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.

Newtown Tragedy

        The membership of the Oakridge Education Association expresses its profound sorrow on behalf of the students, parents, and staff of Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut in the aftermath of Friday's assault on their community.  There are no words to comfort in the face of such darkness; tears are all we have to share.