school day.

The one-day strike adds tension to the already strained relations between teachers and administrators in the 9,000-student district. A strike was averted before school started, but Beck said Walker and her staff are already violating terms of the new contract.

SVC Alumnus on Teachers Strikes

Via Northwest Bloggers, an interesting look at the question of whether or not teachers can legally go on strike. SVC Alumnus has some more thoughts on his home site.

In my district we're already preparing for the next round of contract negotiations this coming spring. It's an involved process that I look forward to sharing with you all as the year goes on!

Bethel teachers versus the WASL

WASL scores appear to be a major sticking point in the Bethel EA's negotiations this summer, which have entered mediation after threats of a strike August 30.

Using standardized test scores has its share of problems. Using WASL scores, though, presents a whole new set.

[Superintendent Tom] Seigel said Washington Assessment of Student Learning results or other test scores would be just one of many evaluation criteria and would apply only to instructors who teach subject matter on the exam.

"Teachers obviously have a major impact on WASL scores," Seigel said. "To suggest you can’t use WASL scores somehow to suggest a teacher is doing a good job or areas they need to improve is like taking tests from a doctor and ignoring the results."

No wonder teachers are upset. To adopt Seigel's metaphor, using the WASL to evaluate one teacher is like waiting to take your temperature until the fever's gone down.

I'll focus on the sophomore year, because that's when the biggest problems arise. First, Bethel's proposed scheme places an unfair burden on English, math, and science teachers. History, P.E., art, and every other subject get a pass--at least, until they get their own WASL.

Second, since students aren't pre-tested on an equivalent test, instead taking an easier test three years before, there's no way to guarantee a fair benchmark. Are teachers evaluated based on how many students pass? Great. Then how much credit should two thirds of sophomore year's instruction count, versus the 8th and 9th grade years?

Are teachers evaluated based on improvement? Great. If Johnny fails in 7th grade, and fails again in 10th, whose fault is it? If Jewel fails in 7th grade, and passes in 10th, who gets the praise? There are too many intervening variables to be sorted out with just two snapshots.

These aren't just whiny teacher complaints; these are real statistical quandaries, which I doubt Seigel and other district officers truly appreciate. If I were teaching in Bethel, I'd walk out, too, if the district refused to back way from a poorly conceived scheme.