WTU Protests the Washington Post

Written By Candi Peterson

Approximately 300 teachers, school personnel, city workers, union and community members protested outside The Washington Post building on Friday, April 15. This day was selected because it coincided with a day-off furlough for DCPS employees and DC government workers. The protest was organized by the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) against the Post due to their biased reporting that consistently vilifies teachers and fails to include more balanced reporting of the obstacles teachers face in a mostly urban school district. According to WTU President, Nathan Saunders, "You've got to understand that the Washington Post has been vicious against, not just teachers unions, but the Washington Teachers' Union in particular, for the last three or four years. And everything that the former chancellor, Michelle Rhee, has done in the District, they have embraced wholeheartedly at the expense of working teachers."

Urban Teacher blogger and a former DC teacher questioned, "Why is the Post such an awful place for citizens to get information about what's really going on with education in the District?" We also have to wonder, why did it take USA Today newspaper's investigative journalists, Jack Gillum and Marisol Bello to cover the story: "When Standardized Test Scores Soared in DC Were the Gains Real?" This story appeared in USA Today's newspaper on March 11, 2011 and found that cheating likely occurred during the Rhee/Henderson administration during 2008-2010. It begs the question where was the Washington Post?
Another reason for Friday's protest was to call attention to the Washington Post's relationship with Kaplan Higher Education which accounts for the majority of the Post's revenues which comes from standardized testing. It is the position of the WTU, that the Post fails to adequately cover education reform from all vantage points, fails to print letters to the editor from education stakeholders, colors their editorial viewpoint and heaped undeserving praise on former Chancellor Michelle Rhee during her term as Chancellor, despite her many transgressions.

Teachers and protesters carried signs that read: "Cancel your Washington Post subscription today" and "We'll stop buying until you stop lying," while singing chants as a big inflatable union rat loomed large at the footsteps of the Post. Speakers from other unions included Josh Williams, President of the Washington Metro Labor Council, Bill Simon, Former WTU President, Caneisha Mills, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) representative, Johnny Walker, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) representative. In addition, there were speeches made by Vincent Orange, At Large City Council candidate, Robert Brannum President of DC Federation of Civic Associations, Jerome Brocks, activist teacher and now retired, Sheila Gill, wrongfully terminated school counselor and a host of others with closing remarks given by Reverend Grayland Hagler who encouraged protesters to march in solidarity around the K street corridor.

All in all, it was a beautiful day and just the start of actions planned by the Washington Teachers' Union which will build momentum and seek to convince our government and Mayor of the need to provide adequate funding for public education in the District.

© Candi Peterson 2013

WTU Call To Action: Furlough Protest Rally on Friday, April 15

WARAGE EQPROFITS" DETAILS WHAT: WTU Furlough Day Rally WHEN: April 15, 2011, 10:30 am WHERE: Washington Post Building, 1150 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC WHY: The Washington Post has buried the truth about education reform in DC! The Washington Post endorses IMPACT (test score centered teacher evaluation) at any cost! The Washington Post's ownership of Kaplan Higher Education, the U.S. premiere education profiteers, creates a conflict of interest on education policies. BACKGROUND: The Washington Post has consistently discounted the credentials, abilities and performance of hard working DC public school teachers. Kaplan's revenues, which are generated primarily by federal student loans, fuel their Editorial Board. The education stories have been uniquely biased against traditional public education creating a worse situation. Their national agenda has been about profit, not the people of Washington, DC or their children. CALL TO ACTION: The WTU is asking for all those who care about public education in the District to: Join forces to let the Washington Post know that we will not stand by while they continue with unfair and biased reporting. Boycott the Washington Post newspaper until they stop lying! Support community newspapers that report fairly and care about teachers, students and real education reform in the District. Click here to view the detailed flyer. WOULD YOU LIKE UNION RELATED PARAPHERNALIA? Em S

DC Politicians Don't Care About DCPS Cheating Scandal

by Candi Peterson

Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Remember back in 2008, OSSE (Office of the State Superintendent of Education in DC) requested that McGraw Hill Testing Company conduct an erasure analysis due to abnormally high (statistically improbable) proficiency rates on standardized tests conducted in Washington, DC during April 2008? This computerized analysis revealed some disturbing results that occurred when103 public schools in the District of Columbia and some charter schools were flagged for having statistically high rates of wrong answers that were erased and replaced by correct answers on standardized tests during years 2008 to 2010. Deborah Gist, former DC State Superintendent of Education, recommended an investigation into why DC Public Schools (DCPS) erasure rates were so high but her recommendation to investigate met a roadblock by the Rhee/Henderson administration. USA Today's – through the use of Freedom Of Information Access (FOIA) requests uncovered a five month exchange of memos from DCPS officials questioning the rationale for a further investigation at the time. (click link to see memos, emails and tables).

Fast forward to year 2011, when USA TODAY'S newspaper and their cast of thirteen staff writers conducted their own investigative probe into the extraordinarily high erasures on standardized tests in the District of Columbia Public Schools. This piece found that DCPS likely cheated under the Rhee/Henderson administration. Even when these findings came to light and a recommendation was proffered by Gist to investigate further, Michelle Rhee along with Deputy Mayor of Education, Victor Reinoso and Kerri Briggs – successor to Deborah Gist in 2008 - refused to investigate and swept its dirty little secret under the rug.

Again in 2009, there was a second round of questionable proficiency rates on standardized tests in DC Public Schools. The USA TODAY investigation revealed that 46 DC public schools were flagged for having high erasure rates of wrong answers corrected to right ones. Caveon Consulting Services eventually conducted limited investigations in 2009 into the process and training of eight DC public schools at the request of DCPS. However, DCPS did not request that Caveon Consulting Services conduct a data analysis of the questionable testing data.

Given that three years have now passed since the questionable results were first released, one has to wonder why Mayor Gray and other government officials aren’t irate and calling for an intensive federal investigation to determine if fraud occurred like the federal probe conducted by the state of Georgia in 2010 by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. A USA TODAY article reported that “… only 4% of Georgia’s schools were considered of “severe concern” after their 2009 standardized tests,” according to Kathleen Mathers of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. In contrast, more than 15% of DC’s public schools had so many classrooms flagged in 2008 that they would have raised severe concern."

Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue (whose term ended in January 2011) ordered law enforcement to take over the Georgia investigation because he said he was dissatisfied with the failure of the districts in Atlanta and elsewhere to explain the erasures. Here in DC, It is important to note that a referral was only recently made by the Henderson administration to the DC Inspector General to investigate after the USA TODAY's newspaper investigation featured a number of articles on DC Public Schools' questionable testing gains at schools like Noyes Elementary School (Former Principal Wayne Ryan during 2001-10- now Instructional Superintendent for DCPS) and others. Even though Kwame Brown, Chairman of the DC City Council, announced that he would hold public hearings on high erasures, these hearings have now been cancelled.

Do DC politicians really care? Why aren’t government officials more alarmed? What are they afraid they will learn? Why were the DC City Council hearings cancelled? This scandal is full of many examples where unethical actions have had negative effects on the entire city of Washington, DC, our public schools, parents, community, school personnel and especially our students. The principles of accountability were sacrificed by Rhee’s administration. Besides obviously being disingenuous and dishonest, Rhee’s administration acted unethically.

In addition to calling for a federal probe, I wholeheartedly concur with Conducting the Inner Light, DC teacher turned blogger's assessment of the DCPS cheating scandal below: “Michelle Rhee’s reform has never been about the children. She used the district’s children to further her political ambitions. High test scores were necessary for her story and for advancing her agenda. If she didn’t collude in that cheating then she was certainly willfully negligent in her diligence to make sure those test scores were valid. If she were still the Chancellor of DCPS than it would be necessary for her to resign. As it is, Kaya Henderson and the rest of the Rhee team should resign or should be asked to resign by the mayor. Teachers had lost most of their trust in Rhee by the time she left. Most of us see Henderson as nothing more than Rhee’s factotum ...."

Isn't it time to clean house or will Mayor Gray allow Henderson to bring him down like Rhee did Fenty?

© Candi Peterson 2013

WTU Membership Meeting - March 17, 2011

WTU will host a membership meeting on Thursday, March 17, 2011 from 4:30- 6:30 p.m. at McKinley Senior High School. All WTU members are encouraged to attend.

Improperly Fired DCPS Teachers Speak Out!

By Candi Peterson

In 2008, approximately 75 probationary teachers were fired at the direction of then Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson. In 2008, Henderson sent an email to DC Public Schools principals indicating that if they wanted to get rid of probationary teachers they could simply click on a link listing the names of teachers from their schools. On March 10, 2011 - some of these wrongfully terminated teachers spoke out at the Washington Teachers' Union office about their stellar accomplishments and their horror at receiving letters in the mail during July and August 2008 indicating they were terminated without explanation. These teachers talked about only learning of the reasons for their terminations several weeks ago after an arbitrator's decision ordered them reinstated with back pay to DCPS. Their firing had nothing to do with their performance as teachers. Here is what they said:

"I always received positive evaluations, never been written up on warning," said Kadesha Bonds, who was a second-year teacher. (Kadesha Bonds pictured at top left with award)

"I was never written up. I never received bad evaluations. It was always about what I was wearing or my personal life," said Bianca Clemons, who was also in her second year.

"When I left in June of 2008, my report said I was fine. On July 17th, I got the same letter saying you’re had been fired. I said, ‘What?’" said photography teacher Leigh Mosley.

Kadesha Bonds, a former "2006 New Teacher of the Year" stated that she had a conversation with Vincent Gray when he was Council Chair and he agreed at that time that an injustice had been done to this group of wrongfully terminated teachers. Having been in office as DC's mayor for approximately 60 days- it saddens many of us that Mayor Gray has already forgotten the commitments he made to right the injustices of the Rhee and Henderson administration. Despite Mayor Gray's earlier statements which suggested that he would follow the arbitrator's ruling in this case, this group of wrongfully terminated teachers are still playing the waiting game to return to their first love- the joy of teaching in our schools while DCPS appeals this ruling. Listen as these teachers speak out and tell their side of the story on Fox 5 news and WJLA.

Reinstated DC Public Schools Teachers Speak Out About Their 2008 Firings: MyFoxDC.com

Veteran Teachers Need Not Apply: Henderson Recruits TFA Alums Despite Budget Deficit

By Candi Peterson

Kaya Henderson, Interim Chancellor of DC Public Schools recently delivered remarks at the Teach for America (TFA) 20th Anniversary Summit. Hosted by Teach for America founder and CEO, the event drew what was referred to as an "all-star lineup of education, government, and social justice leaders," including TFA alum, Michelle Rhee, former Chancellor of DC Public Schools.
During the event, Interim Chancellor Henderson spoke about the true power of the TFA movement, the rise to high level administrative positions by many TFA'ers and forecast that maybe one day a TFA'er would land in the White House. Henderson encouraged TFA'ers to dust off their resumes if they want a chance to make history by coming to work for DC Public Schools.
It is interesting to note, that despite a lingering recession, budget crises and widespread teacher hiring slowdown, TFA teachers are being hired at a steady pace. The growth is often times coming at the expense of veteran teachers who are losing their jobs- in some cases to make room for TFA teachers who typically are hired at much lower salary levels. Remember the 266 mostly veteran teachers who were laid off in 2009 subsequent to the hiring of hundreds of TFA'ers? A recent study from the Education and the Public Interest Center report titled: "Teach for America: A Review of the Evidence" found that the learning curve and turnover rate of TFA teachers does harm to vulnerable students who are in need of highly trained and highly skilled teachers.
A You Tube video of Kaya Henderson speaking during TFA's 20th Anniversary Celebration has been widely circulated on the Internet and is posted below. I don't know about you, but it appears to me as though Henderson is still carrying Rhee's 'Teach for America' torch and is completely oblivious to the budget crises that we are facing in the District of Columbia. Please watch the video and let us know what you think about Henderson's remarks.We're listening.


© Candi Peterson 2013

WTU Letter To Mayor Gray Re Furloughs

Friday, February 18, 2011

Mayor Vincent C. Gray

Government of the District of Columbia

Executive Office of the Mayor

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 316

Washington, DC 20004

RE: Alternatives to Furloughs

SENT BY MAIL

Dear Mayor Gray:

On Wednesday, February 16, 2011 District of Columbia Public Schools’ teachers received a letter informing them of four (4) mandatory furlough days. A copy of this letter has been attached for your reference. The Washington Teachers’ Union believes teachers should not suffer due to poor budget decisions made by senior level DC government officials. These same officials also violated city spending laws, causing employees economic hardship and reducing confidence in our city’s government.

The D.C. Anti-Deficiency Act sets strict limits on agency spending. Yet Freedom of Information Act records demonstrate more than 400 violations of the law between fiscal years 2005 and 2007. There is also clear indication that certain agencies exceeded their budgets by at least $1 million nearly 100 times in fiscal years 2006 and 2007. While teachers may be held accountable for student progress with the threat of termination, which officials are to be held accountable for the deficit and violation of the D.C. Anti- Deficiency Act? It would be unfair to penalize teachers for the wrongdoings of these officials. Hence, WTU would like to propose the following budget-reducing alternatives instead of furloughing teachers.

· Reduce sick leave by the same amount of days before a teacher is furloughed thereby achieving the same savings;

· Eliminate outside consulting contracts including those contractors employed to hire new personnel;

· Discontinue non-essential student testing and terminate the credit recovery program;

·Eliminate Instructional Superintendents, Master Educators’ positions and relegate teacher/school personnel evaluations to principals; and

· Place a moratorium on administrators’ bonus payment including capping all non classroom teacher salaries over $100,000 including the Chancellor’s bonus.

These suggestions are representative of the ideas expressed by our city’s concerned teachers. For further details, please feel free to reference Washington Teachers' Union Blog at: http://thewashingtonteacher.blogspot.com/ . I look forward to discussing this matter with you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Nathan Saunders

President

Finding Alternatives to DCPS Furloughs!

By Candi Peterson

The Balanced Budget Furlough Emergency Act of 2011 which calls for furloughs of DC government employees has caught the attention of all of us. Budget cuts have been no stranger to the District of Columbia public schools (DCPS). Teachers, school personnel and students have often had to bear the brunt of administrator over-spending. In fiscal year 2010, under the Rhee/Henderson administration, 266 educators were wrongfully terminated allegedly due to a budget deficit they didn’t help create.

Displeased with the emergency legislation that only reduces costs through emergency furloughing, WTU Executive Board passed a motion authorizing the union leadership to identify other alternatives that would avoid the need for furloughs. WTU agreed to compile your ideas on how we could achieve long-term cost savings in our public schools. Listed below are many of your recommendations from posts and emails we have received, thus far :

Alternatives to Furloughs

Allow employees to donate sick days in lieu of furlough days

Conduct a forensic audit of DCPS to identify waste/fraud

Close excess schools

Cut back on AP courses and enrollments

Cut printing costs of IMPACT evaluation booklets

Cut the following non-instructional teacher work days:

February 18 – Professional Development day

February 28- Parent Conference day –( this is less desirable than the May 16 Parent Conference day)

March 18 – Professional Development day

May 16 - Parent Conference Day

Discontinue non-essential testing of students

Don't add more International Baccalaureate Programs

Eliminate July 4 as a furlough day as teachers/school personnel are in a non-pay status

Eliminate Master Educators’ positions and relegate teacher/school personnel evaluations to principals and/or managers/supervisors

Eliminate perks for management, such as iPhone voice and data plans

Eliminate Teach For America contract and hire outright

Eliminate the partnership between Anacostia SHS and Friendship. We don’t need to pay the salaries of additional administrative staff

Eliminate the August professional development day for teachers/school personnel

End credit recovery

End school one day early when students aren’t in school

Furlough on professional development days, not holidays which will reduce savings in the form of energy costs and closed buildings

Increase computer usage versus excessive paper usage in schools, stop massive copying and worksheets

Place a moratorium on administrator bonus pay

Put an end to DCPS contracts that aren’t justified

Reduce the # of administrative positions in central office

Reduce the # of DC BAS tests given

Reduce the amount of administrative salaries in central office by setting a cap on six figure salaries

Reduce costs through energy savings (i.e. get thermostats on radiators, reduce excessive heat and AC, put hand air-dryers in bathrooms)

Reduce DCPS Executive staff salaries

Reduce Pre-K to half day

Reduce the # of Instructional Coach positions per school

Reduce the # of newly acquired Instructional Superintendent positions

Reduce the # of Special Education Program Manager positions (from 3 per discipline to 1 per discipline)

Reduce out of control spending in the special education budget

Rent out underutilized schools

Review money spent on consultants and organizations (i.e. Kaplan) and cut costs

Stop excessive meetings for DCPS staff at alternative locations by promoting video conferencing

Use vacant school buildings instead of renting space for government administrative offices

Work four- 10 hour days

The WTU will be forwarding all of your ideas to Mayor Gray for consideration. Thanks for your input.

© Candi Peterson 2013

WTU Looks For Ways Around Teacher Furloughs

By Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

Furloughs without pay are on the horizon for District government employees. Exempt from the furloughs are police officers and fire fighters as their furloughs would impair public health and/or public safety, in addition to, a handful of independent District agencies. Vincent Gray, although exempt from the furlough days as the Mayor, has signed a waiver to join the rest of DC government employees on furlough in order to help save the city 19 million dollars during fiscal year 2011. I applaud Mayor Gray’s willingness to endure the furlough days like other DC city workers.

Included in the mix of those to be furloughed are District of Columbia Public School teachers and school personnel. As a result of emergency legislation, known as the Balanced Budget Furlough Emergency Act of 2011, that was recently passed by the DC City Council – DC government employees will be furloughed on four designated legal public holidays during Fiscal Year 2011: February 21, Washington’s birthday, April 15, DC Emancipation Day, May 30, Memorial Day and July 4, Independence Day. The emergency legislation specifically states: "The District of Columbia Public schools shall not furlough a classroom teacher on a date when there is classroom instruction during an instructional period."

WTU President Nathan Saunders commented on teacher furloughs in a recent press release. Saunders stated: "Furloughs are the repercussions that workers face when subjected to government budgets which they don't control. City workers, including teachers, will now receive less pay as a result of poor budget decisions made by senior level DC government officials. At some point, the DC government must hold managers accountable for over-spending the same way it holds workers accountable." (Click furloughs for WTU press release). I contend that the Michelle Rhee/Kaya Henderson regime under the helm of former DC mayor, Adrian Fenty contributed to the DCPS' share of the budget deficit problem.

What concerns me is that we still aren't making the necessary budget cuts where they need to be made. After all, furloughs aren't a permanent solution for a budget deficit, and there is talk that even more furloughs will be proposed at a later date. I would like to suggest a number of ways to cut some of the public school bloat for the longer-term. Let’s start by reducing Interim Chancellor Henderson’s executive staff salaries by putting a moratorium on bonus payouts, reducing administrative staff in the central office inclusive of the thirteen new instructional superintendents who were recruited last May 2010 with salaries ranging from $120,000 to $150,000, eliminating Master Educators' positions whose starting salaries begin at $90,000 a pop and delegating all teacher evaluations to principals and/or supervisors, discontinuing non-essential testing of students, and putting an end to DCPS contracts that aren’t justified. Has anyone considered tightening our belt by conserving energy in our schools ? What happened to the cost savings as a result of the DC government freeze?

During our February 5, 2011 WTU Executive Board meeting, elected teachers and school personnel expressed their frustration about getting hammered at every turn due to DCPS overspending. Our board was in agreement that 'alternatives to furloughs' need to be considered. As a result of this lively discussion, the WTU Executive Board passed a motion which gives the Washington Teachers’ Union authority to explore 'alternatives to furloughing' teachers and school personnel before President’s Day, the 1st day of government furloughs. Washington Teachers' Union is interested in your ideas on how DC Public Schools can achieve real cost savings so that we can look for ways around teacher/school personnel furloughs. We will compile a list of your ideas and provide these recommendations to Mayor Gray amongst other strategies. The Washington Teacher blog will also post your ideas. Please email your cost saving recommendations to: helpdesk@wtulocal6.org or via fax @ 202-293-9732. Got suggestions- we’re listening.

Having Our Say At The Education Transition Summit

By Candi Peterson, WTU General Vice President

For the first time ever, the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) sponsored an Education Transition Summit on Tuesday, January 25 at the Kellogg Conference Center. Of late, teacher turnout has been low at union sponsored events due to what amounts in my opinion to a disenfranchised membership. I arrived at the event shortly before it started and could hardly believe my eyes when swarms of teachers and school personnel starting walking through the glass doors. Certainly, the over 450 plus crowd was more than I could have ever hoped for.

There were many smiles, hugs, pats on the back and congratulations about our recent WTU victory. The lines were endless and the Kellogg Conference staff were so accommodating by doubling the number of seats for so many unexpected guests. When no more seats could be provided due to fire code violations, teachers were willing to stand for hours despite the discomfort. Our members filled not only the on campus garage but also an overflow parking lot and off-street parking.

The Education Transition Summit primarily focused on the IMPACT evaluation tool and working conditions. As I strolled through the room, I took the time to listen to teachers' dialogue about what has transpired in these last three years under the Rhee/Henderson regime. One thing that everyone agreed on is that teachers have been robbed of the 'joy of teaching' and replaced with a one-size regimen that does not fit all. One teacher spoke of how she can no longer use centers to teach skills to her young Pre-K students. Teachers talked about no matter how well they had mastered IMPACT - they dealt with an inordinate amount of stress about the possibility of being caught doing something wrong instead of applauded for what they do right. Many talked about being considered great teachers until IMPACT where everyone is the sum total of their IMPACT score. Get a low number and you're no longer a great teacher. Teachers and school personnel were clear what was needed- a new evaluation tool. When the time came for our members to vote for IMPACT to stay or go - the majority voted for it to be thrown out.

The dialogue seemed to spark hope for many of our members who have bought into the nation-wide teacher bashing campaign that they are worthless and responsible for all of the ills of public education. Tuesday night was a new beginning for the WTU and our members. It marked the first time we were collectively at the table. Given the opportunity to help the new Mayor shape his educational agenda for DCPS, DC teachers and school personnel rose to the challenge. After all who better than us to provide first-hand knowledge about what goes on in the classroom, our schools and public education. One attendee emailed me: "That was a great meeting the other night.What you experienced in that room was a much larger version of what I saw in the small group of teachers - a real appreciation to finally be heard." Another member said: "let's do it again."

As the WTU General Vice-President, I would be interested in hearing your comments about the transition summit. What were the highlights of the evening? Is there anything that you would have changed? Do you have recommendations for the future? ... I'm listening.

WTU To Host Meeting With Rif'd Teachers!

As promised, Washington Teachers' Union will host a meeting on Wednesday, January 26 from 4:15- 6:30 pm at:

Peoples Congregational Church

4704 13th St NW, Washington, DC 20011

WTU Legal Counsel will be present to answer Rif'd teachers questions about the upcoming court case scheduled before Judge Bartnoff on January 28.

From The Bottom Up!

By, Candi Peterson - WTU General V.P.

I started out my union career as a Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) Building Representative for itinerant teachers and related service providers. Years ago, a soon to be departing colleague urged me to take on this role because she was planning to retire. She argued after all that I would be good in this job because of my outspokenness. I remember thinking how could I reach the almost 200 or so union members who were spread out in our schools. Building ties to people, came easy for me in part due to my background in the field of social work. I reasoned to myself that a great deal of my career had been spent working with those who didn’t want to be reached. Surely, I thought I’d be up for the challenge connecting to union members.

Since itinerant staff worked in city-wide schools, I knew I couldn't use a union bulletin board to reach them. Emails, list serves and blogs became an essential for communication with members. I worked hard by regularly emailing members updates and writing on my blog about issues that impacted our union, public education and our workplace. While The Washington Teacher blog started out as a way to educate members about the perils of the red and green contract proposal , it eventually became an online voice for teachers and school personnel. My work as a blogger paid off as I quickly earned members’ trust. When The Washington Teacher blog first reached 2,000 weekly readers , this was concrete proof to me of the blog's success in reaching not only members but those well outside our education circle. On days of more noteworthy news, numbers were as high as an average of 4000 weekly visitors. Many readers emailed me asking me to write on topics ranging from IMPACT evaluations, Teach For America to wrongful terminations.

Just as the success of The Washington Teacher blog garnered interest from union members, it also drew the ire of the Rhee/Henderson administration as it covered the other side of the public education reform story that was rarely told by the mainstream media. My advocacy on behalf of teachers came with a high price and earned me a mandatory summons to meet with the Chancellor in 2008 about my involvement in political activities (i.e. protests, writing about DCPS , speaking to the press, etc). These events marked the beginning of the harassment that I endured. What came next was being stripped of ten points on the Core Professional component of my IMPACT evaluation due to what was described by my supervisor (words paraphrased) : “Someone is out to get you.” My attendance at a rally while on approved leave was cited as the reason for my loss of the ten evaluation points. Next, I received notice this past summer of a one day suspension without pay from Dan McCray, DCPS Chief Labor Strategist, an agent of Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson due to allegedly violating the DCPS email policy of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO). The suspension without pay took place on September 21 and the reason given was that I sent out too many labor related emails (on my own time). By the way, the emails I sent to members included excerpts from The Washington Teacher blog and the latest subject was none other than former holdover WTU president George Parker. The very tool that I used to create an online voice for teachers and school personnel became a threat to my own job security. The irony of my story is that now as the WTU General Vice President, I sit across the table from Interim Chancellor Henderson's top staff who assisted in orchestrating my suspension. What I have learned from this experience is that ordinary people like me and you have the power to turn the tables, and make changes that start from the bottom up.

Readers of The Washington Teacher blog often asked me during the Washington Teachers' Union race to continue blogging should I win in our union election. And starting Tuesday, The Washington Teacher blog will become the 'official blog' of the Washington Teachers' Union. Let's celebrate because it can only be good if our union is willing to speak up for all of us and tell our side of the public education reform story. Happy New Year !

WTU Insists Teachers Should Be Paid !

On Wednesday, December 16 the Washington Teachers’ Union received complaints from members that due to an administrative error teachers and school personnel at Mann Elementary school located at 4430 Newark Street NW would not receive a full paycheck owed them on December 17, 2010. One Mann Elementary school staffer led a valiant effort to try to get teachers their checks on time. Unfortunately many reasonable suggestions to this problem were rejected.

The WTU diligently worked on behalf of our members starting Wednesday and insisted that teachers and school staff should receive a supplemental check prior to going on leave for the holidays. Unfortunately, due to new rules the DCPS payroll office is no longer able to issue supplemental checks within 24 hours.

As a result of the numerous phone calls and emails made by our office to internal DCPS offices and the Office of the Deputy Chancellor, our persistence paid off and Mann school staff did not have to wait until December 23, the date slated for them to receive the other half of their pay. The WTU was able to facilitate our members getting paid effective December 17. I have learned that staff from Mann were called to the school to pick up their supplemental paychecks on Friday evening and could retrieve their checks as late as 11 p.m. In addition, arrangements were made for staff who were unable to pick up their checks on Friday evening to be able to pick up their checks at the school on Saturday, December 18.

This is a happy ending to what could have been a disaster for many staff especially during the holidays. The WTU is happy to have been able to assist in advocating for our members.

Candi Peterson
WTU General Vice President