Keep Seattle informed:
A leg primer
| Sept. 16, 7-9 p.m.
at JSCEE, 3rd and
Lander, room 2776
(2445 3rd Ave S,
Seattle) | |
This is a primer on
the issues up for vote
at Wash State PTA's
leg assembly; a
chance to gain insight
into the legislative
process; and a
chance to network
with other advocates.
If you want to speak
up with a powerful
voice, you should
attend.
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DON'T MISS:
Wash State PTA
Legislative Assembly,
Oct. 8-9 at the
SeaTac Marriott
Hotel.
Make sure your
PTA/PTSA's priorities
make it into Wash
State PTA's 2-year
platform. Send a
delegate.
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Support you
need, right
here in town
| FALL LEADERSHIP
TRAINING:
Sept. 25,
9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
at JSCEE (that's
district HQ). |
New officer? You should be there. - PTA AND
THE LAW,
Oct. 12, 6-9 p.m. also at district
headquarters. There are no PTA police, but you really should have at least 2 officers with this training. It gives you the information you need to stay in compliance with federal and state nonprofit law. - SCPTSA is part
of Region 6
in the Wash State PTA. Here's a messge from your Region 6 director (and Ingraham HS mom), Leanne Hawkins. - - |
Who gets
this eNews?
| Subscribe
|
- I send this to all PTA/PTSA officers I have an email address for. - I also send to other community leaders we work with, school administrators and anyone else who wants to subscribe. - Want a copy? Just send me a note at info@
seattlecouncilptsa.org- YES!
Please share: Forward info or cut and paste into your own newsletters as needed. - - |
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TEACHERS SET TO VOTE 9/2
USE OF STUDENT DATA A STICKING POINT IN CONTRACT
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Both Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association have proposals on the table dealing with professional growth and evaluation.
Both would move the district to a 4-tier evaluation system that has been jointly developed (and piloted) by the district and teachers union. (Washington State requires such a system to be in place by 2013-14.)
The two sides differ over SERVE, an additional proposal from SPS that adds the following: - Multiple measures of teacher performance would be used in evaluations, including two years of student data, whole-school growth, a principal's observations of instructional practice, and feedback from peers. (At the high school level, feedback also from students.) The student data would be pulled from measurements selected by the teachers as well as student scores on multiple district-wide assessments
- Targeted training would be tied to the evaluation process
- Incentives and career-ladder opportunities would build on the current compensation plan (with salary and benefits, these currently range from $59,112 to $105,833 and are regionally competitive)
- If layoffs are necessary, they would be based on both seniority and teacher performance
SERVE would be voluntary for all current certificated staff members and would be phased in over several years. It's key difference from the piloted system is the use of quantitative student data, as well as surveys, in teacher evaluations.
YES. FUNDS WILL BE NEEDED: To cover costs, SPS will apply for federal Teacher Improvement Funds and ask voters to approve a supplemental levy. (The levy money goes into the general fund. SPS taps that fund to pay for all non-capital costs, this would include professional development costs and salary incentives). The proposals do not list the amount of additional funds needed.
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What SEA has to say:
SEA prefers to stick to the Professional Growth and Evaluation system that they jointly developed with the district and that is already in the pipeline (pending contractual agreement). - It evaluates teachers in four areas, or domains: Planning and preparation, classroom environment, instructional skill and professional responsibility.
- Culturally relevant practices are integrated into each domain and clear indicators of acceptable performance are set
- It establishes a 4-level rating system -- innovative; proficient, basic and unsatisfactory -- to be used with each domain
- It focuses on teacher goal setting around student achievement
- It provides for improvement plans and a support system, as well as participation in collaborative professional development groups.
- Newer educators would be observed more and have more conferences with administrators.
- Any teacher not in the top two levels in any domain would be placed on a plan of support
- It relies on observation of teachers; it uses student data only in goal setting
This plan does not tie student growth data to evaluations; it also does not use student or peer surveys.
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What SCPTSA has to say:
During negotiations our board's goal is to help members understand the issues and process so they can get involved or assist others. We have not endorsed either proposal.
Last winter, via the Community Value Statement, we made recommendations that we felt would help ensure every school is led by an effective principal and every classroom led by an effective teacher: - Define principal and teacher effectiveness using clear criteria and benchmarks.
- Evaluate principals and teachers using multiple measures that include student performance.
- Identify ineffective principals and teachers. If benchmarks are not met after appropriate support, develop a timely exit plan.
- Consider teacher effectiveness and cohesiveness of school teams, in addition to seniority, when hiring or reducing staff.
We also made recommendations that we felt would help ensure all students have equitable opportunities and all families have the opportunity to engage with educators. Two key points:
Students need time with their teachers. Parents need information about their students (progress, coursework, etc.) so they can best support them. Some parents continue to have problems accessing information about course work, grades and general school information.
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CONCERN WITH COLLABORATION TIME:
On behalf of SCPTSA board members I have expressed concern to the school board and superintendent about the addition of 14 two-hour blocks of non-instructional time. The concept of the time isn't an issue. The concern is how it will be accommodated. It is not certain the budget will cover additional staff time, which means the time blocks would have to be worked into the current schedule. Seattle has one of the shortest instructional years in the nation and our current schedule of professional development days, vacation days and early dismissal days is somewhat disruptive to student learning. Our kids need to be in class more not less, and staff schedules can't shortchange student needs.
We're concerned about the potential for more disruption, especially to elementary and special needs children. We're not convinced an influx of partial days is viable, and we have not seen a cost breakdown for any of the proposed contractual changes. Improvements need to be sustainable.
Alternatively, if these time blocks open the door to adding enrichment time and lengthening the student day, then it could be a win all around and well worth an additional investment in our children and teachers.
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The negotiation process:
Negotiating teams from the union and district continue to meet. You can send comments to the school board or the superintendent. They are not on the bargaining team, but they can share feedback with the team.
NOTE: Director DeBell has recused himself from the process with SEA (his wife is a nurse with SPS). Director Patu has recused herself from matters involving the office professionals' contract (similar conflict).
The teachers will vote on the contract Sept. 2. After the negotiating teams reach agreement and the union signs off, the school board directors must also sign off.
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Additional reading material:
NCTQ'S NEW ANALYSIS
Last fall, the National Council of Teacher Quality assessed the current teacher contract and made recommendations. That group -- an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. -- has now done a comparison of current proposals, using their recommendations as a filter.
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IN THE NEWS:
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Editor's note: The great news in all this is that SPS and SEA have already put so much thought into a new evaluation system and Seattle is ahead of the rest of the state.
Sincerely,
Ramona Hattendorf
Seattle Council PTSA president
Please share: This has NOT gone out to all members (I try to keep those emails to a minimum). It went to board members I have addresses for.
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