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DCPS School Closings and the Displacement Equation

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Eliminating poor performing seats poses no threat to children.
Only to seats.
Written by Candi Peterson

I have been writing about Empower DC, a well respected grassroots community based organization who has been pro active in rallying our troops to fight the Illinois Facility Fund's recommendations to close 38 public schools in the District of Columbia. Empower DC started meeting last November and recently held a planning session on February 4, 2012 with about 100 participants in attendance at their V Street office. Out of that meeting came an initial recommendation for supporters to attend Mayor Gray's One Citizen Summit at the DC Convention Center on Saturday, February 11, 2012. The  plan was to show a presence as well as deliver information about the proposed school closings and DC’s loss of affordable housing to summit participants. Empower DC's message to Mayor Gray was as follows: "We hold you accountable to save our schools and communities. We reject the flawed findings of the IFF report and its recommendations to close or turn around DC’s public schools. We demand a moratorium on school closures until a valid community-led process is developed for evaluating our schools."

Unfortunately, Empower DC members and supporters were threatened with arrest if they distributed materials inside the Convention summit.  Liane Scott of Grass Roots DC remarked:  "So much for a frank and open conversation Mayor Gray! Although, many felt the summit was genuinely participatory, others thought Gray was using the summit as an opportunity to present his plans to the public in the hopes that they would simply rubber stamp his agenda."

I strongly encourage parents, teachers, school staff and community members to get involved in upcoming planning meetings. Empower DC will be hosting another brief outreach planning meeting on Tuesday, February 21st at 1419 V Street NW at 6:30 p.m. Email Daniel@empowerdc.org or call 202-234-9119 ext. 104. Please check out below another guest post by Liane Scott of Grassroots DC on DCPS School Closings and the Displacement Equation.
Guest post By Liane Scott
The administration of Mayor Vincent Gray recently commissioned a study of DC schools by the Illinois Facility Fund (IFF) which was paid for by the Walton Foundation (Wal-Mart) and several other interests heavily invested in charter schools. The study divided DC schools into 4 tiers (Tier 1 being the highest “performing” and Tier 4 being the “lowest performing”).  The methodology used to rank the schools into Tiers was by looking at Standardized Test Score Results (DCCAS).
Overall the study offers 4 recommendations:
  1. Fill seats in Tier 1 Schools. Sustain the performing capacity of Tier 1 schools.
  2. Invest in facilities and programs to accelerate performance in Tier 2 schools.
  3. Monitor Tier 3 schools.
  4. Close or Turnaround Tier 4 DCPS Schools. Close Tier 4 charter schools and replace them with high-performing publicly-funded charter schools.
If you believe that test scores are the only thing that determines whether or not a school is worthy then using them as the sole criteria in the IFF’s study won’t bother you.  If, on the other hand, you view a school as an integral part of the community and for that reason should be supported, then you might have hoped the study might look into why so many DC schools are failing academically.  Despite the firing of hundreds of teachers from DCPS, academic performance has failed to improve by more than a few points.  It would have been nice if the issue was that simple.  Closing more than 20 public schools during the Fenty Administration may have increased class sizes and saved the city money but the achievement gap between white students and black students is wider than it’s ever been.  Following the recommendations of the IFF study may increase the number of publicly-funded charter schools but as there’s no real evidence that charter schools are actually doing better academically than DC’s public schools, it hardly seems like a recommendation designed to improve the schools.
Please note.  I’m aware that the mainstream media has suggested that the publicly-funded charter schools are in fact doing better academically than the traditional public schools but test scores just don’t bear that out.  If you doubt this, please research it for yourself.  Great Schools is one source for test scores and academic rankings.  You might start there.   I site them also because they’re rankings take more into account than academics.  According to their site, the top-ranked DC schools are all traditional public schools.  Although their rankings are hardly conclusive, I’m reasonably certain that they’ve been replicated by other reputable sources.  So, if in fact, the best schools in DC are traditional public schools, why would the Illinois Facilities Fund recommend that DC’s “Tier 4″ schools be replaced by publicly-funded charter schools?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to suggest that these low-ranking schools, which are mostly in Wards 7 & 8, be encouraged to emulate the successful public schools west of the Anacostia River?   The cynic in me believes with all sincerity that the real reason behind the IFF’s recommendation that DC’s public schools be replaced by charters has something to do with the fact that the Illinois Facilities Fund is a non-profit lender that lends mainly to charter schools not only in Illinois but soon across the whole of the United States.  Increasing the number of charter schools in DC may not improve the academic performance of DC’s student population. It’s not likely to reduce the achievement gap between our white and black students but it may very well help to increase the bottom line of the Illinois Facilities Fund (which given it’s emerging status as a national entity would prefer to be referred to as the IFF).
I’m also confused by the Gray Administration’s confidence in the study, not because of what appears to be a clear conflict of interest, but because the recommendations don’t seem to align with the purpose of the study itself.  According to the Washington Post, Deputy Mayor for Education De’Shawn Wright’s reason for commissioning the study was, “to identify communities in greatest need of more education options.”  The report recommends that the communities in greatest need of more education options either close their schools or replace them with charters.  I don’t see how closing schools will provide the communities in Wards 7 & 8 with more educational opportunities.  Isn’t that a direct contradiction of the purpose of the study?  Presumably more charter schools will increase education options but if you’re simultaneously closing down potentially good public schools doesn’t that limit a families options to which ever charter school will accept their child?  As charter schools are not public schools in the sense that any child in the surrounding community can attend, a neighborhood’s charter school option simply won’t be available to every neighborhood kid.
Examine the IFF study yourself and see if you don’t come to similar conclusions.  Just so you know how many communities are likely to be impacted, here are the Tier 3 and 4 schools the report recommends to close or turn around broken down by Ward.  In total, there are 38 DC public schools are at-risk of closure.  Notice how many are in Wards 7 & 8.
Ward 1
Bruce Monroe @ Parkview Elementary School
Cardozo High School
Ward 4
Macfarland Middle
Raymond Educational Campus
Brightwood Educational Campus
Roosevelt High School
Ward 5
Noyes Educational Campus
Burroughs Educational Campus
Browne Educational Campus
Spingarn High School
Wheatley Ed. Campus
Ward 7
Plummer Elementary
Beers Elementary
Randle Highlands Elementary School
Aiton Elementary School
Drew Elementary School
Kelly Miller Middle School
Woodson High School
CW Harris Elementary School
Davis Elementary School
Nalle Elementary School
Ward 8
Orr Elementary School
Ballou High School
Hart Middle School
Hendley Elementary School
King Elementary School
Leckie Elementary School
Anacostia High School
Kramer Middle School
Garfield Elementary School
Stanton Elementary School
Johnson Middle School
Malcolm X Elementary School
Ferebee-Hope Elementary School
Terrell/McGogney Elementary School,
Patterson Elementary School
Simon Elementary
As a parent and a resident of Ward 7, I’m all too familiar with the struggle to insure that my daughter gets a good education. What I see when I look at the above list of schools is an administration that would prefer to disinvest in low-income communities (like mine!) rather than implement the practices that they know work in wealthy communities.

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Help Us Expose DC's Equation for Displacement of Our Students

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Won't you please join me along with members of Empower DC, parents, teachers and community as we fight the displacement of our students and the privatization of our public schools. I have featured a guest post by Liane Scott which outlines the plan to expose DC's Equation for Displacement. Hope to see you this Saturday @ 11 am. Details listed below. Spread the word.
Candi Peterson


The Displacement Equation

Guest post By Liane Scott

What do DC’s proposed school closings have to do with the loss of affordable housing in the District of Columbia? Could it have something to do with the fact that many schools are being closed down in neighborhoods that are of interest to for-profit developers? What about the loss of community services like affordable child care? Has the government of the District of Columbia come to the conclusion that running the city is a lot cheaper if they have fewer children to educate, especially if those children have parents who are not so well off?

Come to Empower DC’s Info and Action Summit this Saturday, and explore these questions further. We believe that…
SCHOOL CLOSINGS + LOSS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING + PUBLIC LAND GIVE-AWAYS = DISPLACEMENT

Help Us Expose DC’s Equation for Displacement

Saturday, February 4th, 2012
11:00 AM – 1:30 PM

@ Empower DC – 1419 V Street, NW

U Street Metro (Green Line) street parking available.
Lunch Provided & Childcare Available

This Saturday, Empower DC will make plans to MAKE OUR DEMANDS KNOWN at Mayor Gray’s ONE City Citizen’s Summit, the following Saturday, February 11th at the Washington Convention Center. The city may not be investing in certain communities because they have plans for those neighborhoods that don’t include the current residents. Let’s let them know that we know what’s up and that we’re not going to stand for it. Please contact Daniel at (202) 234-1991 ext. 104 or Daniel@empowerdc.org to RSVP and request childcare.

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The Controversy of IMPACT

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Written by Candi Peterson

DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson issued “You’re fired letters" this past week to 206 DC teachers. Before DC teachers knew of their own fate, the mainstream media had received a lengthy DCPS press packet on Friday, July 15 from the Office of the Chancellor (OOC) lauding teacher terminations and celebrating highly effective teachers eligible for merit pay. Bill Turque, staff writer for the Washington Post reported on the details of the DCPS firings as early as July 15. Turque wrote: “Of the 206 fired, D.C. officials said, 65 were rated ineffective this year and 141 were judged minimally effective for the second consecutive year, triggering dismissal.” An additional twenty-one teachers who were effective and/or highly effective were also terminated by DCPS because they could not find a permanent placement.

Friday's teacher firings are a continuation of Michelle Rhee's educational plan to terminate a significant share of the DC teaching workforce while establishing job loss as a likely consequence of poor classroom test scores on standardized tests. In DC, fifty-five percent of a teacher's performance evaluation is tied to student test scores in the testing grades. Prior to getting elected as DC Mayor in 2010, Vincent C. Gray who was then Chairman of the DC City Council stated that there was controversy over IMPACT teacher evaluations after the announcement of 241 teacher firings. At the time, Gray stated that he wanted to look further into the 2010 teacher dismissals. Fast-forward to 2011, we have heard nary a word from Mayor Gray on this issue now that he has been elected as city mayor. I guess with all of the ethical dilemmas the Gray administration has faced during his short tenure as mayor – teachers’ dismissals aren’t the priority they once were while he was campaigning. If Gray doesn’t take the time to review the IMPACT controversy, then shame on him.

Given that USA Today newspaper broke the story on March 28, 2011 that half of all DC Schools likely corrected students mistakes and cheated on standardized tests, one has to wonder why Chancellor Kaya Henderson is moving forward with the dismissal of teachers based on flawed standardized test score data. Unfortunately, it took Henderson three years to finally support an investigation into allegations of a DCPScheating scandal that was previously made known to the Rhee/Henderson administration by former State Superintendent Deborah Gist in 2008. It begs the question, can we really trust that a comprehensive investigation will be completed by the DC Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby who appears to be a one man operation? Given that USA Today newspaper had an entire investigative team of 12 reporters when looking into cheating on standardized tests and former Governor Sonny Perdue had Georgia law enforcement to take over their investigation into the 2010 Atlanta public schools high erasure scandal after he declared a local investigation as “woefully inadequate”, why should we expect anything less in our nation’s capital?


Now is the time to support the end to the test driven culture in Washington, DC and elsewhere. I concur with teachers and parents for education reform that we must demand a call to action and insist on a thorough federal investigation of the extent of cheating in DC Public Schools over the past three years, the causes and the consequences, and needed corrections in our school system culture. This investigation must address specific allegations of erasure and falsification on answer sheets, as well as any district actions that might have encouraged cheating, or that were taken to cover it up. It is also time to call for a moratorium on the IMPACT evaluation system and teacher terminations until a federal probe has been conducted into the DCPS cheating scandal. Anything less would be a real tragedy.



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WTU Looks For Ways Around Teacher Furloughs

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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.

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Parker's Last Acts Of Desperation - Happy Thanksgiving!

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Update: WTU Run-off Election Ballot Count will take place today, November 30, 2010 @ 4:30 pm @ AFT headquarters.

Featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence and WTU Candidate for General Vice President/Saunders slate

In the first Washington Teachers Union (WTU) election, two out of three teachers voted against WTU "holdover" President George Parker whose constitutional term ended June 30, 2010. Since those results were tallied, the Liz Davis/Emily Washington slate and Chris and Ben Bergfalk slate endorsed the Nathan Saunders slate of which I am a part. Parker’s loss to Saunders has brought out the worst in him. On the final leg of the WTU race, Parker's last acts of desperation reveal an underbelly of petulance, lies, small minded mean spiritedness and pure hate.

The Parker campaign conducted mass robo-calling using union resources which include repeated reminders about dental benefits and promises of meetings with teachers and another survey on IMPACT under the guise of conducting union business. Of late Parker has distributed hundreds of pamphlets to schools that instill fear that a vote for Nathan Saunders will result in our union going backwards neglecting the fact that for the last six years under Parker's leadership, WTU members democratic rights have been destroyed and teachers due process rights have been trampled along with the loss of 1,000 teacher jobs by an out of control Rhee administration.

Parker in his hate literature has alleged spurious, false and exaggerated allegations about Nathan Saunders work history and has left out pertinent details regarding an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Executive Council investigation that resulted in an AFT order for Parker and the WTU Executive board to approve Saunders leave of absence and back pay forthwith. If we are to go down this road, then the obvious question is: How should these treasonous acts of Parker subverting the WTU Constitution as well as his refusal to comply with an AFT September 17, 2010 order from our parent organization be handled ? Further, how much is Parker paid in salary, how much salary should he (Parker) forgo by his refusal to have union membership and representative assembly meetings over the past year, his refusal to hold a timely union election last May as required by the WTU Constitution and his refusal to comply with the AFT Order ?

Parker's campaign has become an abomination, hell-bent on victory no matter the cost to teachers and school personnel. Hollow promises, empty promises, and more absurd promises have been made to union members. Parker will meet with teachers, provide edible treats and salacious lies while guaranteeing teachers higher impact scores and better working conditions if they promise to vote for him. Parker's latest campaign trick is offering to pick up union members ballots from their homes during the Thanksgiving season.

Unfortunately Parker has no track record short of his devaluation of teacher employment rights by the concessions he has already made. The contract tidbits don’t pay the mortgage, put food on the table and clothe the kids when you have been terminated from your job. We do know our union is in pretty bad shape with mass teacher terminations, unfair IMPACT evaluations running amuck, related stress and low morale. The truth is that things can only get better with Nathan Saunders Slate, not worse.

Hastily called meetings after hastily called meetings, email after email, robo call after robo call, negative campaign ads after negative campaign ads - some say Parker has reached the bottom of the barrel and gone over the edge. These last ugly acts of desperation by Parker are a disgrace and insult to every WTU member. What is the proper response to Parker's campaign negativity? Do you want to see more negativity from "holdover president" Parker in this Thanksgiving season? Tell me what you think!

By the way- Happy Thanksgiving to all.

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Precarious Predicament for DCPS Instructional Coaches

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Featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence and candidate for WTU General Vice President


11/21/10 UPDATE: "Holdover" President Parker was a 'no show' at the Nov. 19 meeting, according to attendees.

DCPS Instructional Coaches (IC's) find themselves in a precarious predicament being government employees manipulated at taxpayer's expense. The Washington Teacher has confirmed that Instructional Coaches are required to attend a mandatory November 19 afternoon meeting with "Holdover" president George Parker during instructional time instead of their previously scheduled training.This is the second hastily called Friday meeting for IC's with Parker at taxpayer's expense and has some IC's feeling miffed about the misuse of instructional time and directive to meet with Parker.

In a November 18 email to Jason Kamras, one IC wrote: "In all my years as DCPS employee, I have never worked under administrators who disregarded the sanctity of instructional time. The last such meeting was a total sham! George Parker and Mary Collins presented nothing of educational, or professional value to teachers. Needless to say, I am shocked and disappointed by this administration's callous disregard for instructional time. I have no recourse but to respond to (Washington Post) Bill Turque's queries about this meeting as many WTU members have forwarded the email notices about this meeting to him. Please explain why this meeting is preempting one half day's training for Instructional Coaches for a Union meeting. I pay taxes in DC and I know that you and Kaya do too; thus, I do not believe that DC tax payers will look favorably upon this misuse of learning time for teachers and students."

Another union activist complained to Parker earlier this week in a terse email : "Despite the recent meeting with DC teaching fellows, you have not called a union meeting in six months. This violates our Constitution and you (Parker) are directly responsible for this on-going destruction of unionists' democratic rights." One has to wonder how important these IC's issues really are to Parker given that he hasn't conducted any union meetings (rep. assembly or membership mtgs.) as the WTU Constitution requires. Perhaps Parker's meeting with IC's is as Washington Post writer/blogger Bill Turque suggested about Parker's recent meeting with TFA/DC teaching fellows an attempt by him to reach out to a less active segment of the electorate to garner votes in the runoff election against the Nathan Saunders slate who received the most votes overall. I was in attendance at the TFA/DC Teacher Fellows meeting and the menu piled on crab cakes, London Broil and quesadillas while Parker promised to work on the DC fellows job related issues (i.e not being paid, exorbitant costs for private certification to the tune of $4000, etc.) and provide special IMPACT training.

Given that the city is demanding that teachers be held accountable for student performance- is this union meeting an appropriate use of Instructional Coaches time or is it the payback of Interim Chancellor Kaya Henderson to Parker? As a Washington Teacher commenter wrote to me: "I expect this from Parker, who has pulled every trick out of the book to stay in office, but I'm feeling abused by Kaya Henderson right now. Gray better watch these actions. "


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WTU Ballots Are In- We Need Your Vote!

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Winning Round 1 of the WTU election was only the first step on this journey to build a participative democratic union that fights for the job security of our members, holds regular union meetings and legally challenges unfair IMPACT evaluations and wrongful terminations. The Saunders slate won the endorsement of former candidates - Liz Davis, Emily Washington, Chris and Ben Bergfalk.

Today we need to take another step together. The WTU run-off election decides who will be our union's leaders for the next three years.

That’s why we need you to vote and mail your ballot today.We have greatly appreciated your support over the years, but once again, we need your vote. Mark an X for the Saunders slate and place your ballot in the secret ballot envelope and mail it today. If you don't receive a ballot, call AAA @ 1-800-273-0726 to request a duplicate ballot.

Thanks,

Nathan Saunders

and

Candi Peterson

www.votesaunders2010.com

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Vote Like Your Job Depends On It- WTU Ballots Are Coming Soon!

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Candi Peterson, Candidate for WTU General Vice President & blogger in residence


Most voters agree that the Saunders slate is the best team for the job. Liz Davis , Emily Washington, Chris and Ben Bergfalk have given their personal endorsement to our slate. We won round 1 in the WTU elections. The election rules require the winner receive 51% of the vote. We need your vote again to win your vote in round 2 in the election run-off.

Recent events have created an atmosphere of instability and lack of respect previously unknown to DC teachers and school personnel. WTU "Hold Over" President Parker has failed to protect teachers jobs and secure teacher respect. The following factors threaten DC teachers and school personnel:

Unfair Impact Evaluations (i.e 737 teachers/school personnel were rated minimally effective, therefore subject to termination at the end of this school year). WTU hold over official says Impact Evaluations are not my fault.

Approximately 550 Highly Effective teachers are now vulnerable because their due process rights were traded for bonus pay.

In an October 29, 2010 DC Superior Court hearing, the 266 wrongfully terminated teachers were abandoned when the Parker supervised WTU legal counsel made no legal arguments for reinstatement, back pay and pain and suffering.

In the upcoming runoff election, some of the important considerations for voters must be due process rights, job security and teacher respect.

Vote Saunders Slate in the runoff election- mail your ballot immediately
Nathan Saunders and Candi Peterson have been working for teachers all along!

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The 266 Deserve Quality Legal Representation

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Featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence and WTU Candidate for General Vice President

On Friday, October 29 in the courtroom of Judge Judith Bartnoff- WTU lawyers appeared to challenge the reduction in force of 266 laid off teachers and school personnel. DC Schools Insider blogger, Bill Turque reported "The Washington Teachers' Union court challenge to the October 2009 layoffs effectively end this morning when a WTU attorney told a DC Superior Court judge that after scrutinizing 1,200 pages of District documents, the union could find no evidence that Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee contrived the budget crunch she said justified the job reductions."

Some of the laid-off teachers I talked to find it amazing that attorney Brenda C. Zwack said: "We didn't find anything that would warrant further briefing". While the court hearing lasted no more than 10 minutes, it left those in the audience with unanswered questions about their legal representation and the impact that this case will have on their personal lawsuits. Unfortunately, WTU's "Hold over" President Parker was not present at Friday's hearing and could not be questioned by the handful of teachers who were present. Attorney Zwack reportedly made a "mad dash" for the nearest exit as teachers attempted to question her more in depth.

While I have not seen the 1200 page documents that DCPS submitted, I know for a fact that the Rhee administration continued to hire teachers and other school personnel after the 266 were laid off last October. I followed many of the DCPS job advertisements that the Rhee administration placed on Craig’s list for teachers and school personnel. I often wondered why a freeze was never ordered in school year 2009-10 by Mayor Fenty, since DCPS was in a budget deficit. One thing is for sure — the Rhee administration continued to spend willy-nilly without any checks and balances in place. Perhaps that’s why we are in an even bigger deficit now.

If you recall more than a year ago Nathan Saunders and I arranged for a free two hour legal consultation (which turned into 3 hours) to laid off DC teachers with another law firm who later offered to represent the 266 teachers case at a significantly reduced rate. It seems that our hunch about the quality of legal representation that these teachers received was correct. I know we can and we must do better. At the very least, the 266 wrongfully terminated teachers' legal case deserves another 'look- see' by another law firm. This is why the Saunders slate needs your support to get elected in the run-off election so that we can aggressively represent the 266 who were wrongfully terminated. We owe it to them, that is if it's not too late.

I encourage all to read Bill Turque's article in the Washington Post on the legal challenge to the layoffs which appeared in Saturday's newspaper. Click on the link to see the article in its entirety:


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WTU Election Results

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Election Results
Nathan Saunders slate 334 votes
Hold Over President Parker's slate 313 votes
Davis slate 196 votes
Bergfalk slate 38 votes

Candi Peterson, Blogger in residence and candidate for WTU General Vice President

Last night our slate won! It was an exciting evening for the Saunders slate. Parker, hold over WTU President never showed up to watch the election results. The WTU Constitution requires that the winner receives more than 50% percent majority of the total votes cast. If none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the total votes cast, then there must be a run-off election between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes. In this case, Nathan Saunders received 334 votes and Hold Over WTU President Parker received 313 votes; therefore, there will be a run-off election between our two slates. The challenge ballots submitted by those who recently retired, resigned or were terminated were not counted.

We will need your continued support in the upcoming run-off election. Thanks for all of your support so far.

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An Open Letter To WTU Members

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Dear Washington Teachers' Union Members,

For years, we fought to make sure teacher voices were heard and due process rights were protected. Our actions were required when WTU “Holdover” President George Parker refused to act. Under his leadership, jobs were lost, unfair IMPACT evaluations were created and teachers suffered professional disrespect. Candi Peterson- a WTU Trustee board member and building representative - created blog-curhatanku.blogspot.com, a reputable DC education online voice for teachers and school personnel in 2008. She has been an intelligent teacher voice and foundation for numerous DC education stories. Nathan Saunders, WTU’s two term General Vice President- spoke expertly as the legitimate opposition voice on education reform efforts which hurt DC students, parents, and teachers. We accurately forecasted teacher/school personnel terminations, oppressive working conditions and performance based mutual consent. We provided facts, analysis, and solutions. We created rallies and demonstrations after Parker “sold out” WTU members. We worked alongside parents to challenge disproportionate school closings in Ward 5 and some of our poorer sections of the city. This current election, which is more than six months overdue, was forced by our court action e.g. Saunders et al. v. WTU. Visualize our mutual progress if you entrust your vote and WTU resources to us!

We do better because we know better. The WTU can be a voice for members and can negotiate a better contract and improve working conditions. Without a change in President, the current state of confusion, failure to hold union meetings, ineffective advocacy, and weakness will continue to endanger your job and positive working conditions that facilitate teaching and learning. With the current union president Parker - you have no voice.

Nathan is the only candidate for union President with world class training in how to be a successful teachers union President. He is a Harvard Law School- Harvard Trade Union Program graduate and earned a Masters degree in Law and Ethics from the National Labor College/University of Baltimore.

If you are wrongfully terminated, it will be too late. Elect a strong President with excellent credentials and experience supported by an effective executive board who support a participative union democracy. Remember, Nathan and Candi have been fighting for you all along! Vote Saunders Slate ! Check out our website @ www.votesaunders2010.com An X mark is all it takes. Place your ballots inside the secret ballot and then send it off in the mailer provided. If you still have not received a ballot call the American Arbitration today @ 800-273-0726.

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Vote Saunders Slate Today!

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www.votesaunders2010.com/


Featuring Candi Peterson, Blogger in residence &
candidate for WTU General Vice President

Click our flyer to enlarge

One X is all it takes- Vote Saunders Slate!
Nathan & Candi- We've been working for you all along !

IF YOU NEED A DUPLICATE BALLOT for any of the following reasons: you did not receive a ballot, the ballot package is not complete or your ballot has been lost, damaged or spoiled - Please call Maria Landhi, American Arbitration Association @ 800-273-0726

In addition to calling AAA, please email thewashingtonteacher@gmail.com to let me know if you don't receive a ballot.

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Hot Off The Press: The Wash. Teacher Update on DCPS Pay Freeze

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Featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence & candidate for WTU General Vice President

Earlier this week, I wrote about Mayor Fenty's Executive Order which went into effect on October 6 and places a 'freeze' on DC Government hiring, vacant positions and negotiated wage/salary benefits. We can now bring some closure to questions that we had about whether our future pay raises would be jeopardized by the Mayor's recent Executive Order. In response to questions raised on The Washington Teacher blog, Safiya Simmons, spokeswoman for Chancellor Michelle Rhee responded "We remain fully committed to honoring the agreement we signed." The Washington Teacher was glad to have been able to advocate for teachers and school personnel by elevating our isues. Imagine what I could do for you as the WTU General Vice President.

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Reduction In Force:Rhee's Final Curtain Call ?

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Featuring Candi Peterson, Blogger in Residence

Due to a budget shortfall and projected spending pressures in DC government, Mayor Adrian Fenty signed an Executive Order which will take effect on October 6. Click the link to see the Executive Order:

http://assets.bizjournals.com/cms_media/washington/pdf/executive%20order.pdf

As a result of spending pressures, DC Government inclusive of DC Public Schools will be under the following restrictions:

1. freeze on new hiring
2. freeze on all vacant positions
3. freeze on travel and training
4. there will be NO INCREASE in salary or benefits including increases in negotiated salary, wage and benefits provisions and negotiated salary schedules shall be provided in fiscal year 2011 from the fiscal year 2010 salary and benefits levels.

When the Washington Teachers' Union contract (2007-12) which was negotiated and finalized by 'Hold Over' union President George Parker and AFT President Randi Weingarten in September 2010, I questioned and raised concerns about a clause in the union contract language which states on page 103:

Article 40.1: The Parties agree that all provisions of this agreement are subject to the availability of funds.

40.2: Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as a promise that Congress, the DC Council and any other organization shall appropriate sufficient funds to meet the obligations set forth in this Agreement."

I was worried that this clause which has never appeared in previous union contracts would come back to haunt us in addition to, protecting DC Public Schools from honoring the terms of our Contract Agreement once ratified. My gut told me that when Parker and Weingarten negotiated our teachers' union contract during a large looming budget deficit (158 mil) that it would only lead to problems for us down the road. Of course my concerns about the contract language that were addressed to 'Hold Over' Union President George Parker fell on deaf ears and of course the rest is history. While I don't have the answers to what the Mayor's Executive order means for DC teachers and school personnel, as a critical thinker it raises for me a number of questions and concerns that requires us to seek additional information on how this will impact teachers, school personnel, students and schools.

As if this news weren't bad enough, inside anonymous sources are also reporting that Chancellor Michelle Rhee's final curtain call will be another reduction in force (RIF) for DC public school employees much like the RIF that occurred a year ago last October. While these are only speculations at this point, It is reasonable to believe that cuts will need to be made due to "budget pressures." Certainly at Vincent Gray's town hall meeting on October 5, he suggested that cuts will have to be made in DC Government. Whether or not these spending pressures were manufactured by Rhee and company in order to cleanse DC Schools as one inside source suggests is a question a lot of people are wondering about. Another anonymous source raises some important questions that must be answered (see below). In the days up ahead, I will be exploring the answers to many of the questions below. If you have any insights, feel free to drop me an email @ thewashingtonteacher@gmail.com or post your comment on The Washington Teacher blog.

Questions That Deserve Answers:
1) Is the entire WTU contract that Ms. Rhee negotiated (all salary increases) out the window?
2) Is the entire 21% "negotiated" salary increase out the window?
3) Or is the "negotiated FY 2010" salary scale kept on as the FY 2011 salary level(s)? That is, no increase from FY2010 to FY2011?
4) What impact does this have on IMPACTplus?
5) Will this cause a RIF or excessed positions?
6) If positions are excessed, should highly effective teachers take the "bonus" pay? Are there strings attached for FY 2010?
7) What impact will this have on teacher professional development and implementation of the WTU contract?
8) How many open positions in DCPS are there and are they all frozen?
9) Does this affect the contractor and consultant positions?
10) If schools come in over their budgeted enrollment, can they still expect to receive "equalization" and if so, when?
11) Will DCPS increase the target average class size to reduce the number of teachers needed?
12) How will this help/hinder getting Spec. Ed budgeting under control and bring more services in house? Is it true that DCPS fired so many local Sped support personnel that they must now import services from very far out of town including airfare expenses??
13) What impact does this have on negotiating the CSO contract? Has that gone to arbitration yet?
14) What effect does this have on the other DCPS labor contracts and negotiations (AFSCME, etc.)?
15) Will DCPS seriously consider closing more under enrolled schools to gain back the economy of scale?
16) What does this do to the Fine Arts Middle School currently in the planning states, but with no announced budget?
17) What other initiatives are likely to be cut back?
18) Will this effect the outside evaluation of the educational reforms of the last three years previously budgeted at about $350,000 or so (estimated from memory)? When has this body met since the initial meeting? And what progress have they made?
19) Will this effect the CSM budgeting model or will we see a return to the weighted student formula for local school budgets in order to better ensure that the money actually follows the students?

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