School Districts throughout California continue to pink slip teachers to help ease their budgets. It’s a drawn-out, torturous process that teachers must endure while trying to keep focused on doing the daily job of educating students. Some teachers with as many as 10 years have been given notices that they will be fired next month. I thought I remember just a couple of years ago, our governor was claiming that there was a severe teacher shortage and that recruiting in the Philippines would help solve the problem. Importing third world teachers as a sort of reverse-outsourcing of labor with a double twist!
SAUSD Board Member, John Palacio, recently sent out his interval email blast (if you wish to subscribe, please send a request directly to him at jpalacio@pacbell.net ) hosting links and stories to the newest obsession by school officials on how to thin the herd: Easing the standards to fire teachers. It’s a call to throw the bums out by frustrated bureaucrats. School Officials are even calling for legislation that will back up their evil plans.
Those “Bum” teachers have achieved Bachelor’s degrees, at least one teaching credential and must complete professional development each year. Many also hold Masters Degrees. Some worked hard to obtain multiple teaching credentials. That’s a pretty highly educated and dedicated bunch of potential “bums”, if you ask me. The No Child Left Behind was an ill-conceived & underfunded attempt to reform the whole system. It bombed badly and the teachers are now getting the blame.
In the Los Angeles Times article, there were over twelve hundred responses debating the importance of being able to easily fire educators. UTLA has vowed to fight for the rights of teachers to retain their jobs before this plan by administrators is even fully hatched.
Adamant and vocal, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) president, A.J. Duffy hits fast and hard back at the school board: “UTLA has tried for years to work with the district and the Board of Education to come up with a sane and reasonable policy for evaluation which could fix most of the problems. And the district has consistently refused,” he said through a spokeswoman. “The fault lies with the corrupt bureaucracy that refuses to do its job.”
Nice push-back, A.J.!
I wonder what SAEA’s response would be in such a situation. Maybe promise to feed SAUSD live human sacrifices monthly? A nifty power-point presentation? Maybe a call to silence? 😉
This is another reason I hate our Union SAEA. Last year, they revised the contract. RIF(ed) teachers who are not rescinded before the end of the year have to reapply and principals must interview them now. They don’t just move back into a position by now. This means that principals will hire the cheapest people and not the teachers who came to the district that have many years of experience, but just a few years in SAUSD. ex. some teachers have 13 years of experience outside of SAUSD then came to the SAUSD. Those teachers are doomed. Thanks Union for putting that in the contract. I think you suck!
Union representatives that cannot even run a clean election cannot be counted on to fight for their members.
Exactly. Like the years we’ve worked there mean nada…diddly. Wonder how those Union people would feel if they had to “re-apply” and be interviewed after being a hard working teacher for this district and going through this rigorous process on top of it. Do not for one moment tell me that people voted on that. I will tell you this. One teacher at my school voted Yes on the other contract. She didn’t even read it. She was not RIF(ed). Now that she knows that she has lost her benefits, she realizes that she better read what the Union is doing. Do not for one moment think that teachers agree with you. If they weren’t RIF(ed), they simply don’t read it. Yes, this is stupidity, but that’s how many are. Too busy! They go with whatever and found out the disaster later unfortunately. Get these people out of there ASAP before everyone has to re-apply and go through interviews to get their job back.
Red Vixen: Yes, the series that the LA Times is running is pretty amazing. The revelations about LAUSD are astounding. You hit the nail on the head with your observation about NCLB.
But, as usual, you just can’t leave well enough alone. UTLA is 48,000+ teachers. They are so huge, represent such a huge geographic area, and have such a huge budget that they can make an amazing impact.
But, I guarantee you that SAEA’s position is almost exactly that of UTLA’s – they have tried for years to work with the District to create a ‘sane and reasonable policy for evaluation which could fix most of the problems’ – this issue lies NOT with the unions and their continued fighting for the rights, including due process of teachers, it lies with the Districts – and SAEA, along with UTLA, CTA and NEA will continue the fight to protect teachers.
I’ll provide the truth of how the elections are being run and who you can contact so that you will have confidence in the elections this year!
Anon (#1) and TeacherRiF (#3) Teachers have 39 months from the end of the current school to be re-hired and in most cases an interview isn’t required. On top of that, if re-hired within that period, they retain their place on the seniority list.