Seattle Schools Community Forum

Good wrap-up of the current teacher contract negotiations by Josh Feit over at Publicola.   I got a little more clarity on the issue of elementary school teachers and the added unpaid half-hour of work. Calling one sticking point "a longer day for less pay," Knapp said teachers objected to a district proposal to contractually increase the length of the school day for elementary school teachers from seven hours to seven-and-a-half hours without increasing pay, while simultaneously eliminating the weekly hour that's set aside for teacher planning and collaboration. The weekly planning hour is paid time, and eliminating it works out to an average 2.6 percent pay cut. Adding the daily half hour in its place is supposed to supplement teacher planning time, but in essence, it's mandating extra time without extra pay, replacing a paid hour per week with an unpaid two-and-a-half hours per week. Knapp says the micro-managey proposal "is disrespect...

The district sent out this e-mail to families: The Seattle Education Association (SEA), which represents teachers, rejected the district’s latest contract proposal. They plan to meet again on September 3 to vote on whatever the proposal is at that time. With the start of school on September 4, we are encouraging families to develop back=up plans should Seattle Public Schools not open on time.  We realize the impact a labor strike would have on our families. We are working with child care providers and the City of Seattle to develop options for your students in the event school is not in session on September 4. Those resources, along with other information, will be posted tomorrow at www.seattleschools.org. We will send you additional messages as new information is available.  Again, we are working to reach an agreement with teachers, but it is possible that school will not start on September 4. Please visit www.seattleschools.org for additional informati...

Contract talks march on.  Diane Ravitch endorses Sue Peters for School Board. Addicted to your computer (or is your child)?  Here's an article from the NY Times with a couple of book suggestions. Speaking of algebra, I came across this website recently - The Algebra Project .  What's on your mind?

From SPS Communications: We value the contributions, skills, and dedication that our educators bring to Seattle Public Schools’ students on a daily basis. Their leadership and passion drive the success of our district and community. While we are disappointed that members of the Seattle Education Association did not approve our proposal, we are hopeful that we will reach an agreement that is in the best interests of students prior to the start of school. We are pleased that we have reached common ground on many contract topics with a few items remaining to be resolved. We remain committed to the negotiation process. We are confident the bargaining teams will be able to craft solutions that keep student success the priority and meet the needs of both sides. I want to recognize and thank the Seattle Education Association and our district bargaining team for their efforts and hard work.

Basically, not much. No meetings scheduled for the district except on Saturday, August 31st, Director Patu has her Community Meeting from 10 am to noon at Caffe Vita.  I have no new updates from the teacher contract talks but I assume there will be a vote on the newest (and, according to the district, last) offer either tomorrow or Tuesday.  I feel confident both sides will find agreement before the start of school on September 4th.  Upcoming threads: - more unraveling of ed reform - FERPA and protecting your student's data

One update, from KUOW, is that the contract negotiations between the district and the union have hit an impasse.  The district has indicated they have given all they can. What are the issues? The SEA and the district are at odds over several issues. The union is unhappy with the district's half-hour extension of the work day for elementary school teachers because it would not result in extra classroom time for students. The union and district are also clashing over whether to require the use of students' state test scores in teacher evaluations. The last contract required that state and district standardized test scores be used as part of the teacher evaluation process for teachers of the tested subjects: reading and math. While district officials say using state test scores in teacher evaluations is a valuable part of the contract they bargained with teachers three years ago, Knapp said the landscape for teachers and students is entirely different today. ...

From SPS Communications: We are working with our labor association partners to achieve what we all desire – what is best for our staff and for our students. We have discussed and explored a variety of options during negotiations with the Seattle Education Association.  We have discussed with SEA an increase to the cap on class size.  Enrollment in Seattle Public Schools has increased dramatically over the past five years and that trend is projected to continue.  An increase to the class size cap is one of a number of solutions we are exploring to ensure that we can accommodate all students as they enroll.  We are still in conversation with SEA, and we are optimistic that an agreement will be reached so that we can get the school year off to a great start.   What other solutions besides increasing class size is the district exploring?  I'm sure parents would like to know.   I was at the Executive Committee meeting t...

Yet another KUOW report on the contract talks that makes it sound like they are pretty far apart.  There is still plenty of time to iron things out but yes, we are less than a month out from school. Seattle Education Association President Jonathan Knapp says while there's been progress on smaller issues over the past week, large issues remain unresolved. For Ballard High School science teacher and building union representative Noam Gundle, those big issues include smaller class sizes, especially for special education students. I note that what I predicted from the first KUOW report is now confirmed: District officials insist that bigger classes are a temporary solution to school capacity issues until new classrooms can be built. But the union says there are better alternatives. "Anybody who knows anything about education knows that more teacher attention means better progress for students, more support," Gundle said. Ah, so the district says the upped ...