Teacher's Union allegedly poised to file suit against PSD150

Recent comments  indicate that the tenured teacher fight is heating up here in Peoria. Word is the Teacher's Union is filing a law suit this week, on behalf of recently fired tenured teachers. As previously reported, one recently fired tenured teacher filed a lawsuit against the District in civil court this past week and negotiations to pay off other recently fired tenured teachers are are said to be currently underway...

Comments from Emerge Peoria Blog. Click images to enlarge.

This fight is not particular to Peoria, all across the country teachers are being denied tenure and fighting to maintain it:

Many New York City Teachers Denied Tenure in Policy Shift

Nearly half of New York City teachers reaching the end of their probations were denied tenure this year, the Education Department said on Friday, marking the culmination of years of efforts toward Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s goal to end “tenure as we know it.”

Only 55 percent of eligible teachers, having worked for at least three years, earned tenure in 2012, compared with 97 percent in 2007.

An additional 42 percent this year were kept on probation for another year, and 3 percent were denied tenure and fired. Of those whose probations were extended last year, fewer than half won tenure this year, a third were given yet another year to prove themselves, and 16 percent were denied tenure or resigned.

The totals reflect a reversal in the way tenure is granted not only in New York City but around the country. While tenure was once considered nearly automatic, it has now become something teachers have to earn.

A combination of factors — the education reform movement, slow economies that have pinched spending for new teachers, and federal grant competitions like Race to the Top that encourage states to change their policies — have led lawmakers to tighten the requirements not only for earning tenure, but for keeping it.

Joel I. Klein, the former schools chancellor, began nudging principals several years ago to judge teachers more critically when deciding on tenure, and the percentage of denials slowly rose. But in 2010, when the mayor set about “ending tenure as we know it so that tenure is awarded for performance, not taken for granted,” 89 percent of teachers were still receiving it after their three-year probations ended. Source

Discrimination lawsuit filed against District 150

Look around Peoria, you will see black folks unemployed, getting passed over for opportunities, not getting jobs because our hair doesn't look "just so"; being the first laid off from their jobs, yet you never hear about any of them suing for discrimination. I've said it before and I'll say it again... it's amazing to me how other folks seem to have no problem finding an attorney that will represent them in discrimination lawsuits. This statement is not to take anything away from Mrs. Lawler's suit, I'm just saying. Anyhow...

At Monday's BOE meeting Terry Knapp said:

... and now:

Tenured teacher who was fired from District 150 files lawsuit

One of the tenured Peoria School District 150 teachers fired this spring because of an unsatisfactory evaluation has filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court, claiming the district failed to consider her disabilities before she was dismissed.

Eymarde Lawler, then a special education teacher at Trewyn School's Day Treatment Program, says, according to the lawsuit, that her unsatisfactory evaluation stemmed from post-traumatic stress disorder and other disorders brought on after she witnessed two gunshot victims immediately after an attempted murder near Trewyn in August 2011 and after she was seriously injured by students.

A week after the shooting, she was assaulted by a student at Trewyn. Suffering from a concussion, she had to be taken from the school by ambulance. Her rotator cuff was injured after an assault by a student in February.

Lawler is one of 10 tenured teachers fired in the wake of new state regulations that allow school districts to bypass seniority rights in work force reductions. So far, she is the only one to file a lawsuit.

Lawler and her attorney, Richard Stegall, charge that the district ignored medical recommendations to transfer her to a classroom of students with less violence-prone disabilities, which forms the basis of the lawsuit.

The school district's failure to accommodate her disability resulted in her unsatisfactory evaluation, Steagall said. The lawsuit also alleges the district retaliated against Lawler for reporting her disability and requesting a transfer.

Lawler had been employed by District 150 for 10 years, gaining tenure after three, which gave her sufficient seniority to avoid the layoff, according to the suit. She had worked at Trewyn for one year.

Lawler, who earned $56,000 a year, is asking to be reinstated to her job as a tenured teacher with back pay, benefits and $1 million in compensatory damages.Source

Did your lest favored tenured teacher retire this year?

According to the PPS website, 134 employees have retired. Apparently most of the retirements took effect this month, with some from throughout the last school year. 37 of the positions were teachers. I personally find it interesting that one tenured teacher I know that should have been out on her arse YEARS AGO is not on the list. Other names I don't see on the list -Principals Stockman and Wood.

Hopefully, some of the younger, experienced teachers who were pink slipped will get the call back sooner rather than later (i.e., before they find other jobs). The list (click on image to enlarge)...

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.

Time to kick the pedestal out from under tenured teachers

I do volunteer work with a tenured teacher. She enjoys working with parents, she will utilize them to the fullest to make sure her children are learning. She dresses professionally, behaves professionally and is known for being no nonsense. She talks to children like little adults and she will tell a parent what they need to do. She wants her children to have a diverse learning experience and she seeks it out. She is highly recommended to new parents who come to the school. She is a wonderful teacher. She is an example of how tenured teacher should look and behave. Renew this contract.

Unfortunately, there in the same school is a tenured teacher who I am surprised to see every year. How is she still working considering the way she treats children? She has a glassed over crazed look in her eye, she is paranoid and obviously unstable. Administrators at the school are aware of this erratic teacher's antics and actually seem to be afraid of her. Terminate this contract.

Keep the best teachers

Many cash-strapped Illinois school districts face the prospect of layoffs in the coming months. Unless outdated rules are scrapped, the schools will have to fire some of their best teachers because they happen to be younger teachers.

They also will have to fire more teachers. Younger teachers have lower salaries, so when schools operate strictly on seniority, they have to let more teachers go to achieve a certain dollar savings.

Yes, there is value in experience. But the National Council on Teacher Quality reports that "teachers in their third year of teaching are generally about as effective as long-tenured teachers."

Seniority can be considered, but along with such factors as competence, drive, classroom performance and willingness to learn new skills. Younger teachers, for instance, may be more computer-savvy and thus more capable of teaching the tech skills children need to succeed.

Some teachers argue that seniority must be the deciding factor because performance evaluations are poorly done. That is a problem, and Illinois and other states are moving toward better evaluations. But that doesn't argue for denying school districts the flexibility to make decisions based on the knowledge of principals, administrators and teachers.

Last year, Arizona approved a law that forbids the consideration of seniority in firing decisions. A handful of states allow other factors to be used. That's the direction Illinois should go. And at the local level, parents and taxpayers should push school boards to negotiate contracts that move away from seniority-based personnel decisions.

All governments have to find ways to lure and keep the best and brightest in their work force. Where is that more important than in the classroom?

(billboards from http://teachersunionexposed.com/, Newark, New Jersey)