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

johnsmythe — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:07:56 -0000

Its all about the children?
According to the WEA website: "Better compensation for public school employees remains WEA's No. 1 priority and is one of the most important issues facing our state's public schools."

Maybe a few parents don't agree with that.

If teaching is so difficult for so many teachers and they feel underappreciated they can get another job. The don't get the "professional respect" they think they deserve? Probably because they complain of having to do the work needed. In most "professions" people do what's needed to get the job done.
As a medical professional I am accountable for my job performance. There's no tenure or seniority. I must take classes in my field on my own time. I actually enjoy learning how to do new things or old things better. If I don't do well I get fired.When a non-critical patient needs my services on a Saturday I try to accomodate them. I try to my job as well as I can, not within a number of hours. Occasional extra hours are part of the job. My employers don't abuse it and I don't complain when I'm called upon to help out. I like helping people.
If you only want to be with kids on your own terms for a set number of hours maybe you teachers would be best off being babysitters.
I know of many great teachers in Kent and I love them. But I also know teachers that I would never let teach my kids, and other teachers know them too. Their silence on this matter is inexcusable.

Re: DEVELOPING STORY: Striking Kent teachers rally Friday, still no contract - Kent Reporter

johnsmythe — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:17:09 -0000

Read the KEA proposal :"This proposal is presented as a package, if not accepted in its entirety, it will be withdrawn as of noon, September 10, 2009." Four hours to accept as is or its withdrawn. Why have only four hours to accept in its entirety? That's ridiculous. That's no sincere effort.

I looks like the money off the table is the "Completion Stipend" for new teachers. The "Commitment Stipend" or what I like to call a non-merit based bonus (read "bone us") is still there for rest of the teachers.
Lots of new highlighting and saying the same thing over like they did alot of thinking about it :
fifteen (15) fifteen (15), two two (2)

Lets get real KEA. You aren't even trying. You keep trying to divide the community. My kids have been watching the news. They see teachers shout down the superintendent, bust into meetings, pump fists at their rally, and Brackin-Johnson embarassing the city of Kent on a national scale. They can't see how any of this is to enrich them, educate them, comfort them, value them. If these adults put the children first there would not have been a strike. They would be back in school while honestly and realistically negotiating a contract that was good for the teachers, the community and the children.
The KEA believes you "get what you negotiate not what you deserve". Because they don't deserve much of anything after putting the community thru this.

Re: DEVELOPING STORY: Striking Kent teachers rally Friday, still no contract - Kent Reporter

johnsmythe — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:24:03 -0000

What you won't hear from KEA is their intimidation tactics on other teachers. Meridian Elementary had teachers show for work so WEA sent in reinforcements to blockade the school. Lisa Brackin-Johnson spends much of the school year meeting with principals when teachers call in their union because they are asked to do something they don't want to do . Even if its "for the kids" if its not in the contract or they do't like it they call in their union, wasting time and creating more meetings which we know the teachers abhor.

Then Brackin-Johnson says “They’re drunk with their own power and they need to let it go,” Yes, the school district is in charge not the teachers. No matter how bad a teacher is they keep their jobs. School district employees don't have that luxury and have to live in the real world with budgets and funding or lack thereof. So a class or two has thirty kids? Big deal. Deal with it. The district has 26,000 students speaking over 120 languages, being transported to school 1.6 million miles per year, serving 21,000 lunches per day, athletics, heating, maintenance, etc.... There is alot of stuff that has to be taken care of. Its a logistics feat of running a small city. I want a reserve fund, because I don't know what next year will bring for funding. The state legislators are loving that the union blames the district and not their apathy for not doing any good in education. Funding problems as well as lack of choice. We have hundreds of millions for pro sports in the last few decades but don't want to fund education.

So you have an extra meeting, you obviously have extra time to strike and blockade schools. You have time for union meetings. You teachers have burnt so many bridges with administrators, school staff, parents and Kent citizens. It's embarassing. My family on the East coast laughs at what they hear. Too many meetings, extra benefits for Brackin-Johnson, less acountability.

Lets write our state reps and demand school choice. I'm talking charter schools and school vouchers. You would have a choice how your kid was educated and wouldn't have to put your family's life on hold every contract renewal year. Visual and performing art charter schools. Sports charter schools (focused PE twice a day), Science and technology track charter schools. Let kids and families pursue their passions. Its about the kids right?

We all know the KEA and WEA wouldn't want competition because then they would have to step up and perform and stop whining. You can't be innovative with a union workforce. They can't improvise or be creative because its not in their contract. I feel sorry for the principals if these teachers ever make it back to school. These so called professionals will be doing as little as possible with the protection of their union. And the kids will suffer.

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

johnsmythe — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:17:46 -0000

Well we've made The New York Times!
"The teachers should be happy to get raises while everyone else takes a hit. Happy to have a job in the worst recession in 65 years. Not in Kent, Wash."

http://egan.blogs.nytimes.c...

The New Yorker has a great recent article on teachers unions:

http://www.newyorker.com/re...

Maybe some of the teachers employed by the Kent School District not in classrooms shouldn't be in the classrooms. I found out its common to put bad or dangerous teachers in places away from the kids to protect the kids. Its too difficult to fire a tenured teacher.

Re: STRIKE VOTE: Kent teachers defy judge's order; vote to continue strike - Kent Reporter

johnsmythe — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:22:24 -0000

Look at the KEA proposal.
"In recognition of commitment to education and numerous additional responsibilities throughout the year, the Kent School District and Kent Education Association agree to the provision of a commitment stipend." $2000-2600 per teacher roughly $3,000,000
"Completion Stipend
In recognition of commitment to education and numerous additional responsibilities throughout the year, the Kent School District and Kent Education Association agree to the provision of a completion stipend. Teachers placed on BA, Step 0 will receive a completion stipend of $2,000 at the end of their first fully completed year of teaching on the June pay warrant."

EXTRA-CURRICULAR/EXTRA-DUTY PAY
What they want removed: "The remaining one (1) day will be for district-focused activities and will require attendance at specific activities in order to claim the hours." Wonder why so few teachers show up at PTA events in the evening. After their exhausting 7.5 hour day they need to go home. The principal use to be able to direct teachers to attend events so it wasn't so obvious that teachers don't care about the school community and had already punched their clock. They are compensated for open house/ curiculum night activities. That's the only reason they show up. Now they want more teacher discretion time so they can attend wht they want not what the principal finds important to the school community.
If the teachers don't want to be part of the school community they should find another job.

As a parent who spends 5-10 hours a week volunteering at the school I see plenty of teachers hanging out and talking in the halls during library, PE, and computer lab. Nothing wrong with that except now their striking because of workload. Give me a break!

Thirteen days of paid staff time:Eleven days of teacher discretion, Two building/program administrator days are directed by the building/ program administrator.

I agree with kentdadof2, many parents feel that speaking up will cost their children retribution. The teachers are way too emotional and not very logical. Just watch them heckling, shouting, and fist pumping. Its not about the kids. Its about the money.

The KEA proposals are about less involvement with the community and more money.

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

johnsmythe — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:51:23 -0000

Unlike the teachers, the superintendent is accountable. The market of qualified candidates observes the supply and demand model of economics. And I doubt there are too many speaking engagement, consultant, or book deals that are very lucrative post employment. Growing up Catholic I was tought there were three parts to an act. 1) the physical act itself, 2) the spirituality of the act/intent (more money or child enrichment) and 3) the result or consequences. You can't separate the three. If you strike for more money or smaller classes you still have the consequence of thousand of families putting their lives on hold. Thousands of families are being treated like this so you can get what you want. If the teachers didn't foresee this they have no clue. They have soured their relationship with the community and poisoned the future educational levies.

Think of teacher employment as an abusive relationship. No matter how bad the relationship between student and teacher gets seniority keeps the teacher employed. Like an old boyfriend who says that you were his girl first and nobody is gonna change that. Even if the relationship doesn't work and is detrimental, I was there first and you can't make me leave.

Every parent who is involved in the schools knows of at least a few teachers who shouldn't be teaching. I'm guessing the principals and teachers know more than a few. But the WEA mentality is all about protecting jobs and increasing compensation. If it were about the kids the union would do more to weed out its ranks and strengthen the profession. But that is not their mission and why I don't believe a thing they say about the children.
There are teachers I love and think should be better compensated. But I can't support across the board salary increases with no relationship to merit.

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

johnsmythe — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:46:06 -0000

Do teachers realize the consequences of their strike?
Those of us who have scheduled and booked our vacations during break and summer vacation. Relatives who have booked their travel for breaks and holidays. They can blame district for what they like but not for the strike. That was their decision.

The way they handled this and the way they treated Superintendent Vargas was atrocious and embarassing. Maybe we should encourage our children to heckle and be rude to those incompetent teachers protected by the unions. Teachers role models? I don't think so.

As a parent I support the teachers but not their union. The tech levy I supported was ridiculed by the teachers union. I would rather my child be more tech savvy than have two less kids in their class. The ability of the district to raise funds has been diminished by this strike which will effect the kids but not the teachers pay which this strike is really about.

The underlying system, which governs how money is spent, has remained largely unchanged. It is characterized by, among other things, a compensation scheme that pays teachers and administrators without regard to the results they get in the classroom; rules that make it extremely difficult to terminate unqualified teachers or assign the good ones where they are most needed; an assessment and rating system that discriminates against good teachers who are assigned to schools with significant numbers of at-risk students; a monopolistic structure that insulates public schools from competition; and numerous union and other work rules that prevent principals from effectively running their schools. It is a system more concerned with the adults and their rights than it is with ensuring the success of its students.

The solution: Rewards for both teachers and administrators based on their success in improving student achievement. In almost every school district in the country, teachers are currently paid based solely on their years of experience and degree level, despite a consensus in the scientific community that these two factors bear little relationship to their success in improving student performance.

Many Schools Are Still Inadequate, Now What?
Education Next talks to Eric A. Hanushek, Alfred A. Lindseth and Michael A. Rebell
By Michael Rebell, Alfred Lindseth, and Eric Hanushek

And what about class size?

Researchers agree, however, that shrinking the number of students in a class does not automatically translate into better learning. To squeeze the most out of their new settings, teachers may need to alter their teaching practices, dropping lecture-style approaches and providing more frequent feedback and interaction. But studies so far show that many teachers teach smaller classes the same way they did larger ones.

In general, the countries with the smallest classes tended to be the worst performers. The reverse is also true: high performers tend to have larger classes. While this does not say much about the effectiveness of reducing class sizes in various environments, it does demonstrate that it is possible to have a high-achieving school system with relatively large classes.

This evidence suggests that capable teachers are able to promote student learning equally well regardless of class size (at least within the range of variation that occurs naturally among grades). Less capable teachers, however, do not seem to be up to the job of teaching large classes.

Crowd control: an international look at the relationship between class size and student achievement - Research
Education Next, Summer, 2003 by Martin R. West, Ludger Woessmann

Part of the solution:Schooling options for parents and children who judge their school less than satisfactory. Schools must know that, if they are not successful, parents have alternatives for their children. Therefore, the finance system should also support charter and other choice schools.

Re: Kent teachers stage rally over labor contract - Kent Reporter

johnsmythe — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:31:23 -0000

Those seven professional days taken by teachers are unaccountable. They are used at teachers own discretion to do whatever they want whether or not it pertains to their job or not. There is no accountability and it costs the district millions of dollars. They don't report what they did or discuss with principals what would benefit their class or school. It was gravy we can't afford. We pay them for teaching children. That is what the state pays for. Having a contingency fund for a school district our size is a smart thing. They kept almost all teachers jobs.