ESTA UPDATE

East Side Teachers Association/CTA/NEA 888 So. Capitol Ave San Jose, Ca 95127 October 24, 2002

Don McKell, President Julie Pratico, Vice Pres Carla Holtzclaw, Secretary Ralph Giannini, Treasurer

mckelld@esuhsd.org fax: (408) 272-7569 voice: (408) 272-0601 website: www.EastSideTA.org

MEMBERSHIP RATIFIES CONTRACT

ESTA members voted on October 23, choosing by an overwhelming margin to ratify the proposed successor agreement to the contract. Since the school board had previously also ratified the agreement, ESTA’s vote officially adopts the new contract. The official dates for the new contract will be September 1, 2002 through August 31, 2005. Both parties are now bound to abide by the terms of the agreement between those dates. ESTA members will be provided complete copies of the contract as soon as they can be printed and distributed. The table below shows the statistics from the October 23 election for each site.

SOME CHANGES

Ratification of the new contract installs a series of changes in our working conditions, effective this year. Among some of the more important features:

 

• Teachers should be assigned to no more than two rooms, and no more than two moves, per day.

   

   

• All have access (and will access) voice- and email.

   

   

• 30 hours max per year for outside-of-workday supervision, including faculty and department meetings, back-to-school, athletics & other events

   

   

• Permanent teachers no longer required to complete off-track profile; on-track profile aligned to State standards for teaching profession.

   

   

• Probationary teachers must have conference and written summary within ten working days of evaluation visit.

   

   

• Current principal cannot refuse to allow transfer if offer made by another principal and you accept

   

   

• Unless qualified and trained, you cannot be asked to do specialized health procedures for students

   

   

• You now have contract rights for reasonable access to repro, clean restrooms and mailboxes

   

   

• Personal Necessity Leave increased to a max of 7 days per year; 3 of these can be for compelling personal importance; 2 of these are "no tell" days (except not to extend holiday or vacation).

   

NEW SALARY SCHEDULE

Ratification of the contract moves the new certificated salary schedule forward. Figures shown are for full time employees on a 182-day contract year. All prior workshop, staff development, and salary amounts paid

will be retroactively brought up to these levels as soon as possible. Watch for your personal copy of the contract for corrected hourly pay and extra duty (coaching, resident substitute, department chair, and so forth) compensation amounts.

* semester units beyond baccalaureat degree

Master’s degree: $1,411 Doctorate: $1,881

2003/04 CALENDAR OPTIONS SURVEY

Last spring, ESTA surveyed members about adopting a calendar for next school year that would bring an end to first semester prior to Christmas vacation. We’ve asked that question off and on for years, but for the first time, this recent survey showed significant (60%) support for further exploring the notion.

There are certain mandates in any calendar we adopt. There must be, for example, 182 work days for ESTA members of which 180 are student-contact days. Semesters should balance at 90 days apiece. It makes little sense to have any school week with fewer than three instruction days. Certain holidays seem to be inviolate.

Any calendar for next year with standard weekends, finishing a 90-day first semester on the Friday before Christmas, must begin no later than August 11. Ouch! Beyond that, there are many options for a 90-day second semester, with 2-, 3- or 4-week semester break possibilities. We will soon circulate a second survey in an ongoing attempt to pinpoint member desires. Watch for it, and be sure you respond by the stated deadline in order for your voice to be heard.

IISME SUMMER FELLOWSHIP

So some acronyms are more catchy than others. This one stands for Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education, and is really worth looking into. Participants earn up to $7,000 for an eight week summer work experience at a Bay Area company or university. Any teacher with a minimum of two years’ teaching experience in any discipline can apply, as long as the individual will be teaching at least through the 2003/04 school year in one of the nine Bay Area counties. Aside from the money, there are a lot of other benefits stemming from participation, including

 

• learning new skills with new technologies

   

   

• getting new teaching skills, resources, and energy

   

   

• earning academic credit for professional growth, salary enhancement, and certification

   

   

• connecting with top professionals

   

There are two IISME Applicant Workshops in the near future: October 28 at Foothill College and November 5 at the Santa Clara County Office of Education. visit http://www.iisme.org today for more information.

SURPLUS PROPERTY

Less than a half year ago, there were five bidders for the 13 acre parcel of undeveloped surplus property adjoining the EVHS site on Quimby Road. After the highest bidder withdrew its $16½ million bid at the last possible moment, the East Side Board of Trustees once again opened up the sale of the property to another round of bidding. This time, when the 5:00 p.m. October 17 deadline for sealed bids occurred, there was exactly one bidder for the property. What a difference six months makes. The sole bid in this second round for the parcel, approved by the City for 39 home sites, was Citation Homes at $12,100,000. Somewhat reluctantly, one senses, our school board voted 4-1 to accept the offer. Perhaps in better times, the board might have rejected the bid, but the proceeds from the sale have always figured heavily in the revenue source for paying for the construction costs of EVHS, and time is running out. Similar to the previous bid process, the new bidder can withdraw its bid within 60 days with no loss of deposit money.

OTA MAKES NWEA PRESENTATION

East Side Board Vice President Jeff Ota made an abbreviated but compelling presentation to his colleagues and the audience at the October 17^th meeting of the Board. Ota has been a chief proponent among the members of the school board for moving forward with the NWEA tests. Introduced to our district three years ago, the NWEA exams have enjoyed a generally negative reception from teachers, who have frequently decried the exam’s multi-day encroachment into instructional time, as well as poor coordination and inadequate planning for scoring and data gathering responsibilities.

Ota’s presentation compared the types of data which are available from the state-mandated SAT-9 tests and the NWEA. (Some states have adopted the NWEA as their school accountability instrument.) Generally, according to Ota, the NWEA can be used to track student progress in math, English, and language arts on a continuum stretching from first through twelfth grade ability levels. Thus, he argues, a school district can more readily measure its effectiveness in teaching basic skills by using the NWEA instead of the SAT-9. For example, a 9^th grader who improves his reading level from the 5^th grade level to the 8^th grade level in one year would merely appear as yet another failure on the norm-referenced SAT-9 test, despite having improved several levels. Ota went on to state that the NWEA is available in several languages, and can be administered in a very short time using a computer.

Ota’s salesmanship was moving, but the facts remain that at present, California continues to mandate the SAT-9 as its accountability measuring instrument and it seems unlikely that our district will obtain a waiver allowing our conversion to the NWEA anytime soon. Unless that happens, it appears as if we will continue with the encroachment of up to a dozen teaching days per year caused by our giving these two non-instructional examinations. Moreover, core teachers with high freshman counts will still get saddled with the added responsibilities of scoring and reporting the NWEA assessment data, with no systematic reduction in their other duties. Management at most sites continues to neglect teachers’ needs in this regard.

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Superintendent Joe Coto provided the following data at a recent School Board meeting. The table shows General Fund (non-Special Ed) non-management certificated staffing at district sites.