Dear
Colleague,
We
first told you about a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles about a year ago that could
possibly affect you all.
Recently, some parents in Los Angeles filed a lawsuit that
will undoubtedly have ramifications all over the state and perhaps elsewhere.
It seems that the “Stull” evaluations we have undergone in our teaching careers
have been “incomplete.” According to the Stull Act (Section 44660 of the
state’s education code, (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&group=44001-45000&file=44660-44665), part of
a teacher’s evaluation is required to include a student achievement component,
but this has not happened anywhere in the state.
Earlier
this month the suit was tentatively settled. The agreement, awaiting a final
okay from the judge and acceptance by the union rank-and-file, is embedded here
- http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2012/12/03/29514/la-unified-and-teachers-union-reach-agreement-on-p/ The question is,
has anything really changed? It seems to us
that this agreement won’t have much effect at all. Apparently, the Los Angeles
Times agrees - http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/09/local/la-me-lausd-eval-20121210
Accessing
her inner Joel Klein, American Federation of President Randi Weingarten came
out recently in favor of a “rigorous
professional exam for K-12 teachers that would serve the same function as the
bar exam for lawyers and board
certification for doctors.” It certainly is an interesting thought to ponder,
but near the end of a Washington Post piece (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/union-proposes-bar-exam-for-teachers/2012/12/01/883f8bc8-3b38-11e2-8a97-363b0f9a0ab3_print.html ), the union leader
seems to expose her real agenda. Teacher, blogger and CTEN board member Darren
Miller nails it in a 12/3 post - http://rightontheleftcoast.blogspot.com/2012/12/putting-fox-in-charge-of-henhouse.html
In
an attempt to rally the troops both the California Teachers Association and the
Chicago Teachers Union have come out with videos that push the class warfare theme
but, in our opinion, do little to advance the union cause. See if you agree.
The CFT video can be found here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S6ZsXrzF8Cc and the CTU video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g1eV8EHII5Q
Perhaps
the teacher (and any) union story of the year is that Michigan, just last week,
became the nation’s 24th right-to-work state. This means very simply
that teachers and other workers can choose whether or not they want to join a
union. Contrary to what many believe, collective bargaining will not be
affected. Much has been written about this, but perhaps the most eloquent piece
came from the Wall Street Journal. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323401904578157453687608428.html?mod=googlenews_wsj) The op-ed
makes the case why right-to-work is a good thing. She ends the piece with,
As impressive as all of this evidence is, the
best case for right to work is moral: the right of an individual to choose.
Union chiefs want to coerce workers to join and pay dues that they then funnel
to politicians who protect union power. Right to work breaks this cycle of
government-aided monopoly union power for the larger economic good.
If you
have a different take, please post your thoughts on the CTEN blog - http://www.ctenteachers.blogspot.com
The
National Council on Teacher Quality has come out with a study well worth paying
attention to. No One Benefits is a
report
…that examines how teacher pension systems are
failing both teachers and taxpayers. In addition to a 50-state analysis of the
funding crisis, we explore the technical and sometimes hidden features of
teacher pensions that make them so costly and identify the features of these
systems that aren't fair, advantageous or beneficial to all teachers.
Some of
the key findings are:
·
Pension systems are severely underfunded.
·
Most retirement eligibility rules are burdensome and
unfair.
·
Costs to teachers and school districts are on the
rise.
·
The squeeze is on teachers in numerous other ways.
To learn more, go to http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=c9b11da2ceffae94e1dc196f6&id=d38162825c&e=9dc9a1baf8
The
always interesting Education Next yearly
survey has just been published in the hard copy of the magazine. (One of the
things that makes their polling different from others is that they will ask a
question like, “Do you think that teachers are paid enough?” Then they will
tell those being polled what teachers make and then repeat the question.
Needless to say, the second response is frequently different than the first
one.) Highlights from this year’s poll include:
• the Republican tilt of the
education views of independents
• the especially high marks
that Hispanics give their public schools
• strong support among the
general public for using test-score information to hold teachers accountable
• lower confidence in
teachers than has previously been reported
• the public’s (and
teachers’) growing uneasiness with teachers unions
• the shaky foundations of
public support for increased spending
• majority support for a
broad range of school choice initiatives.
To
read more and access the survey’s results, go to http://educationnext.org/reform-agenda-gains-strength/
If you are interested in giving CTEN
brochures to colleagues, you can print them right from the home page - http://www.ctenhome.org/index.htm Or, if you prefer, we will be happy to send
you as many preprinted ones as you need. Also, anyone wishing to donate to CTEN
can do so very simply through PayPal - http://www.ctenhome.org/donate.htm As a non-profit, we
exist only through the generosity of others.
It has been another exciting year
for CTEN - www.ctenhome.org/ and we look forward to an even more vigorous 2013. We
remain grateful for your support and wish you and your families the happiest of
holidays. See you in January!
Sincerely,
Larry Sand
CTEN
President
