Breaking NewsAn inside source reports that DCPS principals were advised recently in a principals meeting that the Rhee administration plans to hire 600 new teachers for school year 2010-2011. On May 14, 2010, Chancellor Rhee appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi radio show with hosts Tom Sherwood and Mike Debonis . At that time Rhee indicated that up to as many as 400 teachers would be hired in the fall. So it seems this number has risen if we look at what was reported in a meeting with DC principals. It is not coincidental that George Parker, WTU president indicated back in March 2010 before WTU Representative Assembly members in a meeting that Rhee planned to fire 15% of WTU members through the IMPACT evaluation process in July 2010 . Roughly 15% of WTU membership equals 600 teachers/school personnel. That would mean that 600 teachers could be expected to be fired this summer. The million dollar question is how did Rhee know in March that she planned to fire 15% of our teachers through the IMPACT evaluation given that the process has yet to be completed ? Will the 600 teachers fired through IMPACT be replaced by the 600 new hires? These are questions we should all consider.
On another interesting note, many of our schools will face cuts to teaching staff by the end of June 2010. So far Cardozo SHS and McKinley SHS have been advised to expect teacher cuts in every department for the upcoming school year as well as cuts to other DCPS employees. This could represent as many as 15 teachers to be cut from both of these high schools. Other cuts which have been reported to date include 5 teachers to be cut from Luke C. Moore Academy. Please check with your Local School Restructuring Teams (LSRT's) to determine how many cuts to expect from your schools. Feel free to send me reductions to staff c/o saveourcounselors@gmail.com
Should teachers ratify the WTU Tentative Agreement, many of the teachers who will be excessed from their schools may be terminated within two months if they are probationary status. If not, they would be forced to consider some unpleasant options: buy-out if monies are available, forced into early retirement if eligible and monies are available and or have the option of a 1 year extension to continue to work as a tutor or long term substitute assuming they have a satisfactory performance rating or better. As most of you know Rhee's five year education plan seeks to rid our schools of a significant share of our teacher workforce through buy-outs, terminations, forced retirements and lay offs. Worst possible scenario, DCPS employees could face another reduction in force for the upcoming school year 2010-2011.
Inquiring minds want to know how Rhee is allowed to continue spending willy nilly without regard to the 528 million dollar budget that DC government currently faces. To date, Rhee has not been required to place a freeze on hiring and spending practices. While CFO Gandhi and Chancellor Rhee have proposed to rob Peter to pay Paul in our DCPS budget in order to fund the WTU Tentative Agreement, it seems that one thing we can be assured of more teacher and staff cuts are on the horizon.
Posted by The Washington Teacher
22 comments:
So someone says that Rhee says she might hire 600 teachers, and Parker says she plans to fire 15% of teachers. Hearsay and the word of George Parker don't mean much to me, and a numerical coincidence doesn't mean forethought and planning.
Look, I'm aghast at some of our Chancellor's practices, but I also think that jumping to conclusions without any real evidence is a poor idea. If nothing else, it reduces our very real criticisms.
When some union members invent conspiracy theories, or twist innocent comments to make the Chancellor look crazy, it makes us all look like harpies. There's plenty to be pissed about without inventing problems.
Peter
In case you are not aware, this blog often leads stories for the Washington Post, the Examiner, City Paper and DC Schools Insider. Check the history and its accuracy you will see that Candi has real inside informants who are not conspiracy theorists but reporting real live facts about what is happening on the inside. We don't have to invent problems in Rhee-land.
I know what I am talking about because I am inside informant. Here's to you Washington Teacher.
I am going to reserve judgment until we start seeing something more concrete. I believe in the 400-600 hires for next year, but I am much less clear on the reason for them. I know at my school from last year, a good 50 teachers (about 50%) have already turned in notice that they are leaving. How many other schools have numbers anywhere close? I think a lot of teachers who think they can find greener pastures are going to do so.
I have no doubt that like last year, there will be biased terminations as I was one myself. But I do not believe that it is going to be 400-600 teachers.
Now it is a big problem if the RIF'd teachers are not offered the first stab at these positions. Someone should also look and see what the contract to TFA and DCTF says that DCPS has to take in for next year. I think that is a big driver behind some things that we do not really look at.
Right, Anon, 8:11 - you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist - just look at past behavior and the facts.
As conspiracy theories go, however, I suspect that people who would say, "Look, I'm aghast at some of our Chancellors practices" are Rhee staffers trying to sound like reasonable people to discourage teachers from coming to logical conclusions.
scinerd...Generally DCTF is about 100 new hires spread through elementary and secondary...It would be interesting to see if those numbers were considered in the 400-600.
If you get run over by zebras, hit by a train or suffocate in ant piss you are just as dead and in the world of work you are just as fired. I am amazed when teachers refuse to see reality. Possibly this is why we are in such as a sorry state. Thank God for this blog and the courageous people who write and post here. It has been my one solid source of sanity in a community which appears to be constantly trying to consume me. 400 or 600 new or fired teachers is not the issue really! The real issue is we have no job security and good teachers are being fired because they are no longer popular or in style. If you are a good teacher and you loss your job you will not be one of the 400 or the 600 positions you will be 100% unemployed. That is no conspiracy theory.
By the way, the stuff here is amazingly accurate for the record. We should not be like the guy on the 14th St. bridge who got decapitated because he say the plane coming and did not duck.
That's a lot of resignations and/or retirements from Columbia Heights or Wilson HS (or both.)
Are there independent reports on improvement-in-practice of the IMPACT auditors during the course of the year? Teachers are in a position to know whether the master teachers got better at their job, and whether their work improved the work of school administrators . Or, to the contrary that they caused admins with a vendetta to mark even more severely in efforts to drive selected teachers out.
Back to the conversation at hand. If you are experiencing any cuts at your local schools due to the budget, please feel free to post. I am interested in getting an idea of how many teachers and school personnel will be excessed this year.
Candi
Lying George Parker is responding to your blog again. He sent out another email today to union members about The Washington Teacher blog. All he knows how to do is react instead of running the union. It is time for him to go big time. I can't wait to vote him out.
We'll see who's lying (Candi or Parker) when the termination letters start coming in June. Since 2008, so many teachers have been terminated under Parker's watch and he hasn't done a thing to help them. Let's see: 250 teachers were allegedly terminated in June 2008, 250 allegedly terminated in June 2009, 266 RIFd in October 2009... am I right, Candi? If those numbers are correct, that is 766 teachers(possibly more) who have been terminated in less than 2 years!!!!!! THAT IS UNHEARD OF, in any school system! And there are supposed to be more terminations to come! Parker should spend less time responding to these blogs, and more time trying to stop all of these terminations.
SY 09-10 Budget Facts:
Rhee hired 1,698 new employees from March to September 2009.
Rhee manufactured a Reduction-in-Force on October 2, 2009 and laid off 388 teachers and staff.
Rhee hired 513 new employees after the manufactured Reduction-in-Force 2009.
Rhee finds $34M
Rhee overspends $30M in Central Administration
Rhee finds $29M
One can imagine how many teachers will be fired due to "IMPACT" and how many new employees will be hired "DC Teacher Fellows Program."
Special Note: No step increases for DC Government employees said Adrian Fenty.
How will the WTU Tentative Agreement be funded?
"BLOOD MONEY" on the backs of more teachers/staff who will receive a pink slip in 2010.
You get the picture. Rhee's Reform overspending, overhiring and firing.
Who is next to be cut?
Vote "NO" to the WTU T.A.
Well this is what I know to be a fact. In front of the City Council Tommy Wells asked Michelle Rhee if she planned to fire teachers this summer using IMPACT and her response was YES with no hesitation. He asked her what was the criteria that she was using as far as a point system. She said that they had not decided that yet but that they did plan to fire "ineffective" teachers this summer. So you all can believe George if you want to but like anon said wait until the pink slips start coming out and if you don't believe what I am telling you then go watch the hearing on the city council website.
Also in this new contract PARTNER schools can have their school year and or extended WITHOUT COMPENSATION
"Wake up everybody no more sleeping in bed!" If you vote for the TA, you won't have a home to put your bed! You will lose your job and become homeless! Remember no other jurisdiction is hiring!
Also, reread 40.2 no one has to give a dime to fund the contract! Rhee is the only one with job security! LOL! Be a fool if you want! There’s no money for this TA!
Teachers, parents, and any caring people that do not live in DC, but supports DCPS teachers, please use your money, talent, and time to oust Adrian Fenty. I met this loser, Fenty, yesterday. This is one of the scariest people I have ever met. This man lacks good-sound judgement. He needs to be unseated as soon as possible. I'm telling you, please support Vince Gray for mayor. Also, the DC city council is considering furlough days and no step-increases for the upcoming fiscal year.
So, things are not much better there than they are in California? I dunno. Crazy times to be a public school teacher, that's for sure.
So teachers will be fired due to IMPACT scores. What ever happened to having a support system in place like the PPEP had? So much for GP's hopeful- "I want this to be a pilot year". What other system fires teachers without any support or remediation. My scores are horrible, due to being observed in four classes with SE students. Some were ED and others LD. Too bad there wasn't a regular Inclusion teacher to help and the 2 classes had more SE students than regular ed students. I can supplement my unemployment with money from my testimony and court appearances.Aside from my loss, I can't help but think of my students and their loss. They got screwed out of an education. Talk about the IMPACT on them.
It seems to me that Rhee is going to RIF whether we sign the contract or not. She is going to RIF whether scores go up or down. She is going to fire the teachers that she deems "ineffective" NO MATTER WHAT. Besides the fact that the money for the raises may not be there (or may only be there because of a RIF), is there anything else seriously wrong with the contract? I know this sounds crazy, but if we are going to be RIFed no matter what, maybe we should just take the "money" (in quotes because of my disbelief that it is really there) and run? Does anyone else think this/feel this or is just me? And just to be clear, by "run", I mean work in DCPS as long as I can until I get the axe for no good reason...
--Frustrated Anonymous
@ Anon 6:22 your thought process scares me!!
I am going to get fired anyway so let me take the blood money WOW!!
Is there anything else wrong with the contract you must not have read it. The fact that your paycheck is not guaranteed should be enough I know it is for me.
I think frustrated anonymous is thinking just like a lot of teachers, but for lots of different reasons. For some it's because they simply believe that they deserve more money. Some believe that they are too good to be RIFed. Others believe that the RIFed teachers got what they deserved. And, some, like frustrated seem to believe it is going to be passed anyway. I'm sure the administration is banking on greed and the terrible economy.
However, remember you have a job when so many don't. Stick to your principles and don't accept nothing less than an appropriate and reasonable contract.
As an aside, Columbia Heights has staff turn over every year, but it's such a 'good' school and Tukeva is so 'incredible', that no one questions it. I wonder what kind of creepy stuff is going on over there.
"However, remember you have a job when so many don't. Stick to your principles and don't accept nothing less than an appropriate and reasonable contract. "
After getting past the bad double negative grammar, this is the faultiest logic I have seen in a long time.
Yeah let's hold out. Great idea...
We have ZERO bargaining power. What are we gonna do strike? That would be a good idea because, you know, the unemployment rate in this country isn't 10%. There aren't tons of college graduates out of work who could replace us and continue DCPS' stellar achievement record. (That is sarcasm by the way).
Yeah, lets keep this contract, with all our job security. You know, the one that let 200+ teachers get fired in October. That was only 5% of the union. 95% of us still have jobs. That's like an A. (That was more sarcasm)
Rhee will do what she wants and we can't do nothing, correction... ANYTHING.
Might as well get paid before being fired
Seriously,
You are seriously sick......What about the other provisions in the TA (other than the almighty dollar) like the changes in the lesson plan requirements?
Believe me, with Rhee hiring 400-600 new teachers during the summer, you might not be around to get the money (other than the retro of course)....Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
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