Adams 12 teacher Pamela Maloney says district leaders and parents need to collaborate with teachers to improve schools in her district and beyond.
Over the last few years I have attended many board meetings, but I have never been more disappointed in our district leadership than I have been recently. The deterioration of the relationship between teachers and district leaders has reached a new low. As a teacher I feel constantly criticized and attacked. This “us vs. them” culture is unproductive.
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Union members are Republicans, Democrats and independents. For us, it is not about politics; it’s about our students and what’s best for them. Today’s teachers believe we are on the front lines in a war being waged against something that is part of the very fabric of our country and what makes America great and being an American an extraordinary blessing.
I have also heard board members talk about the desire to have highly qualified teachers in Adams 12. I am a National Board Certified Teacher with a master’s degree and a 16-year veteran of the classroom. I’ve had the privilege to teach and visit educational systems abroad through the U.S. Fulbright Program and the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund. Living in 15 states, I’ve attended and taught at both public and private schools across our country.
Despite my experience, professional achievements and ongoing commitment to refining my practice, I feel discredited, unappreciated and disrespected. Why do we need highly qualified teachers when we are not trusted to do our jobs or know what we need to do them well? Rather, we are expected to add more and more to our already heavy loads. As new directives are rolled out of the Educational Support Center, we are required to manage ever-changing curriculum and programs without question. My father is an aviator and I have flown on airplanes to more than 31 countries around the world, but I don’t begin to imagine that I have the ability to tell a pilot how to fly an airplane. I trust that they are well trained and experienced to do their job.
How schools have changed
The public schools where I have taught are more rigorous than any school I attended as a child. I believe teachers today are better trained, more specialized and more dedicated than ever. I loved my second grade teacher, Miss Lipski, but classrooms today look nothing like they did when I was in school. Every year brings bigger challenges than the year before because of the increasingly wide range of abilities and needs I find in my classroom. I can attest that the balance of my classroom has shifted from one or two kids in a class of 25 with these needs to nearly one third or half! In a class of 24 students I struggle daily to manage about nine students with demanding behavioral and academic needs.
Play and experiential learning have been abandoned while at the same time children are getting less of it at home. Curriculum has moved down so that children are expected to master concepts long before you or I encountered them. Yet children are coming to school with more challenges and greater deficits than ever before. It seems like such a travesty that more and more children are coming to school already behind but are encountering a more difficult curriculum. Rather than thinking the system is failing them, it’s easier to blame the teachers. Simultaneously raising standards and increasing accountability with a population of children who are so vastly different from those before is not the solution.
It is unpopular to address how the experiences of many children from birth to age 5 set them up for failure before they even begin compulsory education. It has become popular to vilify teachers for all that children are lacking when they walk through our doors at the age of 5. At Back-to-School Night I tell my parents that they are their child’s first and most important teacher and that I am honored to join their team for the next nine months. I make a firm commitment to helping their children be successful and tell them that I cannot do it alone. I need their help to have the best opportunity to make a difference in their child’s educational achievement. We are in this together. I remember my parents and teachers being a united front and I, alone, was held responsible and accountable for my performance in school.
When I was 12, I nearly lost my leg to an injury known as compartment syndrome. After emergency surgery, I was told I would never walk again. After many months of physical therapy I regained the use of my leg. Luckily I had a team of highly qualified medical professionals working together to save my leg. In my classroom, I feel like a surgeon who has been given a box of Band-Aids to treat compartment syndrome.
Cooperation vs. competition key
The main driver of success in education is not competition between teachers and schools, but cooperation. Decades ago when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence, it was equity. Norway, like Finland, is a small and not especially diverse country, but unlike Finland it has taken an approach to education that is more American than Finnish. The result? Mediocre performance on the PISA test.
We want our children’s future to offer better opportunities than we had. To be prepared for those opportunities they need to be more than mere vessels of rote procedure and information. Leaders in educational practice, research and policy must work together to ensure that our children receive an equally good education no matter what but, the three arenas of education are not engaged in collaboration. A successful public education system requires adequate funding, elevated respect for the professionals in the field and a partnership between those professionals and the public to put our children first in order to ensure their success. The success of education is dependent on the synergy of these parts.
The current direction of Adams 12 will not lead to this. Right now, there is no synergy. During a time when professional morale in Adams 12 is unbelievably low, it seems unfathomable that the school board has unleashed such a vicious attack on the best resource they have – teachers. Be a champion for education in Adams 12 and work to incorporate the voice of educators when you create educational policy. Return to the culture of cooperation and collaboration with the professionals that stand on the front line every day educating our children.
About the author
Pamela Maloney is a National Board Certified Teacher with a master’s degree and a 16-year veteran of the classroom. She currently teaches second grade in Adams 12 Five Star Schools. Maloney was granted a Fulbright Scholarship to teach a year in the United Kingdom. As a participant in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund she also visited schools in Japan.
Well said, Pam. It has become popular, and is so much easier to blame teachers for students lack of success than to address the real problem: many students living in poverty just do not come to school equipped with the literary experiences/tools providing readiness to learn and excel in school. Some are already years behind. Now that reading interventionists are cut at NON Title One schools, how are they to get help?
What attacks has Adams12 “unleashed” ? You give no substance for that accusation.
At a time when the economy is terrible, we are ALL being asked to do more with less. In the private sector, I haven’t had a raise in many years AND my insurance has gone up. And I am in a department that has 2 fewer employees, yet I am required to pick up the slack. I am not happy about this–but I am happy to still have a job. It is just our economy and I am fortunate that I am still employed. So I understand that very competent and educated teachers are feeling the pressure to do more with less…we all are. That doesn’t mean that the district is disrespecting you.
As a parent in Adams12, I have attended all the school board meeting for over 6 months now. I have observed that the Superintendent and board have positively spoken about the ALL employees in the district–especially teachers. Over and over again, they thank everyone for the work that they do. This can be documented in videos and meeting minutes.
I have also attended a District/Teacher (2/12/13) meeting where teachers talked about the lack of funding in the district… …the reference in your article to “tell a pilot how to fly an airplane” was something I heard in a speech at this meeting. At that same meeting, the Superintendent and Board spoke about how, in this economy, the district understands how hard it is for district employees. They were very supportive of teachers. But the Teachers union distributed a flyer (I have a copy of the flyer for proof) that told the teachers that the superintendent “may attack DTEA Teachers and CEA”. I listened attentively at that meeting. NO SUCH statements were made by the superintendent or the board. As an observer…I’d say the people who are making you believe you are being disrespected are the DTEA leaders.
I understand that this whole conflict started when teachers were asked to contribute 1.5% of their pay to their PERA. The union leadership did not agree with this, there was arbitration, and there is still disagreement about that issue. The district had a choice: lay off 120 teachers or have teachers contribute 1.5% more to their PERA. The district made the choice to keep teacher jobs. That doesn’t mean that teachers are disrespected! I think that keeping 120 more teachers in the classroom is RESPECT. I think that students and parents are thankful that we have those 120 teachers working in our district. And, the other Adams12 union (the one with all the other employees who are not teachers) was willing to pay 1.5% into their PERA. This union has had to suffer job reductions AND contribute more to their PERA…and yet they are not saying that they are disrespected by the district. This union is doing their part to help in this terrible economy.
Ms. Maloney, I think you are a very qualified teacher. So what is wrong with the board saying that they want to “have highly-qualified teachers in Adams12”? I applaud that statement. And I applaud the district’s making the difficult choices that keep 120 more teachers in the classroom.
I would ask you to consider where all the negativity is coming from…and who is benefitting from the conflict that teachers feel? When the district is reaching out to you (the teachers), the teacher union leadership is telling you “don’t listen to them, they don’t’ respect you”. Who is standing in the middle, keeping the conflict going…and going…and going? Teachers ARE feeling bad, but that message seems to be coming only from your own union. Unfortunately the only group benefitting from this conflict is the union leaders. And negotiations are coming right up, correct? So of course the union would like to have all the teachers fired up. Even a parent like me…just by going to meetings…can figure that one out.
I feel for my teachers who are still teaching today. I started in 1971 when teaching was fun. We were the masters of our classrooms being able to take time for art projects, celebrating holidays, taking fun field trips, etc. I worked in an environment where teachers were valued by their parents and the administration. I have been retired for 10 years and left because I did not like the way educations was going and that was the pressure to raise test scores so teachers were basically teaching to the test. I definitely saw this in the area of math where the curriculum changed so it matched what CSAP was asking, much more reading and writing rather than testing math operations. Not only are teachers being asked to do more with less, but now they are under attack by the very people who should be watching their backs and supporting them, the BOE and parents. Yes, we are in tough economic times, but if people have been following this they need to know that mediators found in favor of teachers on several points of negotiations but the BOE stands firm on the decrease in pay and other items. It has been discovered that the district has money and is not as broke as they claim to be. The union is there to support the teachers. If this was any other industry, workers would be striking but our union continues to have teachers do their jobs under very adverse conditions. Stay strong DTEA, you are the only hope for members.
Dear Ms. Bell,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts from the parent perspective. I, too, am a District 12 parent, as well as a 31-year Dist. 12 teacher. My mother opened this district as one of its nurses, and I have sent my children through Hulstrum, Stukey, Hunter’s Glen, Century, Thornton High, and Legacy. I am deeply invested in our success on many levels.
I have the unique perspective of someone who pays taxes and who is also affected by the pay cut. If the District would have to go forward on any lawsuit, it would be my taxes that would be used to pay the attorneys to go against my union, to which I also pay dues.
I have been asked to speak, by the Board or my administration, at Board meetings over 15 times in my career to report on various successes, initiatives, or concerns we have had over the years. Having taught 18 years on the south end (NGHS, Meritt Hutton, TMS) and 13 years on the north end (Century), I can thoroughly appreciate what all of us (the Board, the staff, and the community) have achieved over the years. My concern is that in all those years, we have never broken faith with each other. There have been hard times before. We have had to tighten our belts before. We have never gone forward, however, with a decision that was not mutually agreed upon in negotiations. This is a first. It is not a good “first” to have.
I did not learn of the pay cut until just before our first paycheck of the new school year. Immediately, I worried about all of the new teachers that I mentor. Yes, they are glad to have a job, but it is almost like a bait and switch. They sign a contract for a certain amount, only to realize that the amount is not the agreed upon dollar value until they are already teaching. My 2nd year teacher is making less, after a superior evaluation, than what she made in her first year. If you ask how this matters, I must gently remind all that our new teachers are the life blood of the district. If they are good, they will leave us because we are unpredictable; they can’t count on a paycheck that is what was promised. Of course, you will still have candidates for jobs because of the economic downturn, but will they be the best candidates? Or will the best ones instead look at other districts whose teachers and Boards work proactively together to solve the issues at hand?
My salary is at the other end of the spectrum and has been basically frozen for some time. This is understandable. However, I must admit that I am glad that I worked summer school this year. That extra stipend covered the unexpected loss of income. If the other districts around us were requiring additional funds from teachers toward PERA/SAED, I would feel that our District was in step with the local reality. However, no other local School Board has enacted this process.
This school district is my family. Families have misunderstandings and disagreements. Frequently, when an outsider points out ways that both sides can benefit, the family members get together to talk about how to get back on track. That’s what I am looking for, Ms. Bell: that both sides return to the negotiation table in good faith; that they examine what the local reality is for all Adams County districts, and find common ground within the information that has been given to us by neutral, outside parties. It’s the same thing my home family does when we disagree: we get more information, set aside past arguments, and find a way to meet in the middle. At home we call it the dinner table; at work we call it the negotiation table. Thank you for considering my thoughts. Ellen Reffel-Lillo
Kelly Bell, not so sure which BOA meetings you have been attending, but you missed a few big ones where the board WAS indeed very rude and disrespectful to a teacher presenting, as was a parent.
This situation did not start with the BOE breaking our contract, the 1.5 pay cut. This started a few years ago with MANY cuts. It is exacerbated by the fact that 3 professionals have researched and found the accounting practices of the DIstrict grossly questionable, . One of these professionals was fired, now labeled a disgruntled employee. One, hired BY the District, wrote a lengthly report concluding that the District has tens of millions (20-30) UNSPENT/unaccounted for, above and beyond the TABOR and required district reserves. He also said that many of the cuts were not necessary. Does this not concern you, these are your taxes? The third, a finance professor at DU who also spent months researching and putting together a report pretty much concluding that the DIstrict has millions unaccounted for. My problem with this is that the BOE doesn’t even acknowledge these reports. Convenient. They are taking no action to assure the assure teachers and the community that this is false. At the Feb 12 Board meeting Gdowski mentioned that we needed to get an outside accountant or whatever to put this huge issue to rest. Sounded good to me. Nothing has happened.
I have been to a few board meetings where they have acknowledged the efforts of teachers. But Kelly, in life, actions speak louder than words. This Board has made cut after cut to student programs that are very important to the education precess. To think they had these monies to fund them is very distressing to me. This Board refuses to negotiate (that means work with) the teachers of this District to provide the best opportunities for students. We have asked time and time again to get back to the bargaining table to work out this years contract, which they broke. Yes, I am talking about the Union here. They represent me so that I can indulge myself in the planning, prep and assessment of my students. The past 20 years I have been in District 12, that was possible because the BOE understood the importance of the DTEA’s role in representing teacher needs which directly translate to student needs. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand education, period.
Ms. Bell –
Like Ms. Maloney, I am teacher in Adams 12. This is my seventeenth year in the district; I am a special education teacher, and I love what I do.
What I do not love, however, is having the Board of Education violate the contract that both sides agreed to, and which does not expire until August 2014. The teachers were not “asked” to do anything in regard to the pay cut; we, as teachers, were informed by the district the first week of school that the cut had already occurred. The Board, by its own announcements, made this decision at a Board meeting in June, one which they clearly told the union representatives would not discuss budget in any fashion – but did not tell the teachers until the first week of school, in August. The general opinion of every teacher that I spoke with was that, if the Board had come to us and said “Either you can all take a pay cut or we can fire people”, then we would have taken the pay cut; we wouldn’t have been happy (who is, when asked to take a pay cut?), but we would have done it – but the Board did not do it that way. They chose, instead, to violate our contract – that is, they chose to perform an illegal action. Our contract is a legal document, and by changing the terms unilaterally, the Board is in violation of law. *That* is the basis of our disagreement, and of our feelings that the Board does not respect us; their actions say to us, clearly, that they expected the teachers to disagree with the cut, and felt it necessary to act without discussion.
All the other issues flow from this point: the fact finder, who was agreed up jointly by the union and the Board to investigate the above issue, found that the district actually has quite a bit more money in reserve, and left over from over-budgeting in previous years, than the Board is actually admitting to having. The unspent money from last year’s budget alone would more than cover the 1.5% cut to salaries, as well as the increase in student fees that are hitting many parents so hard. It would cover the costs to reinstate intramural sports at the middle school level, as well as the buses that were cut. But the Board rejected the fact finder’s report. If you are interested in reviewing the fact finder’s report, you can find it here: http://www.ednewscolorado.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/factfinderadams.pdf
As to the “upcoming” negotiations… well… negotiations are not going on at this point, because the Board refuses to discuss them. The negotiations were never completed for 2012, pending the fact finder’s report, and were never resumed after said report was received.
You state that “Even a parent like me…just by going to meetings…can figure that one out.” Perhaps you should talk to some teachers directly; you have gone to the meetings and listened to the Board – have you gathered any information directly from teachers, or are you just listening to one side, as you accuse the teachers of doing?
Thanks for the responses. You all bring up really good points that need addressing. Here I go.
First of all, I am glad that you’ve brought up the issue of money. This is the heart of the matter. At the last board meeting, the Superintendent and financial officer went into great detail as to where there are surpluses in the budget. Surpluses are not all in one budget category. Some of the surpluses are in areas funded by Federal money…which must be spent in areas specified by the Federal government. Some of the surpluses are in departments that will choose to hold on to the money and make larger purchases at the end of the year…so money resides there, but will be spent. The point is that there isn’t just a bag of money that can be used to pay your 1.5% PERA. Certainly, this is not a sustained surplus, but a short-term surplus…and if your 1.5% PERA was approved, where would future monies come from? Making sustainable choices is important.
You know what was really disappointing? ONLY 9 PEOPLE were in the audience at the last board meeting (after students and parents finished their presentation). They discussed, in detail, the surplus issue. So where are all the teachers getting their information?
I have read the fact finder information…and there have been additional financial updates to the information that affected the board’s decision. And if you read the fact finder information, you know that it ruled IN FAVOR of the district to require the teachers to pay 1.5% into their own PERA.
I would agree with the point that Karen Cohn made, that teachers would have been more responsive if the District would have come to them about pay cut. But here is the problem…the district is NOT ALLOWED to do so. According to YOUR contract, they must negotiate with your union. So, would it have been good to let you know ahead of time? Yes. Why didn’t your union tell you about it? If you hold the district accountable…you should also hold the union accountable for the same thing. What we need is open negotiations…which is not in your contract at this time. Then teachers, parents, etc. would be free to see what is going on.
Evidently during negotiations, the district DID ask the union to save your jobs by taking the pay cut…but your union said NO. So I ask you Karen, is your union leadership making good choices for you? Certainly, the 120 teachers who got to keep their job might not agree with the union’s decision-making abilities. The union leadership was more than willing to let them lose their jobs.
Ari Lasell: I absolutely attended the meeting where there was one rude parent…and there is video to support the very rude response she got from the union members…who jeered at her and walked out. One rude parent doesn’t require a walk out. She actually made some good points, but her message was lost when she called out one particular teacher in her speech. OK, so she had a problem with one teacher…but the union had to be cautioned (by its own leadership) to act respectfully. This is all on video… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25_uhMuFhP0&feature=plcp. I am not even sure that most of the people in the video were from Adams12. The news reports said that union activists from five different districts were there.
Ari, I am not a teacher…but I am a parent and taxpayer…and I understand that the board has made very difficult decisions. A bad economy makes life difficult for everyone! Teachers, parents, and students are affected by this economy. And I’ve heard the board (all of them, not just the two that received union campaign contributions) say that they wish they didn’t have to make these cuts. Even though I am not an educator, I do see both sides of this issue. I think I am one of the few that actually just watched this whole thing play out from the start.
Ari, I understand that you are focusing your efforts on doing a great job as a teacher. I have huge respect for that. I am asking you to entertain the possibility that you are not getting the whole story from the union. Remember that flyer you got from the union at the last teacher/district meeting (telling you to “be prepared…to be lectured by the Superintendent and several board members”)? Why is the union is trying to control communication between you (the teachers) and the board?
I will ask again and again, who is benefitting by continuing this controversy, by getting interviewed on FOX31, by starting petitions? The union leadership. And who is this hurting? The teachers AND the district. Yes, the district made an unpopular cut that ended up SAVING 120 teacher jobs. The negotiations are over now. The union wants to keep this going…for their own purposes (they want power in the upcoming contract negotiations…and of course, School Board elections this November). I don’t need to be an educator to see who’s playing who!
And yes, I have spoken with teachers about this…most of them, after we discuss the issues, see a very different picture than the one that the union is painting for you!
Ms. Bell -
In your response to my comments, you stated: “that teachers would have been more responsive if the District would have come to them about pay cut. But here is the problem…the district is NOT ALLOWED to do so. According to YOUR contract, they must negotiate with your union. So, would it have been good to let you know ahead of time? Yes. Why didn’t your union tell you about it? If you hold the district accountable…you should also hold the union accountable for the same thing. Why didn’t your union tell you about it? If you hold the district accountable…you should also hold the union accountable for the same thing.”
I *do* hold the union accountable – and they knew no more about it than anyone else. The Board stated clearly before that meeting that budget items would not be discussed, as, historically, they have never been discussed during the summer – and have never been discussed in the absence of union representation. Nonetheless, the Board chose to discuss financial issues at this meeting, after assuring the union that such discussions would not occur – thus violating our trust in their word. This is the key issue – trust. I do not trust the Board. The union, however, has been open and honest with me.
You asked me “is your union leadership making good choices for you?” Yes, I believe they are. The union did not “choose” anything in regards to the pay cut; like the rest of us, the union was unaware of what the Board had planned until it was announced, more than 2 months after the decision was made. I would ask you – why did they wait? If the Board truly believed that what they were doing was in the best interest of the district, and, most importantly, of the students, why did they withhold this information? Why did they announce it the way they did, at the end of the first week of school? I quote from the email sent out on August 23:
“Certified Negotiations were suspended by June 15 for the summer months pursuant to Article 4.1.1 of the negotiated agreement and have since moved to the Fact Finding process; however, as allowed by the Colorado Constitution and state statutes, the Board of Education approved budgetary resolutions at the June 20, 2012 meeting that will go into effect on September 1, 2012 for certified staff”
Note the dates – contract negotiations were suspended for the summer on June 15, and the Board passed this resolution on June 20 – unilaterally, and without any negotiation. What exactly is it that you think the union neglected to inform us of? Perhaps you should ask the Board why they acted in this fashion, rather than asking the teachers why the union lied… when they weren’t even present, and knew nothing more about it than the rest of us.
The email went on to state:
“In addition, at the June 20, 2012 public meeting approving the budgetary resolutions, the Board of Education non-appropriated funds to support an experience step increase (movement on the salary schedule for an additional year of service) for the 2012/13 contract year. Based on this action, no experience steps will be provided in the 2012/2013 contract year.”
Both of these actions are in violation of our contract. At no point in the email did the Board state that this action was taken to save jobs; in fact, no rationale was given at all, other than “Effective July 2012, Classified and Administrative employees started participating through a 1.5% salary reduction” – which is true, as far as it goes, but ignores the furlough day that teachers took last year, accounting for a similar amount, and which was scheduled on a non-student contact day to avoid impacting classified staff; it would have been a work day for administrative staff had it not ended up as a snow day. “Saving jobs” was a justification the Board adopted later when asked why they acted in this fashion, but not something they mentioned in the original email, which was a statement of action already taken, and included no rationale at all.
Ms. Bell, you seem to be unaware that our union representatives – with the exception of our elected officers, who are themselves former teachers in the district – are themselves active teachers, who work in our schools with the rest of us, who volunteer their time to work for the union.
You also seem to be unaware that the negotiations are not over – they are currently not occurring because the Board refuses to negotiate, not because any agreement was reached. The union is ready and waiting to negotiate – why is the Board refusing to do so? Perhaps you should ask them; and then tell us what they say – I’d be very interested in their response.
I¹m afraid that Kelly Bell is mistaken with regard to the Fact Finder¹s report issued in December 2012. Issue (d) of the report covers the proposed reduction in teacher salaries to pay for the increased SAED contributions to PERA, and the Fact Finder recommended, ³There shall be no reduction of teacher salaries related to increased SAED contributions effective September 1, 2012, January 1, 2013, and January 1, 2014.²
This recommendation was the only one in the report that was completely rejected by a subsequent Adams 12 Board of Education resolution. On December 14, 2012, the BOE resolved that the 1.5% reduction of teacher salaries to pay for SAED would continue, the further 0.5% reduction (for a total of 2%) scheduled for January 1, 2013 would instead take place on June 30, 2013, and additional reductions beginning January 1, 2014 would be negotiated in Spring 2013.
For those uninterested in wading through the 53-page Fact Finder¹s report, here¹s the summary of the recommendations:
It was found that, while the district is not as financially sound as the Colorado Education Association claimed, the situation was also not as dire as the District¹s Board of Education had stated. Largely due to significant previous underspending, the district had funds that were more than sufficient to pay for some economic concessions while meeting district academic standards, general fund reserve requirements, and relevant state requirements.
The report’s recommendations on specific issues are:
Issue (a): The Certified Compensation Stipend shall remain at 50% base level salary as the Association requested, rather than reduced to 47.5% as the District requested.
Issue (b): There shall be no furlough days in the 2012-2013 school year; a position that both the District and the Association argued in favor and against at various times.
After considering Issues (c) and (d) together, the report finds in favor of the District on the former issue and in favor of the Association in the latter issue. Teachers shall not receive an experience step this year so that there is no vertical movement on the salary schedule for the 2012-2013 school year; in effect, a salary freeze. As stated above, there shall be no reduction of teacher salaries to pay for increased SAED contributions to PERA at any of the three dates proposed by the district for salary reductions. The language of the bill requiring increased contributions seems to indicate that contributions should be funded by reductions in teacher pay *increases*, which is the reason for the recommendations being paired in this way: the salary freeze should be used to fund the SAED contributions.
The Fact Finder also considered Issues (e) and (f) together. On Issue (e) the report finds in favor of the Association and recommended that the number of early release days per month be increased from one to
>two. On Issue (f) the report found in favor of the District and recommended against adding new restrictive language to the provision that allows for early release days.
Issue (g): The report found in favor of the District and recommended against a special provision that would provide special education teachers with one additional release day per semester.
Issue (j): The report found in favor of the District and recommended that the current Master Agreement expire in August 2014 rather than be extended through August 2017.
Kelly Bell –
I’m not sure which terrible economy you’re referring to. The right-wing crusader Doug Bruce/TABOR induced economy that causes our state to be somewhere near the bottom in per pupil funding?? Are you signing up to help us fix that??
Are you talking about the economy where kids and families in Adams 12 are being unnecessarily forced to pay higher fees with less school staff and school-based services? The one where teaching positions have already been unnecessarily reduced so that our class sizes are now unnecessarily in the mid to high 30′s in the last years in Adams 12 and our pay and benefits already have been unnecessarily cut – where we are now unnecessarily losing teachers to other districts. These other districts who’s school boards see the economy and their financial situation in a more realistic way and in a less uhh political agenda way – the new Adams 12 BOE way. The economy where the district and the union agreed to a fact-finding. Where – in fact – that process found in teachers favor on the PERA issue – all because according to a fact finding report sought by both the union and the district;
“Over the last number of years, the District has underspent it’s proposed budget by tens of millions of dollars, and then ignored that situation when creating the next year’s budget. Somewhere in the process, the District significantly overestimates its expenditures (Ms. Becker’s estimate of $15-18 million under-spending for FY 11-12 represents about 6 % of that year’s unaudited spending), but nonetheless disregards that history of overestimating by searching for substantial cuts in the next year’s budget…,The District’s reserves have continued to grow. Although they have used some of the prior year’s surplus to reduce cuts in the following year’s budget they have also continued to build reserves far beyond the legal and internal requirements.”
This is the report that the BOE chooses now to simply ignore just like they ignore the contractual agreement that we are all are legally obligated to follow.
Or are you talking about the economy and the situation where teachers have in fact vocally and vigorously objected to these unnecessary cuts – now clearly apparent – over the years – especially by pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, speaking up at town-hall meetings, etc. etc. in helping to support and get pro-public education leaders elected to state and local elections.
Are you talking about the economy that the Denver Post reports:
“Revenue is estimated to be $159.6 million higher for the current fiscal year ending in September than predicted three months ago, Gov. John Hickenlooper’s economists told lawmakers in a quarterly briefing on the state’s outlook. The additional money will carry over to next year and be invested in a savings account for schools.”
???
Or are you talking about the National economy where Forbes magazine reports:
“3rd Quarter Corporate Profits Reach Record High-Worker Pay Hits Record Low…”
Not sure what your private sector employer is telling you – but perhaps YOU need a union to get to the bottom of your employer’s actual situation!!
And…do you know anything about teachers unions and their leaders that isn’t being fed to you by right-wing anti-public school ideologues?? These union leaders are….teachers elected by……you guessed it….teachers in the classroom everyday working with our kids. Who is the union??? Its….teachers who meet after school and after working with kids who need extra help, after parent meetings, after ever-dwindling professional collaboration time w/ colleagues – all voluntarily with no pay. And teachers contribute to the union out of ever-dwindling pay. Why? Because we love our profession. We love what we do. We love our communities. And our union fights for our dignity – because dignity is quickly becoming the only thing left for us. Period.
What do people with advanced degrees and years of experience make in other professions? Be my guest – look up our pay…it’s public record.
Here:
http://www.adams12.org/files/hr/Sept2012-Jun2013.pdf
We collectively negotiate our pay scale and benefits that assures some measure of fairness and equity. How many private sector businesses/organizations publicly publish the salaries of their employees? Does yours?
Stop the ridiculousness. Please. This is a matter of justice for all of us – not just for teachers unions. Did you see that 300 teachers left Douglass County after they broke their union? You think those kids and their families are better off now??
Join us in getting this situation resolved so that we can continue our 40-year collaboration with the district and to do our work with kids without the blaring and humiliating distractions of some loud and extreme talk-radio style anti-union political crusade of a few board members. Our kids are watching!
Oh…by the way did you see the news about our graduation rate increases? Yeah…that would be us. Your welcome.
Andres says:
““Revenue is estimated to be $159.6 million higher for the current fiscal year ending in September than predicted three months ago, Gov. John Hickenlooper’s economists told lawmakers in a quarterly briefing on the state’s outlook. The additional money will carry over to next year and be invested in a savings account for schools.”
So when the district was creating the budget in June…almost a year ago, the outlook was much worse. You said it in your quote. The estimation was lower than the actual outcome. So great, the real numbers are going to be higher than expected. But when you make a budget, you use the current figures. You actually prove my point about the economy! Thank you.
And while you’re looking for compliments about the graduation rate…I do thank everyone involved with that improvement. LOL, are you a teacher? You said “Your welcome” —it should be “you’re welcome”———I hope the graduating seniors have learned that lesson already!