Calendar and testing survey

A reminder that a survey on standardized testing has been sent to WEA members.  Please complete it by Friday, March 13 for it to be included in the data.  The goal is to have 10,000 educators offer their ideas and information statewide.

Members should have received surveys about making up school days lost due to weather.  This survey does not represent a contract; stating that it would be possible to work on a given day is not equal to a promise.  We look forward to seeing the aggregate responses so that the Association can represent its members when negotiating any changes to the 2014-15 calendar.

Seniority list

A reminder to members that February is seniority month (in a way).  The draft Unit A seniority list is posted on the WEA website.  Please check it, and submit any challenges in an email to Dr. Shaver-Hood and President Brian Fitzgerald by March 2.  Exact criteria about determination of seniority is located in the Unit A contract, also available online.  Paper copies of the contract have been printed and will be distributed this month, if it ever stops snowing long enough.

Vacations in 2015

To answer many recent queries about the current 2014-15 WPS schedule: there is still room in the calendar for three additional snow days before any consideration must be made to go outside the passed schedule.  Should even that total be surpassed, the WEA will continue to advocate for all of the Wareham Public Schools community that set their plans on the understanding that the schedule would be faithfully followed.  As of now, there is no serious concern about canceling planned vacations.

How to lose your license...

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is floating new proposals about licensing and renewal.  Their private contractors have produced options that would tie the ability of an educator to teach anywhere in Massachusetts to test scores, evaluation, or student surveys.  If this sound like a good idea to you, do nothing.  If you want to join the fight for sanity in our profession, please contact WEA leadership.

Tentative agreement ratified

With a clear turnout, a strong majority of Unit A members voted to accept the Tentative Agreement as the new Unit A contract.  Upon School Committee ratification, that agreement will enter force.  The text of the new contract will be published as soon as possible in the appropriate section.

Many thanks to the negotiations team for the incredible work they did to arrive at a fair offer.

Ask yourself...

My colleagues,

This May 15, as has happened  over the past few years, evaluations came due, and in the past 48 hours I've heard of many cases in many buildings where evaluations were simply not done according to the contract.  I encourage all members to look at their evaluation and ask themselves these questions:

• Was I observed ten times?  If you were observed less than that, the evaluation process was not followed correctly.
• Was each piece of evidence used only once in my year-end evaluation?  If the same piece of evidence, opinion, observation, etc., was applied to different indicators, the evaluation process was not followed correctly.
• Was hearsay used?  What a child, colleague, or parent reported to an evaluator is not admissible for evidence.  If such rumor or innuendo is used, the evaluation process was not followed correctly.
• Was the rubric the only piece used?  Evaluators cannot invent criteria for evaluation beyond the rubrics that are available.  If they did, the evaluation process was not followed correctly.
• Was my overall rating impacted by whether I followed my goals?  We are educators, not goal-setters.  Our expertise is in educating children, not guessing what a fair benchmark would be before we even receive our schedules.  Relying on goals to make an overall decision means your evaluator did not follow the process correctly.
• Did I receive feedback on my observations?  If observations did not result in feedback, the whole intent to use this as a coaching tool is lacking.  If your evaluator did not complete that vital step, the evaluation process was not followed correctly.

 If you answered yes to any of these questions, please contact me at

This is a complex system, and mistakes will be made -- but getting this system right is critical.  An educator's career should not be threatened by another's error. If you have any questions whether the evaluation system was used correctly, contact a WEA officer, or contact me directly.  This is too important to let mistakes slide.

Seniority, early retirement, and more

I apologize for the rare updates recently.  Communications work has gone into updates via the monthly Beacon and the WEA's Facebook page.  Below are some updates that have gone out on those media recently:

• An updated Unit A seniority list should be out next week.  Members are advised to look carefully as the new list includes the correction of typos, errors of calculation, elimination of non-contractual categories, and other errata that have accumulated over the past several years.  The Unit C list will be addressed shortly.
• Pleased to announce that the Unit C membership ratified the tentative agreement (already ratified by the School Committee) unanimously.  The new contract will be distributed and one the website as soon as possible.
• The early retirement incentive announced today is missing some essential specifics (perhaps because it was never mentioned to the Association for necessary feedback and clarification). Association leadership is seeking some of these necessary facts so that people can make an informed decision on something that they can know is contractual.