Congratulations to the 87 additional MCEA members who have achieved National Board Certification this year. This afternoon MCEA is hosting a 'pinning ceremony' for them at the MCEA conference center. Keynote speakers include BOE president Patricia O'Neill, MSEA president Clara Floyd, Superintendent Jerry Weast, and NEA executive board member Joyce Powell.
These 87 are among the 305 Maryland teachers achieving National Board Certification this year: or 28% of the statewide total. Overall, there are now 561 National Board Certified Teachers in MCPS, out of 1,669 statewide (or 34%). This is a testament to the quality of the National Board candidate support program run by MCEA and MCPS. For more information on MCEA's National Board candidate support program, go to http://www.mcea.nea.org/teaching/NB.php.
At today's ceremony, MCEA will also be announcing a new partnership with National University to offer a unique online/onsite graduate certificate program for national board candidates who are interested in earning graduate credits through a flexible online program as part of their national board candidacy. For more information on this new online graduate certificate, contact Leslie Johnson (ljohnson@mcea.nea.org) or Mary Pat Spon (mpspon@mcea.nea.org).
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
January RA remarks
Representative Assembly
January 6, 2010
President’s remarks
You may notice that I am not doing my usual outline of remarks this month- I’m actually working from a script. There are a couple of reasons for that- not a lot of new news since the December RA, as the extended Winter break intervened. The other is that I want to emphasize a theme to you in keeping with both the New Year and what we face over the next five months in bargaining and MCPS budget processes.
That theme is positivism. Tom is going to give you an update later in the RA so you know where we are right now in both of these processes. You will hear a great deal in the press over the next few months about the revenues at both the county and state levels and much of may be doom and gloom. There may be dire warnings about cuts to services, furloughs, and layoffs. Nonetheless, I want you to maintain a sense of positivism about two things in particular- the work that you do and our commitment to get every penny and every win we can for you. I was at a PTA meeting last night for my daughter’s school, and the MCPS budget was being discussed. The group was focused on how to lobby to avoid having further cuts made to positions and services at the school. One of the things I said is that the real fight will be at the County Council to get the MCPS budget funded. That is absolutely the case for every school, every office, and most importantly, every member of MCEA.
This is where your sense of positivism about the work that you do comes into play. I know that some folks are a little put off when Dr. Weast talks about student achievement and runs through sets of data on AP scores, reading and math scores, etc. It feels as if the data doesn’t present a full picture of the work that we do and how complex it is, and it does not. It does serve a purpose, however. It emphasizes to the community as a whole that the dollars spent by MCPS are going toward the most valuable asset this county has- its schools. As you talk with your neighbors, your friends, the checkout clerk at Giant, I want you to emphasize to them just how important your work, our work, is and how successful we are in doing that work. Talk about your success with a student who was struggling, who did not believe that the effort needed to be successful in school was worth it, and how you were able to get that kid to see her potential. Talk about a class when the students made a connection between “Hamlet” and their own lives in a way that you had not thought of in ten years of teaching that play. Talk about the student who came to your classroom halfway through the year and made friends with you and his classmates so that, in a matter of days, he felt welcome and at home. Talk about how school is a place in which students feel cared for by adults who recognize their needs, strengths, and individuality. I’m not saying to ignore what needs improvement, and there are many things that do. The RA, the Leadership Team at your school or workplace, and your colleagues should hear about how things can be improved. But the community needs to hear about why the schools in Maryland were rated #1 in the nation and we’re the best of the best.
We need support for the MCPS budget from every possible corner in April and May. Those folks you talk to about your work may well send a letter or an email or make a phone call that add up to the convincing factor as the Council works to craft the final county budget. Your voices will, of course, be a crucial part of that process as well, as will our demonstrated ability to mobilize votes for our recommended candidates.
I also want you to be positive about the bargaining process. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but know that our team is committed to meaningful improvements. The result of the county budget process and the results of the bargaining process are inextricably linked, so you’re helping yourself in both regards by spreading the good word.
Thanks again for all that you do for the students and each other. My daughter Olivia told one of her cousins over break that she wishes she could go to school every day, even Saturday and Sunday, and I didn’t even pay her to say that. Have a great January.
January 6, 2010
President’s remarks
You may notice that I am not doing my usual outline of remarks this month- I’m actually working from a script. There are a couple of reasons for that- not a lot of new news since the December RA, as the extended Winter break intervened. The other is that I want to emphasize a theme to you in keeping with both the New Year and what we face over the next five months in bargaining and MCPS budget processes.
That theme is positivism. Tom is going to give you an update later in the RA so you know where we are right now in both of these processes. You will hear a great deal in the press over the next few months about the revenues at both the county and state levels and much of may be doom and gloom. There may be dire warnings about cuts to services, furloughs, and layoffs. Nonetheless, I want you to maintain a sense of positivism about two things in particular- the work that you do and our commitment to get every penny and every win we can for you. I was at a PTA meeting last night for my daughter’s school, and the MCPS budget was being discussed. The group was focused on how to lobby to avoid having further cuts made to positions and services at the school. One of the things I said is that the real fight will be at the County Council to get the MCPS budget funded. That is absolutely the case for every school, every office, and most importantly, every member of MCEA.
This is where your sense of positivism about the work that you do comes into play. I know that some folks are a little put off when Dr. Weast talks about student achievement and runs through sets of data on AP scores, reading and math scores, etc. It feels as if the data doesn’t present a full picture of the work that we do and how complex it is, and it does not. It does serve a purpose, however. It emphasizes to the community as a whole that the dollars spent by MCPS are going toward the most valuable asset this county has- its schools. As you talk with your neighbors, your friends, the checkout clerk at Giant, I want you to emphasize to them just how important your work, our work, is and how successful we are in doing that work. Talk about your success with a student who was struggling, who did not believe that the effort needed to be successful in school was worth it, and how you were able to get that kid to see her potential. Talk about a class when the students made a connection between “Hamlet” and their own lives in a way that you had not thought of in ten years of teaching that play. Talk about the student who came to your classroom halfway through the year and made friends with you and his classmates so that, in a matter of days, he felt welcome and at home. Talk about how school is a place in which students feel cared for by adults who recognize their needs, strengths, and individuality. I’m not saying to ignore what needs improvement, and there are many things that do. The RA, the Leadership Team at your school or workplace, and your colleagues should hear about how things can be improved. But the community needs to hear about why the schools in Maryland were rated #1 in the nation and we’re the best of the best.
We need support for the MCPS budget from every possible corner in April and May. Those folks you talk to about your work may well send a letter or an email or make a phone call that add up to the convincing factor as the Council works to craft the final county budget. Your voices will, of course, be a crucial part of that process as well, as will our demonstrated ability to mobilize votes for our recommended candidates.
I also want you to be positive about the bargaining process. I don’t know what the outcome will be, but know that our team is committed to meaningful improvements. The result of the county budget process and the results of the bargaining process are inextricably linked, so you’re helping yourself in both regards by spreading the good word.
Thanks again for all that you do for the students and each other. My daughter Olivia told one of her cousins over break that she wishes she could go to school every day, even Saturday and Sunday, and I didn’t even pay her to say that. Have a great January.
Washington Post Gets It Wrong on "Tenure"
Once again, the Washington Post's historic animosity to unions (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/24/AR2010012402756.html) seems to be the driving force on its editorial page. In today's editorial http://maryland-politics.blogspot.com/2009/04/washington-post-steps-up-anti-union.html their primary justification for supporting massive changes in Maryland education law is that teachers and their unions oppose the changes. No need to let facts get in the way of a good argument.
The Post calls for extending the teacher probationary period from two years to three years in Maryland. No mention is made of the fact that Maryland school systems already have the unhindered ability to extend the probationary period to three years for any teacher. But the Post wants to change the rules for all new teachers to accomplish something that school districts can already do in the cases where they want to.
The Post goes further and calls for abolishing teacher tenure completedly. But the Post fundamentally misunderstands the tenure law. They (repeatedly) equate it with "lifetime job guarantees". That is just dead wrong. Teachers in Maryland do not have "lifetime job guarantees". Never have. Never will. That is a straw man for attacking teacher unions.
What teachers in Maryland do have is due process. To say, as the Post does, that "tenure may have made sense... before there was due process to address arbitrary firings" is a nonsensical statement. Tenure IS due process. In Maryland the teacher employment law simply requires that after successful completion of a probationary period, 1) there must be grounds for discharge, 2) the teacher must be notified of the charges and 3) must be given the opportunity for a hearing before the county school board before a decision is made. That is due process, not some "lifetime job guarantee".
50% of new teachers leave the classroom within 5 years. Retaining the best and brightest new teachers is a much bigger problem than dismissing those who don't have the necessary skills. Maryland school systems already have the authority they need to weed out under-performers. If some systems aren't doing enough, it's not because of the state law. "Abolishing tenure" is a solution in search of a problem - and a distraction from the real challenges our schools face.
Tom Israel
MCEA Executive Director.
The Post calls for extending the teacher probationary period from two years to three years in Maryland. No mention is made of the fact that Maryland school systems already have the unhindered ability to extend the probationary period to three years for any teacher. But the Post wants to change the rules for all new teachers to accomplish something that school districts can already do in the cases where they want to.
The Post goes further and calls for abolishing teacher tenure completedly. But the Post fundamentally misunderstands the tenure law. They (repeatedly) equate it with "lifetime job guarantees". That is just dead wrong. Teachers in Maryland do not have "lifetime job guarantees". Never have. Never will. That is a straw man for attacking teacher unions.
What teachers in Maryland do have is due process. To say, as the Post does, that "tenure may have made sense... before there was due process to address arbitrary firings" is a nonsensical statement. Tenure IS due process. In Maryland the teacher employment law simply requires that after successful completion of a probationary period, 1) there must be grounds for discharge, 2) the teacher must be notified of the charges and 3) must be given the opportunity for a hearing before the county school board before a decision is made. That is due process, not some "lifetime job guarantee".
50% of new teachers leave the classroom within 5 years. Retaining the best and brightest new teachers is a much bigger problem than dismissing those who don't have the necessary skills. Maryland school systems already have the authority they need to weed out under-performers. If some systems aren't doing enough, it's not because of the state law. "Abolishing tenure" is a solution in search of a problem - and a distraction from the real challenges our schools face.
Tom Israel
MCEA Executive Director.
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