At The District, you can get an unsatisfactory evaluation

...be offered $15,000 AND get an honorable dismissal. Eymarde Lawler and Michelle Frakes did (they declined the $15,000). Take a look at the lawsuit below that was filed on August 28, 2012.

Discharged teachers offered deal
District 150 to give educators $15,000, resignation agreement

Five tenured Peoria School District 150 teachers discharged last spring because of unsatisfactory evaluations will receive $15,000 each and be allowed to resign retroactively. District 150 board members approved the resignation agreement Monday.

The agreement was a response, in part, to charges that the district used elements of the state's landmark education reform laws, known as Senate Bill 7, to dismiss teachers unfairly.

The law's major sponsors, state Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, and Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, visited Peoria in May to discuss how the district was implementing elements of the law related to evaluations and teacher seniority rights.

Under Senate Bill 7, teachers with seniority are no longer automatically the first rehired when districts lay off staff members.

Two teachers, Michelle Frakes and Eymarde Lawler, rejected the settlement and have filed lawsuits against the district. "They will lose," Eisenhammer said.

He acknowledged the new law will have harsh results for some teachers. However, the district and the union still are working on alternatives, he said. Source

Union Lawsuit

The Illinois House Representative from the 92nd District making huge impact in education reform

He won a school board seat at the age of 19. After two years, his fellow board members elected him vice president of the board, and one year later, they unanimously elected him school board president, making him, at 23, the youngest school board president in Illinois history.

When he went on to win a seat as the Representative from the 92nd District in the Illinois House, many thought school reform would be the perfect platform for him. He dabbled a little bit, but now at the age of 30 he is a career politician, a member of Congress and the only platform that he appears to be interested in is probably the Nordic Track V7 Vibration Platform. His constituents have instead been left Schock(ed) by what appears to be his aspiration to use his platform to become a model.

It has been Jehan Gordon who has been consistently using her seat as the Representative from the 92nd District to further the experience she gained while serving on the Pleasant Hill School District #69 School Board. She is a member of the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee; Senate's Special Committee on Education Reform; and she is taking part in the hearings on the Performance Counts Act of 2012. Recently she introduced legislation setting guidelines for assistant principals, where there currently are none.

Legislation To Bolster Assistant Principal Requirements
House Bill 3171, sponsored by Jehan Gordon, gives assistant principals the same responsibilities as principals and creates a method for evaluating their performance.

The evaluations would look at the duties and measure the performance of the assistant principal, comment on the strengths and weakness to offer improvements, and align them with the Illinois Professional Standards for school leaders.

Additionally, after 2012 assistant principal evaluations will include data and indicators of student growth as part of the evaluation.

House Bill 3171 passed the House at the end of March, and passed the Senate on May 12th. The legislation now moves to the Governor for further consideration.

District 150 Assistant Principal Assignments for 2011-2012:

Synopsis of House Bill 3171 as introduced
Amends the School Code. Provides for the employment of assistant principals. Includes provisions concerning (1) their duties, (2) their contracts, (3) their reclassification, and (4) their evaluation. Removes language that provides that if a principal is absent due to extended illness or leave of absence, then an assistant principal may be assigned as acting principal for a period not to exceed 60 school days. Provides that no principal (rather than no principal who has completed 2 or more years of administrative service in the school district) may be reclassified by demotion or reduction in rank from one position within a school district to another for which a lower salary is paid without written notice from the board of the proposed reclassification by April 1 of the year in which the contract expires. Effective immediately.

In what order should teachers be let go?

Should teachers who receive "unsatisfactory" ratings be let go first - regarldess of senority?

At the June Board of Education meeting Wednesday, members are considering a resolution “with respect to order of layoff to comply with the Illinois School Code.” At a press conference before the board meeting, Huberman said the Illinois School Code allows CPS to consider factors other than seniority in making layoffs.

He said the small number of teachers—only about 3 percent—who are rated unsatisfactory on their evaluations should be the first to go. “We have to do the best by our students,” he said.

However, he admitted that the school code is in “conflict” with the union contract, which calls for layoffs based on seniority. He said he believes state law takes precedent.

The move spurred an immediate negative reaction from the Caucus of Rank and File Educators. According to a press release issued Wednesday: “Today’s move by the Board is illegal, unnecessarily confrontational, and belligerent,” .

CORE has a different reading of the law. According to the group’s press release: Illinois School Code Section 24-12 is crystal clear: the order of dismissal of teachers for budgetary reasons must be done according to tenure unless another method is established in conjunction with the union.

It is unclear whether the resolution being considered by the board Wednesday allows Huberman to open up discussions with the union, or whether it gives him the go-ahead to change the order of layoffs.