Awesomeness

It's old school unionism, but it's also great listening!

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An Open Letter to Certain Conservative State Legislators

Hi friends,

Does the WEA trend to the left politically? Yes, we do.

Historically, has the WEA Political Action Committee (WEA-PAC) endorsed more Democrats than Republicans? Surely, we have.

But do you really think it helps to not even attempt to engage?

Take, for example, a local incumbant legislator here in the Spokane area who I have emailed 6 times (twice each at three different email addresses, including that of his campaign manager), asking for a time where he'd be willing to meet with us to talk about education issues. I also attempted two phone calls to this fellow. None have been returned.

I say this out of love, truly. When we start rolling out the candidate recommendations later this week there are going to be some glaring and gaping holes in certain legislative districts, and it would sound much, much better to the voters if I said, "We chose a different directions" as opposed to "The Representative refused to meet with us." One puts the onus on us. The other puts it squarely on you.

Your pal,

Ryan

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Nine Thoughts on My First Year Teaching 5th Grade

1) This is where I'm meant to be. I loved my years teaching first grade, and covering those early reading skills will always hold a special place in my heart, but the energy and independence of 5th graders is a much better match for my personality and skill set. It was a tough change to commit to when it came up, but it was the right change for me.

2) I'm not a fan of the LASER science kits we use here in Washington. A year of 5th grade teaching, and an experience giving the statewide science test, has done nothing but reinforce my view.

5th grade is the tested year for science in the K-6 band--i.e., we're the ones who's scores get reported to the state--and the science test covers *everything* that they're supposed to know. The trick is that the LASER kits for 5th grade cover variables, earth science, and nutrition, and the way they do it is very, very poor.

We need a proper science curriculum. That's not what LASER is, and I doubt that's what it ever was intended to be. The goal of hands-on science is absolutely the right one (I taught a dissections unit, for example, that was the highlight of the year), but if it's not properly balanced with vocabulary, diagraming, and the like, we're never going to get where we need to go.

3) I spend way too much time during the year reacting--hence the way my amount of blogging went in the tank--but I'm really looking forward to using this summer to reflect on the year. Part of the beauty of K-12 education is that you get a sabbatical every 9 months, and there's an incredible amount of power in that.

4) I'm obsessed with the state budget, but that pays off--I'd been talking to my members all year long about where things are and where they could go, and after everything was fleshed out we were in a position as a district where no one was RIFed, no provisional will be non-renewed, and the only one of my 125 members I might not be able to bring back is a half-time retire/rehire teacher at my middle school, and that said I think I might have a way to save her, too.

My end line is jobs--if we're saving jobs, we're doing the right thing--and for this year at least, my district was able to do the right thing. I'd also note that I get incredibly pissed at those districts that tell the public "Hey, we didn't have any layoffs!" when at the same time they're sending away provisional teachers in droves. We saved every position. That should always be the goal, no matter the sacrifice.

5) I had three kids get sick during the dissections, particularly the star fish--I think it was the smell that did them in. Oddly enough, they were all boys--my girls did great. Breaking down gender roles FTW!

6) The people who hated my science teaching style the most were.....the custodians. Happily, when you have the kids on your side, you also tend to have the parents, and that can carry you a looooooong ways.

7) I had a teacher get terminated this year. It does happen. It is doable. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

8) I've really, really got to lose some weight. I've really, really got to find a way to work exercise into my day during the school year. I've really, really got to cut the Red Bull and Monster Energy drinks out of my diet.

9) My daughter is doing absolutely amazingly well since getting the cochlear implant in--phrasing words, asking questions, and doing everything that we had hoped she would do. Stressful at the time, but the right decision.

See you on the blogs!

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The New Business Item I Considered, But Chickened Out On

Title: Repealing All Existing No-Raid Agreements

Background: Because of existing no-raid agreements between the WEA and other groups, we have limited our ability to bring new members into the Association.

Cost Implications: None.

WEA Goals and Objectives: Improve the quality of and access to public education for all students. Forge partnerships with parents, business, other unions, and community groups.

Recommendations: That the WEA immediately repeal and hold invalid any so-called "No Raid" agreement between the WEA and other collective representation groups, including but not limited to the PSE; and that any future "No Raid" agreements require the approval of the WEA Representative Assembly to be considered ratified.

--------------------------

Now, the rest of the story:

Last December I had a one-off post wondering why there are no union raids in education in Washington State. It's not really a surprise that the teacher units don't change hands, given the Washington AFT's focus on colleges, but there are at least 3 different groups (SEIU, PSE, and the WEA; maybe the Teamsters and the AFL-CIO as well?) who could represent paraprofessionals, bus drivers, cooks, and the like.

In my district the PSE represents the support staff, and it's not for the best. The representation they get might be good enough, but when you have two units in the same district represented by different unions, there's a tension, especially in times of budget cuts. If we were all WEA we could work together, but when it's WEA v. PSE and jobs are on the line, it can be war. Administrators thrive on that, in a divide-and-conquer sense, and I've seen it happen far too often where admins stoke the fires to try and divert attention from what they're doing.

So I'd love to poach my local PSE, and in conversations with groups around the state I've heard many staff and other local presidents say the same thing. At a dinner in March I talked with a fairly high-level staffer and asked him, "What do you think about the no-raid agreements?"

"I hate them. We all hate them."

"OK. I've been thinking of dropping a new business item at Rep Assembly to override the no-raid agreements we have now. Would that work?"

"Probably. It'd be career suicide, though."

...

Well then. Career suicide isn't really something I'd like to do, so I thought I'd pull back and think things through some more.

This is a conversation that I'd love to have on a broader basis, though. If you'd like to talk, please drop me an email or hit me up on Facebook.

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Oh My God, Unions Really Are Evil!

Two of the biggest issues that the teachers unions fight for involve time (contact time with the kids, set working hours, length of the school year, etc.) and money (total compensation, TRI pay, health benefits). Therefore:

Unions = Time x Money

However, we also know that time IS money. Therefore:

Unions = Money x Money = (Money) ^ 2

But we also know that money is the root of all evil.

Money = (Evil) ^ (1/2)

Which means that we can substitute

Unions = (Money) ^ 2

With

Unions = ((Evil) ^ (1/2)) ^ 2

Which simplifies to....

Unions = Evil

The math has set me straight. I'm going to immediately renounce my evil ways, make a generous donation to the League of "Education" Voters, and organize an at-home TEA party.

Where did I go wrong. Lord, where did I go wrong.....



(stolen from)

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You're Damned Right I'm Union

An exerpt from Mary Stays After School or--What This Union's About, a piece published in 1939 by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. They've since gone on to be a part of UNITE HERE!, a conglamoration with the hotel and restaurant workers unions. For more stories like this, I can't recommend enough the excellent Tales for Little Rebels by Julia Mickenberg and Philip Nel, which is a fascinating look back at labor's heyday.

"Maybe they are right," her father continued. "Yes, it would be a wonderful thing to have a union of the clothing workers...but must the women and the children pay for it? Must you go without enough food? Not have a decent dress and stockings to put on? When I come home at night, I am afraid to look my own daughter in the face because there is so much pain in it."

"I don't like to hear you talk like that," Mary's mother said, and Mary could not believe it was her mother's voice, it was so clear and strong. "You are their leader. They depend on you. You knew that all this would happen before you began this fight for the union. But you thought, and they all thought, that it was worth making almost any sacrifice for a chance to live with a little security, a little hope in this world. And you shouldn't change your mind now because the women and children are suffering. I am not different from the other women, and Mary is not different from the other children. They all can stand it and so can we. Are we suffering more than before the strike? I had the same worries then that I have now....always trying to make ends meet on your earnings....trying to make a home that we could live in with a little decency.....that Mary could play in. Now at least we have something better to look forward to. And if Mary can have all the things that the other girls have, she will be happy again. No, John, if we lose the strike then we can go back to the old days. But I wouldn't have you go back otherwise.

Unionism has changed, and what unions should do has changed. But I think at the end of the day it always, always will boil down to getting a little security and a little hope for my members, and that's not a bad thing for anyone to accomplish in this life.

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The AFL-CIO-SEIU-NEA?

Could be something, could be nothing, but it's certainly worth watching. From a New York Time article on how the AFL-CIO is looking to heal from its recent schism and become one big labor union again:

One somewhat surprising attendee was Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, which, with 3.2 million members, is the nation’s largest labor union, but has traditionally remained outside any larger labor federations.

A couple of years ago the Seattle EA affiliated with the AFL-CIO, though I'm not sure that much ever came of that alliance. If any of the Seattle teachers out there have thoughts, I'd love to read them.

Oh, and Eduwonk beat me to this.

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A Pretty Good Overview of Unions and Teachers

Sure, you could read Collective Bargaining in Education by Andy Rotherham and Jane Hannaway, but this well-done report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy also gets to the heart of the matter, and it does it in 400 less pages.

Good work, CEEP.

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I Saw It Coming, But That Didn’t Make It Any Easier

Longtime readers know that I’ve been enrolled in a school leadership program this year with an eye towards maybe, eventually making the transition from classroom to the principalship. I’ve done well in my classes—I’d recommend Eastern’s program to anyone—but there’s been a nagging fear in the back of my head for a while now: my union work.

The circumstances that lead to me becoming president of my local are colorful, and when I’ve managed to get some more distance from the situation I’ll probably spill exactly why I took the office. At the end of the day, though, it’s left me in a position where I’m the union president, the lead negotiator for our open contract, and the political action coordinator for my local Uniserv council—I’m in it up to my neck, and that’s OK because I really like my union work.

There’s the problem, though, and it involves the administrative internship that is required before you can get your principal’s certificate. During the internship you need to make the transition from teacher to administrator, to be able to look at situations with an administrator’s eye, and be able to take part in the functions of the school from a completely administrative point of view. As union president, though, I can’t do that.

As an example, let’s consider disciplinary actions. Recently in my school we discovered that one of the paraprofessionals (parapros) had a folder on her computer where she was storing some racy, racy pictures that she’d found on the internet. They were discovered by the tech when he was doing routine maintenance. The para and the superintendent met that same day with the PSE president, the para was out the door that same afternoon, and she was out of a job within just a couple of days. This all happened under the watch of the administrative intern I have in my building now.

Now consider if that was a teacher. What’s my role in the room: administrative intern, or union president? Here you truly can’t live in both worlds, because those two worlds are in conflict. It doesn’t work.

So on Wednesday before class I met with the two men who run my program, and they laid it all out on the table: either quit your union work, or quit the program. I told them that with negotiations having begun the day before I simply could not do that—not only would it be unethical, but when word got around that Ryan quit on the members so that he could go play administrator any chance that I would have to lead the teachers from a moral viewpoint would be completely ruined. People would understand me moving into administration; people would not understand me leaving them in the lurch to pursue my own interests.

So I had to make a choice, but there was only one choice to make. I’m going to have to give back the state-funded internship grant that I received from the Association of Washington School principals, and after I complete the class I’m in now it’s game over. Maybe the year will come where I’m out of my involvement with the WEA and where I’m not representing the people in my district, and then I can look at making the shift.

As for now, though, this will need to be a dream deferred.

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Guess Who Just Got Elected President of His Local Teacher’s Union?

Follow-up question: oh dear God, what have I gotten myself into?

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Would the Public Schools Be Better if Tenure Was More Like the Colleges?

The April 25th edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting commentary from the pseudonymous Philip Drew on the process of getting tenure in academe; the byline introduction states plainly, “Here’s why it’s usually a bad idea to promote assistant professors before the six-year mark.”

Six years. Golly Ned, that’s a long time. But is two years, like we have here in Washington for public school teachers, too short?

In reading the accounts of assistant professors on the Chronicle message boards it’s pretty apparent that those pre-tenure years are a special kind of hell. The trick is that when they attain the security that tenure provides, they’ve attained something pretty incredible, and they’ve damn well earned it. Can the same be said for teaching?

Governor Schwartzeneggedegegger was burned hard a few years back when he proposed raising the minimum number of years required to earn tenure in the California public schools from two to three; he might have had a point.

What are your thoughts on tenure for teachers? Is two years enough? Should it even exist?

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The EFF Tries a Podcast

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation recently put out their first ever podcast, which is pretty good for a first effort. They also have a new video channel, like the WEA does, and if this was a different decade where a man could get away with saying such things I'd go so far as to call their host strikingly beautiful.

(Factcheck on the podcast: very few locals charge $1000 a year total in dues. There are also many locals that don't charge a percentage of the paycheck. This I know, because I've been studying how locals charge their dues for a project I'm working on)

I'm not a member--when it comes to their "free market will solve anything!" tripe I'm not even a fan--but as an observer of the education system I think it needs to be understood that the EFF is a part of the chorus, and they have a message that resonates with many. I'll be adding the podcast to my RSS feeder.

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Feel the Union Love

A University in Michigan tosses out their union, the AAUP. This probably isn't because of the failing auto industry.

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A Week in the Life, Part II

A sequel of sorts to a post I did last April.

Monday, the 26th: Meet at the local WEA council office to talk about making some changes to our bylaws. Good discussion; I'm thinking we might be able to shed some exec board members, which would be nice. After the meeting went out and got a haircut, then turned around and went right back to the council office for a local president's networking meeting, where all the union heads in the area came together to compare notes. Very productive; I learned a lot.

Tuesday: Big presentation for my education leadership class on how to implement full-day kindergarten. I don't think I did very well, frankly. Blew a couple of transitions and didn't tie things together nearly as well as I saw myself doing it. Hopefully I'm being harder on myself than Dr. Alvy will be.

Wednesday: Fly to Sea-Tac and drive to Federal Way to attend a workshop on how to lobby the legislature. Really interesting look into how it all works. This will be my first time as part of the legislative action team for the WEA, so I'm pretty excited to see what can happen. The other folks from my council are happy because I'm from the 7th legislative district and they haven't had someone from the 7th in a while; I don't know what they think I'm going to be able to do, because the 7th is more Republican than Reagan.

That said, I like what the WEA is doing with their legislative agenda this year. In the full session last time around they had waaaaaay too many high priority items, but this year there are only two: class size and compensation. I'm think they might be overreaching on the class size proposal (17:1 in grades K-3 is nice, but also easy to say no to, and it doesn't do anything for a wide swath of our members), but the compensation proposal is almost tame compared to others I've heard.

(Sidenote: Flying out of Spokane it was cloudy, but when we got above the clouds I got to watch the sunrise from an airplane. That's an unforgettable sight, right there.)

(Sidenote 2: I've whined about it before, but damn I miss being able to get 5 daily newspapers.)

Thursday: Teach a half day, then go home and crash with the kid. I needed that.

Friday: Teach a half day, then wait for a phone call from an insurance agent about a fender bender I was in. The phone call never comes. Later on that night I went to the staff Christmas party, but ducked out after 15 minutes and went to the room to lesson plan.

It's these social situations that make me think of my daughter's health problems the most, because everyone asks how she's doing. They mean well; it's the having to talk about it over and over again that gets hard. Maybe I should just send out an email, but it's kind of a hard one to write:

To: Staff
From: Ryan

Message: Daughter was exposed to a virus called CMV in the womb. The pediatrician is afraid she'll go blind, and 80% of the time the kids are also mentally retarded. How are your kids doing?

Maybe I won't write that email.


Fast forward.....

Monday: The State Board of Education was in town to talk about the new graduation standards. Instead of that, I went to a meeting of the Eastern Region of the WEA at Hill's Restaurant in Spokane, which was a great place that I'd never had the pleasure of eating at before. Good conversation with good people.

Tuesday: Eastern Region meeting. This was pretty interesting, actually. Good talks about what was going on around the state with the WEA, planning for the upcoming bargaining conference, and lots of good ideas. I hope I get to attend another one this year.

Tuesday afternoon: Dinner with State Senator Chris Marr and Basic Ed Financing Commission Chair Dan Grimm. I'm still trying to get all of my thoughts straight about this one. I was very impressed by Chairman Grimm, who has a great breadth of knowledge about school issues.

Tuesday evening: Class. Listen to presentations. Try to stay awake.

Wednesday: Nothing special! If I'd gone out again, my wife'd have my head.

Thursday: Big 6 Bargaining Conference. All of the big locals in my area get together periodically to compare contracts and talk about the ideas that we can get from one another; it's really fascinating to look at what the others have and think about how it could improve what you're getting in your own district.

In total, I had my lunch or dinner bought for me 9 times this past week. That's how it's done, folks!

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Now that's unionism!

Just for fun, go to YouTube and do a search for "CTU Contract Meeting." It looks like an interesting experience in contract-ratifying. Here's a sample:

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Great Article on Teacher Unionism

The Washington City Paper has a neat read on the appointment of Michelle Rhee as superintendent of the DC Public Schools, and looks at the kind of relationship she can expect to have with George Parker, president of the teacher’s union there. There’s some minor quibbles (the Unintended Consequences report which Rhee helped co-write, for example, isn’t nearly as profound as they make it out to be), but overall it’s a thoughtful article that should appeal to anyone with an interest in how unions interact with education.

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Taking the Leap

I’ve decided to begin an administrative program this fall.

It’s sort of been an evolution. When I went into teaching I never would have figured myself as the guy in the principal’s office, but as the years have gone by a lot of the people I work with have said that they could see me doing it. My work with the Association has shown me, too, that the best way to represent your school is to have a seat at the table, and I’m hoping that I can do a lot of good for my school and my kids by taking that next step.

It’s also a tough decision, because of the Union. I like being vice-president of my local. I like being involved in my regional Uniserv office, and going to the WEA Leadership Academy next week may well be the highlight of my summer. I think that if I stuck with it I could have a shot at getting more leadership roles higher up, which would be a neat thing.

This is also our open year for our contract, so next summer we’ll be hitting the bargaining table again. That’s going to take a lot of my concentration, because there are some big issues that have presented themselves in recent years. It’s also a tough position, to bargain for the teachers while at the same time making plans to not be one of them any longer, but I think that people have enough faith in my character to know that I’m going to fight for the membership every bit as hard as I would otherwise. It’ll be fun!

The final deal-breaker was looking at where things could be going with my daughter. If the insurance says no to the cochlear implants, we may have to go it alone. She starts at the HOPE School, our area school for deaf kids, this fall in their toddler group, an expense that is covered by the county social services office, but there’s still a cost involved in the days that I’ll take off, the childcare, the transportation, the other extended learning opportunities that have shown success with deaf kids, etc. To provide the kind of life that I want to provide her, I have to step it up somewhere. The principalship seems like a good means to that end.

Frankly, it’s also an exciting proposition. Setting the agenda, leading the charge, helping a whole school be successful—I really like that idea. I doubt that I’d get a job right out of the program, but having the credential would give me options, and that’s always a happy thing.

I decided to go with Eastern, which was an easy, easy choice after speaking with Les Portner, who runs their leadership program. My Master’s degree was through EWU, so I’d already taken many of the classes required for the administrator’s certificate. With 5 classes and an internship, to be done in the 2008 – 2009 school year, I’ll be legal.

The classes look pretty interesting, too. Should give me a ton of fodder for the blog!

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Juxtaposition and Counterbalance

From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The Seattle teachers union joined forces Friday with the AFL-CIO in a move to bolster its leverage in debates on health care, pensions, education and other public policies.

As part of the move, the Seattle Education Association, which represents 5,500 Seattle Public Schools teachers and staff members, joined the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council, gaining a role in the council's political activities, such as evaluating political candidates.

"We have a lot that we can work on together," said Maggie Crain, the union's associate executive director.

If teachers strike, they could gain more help from the broader labor movement. Other unions, for example, could be more likely to honor a Seattle Education Association picket line.

Compare that to this from the mission statement for the Teachers Union Reform Network, of which the Seattle Education Association is a member:

TURN (Teacher Union Reform Network) is a union-led effort to restructure the nation's teachers' unions to promote reforms that will ultimately lead to better learning and higher achievement for American's children. TURN will rely on models drawn from a variety of research, internal initiatives, and the experience of some industrial trade unions which have been forced to begin to transform themselves.

TURN members, 21 presidents of large AFT and NEA locals, recognize that reversing a century of hostile labor relations and replacing them with a compact that says "we are all in this together," will be difficult. But, succeeding in this new and unpredictable environment can only be assured by the mutual effort of administrators, union leaders and teachers, and the creation of a new social framework to hold it together.

So on one hand we have the idea that it's good to join up with the AFL-CIO because it gives them more leverage in the next strike. On the other, we're talking about putting the old unionism behind us and marching bravely towards a new tomorrow.

Methinks the SEA has gone bipolar.

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