Disqus - Latest Comments for HeidiKM

Re: Kent schools enrollment down, meaning fewer state dollars - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:18:07 -0000

I teach at Millennium and we knew this was going to happen last spring. We ended the year with 570 and we were projected to be at 570 again despite knowing that ELL students had the option to return to their home school (us) and an influx of refugee students we knew were coming. The district ignored our principal when she tried to tell them this. We are actually over by about 40 students, have lost our computer lab and have a class being taught in a hallway yet the school about three blocks away from us has five empty classrooms.

Re: Strike-affected Kent school calendar means shorter vacations - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:13:30 -0000

The new calender was negotiated through the teams, not through the staff. We did not get approval on this calender.

Re: KENT SCHOOL TEACHERS' STRIKE IS OVER - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:16:26 -0000

The language was VERY important. Before this, KSD has not had strict class caps, just averages. So if the average was 26 in a grade, we didn't receive help until the average was 29 (three above the average in the previous contract). That meant if two classes were sitting at 29 and another was at 28 we didn't get the aid because the average didn't meet the requirements. In this contract, if they hit that high cap in ONE class, they have to do something about it.
And no, we did not get everything we were hoping for but it's a start. We compromised where we had to in regards to numbers but our main goal of getting in language having to do with class size caps and limits on meetings was met. In the future, we will be able to get closer to that 24 goal.
And if this were all about salary, we (the collective we) would have taken the contract offered back in June that had a much higher pay increase but did nothing for the more important items on our list which were class size and meeting limitations.

Re: KENT SCHOOL TEACHERS' STRIKE IS OVER - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:04:08 -0000

You do realize that the reason we rejected those proposals was because it contained language to make the caps void before we even signed the contract, right?

Re: District moves first day of school to Tuesday; Union says it won't return without an agreement - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:26:43 -0000

I've met those kinds of people, usually teaching college because they can't cut it in public education. Thankfully, I am not one of them but I thank you for your concern.

Re: Parents and students for and against Kent teachers' strike wave signs in Covington - Covington & Maple Valley Reporter

HeidiKM — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 23:48:43 -0000

I think you will find that MANY of us are part of the Kent community which is why we are fighting so hard. It's not only the kids we see in the classroom but the kids we tuck in every night that we are doing this for.

Re: District moves first day of school to Tuesday; Union says it won't return without an agreement - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 17:46:21 -0000

It's more a matter of knowing when to fill one out and when you don't need to and what you CAN get paid for. New teachers have so much information thrown at them all at once from benefits to pensions to curriculums and everything else during new teacher training that it's hard to keep track of it all. My admin does pretty well with making sure that we know when to fill out time cards and such but not all are and those teachers lose out because they don't know the system. I didn't know we had to fill out paperwork to roll over personal days and I lost all those days I didn't use. Yes, I know I need to be more on top of things but my job is not about filling out paperwork, it's about teaching. The system is needlessly complicated and could be simplified as other districts have done.

Re: Kent school district turns down union contract proposal: Read proposal - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:08:28 -0000

Proposals almost always come with a time limit to prevent the other side from just sitting there doing nothing. The changes were clearly marked so that KSD knew where to look, rather than sifting through all the information yet again. KEA has also managed to return proposals within a few hours of receiving them and if KSD had come back and said "There's some stuff we can work with here but we need a little more time to analyze it." I'm betting KEA would have agreed to an extension.

Re: District moves first day of school to Tuesday; Union says it won't return without an agreement - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:52:33 -0000

I think your comments on time are unfair. Teachers also have to take classes to keep current on their own time and their own dime. Do you pay for your classes or do you get reimbursed? If we don't take those classes, we lose our certificates. As for occasional extra hours? They are never occasional, they are the norm. That's wonderful that your employers don't abuse your willingness to help out when needed. Ours do which is why meetings are such an issue this time around. I think that if you were called three to four times a week to put in extra hours on things that aren't even vital to your position or could be taken care of more efficiently you would get upset too. Not a single teacher I know puts in 40 hours a week. Most put in far more than that planning lessons, leading clubs, meeting with parents and students, grading papers and evaluating data. They do so without complaint because it's what is best for the kids. Now that we're in a bargaining situation, yes, we are bringing up that extra time and what it costs ourselves and our families. We don't begrudge it, but it would be nice to be paid for at least some of it. Many other districts have extra hours built into the pay schedule because they know that the teachers are putting in the time already. KSD wants us to attend meetings and fill out time cards in a such confusing system that many new teachers to the district lose that pay because they don't understand the system.

Re: Sen. Claudia Kauffman: Finger pointing won’t resolve Kent teachers’ strike - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:46:09 -0000

"You don't get better administrators by paying them less. What kind of goofy theory is that to put forward during a salary negotiation?"

Why doesn't this idea also apply to teachers? You don't get the best teachers by paying the lowest salary.

We did not plan the strike. Did we know it was coming? Well, from watching the bargaining all summer, yes, we knew there was a strong possibility. Things have been getting worse and worse in Kent over the last 10 years and things have finally come to a head. Are we getting strike support from WEA? Yes, because our KEA people are mostly teachers and have no experience in how to lead a strike. The reason it has been respectful and peaceful is a result of their leadership in how to handle a situation none of us are comfortable or familiar with.

Pay for Performance? Bring it on. Find a way to evaluate teachers fairly, taking into account how low income, ELL and special education students affect the way we teach and progress we can make and everyone I know would gladly be paid extra for the good work they already do. Standardized tests don't count as they are notoriously unreliable. You also need to come up with a plan for music, PE, art, foreign languages and all the specialty subjects also taught in schools. It's not pay for performance we fear, it's a poorly thought out, unfair system that punishes teachers in low income, high ELL areas.

Re: Teachers defy court order; So what happens next? - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:20:03 -0000

The differences in the class size proposals have to do with the district wanting targets and the union wanting hard caps. Hard caps requires action from the district, targets require the teacher to wait three weeks, write a letter to the principal and if that doesn't solve the problem write a letter to the next higher up and if that doesn't solve the problem write a letter to the superintendant who can decide to do nothing. And the district's upper number for kindergarten is 29 students and I can not begin to tell you how awful that is. I can't imagine how we would keep kindergarten teachers or how those teachers would prepare those kids for 1st grade. I'd be impressed if they managed to get the kids writing their names and lining up at the door with so many little ones in one class and I work with some amazing kindergarten teachers.
Another thing to notice is that KEA is asking for caseload limits for all the specialists who work with kids such as counselors, speech therapists and special education to name a few. At the moment these people have NO limits on how many kids the district can assign to them and they are unable to meet the needs of all the kids they are in charge of. KSD wants to continue having no caseload limits and piling the work onto people who could leave for the private sector and double their salary and halve their work load. Not a smart idea.
As for the meetings, the district proposal says that staff meetings do not fall into the limited category so that principals can STILL call as many meetings as they like. It does nothing to help the problem we started with.

Re: Teachers defy court order; So what happens next? - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:10:04 -0000

I encourage you to stop and talk to the teachers. We are thrilled to get the chance to talk to people face to face whether they agree with us or not.

Re: Judge orders Kent teachers back to school; union to decide on action this afternoon - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:49:07 -0000

Thank you for your comment but please don't trust that class database. Talk to ANY teacher and you will find that the numbers listed for their classes are inaccurate and are always missing students. Try this. Pick an elementary school and add up all the classes. I recommend an elementary school because the kids are all in homerooms, not traveling between periods. Once you've added up all the classes go to www.k12.wa.us which is the website for the Office of the Superintendant of Public Instruction (OSPI) and they keep all the records on different schools. On the far right there's a menu that says Research and Reports open it and click on School Report Card. Select Kent SD from the drop down menu on the left, search for the school you chose in the search bar on the right and it will take you to a page where you can choose your school from another drop down menu. Under Student Demographics are the enrollment numbers from May and October. Compare them to the number you got from KSD. Do it with a few schools and you will see a pattern. My school was missing 40 kids if you went by the KSD database. Kids that I saw in my class with their rear ends on the ground. But again, you don't have to trust me, just public record and some simple math.

"There are better ways to see that they recieve the contract they deserve."
How? We had contract openers last year that they ignored. We started bargaining in April and they didn't even send people who could bargain with us, just people who were able to say "We'll bring it up with our superiors." We took things off the table trying to get them to talk. We didn't get a proposal until July which was all or nothing and if we disagreed with any of it, it was off the table. We couldn't even DISCUSS it with them. We offered to meet longer and more often and they refused. Recently, we submitted a proposal and the bargaining team waited over 50 hours for a response from the district. So yes, they can file an injunction against us when we strike but what is our recourse when they refuse to bargain, when they stall and stonewall and won't listen? A mediator who can advise but not order and the unity of our members. That's it. I am not a huge fan of unions though I admit they have their place and I hate striking about as passionately as I love teaching. Unfortunately, with the way things are set up right now, there is no balance to the administration's power and that is not acceptable as this administration has shown time and again that all they care about is power.

Re: Teachers need support...and a song - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:49:40 -0000

Tabitha,
Thank you for your wonderful letter and killer song!

Re: Judge orders Kent teachers back to school; union to decide on action this afternoon - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:15:51 -0000

How do we have power when our contract has expired, the district refuses to bargain and we have no protections or recourse? Striking is a common occurrence when the labor group is being unfairly treated by the management group. Police and Fire have binding arbitration which means there is someone there who referees and makes the final call which means there is no cause to strike. We do not have binding arbitration, only a mediator which can advise but not force any action. This means we are forced to rely on the good intentions of the district to get a fair contract. KSD has shown that they do not have good intentions, nor are they concerned about the relationship they have with their teachers. They are relying the the poor economy, misinformation and biased media to vilify us to the public. Unfortunately, if they continue treating us in this regard, they are going to have a mass exodus from the district as any teacher who can will find a new place to teach and the only teachers who apply here will be the ones unable to get a job anywhere else. Who else would want to live in a district that so extensively steamrolls and disrespects their employees?

Re: Judge orders Kent teachers back to school; union to decide on action this afternoon - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:06:52 -0000

Take a look at the video of the parent rally yesterday. You don't have to watch the whole thing, just take a look at the last 30 seconds or so. Seem open and honest to you?
http://www.youtube.com/v/hJ...

Re: Column: Picket lines and teachers don't add up - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:26:05 -0000

I do stand by my vote to strike. It sucks that it came to this point and it's terrible that I am running around on a street corner rather than running around my classroom with my kids. So since you seem to have all the answers, how DO we solve class size issues? We've talked to our principals, we've talked to administration. We've asked for portables (that are standing EMPTY) to relieve space issues so that we can use our staffing for a TEACHER with a CLASSROOM rather than another instructional assistant and offer full day kindergarten instead of half day. The union has been bargaining with the district for six months now and they still refuse to listen to our concerns and instead post a faulty class size database to hide that there's a problem. Many other districts already have class size caps in place and at much lower levels than we are asking. So where in that equation, were we expected to change our actions to make the district realize our class sizes are too big? We ran out of options, pure and simple. We did what we had to do.

Re: Column: Picket lines and teachers don't add up - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:51:43 -0000

This strike is absolutely not about a new superintendant, that's just ridiculous. Kent has not had a strike for 33 years and we have had new leadership in that time and never had a strike. The issues we have been talking about are the result of two years of talks with the teachers involved, not some whim we came up with over night as a way to "test the waters" of new leadership. This is when our contract is up and it's terrible that it happened both during a recession and at the beginning of our new superintendant's term but that's life sometimes.
WE DO NOT WANT TO BE STRIKING! This is the most miserable situation for us but the situation our kids have been put in is even more miserable. Overcrowded classes with no time for teachers to work with every child. Too many meetings that make it impossible for teachers to meet with their kids on a regular basis and wages that are below that of other districts making attracting great new teachers harder. These are hugely important issues that have been ignored for far too long.

Re: Kent teachers: We're striking - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:19:48 -0000

This is why we are striking at the end of the contract and not in the middle.

Re: Strike vote: Decision day arrives for Kent teachers - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:39:23 -0000

We are NOT striking solely for compensation. Is it part of the discussion? Of course, our contract is open, this is our chance. The reason we are striking has to do with class sizes, no caps for special ed case loads, too much time wasted in meetings and not enough time to work with our colleagues, students and data. I see 550 kids. I can barely keep up with what each of my CLASSES is doing let alone how I can help individual students. The fact that we had to negotiate for teachers who are moving to receive boxes and tape goes to show you how little the district respects the teachers who are working with your kids.
And speaking of compensation, if we are not competitive with other districts, WE WILL LOSE GREAT TEACHERS! At the moment, almost any district you go to nearby will pay a higher salary than Kent. Those districts have smaller class sizes than Kent and more teacher directed time than Kent. Tell me, if you were a talented teacher looking for a place to teach, would you teach here? Or would you go to a district that is going to pay you a living wage, give you time to do your job and treat you with the respect you deserve as a professional?

Re: Kent schools, union still talking; strike vote is Wednesday - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:34:32 -0000

The problem with looking at only Kent in regards to compensation leaves out a major reason we are asking for this. Yes, it will benefit us and raise our salaries but more importantly, it will raise our standing in regards to other districts. Right now, new teachers as well as our own teachers are looking at Kent and seeing a salary thousands of dollars less than surrounding districts along with larger class sizes than surrounding districts, more administrative requirements and less teacher collaboration time. All these put together means we are going to LOSE great teachers to surrounding districts. It is for those reasons as much as our own financial difficulties that we are asking for an increased compensation package.

Re: Mediation starts between Kent district, teachers - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:24:36 -0000

My mistake, Kent does aim for 5%. In general districts shoot for 3-5% so I just misremembered. There is no state recommendation or requirement for a reserve fund, the policy is a district one. A 5% reserve fund for Kent is approximately $12.8 million.

Re: Mediation starts between Kent district, teachers - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:59:21 -0000

Either way you go, you are hurting kids. If the teachers strike, the kids are hurt because school doesn't start and all the other things that occur because of that such as missing lunches, clubs etc. On the other hand, if the teachers were to settle for a crummy contract the kids are hurt because teachers don't have time to work with them and prepare for class because they are stuck in meetings. On top of that, teachers get frustrated because they are over worked, they don't have time for their own families or interests and that second job so many of them have to work to make ends meet. Great teachers leave the district and the kids suffer in a much more long term way than missing the first few days of school.
"First do no harm" is attributed to the Hippocratic Oath which is taken by doctors, not teachers. And as much as we love our kids, we are also not going to lay down and forgo our rights as professionals just because we're going to face some unpleasentness.

Re: Mediator starts work Wednesday on Kent teaching contract impasse - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:46:59 -0000

What right do you have to ask teachers to work outside of our contract? It's that kind of thinking that got KSD/KEA into this mess in the first place. Because we were willing to take care of our classroom responsibilities outside out of our contracted hours, we were forced into more and more meetings and volunteer more and more of our personal time to do school responsibilities which has become a major contract issue this time around.

Re: The impacts of a teachers’ strike: What about the children? - Kent Reporter

HeidiKM — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:53:10 -0000

Moving boxes and supplies ARE a small issue. Just like any negotiation there are large issues that are vitally important and other issues that are not quite so big. Just because it's a small issue doesn't mean it isn't important to those teachers who have to move their classrooms whether at their own or the district's decision. Would the teachers strike over moving boxes? Of COURSE not! But it's a starting place that will hopefully lead to more meaningful bargaining.