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** Peter Tucker will be hosting the full hour tonight. **
Angela Rice taught English for 33 years in DCPS. When Michelle Rhee became Chancellor, the experienced English teacher was told that she was now to teach "Reading." Rather than teach to a test, Angela Rice retired. Despite having worked into 2009, she has been left out of the retroactive pay raises that Chancellor Rhee has implemented. Additionally, she is concerned that teachers have bargained away significant rights in the new teachers' contract and asks what the private interests are getting in return for the unprecedented amount of money they are contributing to the teachers' contract. Of the $64.5 million in private donations, $25 million comes from the Walton Family Foundation. The Waltons are the owners of the anti-union Wal-Mart. Angela Rice laid out her concerns as she protested outside a Washington Teachers Union meeting in downtown DC.
Candi Peterson has been at the forefront of the fight back against Michelle Rhee's so-called "school reform," which began with the closure of 23 public schools more than two years ago. Candi Peterson is a candidate for General Vice President for the Washington Teachers Union and she is concerned about the quality of the upcoming WTU elections. She blogs at The Washington Teacher and she joins us in studio this evening.
20 comments:
It's unclear how Ms. Rice feels about the contract. Is she upset she is left out of the pay raises, or is she upset at the perceived loss of rights? Because a person can't accept the money with one hand while smacking down the contract with the other.
er, I think those private grants were never consummated after N. Gandhi made his objections. The City found its own public funds for the contract. Why are You assuming that the grant awards exist? Very confusing. Please clarify for your loyal fans.
I am moderating this anonymous comment. I very clearly understand the difference between a group 1 teacher and other teachers in the context of IMPACT but not the way it was explained initially so let's stop the little digs right here.I get sick and tired of people who want to post here and try to insult others as that is not the intent of this blog.
I don't think anyone is an expert on every aspect IMPACT, union rep. or not nor am I required to know all of the details of a group that I do not represent. As a WTU Building Rep. I represent RSP's which also includes special ed. teachers.
Perhaps if IMPACT had been piloted and staff had received adequate professional development on it prior to implementation -we would understand it better than we do.
Here's the comment below.
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Anonymous said :
I think it's important for educators to call Jay out every time he says something stupid, which is often.
But I'm even more concerned about the fact that our own union leaders don't understand the difference between Group 1 teachers and other teachers. I think it shows that Rhee has done a good job of divided and conquer.
Moderated Response to Anonymous comment below:
First of all anonymous you are incorrect. Any WTU member who worked during the contract period dating back to 2007 is entitled to the retroactive pay as well as a readjustment in their retirement pay based on the new salary schedule. The WTU under the helm of Mr. Parker does not have the right to exclude union members who worked during the contract period. You cannot accept members monies and then exclude them later because you don't want to pay them for the timeframe in which they worked. This represents an unfair labor practice and goes against past practices of our union. These members who are impacted have a right to sue as well as file an unfair labor practice. You do not know of what you speak.
I encourage you all to listen to why Ms. Rice left DC Schools after 33 years as reported by her on WPFW tonight. Seems like anonymous misinterpreted what Rice said and I encourage my readers to listen to the broadcast for themselves.
Anonymous comment:
Judy is 100% correct. Ms. Rice quit mid year because the name of her class was changed from English to Reading? Fine, but people who quit are not able to get retroactive pay. It might seem unfair, but that is the way the WTU and DCPS work.
er, I think the private grant money has just been moved around, so it's spent before the election.
But er, why don't you check for yourself, instead of floating a comment suggesting Candi is being misleading.
er?
That is not correct! I worked with Ms. Rice for many years and she did not quit in midyear and she never said that she did. She retired at the end of the school year, she is much too dedicated to her students to leave them midyear. She left because she felt that what was being done to the students was an injustice and she no longer wanted to be a part of it. She had the years to retire and she did. Please listen carefully and get your facts correct before you speak!
To Judy at 4:21pm...
What are you talking about??? Both of your statements ascribed to her can be true simultaneously.
She does not have to be "upset" that she is left out of the pay raise. She has a right to expect fair representation for all under the WTU. When the WTu negotiates for one set of its members and not the other, that is a matter for adjudication.
This is a first in our union's history and it sets a bad precedent. The money that was sacrificed on her behalf is going into your pocket. Now if that's not blood money....what is? But hey Judy, all is well. Because when it happens to you, I'll refer you to this comment section on
Candi's blog.
Candi,
I listened to you on WPFW and you did an excellent job. Your advocacy for teachers inspires me to get more involved. I haven't said it before to you but please keep up the great work you are doing with this blog. At my school, teachers are behind you and Nathan Saunders 100 per cent.
Candi, I worked 2007-2008 school year. Am I entitled to retroactive pay? I was told it was only for teachers who are still employed with DCPS. If I am entitled to retroactive pay, how can I claim it?
IMPACT was never piloted as its intent was not to have it gradually eased into DCPS. It was supposed to come in hard and "impact" teachers out. I realized this immediately at the PDs in August at the beginning of this school year, thankfully soon to end. And I vowed to not have it impact me out.
I used to receive outstanding on TAP (I know some of y'all know what I'm talking about) and exceeds on PPEP. I knew that I may not get highly effective on IMPACT in its first year, but that I would not leave DCPS until I was ready.
There are many things on the IMPACT TLF rubric that I didn't used to do in my teaching. Now DCPS explicitly tells us that we are to teach in this prescribed way and I'm changing up a bit of my teaching techniques and doing so.
I don't mind the rubric. I do hate 5 yearly observations, and an ME who seems contemptuous with half my classroom experience. It's over with for this SY and I thank God I did fine. Not excellent, not highly effective, but over 3.
As for group 1, the testing grades, only 20% of the teachers are in this group. The rest, 80% get 10% of our evals based on NVA data, DIBELS, DCBAS and who knows what else for subjects and grades with less data.
I hear that the plan part of IMPACT won't be rolled out next SY, that we'll have another year with TLF.
The grant money does exist. It appears that Rhee and company will give the appearance that the grant money is being used for the first three years of the contract (2007-2010).
Anonymous June 11, 2010 @ 7:06 must be part of the Rhee public relations team. I love how they blog on this site to cause confusion. You guys fell for it too,
Check yourself Candi, its a set up.
Thanks for the reminder Anonymous @ 5:24
I try to clarify for others who read this blog. I really want people to have accurate information.
ANonymous @ 4:58
I am assuming that your retired. If you are really serious about claiming your retro pay, write me off line with a real name, real email and a phone number where you can be reached. My email is saveourcounselors@gmail.com
You were excellent on WPFW.
Integrity, Honesty and Dignity are true words to describe Candi's character.
On behalf of the Professional School Counselors, I salute Candi Peterson for being transparent, concerned and well informed in using her divine purposes to communicate effectively with all DCPS stakeholders. Candi's interview was superb!
Candi, you were informative, effective, and highly qualified. You get a 4! Thank you for caring about teachers, students, and parents of DCPS.
Enjoyed your radio show, Candi.
I think the 5:24p June 12 person and that slightly testy 4:31a June 12 person may have missed the point of the 7:06p June 11 question inquiring about the grant fund proposals to help support the contract.
I think the grants were never approved by the foundations because the requests for them were withdrawn by DCPS after Mr. Gandhi objected to them from a funds availability point of view in the out-years. I think that is what the person was asking Candi to confirm. It is clear that the city funded the contract entirely; that was the only way to satisfy Mr. G.
It is beyond me why merely asking the question was treated so oddly by the 4:31a person. Maybe she/he knows something that needs to be shared, but isn't.
Anonymous 1 34 the private foundation money will be part of the DC teachers contract. You should check your facts. Also money will be moved around to fund this contract.
It's hard for me to believe that educated people, like us, are having such a hard time following this three card monty game.
People, the grant money is still coming to DCPS with the provisions in it which suggest "if there is a material change in dCPS", they will have the right to take their grant money back.
Ghandi just needed Rhee to show him on paper how they would pay for the contract using public dollars. He has always said that once the grant money comes in, the public dollars can be moved around--back to the programs from which it was pulled...
What is so hard to understand about that? The Grant provisions still exist. You must keep rhee in order to keep the grant money!
No matter how much you might want to console yourself, that is what, in essence, you voted for with this contract......
So, live with it!
Great that the grant money can displace taxpayer funds. Just saves us money. No worries.
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