May 27, 2009
Shake-up in Seattle schools coming?
A group of parents are telling Seattle Schools "enough!" The circus in the Seattle central office has hampered the schools for years. Principals have been chosen for diversity and political reasons rather than to put in the leader who will focus on improving instruction. But even if the right leader is there they don't allow him/her to control the school.* And the financial mismanagement is legendary. But it's Ho Hum... We are so used to politics over quality.
But this year's layoff of all the young, energetic, new teachers has energized people. The "seniority over capability" policy in the Seattle Education Association's contract reads, under article XII, section A.5:
"The performance ratings (evaluation) of employees shall not be a factor in determining the order of layoff...."
It's there in print: how successful or how effective a teacher is, does not factor at all in the layoff decisions. Even Danny Westneat has to notice:
Shake-up in schools coming soon | Seattle Times Newspaper:
Maybe it was brought on by lean times. Or maybe long-simmering angst about the state of Seattle schools is finally boiling over on its own.
But the decision this month to lay off 165 of Seattle schools' newest teachers in a "last hired, first fired" manner has got some of liberal Seattle suddenly sounding more like a conservative red state.
More than 600 school parents have signed an online petition, at supportgreatteachers.com, that calls out the teachers union for causing "great distress and upheaval" in the schools. At issue is the policy of choosing who gets laid off solely by seniority.
"Wake up and see how union refusal to consider merit is damaging the profession and our kids," wrote one parent.
"We want the best teachers, not the oldest, teaching our kids," wrote another.
"Teacher unions are an anachronism," said another.
The organizers of the petition are a group of parents called Community and Parents for Public Schools. They agree what they're doing is very un-Seattle.
They're fed up with calcified bureaucracy. They see how schools in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., are being shaken up by market-oriented approaches. Such as charter schools. But in Seattle, no politician seems willing to question the system. So it is left to parents.
"I am so not a Republican," laughed Andrew Kwatinetz, vice president of the group. He's an ex-Microsoftie with two kids in Seattle Public Schools. "I think what we are is extremely frustrated about policies that make little sense that are eroding the quality of the schools."
The latest issue -- the last-hired, first-fired seniority policy -- has become a hot button because many schools are set to lose two or three of their youngest, most energetic teachers.
"We're asking that they apply some judgment," Kwatinetz said. "The blanket way they do it now is kind of an insult to our intelligence as parents."
Kwatinetz is right on his last point; it's in line with what school administrators think of parents.
It's not that they specifically want to protect younger teacher. They want to put effectiveness first. Their web site is SupportGreatTeachers!
* Update: Putting the principal in charge is the first of Liv Finne's "Eight practical ways to reverse the decline of public schools" at Washington Policy Center
Posted by Ron Hebron at May 27, 2009
09:28 PM | Email This
1. The community and parents can scream and sign petitions all they want to but, the layoffs are going to go as previously planned. After all, it is not only the wish of the Union, it is also, an easy out for those in charge of doing the axing. All they have to do is just, go down the seniority list without any investigation as to who is better and who is not. What could be easier? Yes, it is irresponsible and unfair to the point of criminal dereliction of responsibility and duty to the Tax Payer in providing the best education for the money. However, these are Lazy Bureaucrats who are rarely ever held accountable for their actions and therefore, will take the easy route in the dismissals. They could take a stand and do what is right. They could do an in-depth investigation on performance and comparisons among the teachers and allow the best to remain but, they won't.
2. I have a hard time with the leap from this:
Principals have been chosen for diversity and political reasons rather than to put in the leader who will focus on improving instruction.
To this:
The latest issue -- the last-hired, first-fired seniority policy -- has become a hot button because many schools are set to lose two or three of their youngest, most energetic teachers.
"We're asking that they apply some judgment," Kwatinetz said. "The blanket way they do it now is kind of an insult to our intelligence as parents."
So on one hand, principals are incompetent morons. On the other, we should give them discretion in who stays and who goes.
That's the chasm that has yet to be bridged. Until it is, the idea is DOA.
3. you RAT voters should be happy....you are getting everything you ever wanted....you deserve what you get and will get it good and hard.....at least your children will....
all this fuss will just give the BofE reason to offer lucrative early retirements to the old battelaxes and then they will just schrug their shoulders that that is what the public "wanted".
oh, to be a govt worker....
4. you RAT voters should be happy....you are getting everything you ever wanted....you deserve what you get and will get it good and hard.....at least your children will....
all this fuss will just give the BofE reason to offer lucrative early retirements to the old battelaxes and then they will just schrug their shoulders that that is what the public "wanted".
oh, to be a govt worker....
5. Funny how when push starts coming to shove, they all start sounding very sensibly conservative. Well I hope they get their way. After all, they're only making sense. The kind of common sense that Seattle public schools doesn't appear to have. Throw the bums out.
6. "I am so not a Republican,"
and there you have it - the reason it has gotten to this state and will be allowed to continue, because party trumps everything. Any idea possibly conceived by a republican (not that pubs are much better these days so i'll go with "by a conservative") must automatically not be considered. What will it take for these idiots to grow a brain?
7. 1-5 above--yep; but---took this long? after the patient has been in intensive care ward for decades? i blame voters; pie in sky "feelings" about schools & teachers in general & the system; lazy when it comes time to analyze their RESULTS; parents too busy watching TV after the school board vote and levy vote; back to living; tossing car keys to a teen with a bottle & hoping for the best;
8. A quickie recent story. My grandson was selected recently (as a 3rd grader), along with a 5th grader to go to district level and teach teachers how to prepare a powerpoint demonstration. I am not kidding you, this actually happened.
While I'm extremely proud of my grandson for being so computer-acclimated, I was astonished that the teachers (well-tenured) were not versed in this? Something is definitely missing here.
9. #2 They do go together - appointing principals and evaluation - but not overnight.
The solution to both is in that building that used to be on Lower Queen Anne; think it's south now. Appoint education leaders as principals, then the principals know what kind of people they need as teachers - hire and fire - and the principals provide the most important evaluation.
10. We had a school board meeting Tuesday in Marysville. 14 of our schools elementary teachers have gotten their pink slips. Our school is a co-op and test scores put it in the top 10%. So the reward for the young hard working teachers is a lay off. But they do not see the reason they are getting laid off is because of their union contract not because they do not perform. Several are friends and are feeling really bitter about the whole thing. They put in several hours of extra work that is not part of their union contract to accomplish what they are doing. So next year we are going to have all new first, second, third and forth grade teachers. I understand where the parents of this story are coming from.
Jim
11. ultraman @ 6: I, too, chuckled at the ex-Microsoftie's disclaimer. It was as if he would soil his panties if his elitist counterparts though him to be....horror of horrors....A REPUBLICAN! How dreadful that anyone should have cause think and act on merit and principle rather than the dictates of leftist status quo. Until Seattle gets past its revulsion for independent thought, its citizens and schoolchildren will continue to be subjugated by the mediocre and the foolish.
12. ha, yes 10 & 6: "I am so not a republican, but gee their ideas on this make so much more sense than democrats' ideas, which insult the intelligence of parents, makes little sense and erode the quality of the schools!"
Yah, that is effectively what he has just said. We can see that in good times, apparently you can act extravagantly stupid with lame lib ideas but there's just no room for it when the rubber really hits the road. Because suddenly true clarity comes. And the republicans....are shown to be right.
13. curious absence of trolls here.....
14. Michele@12, the Republicans' ideas on education have included "starving the beast" (reducing public school funding so parents revolt), subsidizing private religious schools, and the abuse of test scores in No Child Left Behind. But on the issue of moderating union influence, yes, moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans can agree. Why do you think that this is a good reason to make fun of moderate Democrats?
15. Our government is all about who you know, not how well you perform.
Our institutional corruption is alive and well.
Today, both our state and our nation is run by a Gangster Government.
the state and teacher unions have more power than Al Capone during the Depression. And they act the same way, too.
I see a civil war coming after the inevitable hyperinflation hits. The massive overspending by government and them crowding out the private sector in the capital markets means years and years of a poor economy, run by those who have no understanding how a capitalist free market works.
16. gawd, dawg try to be a bit more upbeat! That's depressing.
17. lol, Bruce aside from trying to muddy the waters with side arguments, how are you not seeing that what these people are calling for is conservative? Because in this town, this kind of common sense is not seen as simply "moderate", but conservative--witness his attempted disclaimer. If it was indeed moderate, he wouldn't feel any need to make disclaimers, would he? Maybe the SSD could try more often being what you call "moderate"; heck, maybe the democrat party itself could try being "moderate", because this particular thing they're calling for sure as honk didn't come from the democrat party! And never would.
18. dawg, your last sentence seems to describe the Obama administration.
19. When you vote for Democrats, you vote for unions. It's that simple. There is no disconnecting the two. These people are fools if they think they will change anything. You get the government (and school system) you deserve.
20. @15 dawg...Sadly, what you say about Government being a Gangster Government, I must agree with. Of course, you need Government for the Rule of Law for the protection of Society against abuses from Domestic and Foreign. However, excessive Government is a burden to your Earnings and Liberty. Excessive Government is a Crime upon the American people.
21. Microsoftie, Conservative and Republican. Damn proud of the first two. And more than a little frustrated with the latter.
Don't paint us all out to be liberal loons.
Though I will conceed this is only one of the reasons we choose not to send our kids to public school.
22. I'm waiting for dumbo kid, Unkl Witless to tell us just how WRONG we are!
23. This is a moot issue as long as the contract stands in its current form. It is what it is.
Despite how the stories are positioned, being young does not guarantee that your are, or will be, a "great" teacher.
The same goes for being a "senior" teacher, length of service doesn't guarantee that you will be a "great" teacher.
How do we know that we have a "great" teacher?
Results.
But therein lies the rub. How do we objectively determine the results?
24. They could give some incentive for older teachers to retire. They would not only save younger teacher jobs but reduce the cost to the state for employing the higher paid teachers.
25. @22: I knew you missed me.
I think that you're right and wrong on this. I'm sure that if you weren't devoted to following your wingnut partisan position so blindly, we might actually find common ground.
But alas, I have a major project deadline for work, and that takes precedence over dueling with the far-right partisans right now. Ask me in a few days. You'll just have to go it alone!
26. Roots, I also wrestled with this from a business background; i think absolute results (like only test scores for eval's) may not fit here; because you have the family situ. & parent factor affecting some kids wherein they will not bode well no matter the inputs; not all are motivated; maybe force/incentivize them to help/commit in some way; i'm thinking a type of weighted score-- %test scores + overall % of school performance scores + something else with a few factors then taken as a whole; maybe client surveys, but they may just be popularity contests; it IS the rub, i agree; any HR eval folk out there? or is a school such a different animal--i think not;
27. It's for the children is the refrain we hear so often. So lets apply it this time when we use Merit to determine the best teachers...
Having dealt with some really good teachers in the School District it is a shame that we can't use Merit to keep/reward our best teachers.
28. SupportGreatTeachers.com! Wake up! If you want to keep the teachers, GET RID OF WASTEFUL BUREAUCRACY! Demand that cuts be made from The State Superintendent Of Public Instruction's Office all the way to your local school district office! These wasteful levels do not teach your kids, TEACHERS DO! 34% of money dedicated to public schools never makes it to the classroom! There is plenty of money in the system - bring it to the classroom!
29. SupportGreatTeachers.com! Wake up! If you want to keep the teachers, GET RID OF WASTEFUL BUREAUCRACY! Demand that cuts be made from The State Superintendent Of Public Instruction's Office all the way to your local school district office! These wasteful levels do not teach your kids, TEACHERS DO! 34% of money dedicated to public schools never makes it to the classroom! There is plenty of money in the system - bring it to the classroom!
30. The school board negotiates that collective bargaining agreement ("The performance ratings (evaluation) of employees shall not be a factor in determining the order of layoff...."). Most of the elected school board members received campaign contributions from the union. Until voters replace the school board members with candidates that will not accept campaign contributions from the teacher union, this is what they will get.
31. The real 'enemies' in the battle over schools is the legislature and governor. Until state government enacts charter school and voucher legislation, public school districts will do nothing to clean up the union-controlled indoctination centers they refer to as schools. Notice how quickly Dimocrats ended D.C. the voucher program once they gained the presidency. We don't want choice and results clouding this issue, do we Dims?
32. #31. Half right. The Legislature was convinced. They passed charter schools several years ago. But the WEA is brutal. They got a referendum on the ballot and allowed nothing good to be said. The public trusted the teachers over the Legislatured and killed it.
That's why this post is headed by a photo of the union powers - SEA in this case.
33. I don't think you can find many examples of school districts with more than 15,000 students that are run well. I have always thought that the right thing to do would be to split the Seattle School District up into 2 or 3 pieces. With this type of management structure in place, the best any parent can hope for is a mediocre education. An outstanding education depends on quality teachers in an environment where learning is valued and encouraged - not one where surrogate baby sitting occurs.
34. Reduce Bureaucracy @29....I agree with your position of getting rid of Wasteful Bureaucracy. However, Government's intention, when it runs short of your confiscated earnings and wants more, is to punish the Tax Payer where it hurts the most and that is to reduce essential services. The Tax Payer feeling the Pain of reduced essential services will more readily acquiesce or give up their resistance to increase Taxes. This is the standard game-play of Government and they will not give it up easily.
35. I see that the Seattle liberal loonies are starting to whine well well guess who keeps reelecting them Keep up the good work but please keep them in Seattle city limits the rest of WA really do not need them.
36. It is the coolest site,keep so!
A group of parents are telling Seattle Schools "enough!" The circus in the Seattle central office has hampered the schools for years. Principals have been chosen for diversity and political reasons rather than to put in the leader who will focus on improving instruction. But even if the right leader is there they don't allow him/her to control the school.* And the financial mismanagement is legendary. But it's Ho Hum... We are so used to politics over quality.