Highly Effective Nonsense

   I have a confession to make.  At the end of last school year, I was totally burned out and could think of nothing but getting as far away from Oakridge Public Schools as I could get.  I was sick to death of the politics and the gossip and administrators who all seemingly buy into the ridiculous notion that teachers are the cause of all that is wrong with American education.  I had decided to have the surgery I’d been putting off for too long, but more importantly, I made up my mind to address the source of my unhappiness.   I tuned out the 24/7 onslaught from the television and Internet and started each morning reading all things spiritual, went to Mass twice a week, and only went north of the Grand River when forced to do so.  For the first time in my career as a teacher, I dreaded the coming of August and thought longingly about retirement.    So I know very well and sympathize with those of us who try hard to insulate ourselves from the constant noise that surrounds us during the school year.  It’s distracting and too often hurtful, and saps energies intended for better use. 

   Unfortunately, that self-protective mode does little to address the onslaught that threatens our jobs and livelihood, and that onslaught persists.  For all Mr. Livezey’s claims to the contrary, the evaluation process at Oakridge is still a dog and pony show.  Every evaluation done at the secondary level last year was of questionable validity.  Teachers at the middle school evaluated themselves, admittedly a more prudent and admirable approach than at the high school, though that approach would hardly pass an objectivity test.  At the high school, evaluations from the previous year, by a previous administrator, formed the basis for the final evaluation of most of the teachers in an effort to meet the superintendent’s June 30 deadline.   And in one case, the evaluation was not used to address the teacher’s value as an educator, but as a disciplinary tool to satisfy the insecurities of an inexperienced administrator.

    Additionally, we spent hour upon hour last summer putting together a wage supposal that was both realistic, and would address the injustices of the last four years for our youngest teachers.  At the same time, we asked that the district allow the membership to opt for Messa ABC Plan 1 to help relieve some of the economic pressures created by the hard cap.  The first suggestion would have cost the district about $40,000, the second, nothing at all.  In those informal talks, we were informed that the board preferred to wait until this year’s audit is complete before committing to any salary improvements.  Well and good, but the insurance request would have no impact on the district’s finances!  Instead, we were informed that the only way the ABC plans would be considered was contingent upon our willingness to re-open the entire collective bargaining agreement and re-negotiate a contract we just signed last March.  Those “discussions” have made it clear to the bargaining team that Mr. Livezey is not just unwilling, but incapable of genuinely advocating for teachers with the school board, particularly if there is any chance the board will resist the effort.   His aversion to personal risk is almost pathological and gives the lie to his claims of concern for the plight of teachers and staff.

   Your building rep has probably already approached you with a PAC envelope and a plea this week.  Please don’t toss the envelope in the garbage and claim that politics doesn’t concern you.  Everything that we’re dealing with at the district level originated with the mindset in Lansing, and that mindset is continually working to find new ways to make your job more difficult.  If $5.00 is all you can afford, that’s great.  If you can afford $20, though, that would be fantastic.  Rick Snyder has deep pockets, and will throw money toward those who support him in an effort to bury those who oppose him.  Your interests, and the interests of your family and students, need to answer those deep pockets in kind.   Give whatever you can. Please.

Cautions and Reminders

        It has been said that everything you need to know to be successful in life is learned in the first five years:  kindness, consideration, compassion, and how to play well with others.  How soon we forget!  By the time we reach high school, we will have pretty much become the people we will always be, too often abandoning kindness and compassion for the sake of gossip, and principle in payment for the comfort we’ve come to expect and enjoy.  The point here is that there are wolves among us; people who apparently feel compelled to squeal on their colleagues for the slightest perceived indiscretion; tattletales who are still behaving like kindergarteners.  Fifty Oakridge teachers and administrators attended last month’s Capturing Kid’s Hearts training, and then returned to the district promptly having forgotten that the way you treat kids is an extension of how you are supposed to treat adults.

        This is, of course, exactly the kind of environment the evaluation process was designed to foster, and administrators are taking full advantage of that fact.  Too many of last spring’s final evaluations were done with a capriciousness that is breathtaking when you consider the anxiety it created among teachers.  Highly effective/effective/minimally effective.  What does any of that even mean?  Whatever an administrator determines it to mean, sadly enough.  With no concrete and reliable way to measure effectiveness, the sycophants and backstabbers rise to the occasion, and petty administrators with no real talent for anything but bullying are happy to accommodate them.

         The good news is that, in spite of every effort they’ve made to do so, Randy Richardville and Rick Snyder have been unsuccessful in their attempts to destroy the MEA.  Applications to withdraw from union membership are even lower than union officials anticipated, but that doesn’t mean House Republicans have stopped trying.  The latest union-busting bills devised by Richardville and company would privatize teachers, and you can bet there are plenty of private companies that will never be held accountable as you and I are chomping at the bit to see them passed.  For all their chirping about big government, Republicans are moving forward with a big government turnover of public education in this state that is downright evil.  A summary of the bills can be found here:  http://www.eclectablog.com/2012/11/michigan-republicans-move-to-privatize-public-education-under-the-guise-of-reform.html .  The fact that the bills were not passed last session makes them no less a threat, and you can bet Mr. Richardville is waiting for just the right moment to re-introduce new incarnations of them.

         The better news is that on Tuesday, kids will begin pouring into our classrooms and we will begin doing what we do best: building the very human relationships that make an education possible in the first place.  In spite of Michelle Rhee and Randy Richardville and Rick Snyder, the Smarter Balance Consortium and the MME, kids at Oakridge will begin that process of growth we as teachers are privileged to witness and be a part of each school year.  So be happy.  Remember that you are doing one of the most important jobs in the world.  Ignore the naysayers and the negativity, but be vigilant.  People in positions of authority are intent on solidifying their power and furthering their careers, and to deny that this is true only makes us more vulnerable.  Don’t access Facebook on school computers during your duty hours.  Turn off your cell phone!  Anyone who absolutely needs you while you are at work can do so without calling you during class.  Keep a parent contact log.  Assemble a portfolio that reflects your instruction.  At the end of the day, you are the best evaluator of your teaching, and when you know in your heart that you’ve given your all for the sake of your students, what more do you need to know?

May Update

As we near the end of another school year, it’s important that we reflect on where we are and what the future may entail:

1.)  It would be unfair not to acknowledge the recent positive change in the relationship between district leaders and the OEA.  We are all muddling through the legislative challenges handed to us by Governor Snyder and the Mackinac Center (a.k.a. the Michigan House of Representatives), and to everyone’s credit, doing so with patience and understanding.  We are the only Muskegon County district with a bargaining agreement in place for teachers beyond 2014.  That stability will be increasingly important as long as the leadership vacuum in Lansing on public education continues.

2)  Orchard View teachers recently approved a two year contract, taking them out to August of 2014, but because they did not ratify by March 27, right-to-work-for-less will be in force.  In addition, the 5% pay cut that was imposed upon them in February has been reduced, but will still amount to a 2% cut over all through 2013-2014.  Class sizes will increase contractually, and the district is dumping trimesters at OV High, which may lead to job losses. 

3)  Teacher evaluations and discipline continue to be sources of anxiety, and if you listen to the politicians bloviating about the subject in Lansing, that is perfectly understandable.  However, your union leadership has had no indication from the superintendent that teacher evaluations are going to suddenly transform into attempts to devalue or undervalue teachers.  In fact, building principals are making every effort to engage teachers to discuss the evaluation process and lessen anxiety levels. 

4)  In regard to discipline, there have been several rounds of discussion about what constitutes a ‘verbal’ warning.  Long-standing labor practice has recognized that a progression of disciplinary actions have to take place before an employee is dismissed for just cause.  The first step in that process is a verbal warning, but that verbal warning, in spite of its title, needs to be documented, and the affected employee made aware of the fact that formal disciplinary action has been taken.  That verbal warning would traditionally be entered in the employee’s personnel file, and under Federal law, accompanied by the employee’s rebuttal of the action if he or she chose to provide a response.  The most important point here is this:  an administrator who claims that you have been given a verbal warning without providing some form of documentation of that action needs to be challenged.  The OEA considers any disciplinary action taken against teachers a serious matter, and will legally challenge any effort to discipline or dismiss an educator when a reasonable chain of evidence regarding that educator has not been established.

5)  As you know, but may have forgotten, the MAISD is in the process of gathering signatures to place a technology enhancement millage request before voters in a special election slated for September 24, 2013.  It really is in our best interest to assist in that petition drive.  Given the instability of funding at the state level, and the ongoing cost of maintaining a district’s technology infrastructure, any future shortfall might be leveraged against teachers to demand concessions in pay and benefits.  It’s only going to take 3000 signatures by June 30 to get the initiative on the ballot, and if every Oakridge teacher supplies two, we’ll have done our share.  Please see your building rep for petitions and instruction on how to successfully gather signatures.

Ratification Meeting

     As a reminder, a ratification meeting is scheduled for this Tuesday, March 19, at 4:15 p.m. in the Upper Elementary band room.  Put simply, you cannot vote if you're not there.  End of story.

Banning the Common Core

            When I first began teaching, my mentor would often tell me that if you stick around long enough, everything comes back around.  Yesterday’s best practice becomes tomorrow’s.  What she didn’t tell me was that education policy in this country would become a battleground of  ideologies championed by demagogues all claiming to have the best interests of kids in mind, while proposing “reforms” clearly meant to benefit adults.

            The latest case in point was introduced in the Michigan House last Friday:  HB4276, which would (drum roll, please), BAN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN MICHIGAN.  I’m not making this up.  Coincidentally (or not so coincidentally if you still believe in fairies), the Indiana version of that bill was also introduced last week in that state’s House of Representatives.  Both bills were introduced by Tea Party members who claim the CCSS represents a loss of local control for school boards, and a standardization of instruction that can only lead to (gasp!) the indoctrination of school children at the hands of the liberal (and socialist) elites of the teaching profession.  In conjunction with other bills in the Michigan House (HB4102 would lower graduation requirements for Michigan high school students), you’ve got to wonder when the asylum will be purged and the adults put back in charge.

            What these bills represent and have in common with other recent “reforms”, is, in fact, reflective of what we’ve seen nationally in the last decade:  a narrowing of interest that caters to the worst in humanity—selfishness and self-righteousness.   The loss of any kind of altruistic motivation on the part of our so-called leaders has led us to an absolutism that endangers our institutions, and our communities.  When all that drives us is a number on a chart, or the bottom line in a budget, we fail to understand that the boundaries of the communities we are so fervently trying to save are broader than those drawn on a district map.  The community every teacher and every administrator truly serves is both national and universal, and the same that Jefferson and Lincoln served before us.  When we forget that, we’re on our way to advancing our own demise.  Welcome to the Apocalypse, boys and girls.

Consequences and Chaos

             In their zeal to destroy public sector unions in Michigan, the Republican-led legislature and Governor Snyder effectively gutted labor agreements across the state.  By eliminating seniority rights as a factor in recall and placement, and designating a host of subjects “prohibited”, we’ve essentially lost our ability to prevent or address capricious decision making by administrators.  That does not mean we have lost federal protections guaranteed by labor law and the Constitution.  We may not be able to grieve some incidents, but there are other legal and non-legal avenues open to us in dealing with gross violations of our rights.   We will continue to demand fair and humane treatment as citizens of the United States.

            With all due respect to the school board and Mr. Livezey, the vacuum the state has created for school employees now must be addressed by board policies and administrative guidelines for policies once governed by labor contracts.  Some of those policies and guidelines have been written, some have not, but it is not the board or the superintendent’s responsibility to keep us, as employees, apprised of those policy changes. 

            In nearly every aspect of our working lives, we are in uncharted territory.  For that reason, it is imperative that we familiarize ourselves with board policies and administrative guidelines that pertain to us specifically, and periodically review those documents for changes.  A lack of awareness will not be an adequate defense if you are disciplined as the result of a policy change.  (Please remember that we have not lost our right to representation, and that if you are asked to meet with an administrator on an issue that might result in disciplinary action, the administrator is compelled to comply under Federal law.)

            Your OEA leadership is determined to keep you as informed as possible in regard to these issues, but you need to understand that we are teachers, too, and we’re every bit as busy as you are.  Board policies and administrative guidelines are available for your review on the district webpage.  In particular, please familiarize yourselves with policy number 3000, Professional Staff, and especially 3213, Student Supervision and Welfare.  You may view that here:  http://www.neola.com/oakridge-mi/.

Common Core, Common Anxieties

             To say that the last year and a half has been a season of change for educators in the state of Michigan would be seriously understating what has taken place.  In addition to all of the political changes—prohibited subjects of bargaining and the euphemistic ‘right-to-work’ law to name just two—we are also busily attempting to fully implement the Common Core State Standards for each grade level by the target dates.  If that weren’t enough, we also needed to negotiate and settle a labor contract in an environment that was too often vicious and hostile.

You would have to be nerveless not to feel some anxiety over the issues we continue to face.

            Aside from the uncertainty of economics (the governor has yet to signal what he’s seeking for K-12 funding, and the contract expiration we face in June), one of the most anxiety laden issues we all are experiencing are the changes to the tenure law and teacher evaluations.  All of us—teachers and administrators alike—are feeling our way through a process that in past years might be described as haphazard and meaningless.

            The PGP process has been confusing enough, but now, the question of what an observation actually is, and what our responsibilities are as teachers to facilitate that observation, is also raising questions.  While the state required school districts to submit and gain approval of an evaluation framework to establish guidelines for observation, they also revised section 380.1249 of the school code to muddy the waters. 

            For example, the Oakridge teacher evaluation framework states that teacher evaluators for non-tenured teachers “…will review teacher’s lesson plans, the state curriculum standard being used in the lesson, and pupil engagement in the lesson.”  In regard to Plan II, tenured teachers, the active verb “will” becomes the passive “may”, suggesting that it is not a requirement that teacher’s supply written lesson plans to the evaluator.  The Michigan Revised School Code, on the other hand, makes no such distinction, and simply exchanges the active verb for the more antiquated “shall”.

            In the same vein, we’ve all heard the stories of teachers being supplied with three-ring binders and instructed to write lesson plans for each lesson they teach, so that “anyone could walk into your classroom and teach the lesson in your absence.”   The people responsible for such efforts have apparently failed to read certain documents created by the National Governor’s Association for Best Practices, 2010a, one of which explicitly states:

                        “…the Standards do not mandate such things as a particular writing process or the full range of metacognitive strategies that students may need to monitor and direct their thinking and learning. Teachers are thus free to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment and experience identify as most helpful for meeting the goals set out in the Standards.  (pg. 4)"

            All of these changes, and all of the confusion and anxiety they’ve created, only make the case for a strong union more compelling and relevant.  Without union representation, teachers would have no voice among those making the changes and creating the anxiety.  Without a local association to advocate not just for wages and benefits but working conditions, no one would listen to our professional judgment in regard to class sizes or the value of a particular metacognitive strategy.  Alone, we are 105 individuals with, too often, 105 differing agendas.  Together, we advocate for those things that matter to us all.