WHAT HAPPENS IN CLEVELAND….NEVER STAYS IN CLEVELAND
The newest and latest plan to reform the ClevelandMetropolitanSchool District appears to be on a fast track. It must be understood that the leadership of the Cleveland Teachers Union (CTU) has always been and continues to be willing to work through problems in a collaborative manner with the district’s leadership and the mayor. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about the people sitting on the other side of the table.
We should all be deeply concerned and keenly aware of what is unfolding next door. In an earlier publication I referred to elements of Mayor Jackson’s plan as “SB 5 light”. After reviewing some of the specifics of the plan, a more proper characterization would be “SB 5 on steroids”. Here are some of the specific problems with the mayor’s plan that display how it degrades and devalues teachers and will push newer and younger people away from our profession:
·The district is no longer bound to honor continuing contracts (tenure) in terms of layoffs or assigning staff.
·Salary schedules will be restructured and based on level of license, teacher evaluations, highly qualified status, and a teacher’s salary could be adjusted up or down depending on job duties or assignments.
·The process for dismissing a teacher will be streamlined, regardless of tenure, and teachers who receive evaluation ratings of “developing” or “ineffective” could be assigned to be a daily substitute unless the principal agrees to reassign that teacher.
·A teacher who has tenure and is rated ineffective for two consecutive years will have tenure revoked and will be placed on a limited contract.
·A “fresh start” contract will be enforced, which means that all contractual rights and benefits that have been negotiated in past agreements will disappear.
·The district’s CEO will have the authority to suspend teaching contracts and adjust the length of the school year or day regardless of the terms and conditions spelled out in the contract.
There are some provisions of the plan supported by the CTU such as an expansion of high quality pre-school programs and more accountability for district charter schools. Nonetheless, the plan is replete with “blame the teacher” provisions and offers nothing to improve the quality of education for children. In addition, the plan came about as a closed-door deal cut by corporations and big foundations that have veered from philanthropy to policy making. Their interests are not about what’s best for children, teachers, and public schools.
In 1996 the Cleveland Scholarship Program was started which provided a limited number of private school vouchers to parents. Fast forward to today and we have 30,000 vouchers offered statewide for this school year which will increase to 60,000 for 2012-2013 and legislation to expand vouchers even further is pending in General Assembly. In addition, the for-profit underperforming charter schools first infested Cleveland and other Ohio large urban districts. The point here is that other districts could be subject to a Cleveland-style “transformation” if we are not vigilant and strongly supportive of our Cleveland sisters and brothers. According to today’s Columbus Dispatch “Gov. John Kasich is praying and begging for support for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson’s plan to overhaul the city’s schools, saying it’s a model that could be used in urban districts across Ohio”.
The old union adage “An injury to one is an injury to all” could not be more apropos.
In Union,
Tom Schmida, President