Disqus - Latest Comments for livfinne

Re: District and teachers' union: Start acting like educated people - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:31:22 -0000

Standingup,
The way to get smaller classes is to demand that the district give budget power to school principals and the school leadership team (teachers). Schools in decentralized districts across the country are doing this, and principals are reducing total student loads on teachers from 175 or higher to 88 students per teacher. See http://books.simonandschust.... This is great for teachers and students, as student achievement rises significantly.

Re: Finger pointing will not resolve Kent teachers’ strike - Covington Reporter

livfinne — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:54:18 -0000

The Senator is correct that the state has amply funded Kent's schools. The essential problem lies in the fact that only 59 cents of every dollar funded actually reaches the classroom, because the way schools are run in Washington State places all the power over spending and hiring in top-down, centralized, autocratic bureaucracies, which, not surprisingly, seek to preserve this power. The way to fix this is to give local school managers, the principals, control over their budgets, so that the principal, with the school leadership team of teachers, can decide how best to staff their schools and move resources to the classroom. This is happening all over the country in 15 large urban districts, and they are dramatically improving student achievement in these other places. See The Secret of TSL (Total Student Load): The Revolutionary Discovery that Raises School Performance by Bill Ouchi, professor of Anderson School of Management, UCLA.

Re: District and teachers' union: Start acting like educated people - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:37:32 -0000

Yes, I agree that mismanagement of funds is a common denominator across most government budgets, both large and small.

I think that imposing more mandates is likely to be problematic, as we already have 2000 pages of regs and rules which tie everyone's hands regarding school spending. Although there may be a way to mandate that all dollars, less 10% for district overhead, must be sent to the schools. This would necessitate widespread simplification of funding formulas, so we can reduce the numbers of people counting and recounting and accounting for these various expenditures.

The way to fundamental change is to demand local control of schools. Fifteen large urban districts across the U.S. have started a revolution in school spending by devolving control over school dollars to the most decentralized position possible: the school principal. This is the way forward. Read Lisa Snell's Weighted School Funding Yearbook for comprehensive discussion of this.

And Professor Ouchi's book, The Secret of TSL (Total Student Load), shows that principals with budget control will cut non-teaching staff, add classroom staff, change schedules and otherwise take the necessary steps to reduce the student loads on teachers to manageable levels. This is happening right now in Baltimore, New York City, Houston, Oakland, San Franciso, a subset of schools in Chicago, Boston and elsewhere. Ouchi's book shows that principals with this budget power reduce student loads to 88, from 150-175, with dramatic increases in student achievement.

Local school principals who are trained in good management practices will attract and retain good teachers, and improve learning for students.
Thanks colbyseaman!

Re: District and teachers' union: Start acting like educated people - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:45:10 -0000

Dear Colbyseaman,
Thank you for a great post. I totally agree with you that the real issues are being obscured by this discussion about the ethics of striking, but must say that there is no ethical conflict here. It is illegal for the teachers to strike and in violation of their contract to strike. This takes care of the ethical issue. One cannot run a lawful society if parties are going to come up with reasons to violate the law and/or their contracts.

Let me tell you something else that my homework has revealed: that over time and economic cycles, when budgets are tight, school districts tend to lay off teachers disproportionately (instead of staff), and then to hire both teachers and staff when times are good. The result is that the proportion of staff becomes a larger and larger fraction of a district's total employees. This insight I attribute to Professor Bill Ouchi of UCLA's Anderson School of Management, who has just released his new book, The Secret of TSL (Total Student Load); The Revolutionary Discovery that Raises School Performance.

If you go to my blog posts last week, August 27th and 28th, you will find my research about Kent: only about 1238 teachers are elementary or secondary classroom teachers, out of a total of approximately 2700 employees: http://washingtonpolicyblog...
If all certified teachers in Kent on the payroll were assigned to a classroom, classroom sizes would be 20 students.

So your point that the district and school board are not directing funding to the students is accurate---less than 59 cents of every dollar actually reaches the classroom.

But other numbers show that our legislators cannot be faulted. The legislature has poured money money into education---per pupil spending has tripled in real dollars (adjusted for inflation) since the early 1980's---and in 2008-9 taxpayers provided $10,200 per pupil from all state, local and federal sources.

Re: Contract negotiations don't look promising for Kent schools to start Monday - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:36:04 -0000

Thanks for writing. The law provides that the provisions of the old contract remain in effect while the new one is being negotiated. So teachers are in violation of their No Strike clause, even if it is in the old contract.

Here is the law which provides this:
RCW 41.56.123:
After the termination date of a collective bargaining agreement, all of the terms and conditions specified in the collective bargaining agreement shall remain in effect until the effective date of a subsequent agreement, not to exceed one year from the termination date stated in the agreement. Thereafter, the employer may unilaterally implement according to law.

Re: STRIKE UPDATE: Teachers rally at ShoWare and strike continues - Covington Reporter

livfinne — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:28:11 -0000

Teachers are obligated to comply with the terms of their old contract while the terms of the new contract are being negotiated. This includes the No Strike provision of their old contract. It appears from the comments on my blog that the teachers have not been informed about this.
Here is the law:
RCW 41.56.123 provides as follows:
After the termination date of a collective bargaining agreement, all of the terms and conditions specified in the collective bargaining agreement shall remain in effect until the effective date of a subsequent agreement, not to exceed one year from the termination date stated in the agreement. Thereafter, the employer may unilaterally implement according to law.

Our blog has an extensive discussion of the Kent teachers' strike. See http://washingtonpolicyblog...

Re: District and teachers' union: Start acting like educated people - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:19:41 -0000

The teachers are subject to the terms of their old contract while the new one is being negotiated. They will still receive their paychecks. And they are still obligated to fulfill the No Strike provision of their contract. Somehow the teachers have been misled that they do not have to follow the terms of the old contract.

Here is the law which provides that the provisions of an old contract remain in effect while the new one is being negotiated:
RCW 41.56.123 provides as follows:
After the termination date of a collective bargaining agreement, all of the terms and conditions specified in the collective bargaining agreement shall remain in effect until the effective date of a subsequent agreement, not to exceed one year from the termination date stated in the agreement. Thereafter, the employer may unilaterally implement according to law.

Re: Contract negotiations don't look promising for Kent schools to start Monday - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:49:40 -0000

RCW 41.56.123 provides as follows:
After the termination date of a collective bargaining agreement, all of the terms and conditions specified in the collective bargaining agreement shall remain in effect until the effective date of a subsequent agreement, not to exceed one year from the termination date stated in the agreement. Thereafter, the employer may unilaterally implement according to law.

Thus, teachers on strike are in violation of their No Strike clause in their old contract, as this law provides that all terms and conditions of the old contract are in effect until a new contract is negotiated.

Anyone who is telling teachers that they are not in violation of their contract is in error.

Re: Contract negotiations don't look promising for Kent schools to start Monday - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:37:16 -0000

The decision to strike violates the No Strike clause, Article III, Section 10, of the current teachers contract, making them subject to discipline, including dismissal. See http://washingtonpolicyblog...
What is the point of negotiating a new contract when a party (the teachers' union) does not comply with the provisions of the current one?

Re: District and teachers' union: Start acting like educated people - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:33:45 -0000

By striking, the teachers are violating the No Strike clause in their contract. They are subject to discipline, including dismissal. See http://washingtonpolicyblog...
What is the point of negotiating a new contract when one party (the teacher's union)does not follow the provisions of the current contract?

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

livfinne — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:26:34 -0000

By striking, Kent teachers are violating a No Strike clause in their contract, and are therefore subject to discipline, including discharge. See Washington Policy blog: http://washingtonpolicyblog...

What is the point of negotiating a new contract when one party (the teachers' union) does not follow the provisions of the current contract?

Re: It's official, Kent teachers vote to go on strike - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:44:14 -0000

The teachers' strike is in violation of their contract, and illegal under state law. See Washington Policy blog: http://washingtonpolicyblog...

Re: Kent parents, teachers gather for Q&A session - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:42:03 -0000

The teachers' strike is a violation of their contract, and of state law.
See Washington Policy blog, here: http://washingtonpolicyblog...

Re: KEA rally draws more than 1,000 teachers to Kent street - Kent Reporter

livfinne — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:04:55 -0000

The Kent teachers' strike violates their contract with the district, and also violates state law. See Washington Policy Center blog, here: http://washingtonpolicyblog...