9486 in the collection
Rhee Bypasses Talks, Imposes Dismissal Plan; Some Teachers Will Go on 90-Day Review
Corporate leadership
means that heads of schools operating in the
corporate model get what they want. Note that
The blueprint includes a new teacher
evaluation system based primarily on student
test scores and other achievement
benchmarks. Also note: Additional staff
would be available, paid for by private
grants.
By Bill Turque
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee made
good yesterday on repeated threats to bypass
labor contract negotiations by imposing her own
program to fire ineffective teachers, including
a measure that gives poorly performing
instructors 90 days to improve or face
dismissal.
"The goal and responsibility and moral
imperative of this administration is to make
sure that each child gets an excellent
education," said Rhee, who had hinted broadly
in recent weeks that she was ready to invoke
what she has dubbed "Plan B."
The blueprint includes a new teacher evaluation
system based primarily on student test scores
and other achievement benchmarks. She has also
decided to employ rules that are on the books
but seldom used, including one that allows her
to deemphasize the importance of seniority in
deciding which teachers would lose jobs in the
event of declining enrollment or school
closures. Seniority would become one of
multiple factors taken into account.
Exactly how teachers will be evaluated on the
basis of test scores is still under review,
Rhee said. The provision allowing a 90-day
review of teacher performance, however, could
have a more immediate impact.
At a meeting last week, school officials asked
principals to produce lists of underperforming
teachers who could be placed on the 90-day plan
immediately. According to the school system's
updated personnel evaluation manual, principals
have until early December to initiate actions
against teachers they want to remove. School
officials did not respond when asked how many
teachers might be involved.
Although it has been on the books for years,
the provision has been difficult for school
officials to administer. Instructors on 90-day
status are supposed to be assigned a "helping
teacher" and work with the principal to develop
a remedial plan. The process also involves
classroom observations and conferences, all
organized around a series of deadlines that are
frequently missed by harried administrators.
Rhee said that additional staff would be
available, paid for by private grants, to help
principals more efficiently execute the 90-day
plans.
Washington Teachers' Union President George
Parker denounced Rhee's decision, saying that
her focus on how to terminate some of the
city's 4,000 teachers has come at the expense
of ideas to support and professionally develop
them.
"You cannot fire your way to a successful
school district. It will not happen," said
Parker, who added that the union would take
whatever steps necessary to protect its
members, including "court proceedings,
arbitration and teacher job actions."
Contract negotiations, which started 11 months
ago and continued through Monday, have not been
suspended. But Parker said he planned to confer
with the union's executive board this week
about declaring an impasse, which would send at
least portions of the dispute to third-party
mediation.
The unilateral approach represents a setback
for Rhee, who seeks to remake the District's
teacher corps by recruiting and retaining more
instructors willing to be held directly
accountable for student performance on
standardized tests.
She had hoped to leverage increased control
over hiring and firing by making it part of a
financial package that would earn many teachers
more than $100,000 a year in pay and
performance bonuses within five years. Rhee had
asked the union to accept a proposal under
which teachers seeking the top pay levels would
have to relinquish tenure and go on probation
for a year, risking dismissal. Those unwilling
to risk tenure could opt for smaller, but still
significant, raises and bonuses.
The chancellor drew national attention for the
potentially groundbreaking pay proposal, which
would be funded for the first five years with
$200 million in private foundation grants. She
frequently described it as a top priority in
her long-term plans for overhauling the city's
troubled school system.
But the package -- especially the one-year
probation proposal -- has deeply divided the
membership. The union and the District also
remain at odds over how teachers fired after
the year's probation can appeal the decision.
Parker has said that he will not bring the
package to the membership for a vote without
adequate due process protections.
Appearing with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) at an
early morning news conference, Rhee said she
will be able to reach her goal of eliminating
underperforming teachers with the policies.
Although she has always had the power to impose
these rules, she said, she also wanted to
reward the Washington teachers "who do so many
heroic things day in and day out." But she said
she had no choice but to move forward.
"Where we are now is an incredibly unfortunate
place," Rhee said. "We are leaving more than
$200 million in external funding on the table."
Teachers who support Rhee's pay proposal
expressed deep disappointment at yesterday's
announcements.
"I'm sick about it," said Jennifer Miller, a
teacher at Janney Elementary. "There are so
many of us in favor of this program, and
[Parker] is not allowing us to vote on it."
Jerome Brocks, a special education teacher,
opposes any plan by Rhee to weaken tenure or
seniority. "She hasn't been in my city but a
day, and she's going to tell me that my
seniority is no longer in effect?"
— Bill Turque
Washington Post
2008-10-03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100201672.html
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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