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Panorama | April 2010 |
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Panorama | April 2010 |
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President's View by Marisa Hanson
As
expected, March was an extremely busy month. Over 525 teachers from 5 different
unions came through Mt. Hamilton CTA to fill out paperwork since they
received a layoff notice.
Ralph and I helped ESTA and other associations with the constant
flow of people for three weeks.
Many felt hurt and angry that they had to fill out the paper work,
some for the second year in a row.
ESTA members kept telling me that they remembered what to do and
asked if we were going to have the same attorney as last year. I
was glad I could answer questions and at least help everyone understand
that the amount of layoffs was too high and that once the tie-breaking
criteria was established, even without bargaining, it would leave 76 out
of 114 still laid off, if all 76 members were able to go into the
classroom. Around
40 members who were part of the eliminated positions have teaching
credentials, so they will be returning to the classroom. However, about 36 of the
eliminated positions have members in them who do not hold a teacher
credential and will not be returning to the classroom. They do not bump anyone, and they
received the layoff notices.
So, really out of the eliminated positions so far, we are trying to
make room for 40 members returning to the classroom. ESTA would like to see all
eliminated positions restored, and all layoff notices rescinded as soon as
possible.
The
bargaining team has begun bargaining with the district and is working hard
to bring back a contract for next year that members would approve by a
majority vote before we go on summer vacation. Obviously, bargaining is
confidential - so when our bargaining team needs us for action, they will
let everyone know.
I
am surely not going to describe in the Panorama what ESTA is willing and
not willing to do, but the bargaining team knows and is in contact with
the ESTA Executive Board who directs bargaining. The ESTA Executive Board has already had a few extra meetings this year when needed as this has been a busy year with many issues and concerns. Remember, the ESTA Executive Board voting members are people who have been elected by; ESTA Executive Officers, Site Presidents, and State Council Representatives. The non-voting members are; Bargaining Team and Committee Chairs. Each Site President has been gathering information from their site to help direct the bargaining team.If
bargaining is not finished before we end this school year, then we would
be using the original contract until it was completed which has regular
class size, full benefits, and salary schedule. Obviously, if we went back to
regular class size it would mean the district would need 64 more teachers
for next year which would cost 4-5 million dollars more than the current
budget. So, make sure to have
a conversation with your site President if you have input you want shared
with the bargaining team or attend one of the three bargaining input
meetings. On
another note, I do want to thank all of you for attending the March 18
board meeting to show support for our eliminated positions. Everyone loses if these positions
are not restored and it was important to show your support for our members
and students.
Like
I mentioned at the board meeting, I was disappointed that the location was
not changed since I had emailed both Superintendent Moser and board
President Garcia of the need for a larger place. I really feel that by not honoring
my request, it was really a way to show ESTA that the district and the
board were not interested in listening to what ESTA and students had to
say. No one has gotten back
to me with an apology acknowledging that I was right and a larger venue
would have made more sense.
It
was also disappointing and disrespectful that everyone was limited to one
minute and could not yield their time to another speaker. When I went back to listen to the
board meeting on CD, the board didn’t even vote on this change and board
President Garcia made the decision without proper procedure. Board member Patricia
Martinez-Roach even objected to this, asking for everyone to have two
minutes but President Garcia did not agree with her and then proceeded to
give everyone only one minute.
It would have been better procedure to have the entire board vote
on time limits rather than being one member’s decision. I
did hear that one freshman student had taken a week to write his speech
and was not allowed to finish, leaving him saddened and extremely
disappointed. This student,
like many others, came with a prepared speech and sounded great, so I hope
you were able to thank your students for attending and explain to them
that this was not normal procedure for the board to “suppress” their
voices so disrespectfully.
Here
is my thought; a better procedure would have been to allow only one minute
being yielded which would allow some people to speak for two minutes if
needed. The board did
however, allow one student who was really sharing her emotional personal
story to finish. I was given
5 minutes, but I would have gladly given my minutes to any member who
needed them because it was not fair for members to be told they couldn’t
speak past one minute.
On
a brighter note, we did have lots of news coverage. We were on all the local
television channels and many newspapers and one radio station covered our
story as well.
It
was by far the best media covered event we have had in years. Adding to this successful event,
CTA helped make this happen by sending out the Media Advisory I wrote
earlier that week to inform the media what was going to
happen. Lastly,
I want to thank all of you for reelecting me to begin my second term this
September.
I
am excited to continue as your President and look forward to the next two
years even if they are going to be challenging. I am ready
and able to continue to serve all of you.
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Ala Board Wendy Stegeman, AAHS, PAC
Wowie
zowie gosharootie!!! There
were LOTS of people at the DO last night. The board changed the rules to 1
minute for each speaker and no giving time to others or spokespeople. Many parents, students, MST
people, psychologists, CSEA and others made impassioned pleas for
continued services for students. Lan Nguyen, Pat Martinez-Roach and Manuel
Herrera seemed moved. Lots of people were pretty in pink for the second or
third year. Some of our
students attended. We are trying to download video from one of my
student's ipod. Lots of CSEA
and ESTA folk. LOTS of news cameras. Lots of admin folk. Marisa Hanson reminded the board
and Mr. Moser that she had begged them to change the venue to a place that
would hold everyone. Mr. Moser never called back. The Merc article today is by
Brandon Bailey (pg. B1), a reporter who appears to know the difference
between reporting what happened instead of creating news based on gossip
and hearsay. The quote from Mr. Biehl makes it sound like you better hold
on tight to your Kaiser card (or equivalent). The familiar face of Gary Berg,
and a quote from SC site pres Jerry Dyer. The site pres from WCO, Eleanor
Aguirre finished her comments with "Educate or Incarcerate!"!!! Sounds like a good rallying call
to me. But
the board made it clear that they were going through the motions through
their rule changes (1 minute, not the usual 2 for big crowds), whispering
to each other (one parent finally asked if they were listening to her)
during speakers, and self-congratulatory remarks at the end by Member
Biehl and Board President Garcia
about how well they had handled the meeting. Pat
Martinez-Roach and Omar Gutierrez actually suggested places to restore
general fund money. Admin will look at it. The board spent lots of imaginary
money on legal opinions, parcel tax surveys/polling, and lots of other
stuff. ESTA,
CSEA and AFT sunshine what they want to talk about in negotiations. Let
the bargaining begin!!! The
District Attorney, Delores Carr, presented about SARB. Here is $2.25M available to recover if we had
some liaisons and attendance clerks... oh wait, those people have been
cut... At the last meeting,
Pat suggested creating an admin level position the monitor ADA
recovery. The District
Attorney and Deputy DA explained that the program is hampered in recovery
by changing the attendance/department clerks who do the actual work. Julio
Pardo reminded them that they HAD the people who did those jobs. What an
interesting idea to keep the worker bees instead of laying them of and
hiring another manager!!! Calero
is an issue - may not be used as a community school under a new plan that
was never brought to the board but appeared to be fiat acompli by by Dan
Moser and Frank Biehl - complete with Millions in improvement plans. Manuel Herrera asked why the board
was not in on this and it is coming back next month. Parcel
tax contract is like emporer's new clothes. No on the board could see it
except Mr. Moser. It is coming back on 4/15 (tax day) or sooner. That is
the next regularly scheduled mtg. Lots
of subtle campaigning for lots of offices among the board and
audience. George Shirakawa
made a brief visit in the hallway (I saw a reflection in a door - don't
know if he came in behind me.
Some speakers suggested that if the board isn't willing to do the
hard work to get the budget solutions right, maybe they should do other
work instead of the board. After
a confusing conversation and set of motions and unmotions, I think they
voted themselves more conference/event money and discussed not publicly
airing all amounts if they were small, like $40 or $25. I think. Frank Biehl said he is
willing to be transparent. Stegeman
continued, Col.
Corbett stayed until almost the bitter end, but as soon as she left, Clerk
Martinez-Roach began to attack ROTC.
She seems unable to grasp this: 1.Military
pays 60% of the cost of ROTC - District pays 40%. 2.If
those children were not in ROTC, they would be in other classes and the
district would pay 100%. 3.There
is NO ROTC encroachment. Everyone
on the dais tried to explain, but she just does not and will not allow
facts to color her dislike of ROTC. I
am concerned that some board members may use the budget trouble to try to
go after their pet-peave people and programs.
You Can’t
Have Another Educational System Until You Finish The One You Have
Now Mike
Brennan, EVHS
This
was something my mother would say when my eyes were bigger than my belly
(I got that one from her too).
Maybe your mother said things like that to you. You know, when you were a kid and
you knew the cookie in your hand and the cookie in your mouth just wasn’t
enough so you went back to
the cookie jar because, shucks, you did have that other empty hand that
could hold another cookie.
You remember that saying, “you can’t have another one until you
finish what you have.” I’m
amazed at the greed of educational reformers. I use the word greed because,
without a doubt, the pundits and the political leaders who claim that our
system is broken are doing so in order to save themselves from having to
pay for a real system. They
run around the country talking about the waste and incompetence in our
current school system when most of them graduated from American
universities– the best universities in the world. Ask yourself how a country with below
average K-12 schools can have the
best universities in the world?
The answer is that some of those K-12 schools have to be preparing
students for university educations.
Most of them, actually.
We don’t need to change the system, we need to fund it. We need to finish the one we
have.
My mother lives in San Luis Obispo County. There is an eerie similitude
between what is happening in San Luis Obispo County’s school districts and
what is happening in the rest of America. In the North of the County the schools are
suffering because it’s inhabited by middle to upper income families who’ve
made their money from the sweat of their backs instead of the sweat of
their brow and they see no reason to fund schools. In the South of the County the
schools are suffering because it’s inhabited by lower to middle income
families who have no extra money to fund the schools. Right in the middle of the County
is the city of San Luis Obispo.
San Luis Obispo is inhabited by very wealthy people who understand
the rewards that come from the sweating of the brow. San Luis Obispo has a school system that is staffed by superior teachers and administrators who are cognizant of the latest teaching techniques and peer reviewed university studies on best practices. These excellent professionals are not the reason the children of San Luis Obispo receive a superior education. Bake sales- bake sales and other fund raising activities are keeping electives in the schools. San Luis Obispo High School offers a Latin class*?! Who the heck speaks Latin? ...Lawyers;) When the children of San Luis Obispo go begging for the schools, the parents empty their pockets because they are wealthy; they are college educated professionals; they know the value of a good education.
This discrepancy between the funding levels of schools in wealthy
neighborhoods and schools in lower income areas is heartbreaking during
good times but it’s immoral during economic down turns. In economic downturns the average
school is laying off teachers but in wealthy neighborhoods the parents
just get the checkbook out and the children carry on as usual. Until America learns that all
students are created equal and each and every child deserves a level
playing field as they begin life, we will have educational reformers. People who blame low test scores
on underpaid teachers, under staffed schools, and under maintained
facilities are blowing smoke in your rear view mirror. Those people have a special place
in Dante’s inferno.
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