Restocking teachers: The math doesn’t add up

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by Dennis Van Roekel, a 23-year math teacher at Paradise
Valley High School in Phoenix who is now president of the National Education
Association, the country’s largest education union.

By Dennis Van Roekel

“Last in, first out” (LIFO) is a term commonly used in merchandise control.
It describes how stores stock products. With napkins and paper plates, you push
the old items back to make room for new items of the same kind – so the last
items stocked are the first items sold. For perishable goods you push old items
to the front, so they’re the first selected by shoppers – milk and eggs are
restocked this way.

LIFO is for inventory. Yet somewhere between the Kroger and the classroom, it
became confused with teacher experience and layoff policies. Teachers are now
viewed as “perishable”— the longer they’ve taught and the more money
they earn, the faster they need to be “restocked” for fresher, less
expensive goods. But teachers don’t come with “sell by” dates, and it’s
an insult to punish them for their years of service.

Some people say layoffs are an “opportunity” to get rid of underperforming
teachers. So let me be clear: If a teacher isn’t qualified, he or she
shouldn’t be in the classroom. There are procedures in place in every school
district to terminate unqualified or incompetent teachers, and administrators
shouldn’t wait for a budget crisis to remove them. The fair dismissal process
should be transparent, efficient and fair. We owe it to everyone concerned –
especially students – to resolve cases as quickly as possible.

Now that’s settled, let’s deal with the real issue. Layoffs caused by
budget cuts are about money, and experienced teachers cost more — until you
take an honest look at the high costs associated with turnover from a passing
parade of inexperienced teachers.

It’s extremely expensive to keep hiring and training new teachers. And these
problems are worst in precisely the schools that most desperately need good,
proven teachers.

So for the anti-seniority crowd, tell me again how fewer experienced teachers
in schools that serve the poorest students is the answer? Do we really want an
endless churn in our classrooms? How many people who dismiss the value of
experience would send their own children to a school staffed entirely by
first-year teachers?

Teaching is a complex profession, and experience matters. I taught math for 23
years, and I know without a doubt I was a much better teacher in year 20 than
year 2. In no other profession is experience deemed a liability instead of an
asset.

These are tough economic times for school districts, and no matter how you
slice it, layoffs are difficult for everyone involved. It might save a few
dollars in the short run by axing experienced teachers and retaining newcomers
who earn less, but in the long run it’s our children who will pay the
steepest price.

Let’s do the math.... Nearly 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession
in the first five years, and schools lose 100 percent of their investment.
Turnover rates in high-poverty districts are 2x as high as rates in wealthier
school districts.

Research shows costs for “recruiting, hiring, and training a replacement
teacher” is as high as $17,000 per teacher, leading to billions of dollars
spent each year replacing teachers who left the classroom.

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future published a cost
calculator to help administrators, parents and members of the community
estimate a school’s expenses on teacher turnover.

Continue the conversation at dvrmail@nea.org

New NAACP report ties state spending on prisons to low education achievement

SF-Based Business and Philanthropy Leader Mitch Kapor Joins NAACP, Others in Bipartisan Call to Reduce Incarceration

New NAACP report ties state spending on prisons to low education achievement; California data available in report

Multi-city billboard campaign, including in Los Angeles, will kick off regional efforts to reform criminal justice policy, influence state budgets 

(Washington, DC) – On Thursday, April 7, at 1:30 p.m. EST at the National Press Club, business and philanthropy leader Mitchell Kapor will join the NAACP and an unlikely, bipartisan alliance, including representatives of law enforcement, to draw attention to the link between state spending on prisons and low education achievement.

In addition to NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, speakers will include Rod Paige, former Secretary of Education under the Bush Administration; Mike Jimenez of Corrections USA, representative of over 80,000 prison guards nationwide and president of the nation’s largest prison guard union  (California Correctional Peace Officers Association); and Mitchell Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation and founding investor in Second Life, among other ventures. Also expected at the news conference are David Keene, former Chairman of the American Conservative Union; and Pat Nolan of the Prison Fellowship, who has worked closely with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to establish the conservative Right On Crime coalition.

The press conference is timed with the release of an NAACP report that examines escalating levels of prison spending and the resulting impact on state budgets and our nation’s children. “Misplaced Priorities: Under Educate, Over Incarcerate” uncovers a disturbing connection between needlessly high incarceration rates and poorly performing schools. Between 1987 and 2007, state spending on incarceration grew by 127 percent while investment in higher education increased only 21 percent. Since 1988, California’s spending on prisons has risen 20 times faster than on higher education.

 “Misplaced Priorities” tracks the steady shift of state resources away from education and toward the criminal justice system. Researchers found that over-incarceration impacts vulnerable, often minority, populations and destabilizes communities. For instance, in Houston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, over 65% of the lowest-performing schools are in neighborhoods with the highest rates of incarceration. The report offers recommendations that will help policymakers downsize prisons and shift those savings to education budgets.

A promotional billboard campaign will accompany the report’s release, kicking off regional efforts to influence state budget decisions and change state criminal justice policies. Billboards will be placed around the country – including at West Century Blvd. in Los Angeles – featuring jarring statistics about our nation’s criminal justice system.

 510.686.7910 | fax

.......................
Bilen Mesfin
510.681.5978 | direct

Response to March 15, 2011 Layoffs: Letter to the Community from OEA President Betty Olson-Jones

In response to numerous requests from teachers and parents, I wrote this open letter to the community on our response to the layoffs. Please feel free to circulate widely. (I tried to add as an attachment but was told it was too large to send.)

March 22, 2011

Dear Parents, Students, and Members of the Oakland Community,

On March 15, 538 of our teachers, counselors, librarians, and social workers were notified that they may lose their jobs. The list includes 231 Elementary teachers, 11 counselors, 6 psychologists, 8 librarians, 13 social workers, 18 foreign language teachers, 11 drama and music teachers, 10 art teachers, 13 vocational education teachers, 45 middle and high school social studies teachers, 41 middle and high school English teachers, 28 6^th grade Core teachers, 46 Adult Education teachers, 4 Alternative Education teachers, and 25 P.E. teachers.

Although these so-called “pink slips” or RIF (Reduction in Force) notices will not be finalized until May 15, the large number of possible layoffs has sent a shock wave of anguish, anger, and determination through the Oakland community. The district tells us that the reason for this unprecedented number is that they have to prepare for the worst possible state budget scenario. Our response is that the first priority of any school district should be to provide safe, stable, and sustainable schools for our children. That is the bottom line. We can’t continue to create excellent learning environments for our children if class sizes continue to increase and teachers are moved around like pawns, or threatened with losing their jobs. Although we don’t discount the seriousness of California’s current budget crisis, we also want to point out that for years, this state has refused to make public education a priority. Since Proposition 13 was passed in 1978, banks, other corporations, and the wealthiest Californians have failed to pay their fair share in taxes. This has caused California schools to go from near the top in the nation to at or near the bottom in per pupil funding, class size ratios, the number of school librarians, counselors, nurses, etc. We say we’ve had enough of this failure to prioritize public education, and that our children deserve to have stable schools without constant turnover and turmoil. We say that our kids are the priority and that the layoffs must be reversed!

We are deeply concerned about the impact on all schools in the district, but especially upon those schools that have a high percentage of new teachers. Few schools have been left untouched, but many have been disproportionately impacted, with all or almost all teachers noticed. Many of these schools are in flatland areas, which historically have higher rates of teacher turnover than the more affluent hill schools. Layoffs devastate any school, but especially those that face losing most or all of their teachers.

For years the OEA has been calling for special attention to schools in the most impoverished areas of Oakland. Our “Create Success” program and our bargaining proposals have consistently advocated for additional supports for students in schools of highest need, such as smaller class sizes and more time for teachers to collaborate and plan. We have supported a mix of new and experienced teachers at all sites to provide mentoring and support. We have spoken out consistently against the tendency of Results Based Budgeting (RBB), OUSD’s site-based budgeting policy, to encourage site administrators to hire new teachers as a priority because they cost less.  In fact, in the 19 schools that receive additional dollars under the state’s highly successful Quality Education and Investment Act (QEIA), an act that was authored by CTA, the law requires a mix of experienced and newer teachers, small class sizes, excellent site leadership, professional development that is designed and led by our teachers, and time for teachers to collaborate with each other to improve teaching and learning.

We are open to creative suggestions that will help minimize the instability caused by massive layoffs, and we will work hard to reverse the layoffs and bring teachers back to their sites. However, we want to caution against potential solutions that pit newer teachers against other newer teachers or against more experienced ones, or one school against another. The diversity in our teaching force is something we honor and respect; we each have a role to play. Though not perfect, seniority is a hard-won right that protects against arbitrary dismissals.  Let’s not take any measures that would pit teachers against their colleagues or parents against teachers.

The OUSD administration and Board members must answer some questions. We urge you to join us in writing to Superintendent Tony Smith and members of the Board of Education asking them for answers!

1.      1)  Why is a single teacher being given a layoff notice when we still have outside consultants working in the district? If this is really “about the kids,” why isn’t the district calling for a moratorium on outside consultants?
2.      2) Why doesn’t the district make retaining teachers its number one priority by shifting funds from programs that may be desirable but are not absolutely necessary in the current economic climate?
3.       3) Why is the district not fulfilling its legal obligation to spend 55% of education expenses on teachers and instructional assistants, while continuing to spend huge sums of money on non-mandated costs such as benchmark testing?
4.       4) Why is the district not aggressively telling the state that we cannot and will not pay the $6 million in annual loan fees, or the $1 million/year in audit findings and penalties, since these expenses were incurred under state takeover and fiscal mismanagement?

In our commitment to kids and public education, we welcome your ideas and suggestions, and we urge you to ACT:

1.      1)  Write to Tony Smith and your School Board member (Tony.Smith@ousd.k12.ca.us, Board member’s name@ousd.k12.ca.us).
2.     2)  Come to OEA’s Town Hall meeting at City Hall on March 26, 9:30am–12:00 pm.
3.      3) Come to the Board of Education meetings to support your children and their teachers. Ask questions. Demand that the layoffs be reversed!

Must Read! March 15 Call to Action!

 by OEA's Secretary and Communication Chair, Steve Neat.

 The timing was perfect. Just as most of my colleagues and I were working on our own unpaid time (yet again) to get report cards done, the Reduction In Force notices (RIFs) began arriving at the homes of teachers by certified mail over the weekend. 538 OEA Members have been given layoff notices. At some sites every single teacher has received a layoff notice. At my site, Kaiser School, 4 out of 11 teachers has received one. These are indeed desperate times, but this is not a natural disaster, it is man-made. It results partly from poor governance and poor funding decisions at the state level. But it also results from poor decisions at the district level. These decisions can be reversed. The lay-off notices can be rescinded before May 15. We need every teacher, every parent, and every student in OUSD at Oakland High School at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15. Take the day off work if you must, as is your right under state law (see below).OUSD needs to understand that they can't balance cuts on the backs of students and teachers. More importantly, the teachers and Education Support Professionals (ESPs) who have received layoff notices need to know that they have our support.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s time for OUSD to put students first. First of all, no employee in this district should make more than the top teacher salary while 538 teachers and Education Support Professionals (ESPs) receive layoff notices. How can we justify downtown administrators—many of whom never see a child throughout a work day—making six figures while 538 teachers and ESPs get laid off? I’m not saying downtown administrators don’t do anything useful. But is what they do more important than what teachers do? No.

Second of all, no outside contractor not providing essential services (school lunches, etc.) should have their contract continued next school year until every single lay-off notice is rescinded. Is it useful to see our district test data laid out for us on color print-outs thanks to Edusoft? Maybe. Is it more useful than teachers in the classroom? No. Is it useful to have Si Swun Math available as a supplementary program at many sites on top of the regular state math curriculum? Maybe. Is it more useful than teachers in the classroom? No.

Some District officials, some in the media, and some principals may try and distract us by bringing up seniority, small schools, and a yet-to-be-approved 2% raise like a magician throwing smoke bombs on the stage. Or perhaps they will put their arm around us, nodding somberly, and shedding crocodile tears while they cry poverty. We cannot fall for the okeydoke. We must remain focused on the fact that if OUSD was serious about continuing to boost student achievement and putting students first, they would enact measures like those outlined above to keep teachers in classrooms and keep class sizes down.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” Friends, families, colleagues, students, Oakland, do not be silent. Stand with us. We need YOU there on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Oakland High. And it cannot stop there. The OEA is strike-legal. At the next Rep Council meeting we will be voting on whether or not to strike. Parents have power too. I am not advocating anything. But when we’re talking about laying off 538 teachers and ESPs and cramming even more students into every already overcrowded classroom, while at the same time millions of dollars continue to go to outside contractors and six-figure administrator salaries, there is NO ACTION that should be off the table.

Superintendent's Office
1025 2nd Avenue, Room 301
Oakland, CA 94606Jody.London@ousd.k12.ca.us
Phone (510) 879-8200
Fax (510) 879-8800

Governing Board 
Oakland Unified School District
1025 2nd Avenue, Suite 320
Oakland, CA 94606-2212
Office E-mail: boe@ousd.k12.ca.us
Office Main Number 510 879-8199
Office Fax Number 510 879-8000

Directors - E-mail
Vice President Jody London - District 1 -Jody.London@ousd.k12.ca.us
David Kakishiba - District 2 -David.Kakishiba@ousd.k12.ca.us
Jumoke Hinton Hodge - District 3 -Jumoke.Hodge@ousd.k12.ca.us

President Gary Yee - District 4 -Gary.Yee@ousd.k12.ca.us

Noel Gallo - District 5 - Noel.Gallo@ousd.k12.ca.us

Christopher Dobbins - District 6 -Christopher.Dobbins@ousd.k12.ca.us

Alice Spearman - District 7 -Alice.Spearman@ousd.k12.ca.us

State Law on Missing Work for School Activities: The Family-School Partnership Act is a California law that allows parents, grandparents, and guardians to take time off from work to participate in their children's school or child care activities. The law (Labor Code Section 230.8) first took effect in 1995. Its provisions were expanded in 1997 to add licensed child day care facilities to the kindergarten-through-grade-twelve levels included in the original legislation.

Tony Smith Backs Out!

Tony Smith Backs Out! 

OEA was approached by Region 2 principals several weeks ago about a joint effort to highlight the budget crisis facing Oakland and the state by holding a rally in Sacramento on March 2. A week later, a joint committee was formed with the Superintendent, union leaders, principals, and other district staff to plan these events. At that time I agreed to survey our members to see what level of interest there was in going to Sacramento March 2. The very next week the joint committee decided March 14 would be a better date for a variety of reasons, including the fact that community colleges and others are mobilizing in Sacramento that day to protest cuts to their institutions.

Based on this information, and up against a narrow time line, your OEA Crisis Action Team began organizing for a district-wide mobilization to Sacramento on March 14 as well as local actions on March 2. Many of you have already received several announcements about these events.

On Friday, February 25, district spokesman Troy Flint, in Superintendent Tony Smith’s absence, announced that OUSD would not participate in organizing for a Sacramento rally on March 14 since it wasn’t clear if the initiative to extend taxes would be on the ballot or not, and therefore it wasn’t clear what the purpose of rallying or lobbying should be.

I am frustrated that the district and Superintendent Smith have squandered an opportunity to unite the workers of OUSD around a common cause. Regardless of what happens with the initiative, a number of us on the joint committee have consistently raised the importance of mobilizing large numbers of people to educate the public around the drastic cuts to education and social services, and around the crying need for progressive forms of taxation.

While OEA’s plans for a mass mobilization in Sacramento on March 14 have ended, this can still be an opportunity to rally and build momentum for future actions.  Many of you have already made individual or site plans to rally on March 14 with the community colleges against budget cuts. Some have already planned field trips for that day, and we encourage those plans to continue and be carried out. We will help coordinate a meeting place in Sacramento; however, without district organizational and financial support, we cannot arrange for transportation. Of course, we expect that District will honor personal days taken to participate in the day’s events.

Two other events are scheduled for March (see below), pink slips are expected, and the OEA Executive Board is held an emergency meeting on Monday, February 28^th. It is imperative that you visit the OEA website (oaklandea.org) frequently for the latest information.

We face a continuing crisis in education at the local, state, and national level. Our most vital resource in responding to the onslaught is an informed organization that can respond with quickness, creativity, and flexibility. 

Betty Olson-Jones

In Solidarity,

President, Oakland Education Association

California budget disaster!

Update!  From the March 7th Rep Council Meeting

After a report on the Executive Board's vote February 28 to reconsider their original motion (to oppose Brown's budget and tax extensions), we voted overwhelmingly to uphold their substitute motion:

"I move that the basic themes for the OEA's mobilization to Sacramento be: 

(1) opposition to cuts in educaiton, pre-K to college, and in social services, 

(2) the need for progressive means of taxation to fully fund education and social services."

This was followed by another overwhelming vote in favor of the following motion:

"I move that OEA Rep Council:

1. States that all current budget proposals are inadequate

2. Opposes the Brown's budget cuts to education and social services

3. Takes the position of "let the voters decide" on the proposed tax extensions

4. Postpones a decision on the merits of any tax extension initiative until the April 4 Rep Council, after it is known whether or not there will be a special election and Reps have had discussions with their members."

Rhee the Reformer!!