Mid-Summer Unity newsletter

Unity -- July 30, 2010

215 Certificated members meet to discuss District proposal
Thanks to the efforts of Association Reps, phone bankers, and rank and filers, 215 certificated members attended focus groups this week. They represented 31 elementaries, 8 middle schools, 10 high schools, 5 K-8's and 5 programs. The participants stepped through a multi-layered District proposal to tie the new evaluation system to student growth determined by test scores. The participants were focused, thoughtful and serious about the feedback they gave. The SEA staff is synthesizing the results now – look for a Bargaining Update that will share the outcomes. “I was extremely impressed with our members’ focus on the issues,” said SEA Vice President Jonathan Knapp “and how much they reflected upon the impact those proposals would have on student achievement.”

Here are other reasons you can be proud to be a union member.

Don Kennedy’s email doesn't apply to SEA members
Chief Financial Officer, Don Kennedy, sent out an email July 23 stating that “Unless required by our collective bargaining agreements, step pay increases will not be given next year.” This applies to non-represented employees, not SEA-represented employees.
The Association has not agreed to any freeze of step pay increases, so SEA-represented employees will receive a step increase next year. There has been no proposal to freeze steps proposed at the bargaining table.
Union employees are protected by their collective bargaining agreements from sudden decisions like this.

Bilingual Instructional Assistants win reclassification: SP Grade 18 to SP Grade 19
The Bilingual IA job description for Bilingual Assistants was reviewed based on the Job Measurement System in the Paraprofessional Collective Bargaining Agreement. The points in the area of job Complexity, increased the total number of points for their job title, which resulted in the pay grade change from SP Grade 18 to SP Grade 19 effective September 1, 2010. All SEA represented Bilingual Instructional Assistants will see this pay grade increase on their October 1 paycheck.

$89 Overpayment due certs on September 1
The state funds the basic salaries of educators each year. As the year ended, SEA discovered the District was out of compliance with the funding allocated for certificated staff. After meeting with the District, each certificated staff will be getting “rollup” pay of $89 on the September 1, 2010 pay warrant. This is a right under our collective bargaining agreement.

General Membership Meeting
Thursday, September 2, 2010
4:30, Seattle Pacific University – Royal Brougham Pavilion
3414 Third Ave West (@ W. Nickerson)
Seattle

Foreclosure prevention assistance available
In these difficult economic times many of you may be needing assistance with your mortgages. Seattle Education Association is part of a network of community institutions, Sound Alliance, whose members have identified housing as an important issue to its collective members. Some of the members of this Alliance have been working on all of our behalf to provide Foreclosure Prevention Assistance. Click here to find out more details.

Bargaining Teams are Far Apart

Seattle Education Association Bargaining Update July 23, 2010
SEA and District Far Apart in Negotiations

Your SEA Negotiations Team met with the District team on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. We continue to be far apart on issues that you have told us matter most to you. The district is holding fast to their major proposals on:
tying student growth based on MAP scores, MSP scores, and end-of-course assessments to certificated employees evaluations;
use of evaluations as the lead factor in reduction in force, as opposed to strict seniority.

There has been very little to no movement on what you have told us are your two most important issues:
class size/staff ratios/caseloads to give students the attention they need and deserve;
compensation to attract and retain high quality educators to Seattle Public Schools.

The SEA has made proposals on these priorities and many others that you told us need to be addressed.

The District has proposed an evaluation system that includes tying evaluations to student growth based on MAP, MSP, and end-of-course assessments. We will be holding Focus Groups at SEA this coming week to share the details of the District’s proposal and to get feedback from our members about what they think about it. Our goal is to have up to 5% of each school/program’s certificated staff involved. Please contact SEA to attend a focus group to give us your feedback. Focus groups are at 10 a.m. on Monday, July 26 and Wednesday, July 28; 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 27 and Thursday, July 29. We have one evening session on Wednesday, July 28 at 7 p.m. Call us to sign up for the session of your choice. 206-283-8443 x100.

Here are some of our other thoughts about the bargain:
Fact: SEA is willing to problem solve solutions to help raise student academic achievement and to help close the achievement gap. SEA has offered research backed solutions that are actually working in other school districts in the country.
Myth: The SEA does not want to be accountable for student academic achievement. Many years ago, the SEA was the first local in Washington State to negotiate student academic achievement goals as part of our evaluations. There are very few contracts that include it even today. It was the SEA who went to the district with a proposal in 2004 about closing the achievement gap and developing the flight schools. This year, the SEA proposed working with the district to do a study over the coming years regarding the correlation between evaluations and student academic growth.

Fact: SEA believes that the work of the collaborative SEA and SPS Professional Growth and Evaluation joint task force should be honored. A joint task force of SEA and District staff collaboratively developed a four level evaluation system. A new law in place requires that the system be fully in place by 2013-14. The philosophy of the task force is to promote professional growth in employees and create a culture in the District of being life-long learners and improving instructional practice. We do not believe the evaluation system should be used primarily to weed out “low performing” teachers. There is a process already in place to address performance issues.
Myth: SEA is afraid to try innovative ideas that may help raise student academic achievement. After a lengthy debate, the SEA Association Representatives voted to authorize a memorandum of understanding that would allow for three of our schools to waive some contractual rights in order to receive a federal School Improvement Grant. The grant is designed to help raise student academic achievement.

Fact: SEA understands that the economy is not the best right now. SEA was willing to look at giving up the Learning Improvement Day that the state took away this past legislative session (loss of funds to the district and to your pockets). In turn, we reminded the district that it has taken many years to be competitive with other districts in the Puget Sound Region regarding compensation and we do not want to lose ground in the future.
Myth: The state is to blame for all of the district’s money woes. While Seattle delivered RIF notices, almost all other districts in the Puget Sound area did not have lay-offs this year. While the district continues to tell us that there is no money at all in the budget for increased compensation in the future, eight of our eleven comparable districts will get raises this coming school year, two will at least make the same amount of money as this year, and only one will lose the learning improvement day and have a cut in salary.

Fact: Since 2005-06, the district has begun each school year with more in their fund balance than budgeted. For 2009-10, the District began the year with $6.4 million more than they anticipated. SPS ended the 2008-09 school year with more than double the amount they anticipated in their ending fund balance ($55.8 million instead of the budgeted $22.4 million).

What’s next? ---------------
The SEA will be negotiating again on Tuesday, August 3, 2010. The District has promised to bring a comprehensive proposal to the bargaining table that will be in response to our comprehensive proposal that we put on the table for our Paraprofessional, SAEOP, and Certificated members

Daniel Pink's speech re: Motivation animated

July 14, 2010 Bargaining Update

Bargaining Update

July 14, 2010

Two more bargaining sessions were held this week. Although we are not releasing details of proposals due to the confidentiality of the bargain, we do want to let you know the topics of discussion that are still on the table.

District Proposed

• Student growth used as part of a teacher’s evaluation
• Teacher evaluations used in helping to decide who gets displaced from a building or laid off from the district and other changes to the reduction in force language
• Career ladder opportunities based on high quality teaching
• Collaboration time
• Changes to ICS and ELL models
• Changes to the district teacher compensation system
• Incentives to work in low performing schools, based on high quality teaching
• Alternative routes to certification
• Eliminate “classified to cert” program

SEA Proposed

• Reduction in class sizes/caseloads/staff ratios
• Workload reduction ideas
• Our own “reform” ideas to improve student achievement and close the achievement gap that are based on research
• Wraparound services for students
• Fair compensation to be competitive in the future with other school districts in order to attract and retain high quality staff, including a living wage for classified staff
• Use of professional development days for classified staff
• Collaboration time
• Changes to the classified reduction in force language that gives credit for service

Jointly Proposed

• New four level rating system evaluation (consistent with Senate bill 6696 which passed in this year’s legislative session)
• Improvements to the STAR Program

President Olga Addae speaking to the NEA Delegates -July 6, 2010

From the National Education Association Representative Assembly

New Business Item 90 (Adopted)

The NEA will create an action plan using existing committee structure that will designate long and short term goals for the purpose of developing policy recommendations to support broad-based organizing efforts of local & state affiliates with other labor, non-profit & faith-based organizations.

Seattle Education Association President, Olga Addae speaking on July 6, 2010, in support of NBI 90

Olga Addae speaking on behalf of the delegation, I move New Business Item 90.

Mr. President, Van Roekel, in your key note speech you spoke of the deep and long economic crisis and its devastating impact on our students, our members, and our schools.

I agree with you; the future of America is uncertain and intolerable consequences await not only our students and our members; but every American who is among the working middle class, the unemployed, and those living in poverty.

It is time for all of us unite; whether we live in a Right-to-Work state or a Fair-Share state; Whether we are NEA or AFT, whether we are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents; Whether we are upper middle class or lower middle class. We need to reach out through broad-based organizing efforts to build relations with other non-profits, faith based groups and most importantly other unions.

It is time to take back America from the strangle hold of the financial elite and for-profit corporations.

The real education reform we seek requires real resources that are sustainable.

We must learn from history; the last time so few held so much of the wealth in America was right before the Depression… from that crisis the opportunity to build a strong middle class, with strong unions, strong non-profits (such as the PTA) and strong faith based organizations. The zenith for all these civil sector organizations was in the mid 1950’s.

It only took 60 years for the financial elite to dismantle the civil sector that so many unsung heroes fought and died for. Let us not wait for another Depression.

We must reach out to our brethren and build better relations and “Act” for the common good. Broad-based organizing is not about forming another union, not about a temporary coalition. It is about a process of continuous efforts to build relations with other unions, non-profits and faith based groups to “Act” for the common good, which is determined locally. Please support NBI 90