Yet more workload????

More time on paperwork=less time with students. It's really that simple, and if our priority is students achievement, it has to be taken to heart. Thus when there is mention of offloading central office tasks on individual members regarding professional development, tracking PDPs, and maintaining the district's obligations on teacher training to individual educators, one wonders "in place of what?" There is much to be said about allowing each educator greater control over their professional development, but adding yet another initiative, website, and forms to educators' workload is going to hurt student achievement. More time on paperwork = less time helping students. I look forward to hearing what the district is planning to take off educators' workload to achieve this, otherwise this constitutes an attempt to change working conditions without negotiation. Paperwork cannot shove its way in front of pupils for educators' attention.

My guiding principle on evaluations

I think we'd all known for quite some time that there were going to be a lot of questions this time of year regarding evaluations as the process completed for the year. The Commonwealth rushed through a new system before they'd thought it out, much less written it out. They're still doing that regarding "district-determined measures" meant to supplement the MCAS as a purported measure of educator impact -- a lassitude that would be unacceptable in a classroom but somehow okay coming from an education bureaucrat. Regardless, the system was new to everyone, from setting goals to writing up observations. Then a software package was layered on, all as the system is implementation spread across several buildings. Let's be clear: any chaotic, wobbly implementation is going to discover and create mistakes. That's foreseeable and understandable. Hundreds of people working together in good faith are still going to stumble badly under such circumstances. However, my guiding principle as president of the WEA is that these mistakes should not cost any person their job security, nor should an error of omission or commission bring into question the integrity and skill of an accomplished educator. This is not to question all negative evaluation results, but to set the highest standard for the way they are reached. If you have any question or concern, even the vaguest one, please contact a building rep or WEA officer including me. If a mistake costs you this year, your colleague may be affected the next. Speak up, and you will find help.

Health insurance rates

A word to clarify the recent email from the district about health insurance rates. The second column (100%) is the cost to the town of each plan, the third column (30%), is the total that all Wareham employees will pay for that year. The further columns divide that amount by differing numbers of paychecks. Those WEA members receiving a paycheck every other week, which is nearly all, would pay anywhere from $88.48 up per paycheck, depending on the plan. The full text of the signed agreement will be on the website by 5/13/13.

Deadline delay

Colleagues, You may have noticed a slight change in the WEA calendar. That is because of the revent weekend outage in TeachPoint. To ensure that summative reports for those on one-year plans reach the required standard of accuracy, rigor, and reliability, the deadline has been pushed from May 15 to May 20. This was upon a vote by the WEA Board of Directors.

Our next superintendent

In all likelihood, I met Wareham's next superintendent today. However, I also met four others who want that job and won't be offered the post. The afternoon was a valuable one, and a reminder of the range of people working for the best for Wareham's schools in the community. While the parents, business and non-profit leaders, staff, administration and town government officials don't all agree on how to get to success, or what "success" even looks like, it needs to be remembered that we're all on the same side. It is also a good opportunity to remember that there are so many routes -- and the different choices before the school committee are as much among different ways to envision and judge success as among different candidates for the post. The process of selecting a superintendent has changed even since it began earlier this year. The candidate slate wasn't too predictable, but neither are Wareham's challenges. It's not easy to pick the right person for the moment and the future. It's not easy to separate the right answers in an interview from the right person for a post. Here's hoping the school committee makes the right choice to find the best fit for the schools of Wareham, and everyone who is working for their success.

Upcoming RIF notices

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not sure I remember a spring that did not come with reduction in force (RIF) notices due to budget cuts in Wareham. This spring is no different. Below is a short explanation of why those notices are coming, and what is going to happen. This past Monday, Town Meeting voted to delay resolving next year's budget until June 18. At this point, the school committee is looking to spend $700,000 more than the town of Wareham is ready to give it. This move allows for further negotiations to close that gap. However, contracts between the Wareham Public Schools and the Wareham Education Association require that "whenever possible" notice of layoff be given by May 15. In practice, that means that the district provides laayoff notices on assumption of the worst-case scenario. In this case, that scenario would be that the schools cut the full $1.7 million the Town of Wareham required. During an earlier budget workshop, the principals of the elementary and middle schools gave specific plans for how they would implement these further cuts, and which positions would be cut. The high school principal did not. For details about your specific school, the video may prove useful. These RIF notices can be expected to implement the plans given at that workshop. Three final notes: -The Unit A contract is specific about the use of seniority in these cases. If a member's position is cut, s/he may have the right to "bump" another, more junior member out of a position for which s/he is qualified by dint of longer service to Wareham. This can result in a chain reaction of building transfers. This is why the seniority list is so important. -The schools plan for the worst, but that does not mean the worst shall happen. In several cases, recalls have gone out over the summer or just before the school year. If town meeting in June passes a budget in alignment with what the school committee has written, then the lion's share of those RIF notices would be reversed. -It is the intention of the WEA to meet with WPS administration to ensure the notices that go out conform with the contract to avoid the need for grievances after the fact. Updates will follow.

Apologies...

I've not done the best job keeping up the blog, getting into the habit of posting updates on WEA's Facebook page. However, many members do not have Facebook accounts. With that in mind, some updates are in order here:

• An agreement in principle on insurance has been reached; details are available on the website.
• The deadline for year-end observations -- summative evaluations for those on one-year plans and formative evaluations for those on two-year plans in less than a month away. Please email the WEA with any irregularities or concerns with the evaluation process as it has affected you.
• The Unit C negotiations process will begin at the outset of May.

That's about it for the moment...but more will surely follow. Have a great vacation...