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Daily News Blog: The Rhode Island connection
This just in from a Wisconsin union person, who doesn't recall ever receiving anything like this from the union before.
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The Rhode Island connection
By Matthew Call
By now you’ve heard about the Rhode Island school district that made
the decision last month to fire all of its teachers at a high school
labeled as "struggling" and "troubled." Every last teacher in the
building was given a pink slip. Did you think to yourself that there's
no way it could happen here? Did you think that something far away in
a tiny New England state could be a barometer for things here in
Dairyland? Well, think again -- because it’s on the table.
The Milwaukee Public Schools administration is looking into the four
turnaround models outlined by the federal government to open up the
district for federal funds. One of the models, "Turnaround," is what
happened in Central Falls, R.I., where administration didn’t even
attempt some of the less drastic and disruptive models but instead
opted to send all the teachers packing (though there is a compromise
being worked on between the AFT-affiliated union and the
administration).
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "MPS Superintendent
William Andrekopoulos said the district will pursue the federal funds
by applying the reforms at the lowest-performing schools, but that he
does not personally support the model that includes firing large
portions of the staff."
Keep in mind that the turnaround models are a federal program, and
could happen anywhere in the country where schools have been
identified as "low performing." Also keep in mind that this process
is, in some ways, utilizing the No Child Left Behind law in a manner
harsher than under the George W. Bush era. And keep in mind that it
comes with an explicit endorsement from President Obama, who when
asked about the Rhode Island situation said it is an example of
holding failing schools accountable.
Here’s another call to arms: While the feds are busy supporting moves
to ax school staff, there's a groundswell growing here in Wisconsin to
make teachers lose their health benefits. We've seen this growing
steam in Milwaukee, and today in Milton the district is throwing its
teachers under the bus under supposed savings lost due to lack of
transferring insurance carriers. What the media fails to understand,
because they don't track these things, is that districts are trying to
Wal-Mart benefits. They’re going to pay some consultant who will come
in, offer some cut-rate plan and then in a few years jack the prices
up. Health insurance premiums are skyrocketing across the country --
that's the real problem here. Switching carriers to make teachers pay
more out-of-pocket expenses is neither a guarantee that those savings
will continue in the future nor is it a good strategy for retaining
top-notch teaching talent. It's just a soundbite from administrators
and school board members who want to make public some components of
the collective bargaining process to undercut the very people they
trust to educate their community's children.
To go out on a positive note, at least one district is actually
considering expanding time for educators to collaborate and help each
other with teaching methods. Madison is looking into a "late start"
day for some high schools in the next school year, like early release
days in reverse. I'm sure you're not going to find too many
high-schoolers complaining about "late start" day. Heck, they might
even suggest going more than just one hour later -- like why not three
or four, right?
— Matthew Call
WEAC Daily News Blog
2010-03-12
http://www.weac.org/Multimedia/blogs/Daily_News_Blog.aspx
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
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