Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
soynonymous
Of course the school district didn't go out and tell the world that they got what they wanted otherwise the teachers wouldn't have ratified it.
Union wanted 2 year contract, TPS wanted a 3 year contract. Contract is 3 years.
Unoin wanted a pay raise, TPS wanted teachers to absorb some of the state salary cut. Contract is teacher keep current salary schedule BUT loose a paid day (without students loosing class time) to make up for the state salary cuts.
Union wanted smaller class sizes, TPS intially wanted bigger. Contract is stays the same.
Union wanted senority only displacement system and that all provisional teachers (1-3 years) be automatically let go before any 3+ year teacher was displaced regardless of endorsement area or building need. District wanted non-senority only system and to not eat the young. Contract is that a non-senority system will be created and used without further ratification by union, and that 1-3 year teachers won't be axed first.
Union had to give up a grievance and a whole bunch of other things in exchange for the district dropping the lawsuit over the strike.
Lots of other details, but on the whole a big win for the District.
This is ultimately an "upper management" problem -- the Superintendent and the Executive Directors either don't know how to run, or don't care about, site management at the school level. Consequently, principals can get away with acting like little despots (or, worse yet, like the heads of their very own little 'mean girl' or 'mean boy' cliques). It is hard to fix things in the schools, however, when the same cronyism, backbiting, recrimination, etc. goes on at the District level too, which certainly seemed to be the case under MGJ. I am less clear on the extent to which it continues under Dr. E.
I wish Tacoma schools well in this -- and hope they come up with something useful that other Districts can use.
YUP.
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