Published On: January 1, 2013
Good morning, two days after we have celebrated the memory, life, and message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

As most of you presumably know, the mayor has proposed far-reaching legislation to improve our schools. Here’s the entire legislative package, and here’s the education piece below printed verbatim. In particular, please read the bullets marked in red, and judge for yourself how helpful each bullet will be to “promote public school success.”

AN ACT TO PROMOTE PUBLIC SCHOOL SUCCESS
“Education reform legislation offered greater autonomy to several types of district schools, including Turnaround schools, Innovation schools, and Horace Mann charter schools. These efforts have produced strong academic results, and should be extended to serve a greater number of students. We know what is working in our schools and this bill builds on these efforts to close the achievement gap by:
  • Extending “turn-around” powers and support grants to (39 additional) Level 3 schools
  • Eliminating the cap on in-district charter schools and eliminating the requirement that renewal of these schools is based on union approval
  • Prioritizing enrollment (by reserving seats) for students with disabilities or ELLs in charter schools
  • Building and maintaining programs for charter students with disabilities and ELLs through partnerships and coordination with District resources
  • Offering the same transportation services to both charter and district school students
  • Extending the school day (with compensation rates & schedule set outside of collective bargaining)
  • Allowing for “neighborhood” charter schools in large cities through geographical enrollment preferences
  • Ensuring District input into the grade configuration and location of new charter schools
  • Incorporating a weighted student formula for charter school funding
  • Streamlining the administrative process for the application, approval and management of Horace Mann charter schools
  • Supporting the growth of Innovation schools by clarifying the voting process and union approval requirements
  • Allowing for single-sex schools, classes, and educational programs”

New Salary Rates and Differentials
Here’s a list of all rates and differentials under the new contract.Whenever there is a rate change partway through the school year — as there is in all of the years of this current contract, a “blended” rate is in effect for those who perform year-long activities and/or activities (coaching, and so on) that span the rate hike. So members get paid a “blended” rate for these rates and differentials for a current year, but all subsequent rate adjustments are added to the higher or so-called final rate in effect at the end of the previous school year.

The Uploading of Artifacts: Good and Necessary Use of Your Time? Or Just One More Time-Consuming Imposition?

According to the regulations, an Artifact of Professional Practice is defined as follows: “Product of an Educator’s work and student work samples that demonstrate the Educator’s knowledge and skills with respect to specific performance standards.” OK, we get that, we agree that there ought to be a record kept that provides evidence of same. We also agree that this is an important part of the accountability process. The question is where and how to keep the record of the artifact.

Should it be kept and organized appropriately in a file cabinet fully accessible to the administrator? Or need it be uploaded so an evaluator has easy, online access 24-7? What do you think? Please take our poll.

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