This post could turn into a lot of rambling, so I'll just apologize now. I'm interested in the opinions of the teachers out there on this matter. First of all, our school district is in financial trouble, and has been for some time. I believe currently the number is a $2.4 million deficit. That has created two problems that just result in a stalemate, in my opinion. First of all, people in Peoria are generally not happy with the District. We pay VERY high property taxes, most of which goes to the school, and we really don't have anything great to show for it. We don't have stellar schools, and we have many "inner city" schools that are well below the national average. We have old buildings, without air conditioning, the PTO has to raise money for playground equipment, etc. So there is a lack of trust in anything the District does, perhaps rightfully so. I myself get very frustrated each time we have to pay our property taxes. However, the District and the Board of Education are making efforts to make improvements. I see them trying to come up with ideas. Of course, anyone familiar at all with public education knows what an uphill battle that is. I feel like we end up with a District that proposes ideas, and the public which criticizes anything the District proposes. How is anything supposed to get done?!?
The most recent idea is to shorten the student school day by 45minutes, giving the teachers a collaborative prep period at the beginning of the day. This will result in reducing the specialty classes offered throughout the day. Last night there was a meeting at the Elementary School to to learn more about the idea. At least, that's the way I looked at the meeting, an opportunity to learn more about the proposal. I sat and listened to a very reasonable explanation by the principal. One that talked about more flexibility in teaching, longer periods of uninterrupted class time (90 minute uninterrupted time for reading instruction, 60 minutes for math instruction), and teachers working together during the morning prep time to fill the needs of each child (for example is there a 1st grader that needs to go 2nd grade for Math, or a 4th grader that needs to go to 3rd grade once a week for reading?). It was an idealistic proposal, but one that I saw merit in. Each Elementary school would still have 2 full time specialty teachers, which could also be filled with one full time and two part time teachers. The new flexibility would present the opportunity for the full time teacher to work closer with the specials teachers to join subjects- having a PE class that joins or supplements a reading unit, for example. Ok, I'm starting to ramble. Two school board administrators (asst. superintendents, I think) then stood up with more explanation and then took questions from the group. Let me tell you, it resembled a witch hunt. The parents might as well have had torches and pitchforks. I was disappointed. I couldn't help myself, I stood and made a comment. One woman was making a sweeping generalization, saying that everyone there had come because they were opposed to the idea, and they should take that back to the board and let them know how many parents were against it. I stood and said something like "That is a misrepresentation. I came tonight with an open mind to learn more about this proposal. I don't know if I agree with the idea yet or not, but I would invite all of you here to broaden your thinking, because if what has been presented can really be accomplished, I would argue that 45 minutes less each day would not result in worse education for your child, but a better one." Let's just say I don't think I made any friends of my fellow parents at Kellar School.
The thing is, I don't want less specialty classes for my kids. Does that mean no more orchestra? What about the amazing music program currently at Kellar? But, I'm willing to listen to an idea, and I get so fed up with close minded individuals who REFUSE to look at anything that would mean a change. Obviously, with a $2.4 million deficit, there needs to be change somewhere. Oh, one other little gem. You might ask why not lengthen the day, have the teachers come in early for their collaborative prep time? Can't be done thanks to the lovely thing known as the Teacher's Union. The teacher's hours are dictated by the contract with the union. I think there is hope that the contract could be renegotiated, but that would take awhile, so this would have to be piloted with the shortened day. It's irritating to me because many parents just see it as 45 minutes more in the day that they have to deal with their children. I say, if they can get the same or better education in a shorter amount of time, I'm all for it. If they can't, then that's a different story.
5 comments:
Unfortunately I think a culture of complaining and close-mindedness is rampant these days. I'm not saying the ideas proposed were the best (although I'm not sure I fully understand what they're proposing without knowing more details), but I agree that people need to approach change with an open mind.
I'm curious, how is shortening the school day supposed to save the district money? Would it cut the costs of specialty teachers b/c of fewer specials?
I also think that allowing teachers common planning time is truly invaluable, especially at the elementary level. Ironically, with my experience it seemed the elementary teachers were the ones that did not get common planning time. It sounds like they've got some very innovative ideas. I would hate to see specials suffer as a result, but research shows that uniterrupted literacy and math instruction are very successful.
Finally, from the standpoint of a teacher that currently belongs to a teacher's union (until my business leave expires), while I understand that teacher's unions can frequently be perceived as getting in the way of things, for the sake of really good teachers, it is important that their rights are protected as well. I think teacher's unions CAN be a lot more flexible than people give them credit for being too. How often are teacher's contracts renegotiated in your area?
I'm glad that you were brave enough to say something to support your view. I think that with a deficit of more than $2 million, there's no way the district is going to make everyone happy as they work to get back into the "black".
Yes, the savings would come in fewer specialty teachers. Also, a smaller amount of the savings comes from the amount they currently have to pay a teacher if he /she does not get a prep during the day. For example, if they are unable to get a sub for a specials class. Currently, if a teacher misses a prep, the district must pay an additional $26 for that day to the teacher. I hate to see specials suffer too, but if I'm understanding everything correctly, it may just mean 30 minutes at the specials rather than 45 min. Or, for example right now Sceince is a special at Kellar. So, it means science has to be taught by the classroom teacher. That's not so bad is it? Especially when science can be integrated into so many other subjects (reading, math, etc.). I'm still trying to understand what it really boils down to.
Good for you for standing up for yourself. My district also had a major debt to pay off. The nice thing for me is that I wasn't affect much. Their solution is to get rid of their retirement benefits--bad for teachers who had been there a long time. Apparently is was a VERY GOOD retirement plan, and they couldn't pay the teachers. They have also slowly increased what the teachers pay in insurance costs.
I still don't really understand how they are going to save much money with a shorter school day. At our school, we have 4 specialty teachers--pe, art, music and library. They are all classified, except for the music teacher who is full time. I am grateful that the district didn't try to change a whole lot in the way we looked at the school day. We are always trying to find more teaching time!
As for teaching science, I do that with my kids by integrating as much as possible. It may not be what kids think is "science" but they are still doing a few experiments, writing about a topic, reading about a topic, etc.
There is nothing easy about debt in a school district. Teachers, students and parents are affected. We have survived, so I am sure that whatever is decided in Peoria will be for the best. Just continue to stand up for yourself--which you have done! Interest and involvement from parents is so critical, as well as being informed so you know what you are dealing with! I would love to know what is decided.
That post before, was Tera! Not Kevin--just in case you didn't know! Long story.
Interesting. . . Not sure if they're related or not, but our school district (Nebo) has announced a collaboration period as well, starting next school year. Every Wednesday will be 45 minutes shorter than the rest of the days to allow the teachers to collaborate. If this is the same idea, I don't it's meant for saving money, just for getting the teachers together regularly for a longer period of time to get more collaborating done.
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