DC Council Hearing on Teacher Lay Offs

Washington, D.C., Council members said schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee ignored their instructions to trim summer-school funding to balance her budget. Instead, they said, she used the resulting money crunch as an opportunity to lay off hundreds of educators. Council members suggested Rhee violated the law by not cutting summer-school funding, to which Rhee said she was protecting students instead of staff. About 100 teaching jobs could have been saved by reducing the summer-school funding. The Washington Post

DC School Layoffs

- Rally Supports Laid-Off Ballou Teachers
On Friday, a group of former Ballou High School students …
- Union Files Suit Over Teacher Layoffs
More than 200 D.C. school teachers who were recently laid off …
- DC Teachers Want Answers About Layoffs
The bitter fight over teacher layoffs in D.C. schools is far …
- More Students Protest Teacher Layoffs
There were more protests Tuesday over the District's decision …
- D.C School Layoffs - Teacher's Union



President of the Washington Teachers Union George Parker joined…
- DC School Employees Threaten to Sue
Fired employees of McKinley Tech High school may consider legal…
- D.C. Schools Announce Teacher Cuts
A total of 388 jobs were cut from D.C. schools on Friday, and …
- Gray: DC School Layoffs Not Necessary
D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray is now questioning the proposed…
- Layoffs Still Loom for D.C. Schools
No D.C. teachers have been laid off so far, but Mayor Adrian …
- D.C. Schools Layoffs Coming, But When?
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has warned parents and …
- D.C. Public Schools to Cut Teachers
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee says budget cuts

Rally for Respect Highlights

Thousands of teachers, parents and students gathered at Freedom Plaza on Oct. 8 for the "Rally for Respect," demanding fairness, transparency and better schools for D.C.'s children.

Visit our Media Page for videos and articles on the rally and the recent layoffs of 388 D.C. school employees.

RIF

Teachers, Teachers
Heroes of the Nation
Making a change
Making a BIG change

Braving all the odds
in the DC Public School System

Targeted for RIF
Blamed for the test scores
Demoralized, Disrespected,
Violated

Gave their lives,
Gave their time,
Did their very best,
Blood, sweat, and tears for the job

The 30th of September 2009 is so called
the Judgment Day
Every teacher in the Nation's Capital is praying
and hoping

Let it be not me, Oh Lord!
RIF, RIF, RIF
Who will be RIFed?
God Let it be not me

Tears of joy for those who were not RIFed
Tears of agony for those who were RIFed

DCPS is ravaged by RIF
Emotions overflowing
Heart breaking, soul wrecking
A lot of lives broken

Wow I ask myself
Do I still want to be a teacher in this system?
I see clearly my direction
Yes I will still be a teacher
For the passion in my heart is burning
And I will prove them wrong

For in the end, we teachers will triumph!

US Dep't of Ed: Education News Parents Can Use

Archived Video Webcast

Originally broadcast live on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 (info from US Dep Ed Homepage)

On October’s special edition of Education News Parents Can Use, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan engaged teachers across the country in a town hall forum about what’s working and what’s not working in our nation’s schools. During the live program, Arne listened to comments from a studio audience comprised entirely of local teachers, and he responded to telephone calls and emails from across the country.

VIEW THE ARCHIVED VIDEO WEBCAST:

WindowsMedia RealMedia Captioned Version: WindowsMedia RealMedia

Parliamentarian

RIF - Reduction in Force

I think that one of the most important things to know for the 266 teachers who have received termination letters, is that they know about their right(s) to appeal. They have 30 days within which they can file an appeal with the D.C. Office of Employee Appeals.

In the meantime, they need to know that the WTU is in the process of filing a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the court system, so that a judge can put a temporary halt to the termination action by the DCPS. During the time of the halt (assuming that the TRO is successful), then the WTU and the AFT can research every case to see if any teachers were terminated illegally. The DCPS has a history of process violations, so I'm sure there were errors. The DCPS is at fault for not giving the WTU advance notice of the RIF. I think our current contract states that, "In cases of a RIF, the DCPS will inform the WTU." I think the purpose of this is so that the WTU can play a watchdog role to monitor each step in the RIF process, to notify the DCPS if they are violating the contract during the process.

Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee are working together on this RIF, however Council Chair Vincent Gray has stated that, "According to my math, the city council has approved a budget for the DCPS to have enough money to the point that there shouldn't be any RIFs. He personally signed-off on the funds. And he also wants to know, "How can you conduct a RIF and terminate 266 teachers, while at the same time hire 900 new teachers?"

See you at the Rally at Freedom Plaza on Oct. 8, 2009, 4:30pm.

WTU ECE Work Group Meets Miriam Calderon

I am currently a member of the WTU Early Childhood Work Group. Our group recently met with Miriam Calderon, the newly appointed Director of DCPS Early Childhood Department. She has only been on the job six weeks and comes to our district with Head Start experience as well as being a parent of 3year old twins. She was pleasant and exhibited a true passion for EC education. We discussed a variety of issues that EC teachers currently face in DCPS.

Among them were Phasing in children during the first week of school. We discussed current practices and were asked to submit recommendations to her in an effort to make the practice common throughout the district. We also discussed the current standards and report cards currently being used in the district. The work group looks forward to a great year of collaboration and support with Miriam.


ECTeamLeader

On IMPACT

A repost from: Teacher Sol's blog.

In response to my colleague's earlier post, here's the DCPS Teaching and Learning Framework, which supports the IMPACT which is the new system for assessing the performance of DCPS teachers and other school-based staff. I finished the first evaluation cycle with impressive ratings. Thanks to the National Board process. It made me reflect on, rethink, retool and redo my instructional practices. It made me innovative, creative, and try new things for my diverse students to learn the standards. It made me focus on data gathering, connecting and having good relationships with my students, colleagues, parents, and the community so we can all work towards a common goal --- maximizing my students' potential and increasing student achievement. Nope, I'm not yet National Board certified and I'm still working on it, but the process made me a teacher leader, a teacher collaborator, and a teacher learner...it made me a 21st Century educator! Even if I don't get National Board certified, I'm still glad I went through the process. It made me become a better teacher that my students deserve, and the intrinsic reward which made me grow professionally is worth all the sleepless nights, sacrifice and effort.

What do I think about the IMPACT? Yes, it is far better than our PPEP (old teacher evaluation system), but, for me, not the best one. I understand that it is still a work in progress. I have shared my concerns during WTU-DCPS Focus Group Discussions on this issue as a special education teacher. Studies have shown that students in co-teaching classrooms are better achievers than their peers. Also, the IDEA 2004 mandates inclusive education for our diverse learners. The new DCPS teacher evaluation tool does not support co-teaching nor the inclusion model. I hope that DCPS will come up with a rubric on team teaching model. I also want to know how they expect us to co-plan, co-teach, and co-grade with the regular education teachers, we just need some guidance on that.

Here's the pdf copy of the manual that was given during the training: IMPACT Guidebooks. And here's about our Master Educators.

What do you think of the IMPACT?

Voices of Two Teachers

Teacher 1: I am a teacher.
Teacher 2: I am a teacher too.

Teacher 1: I am an elementary special education teacher.
Teacher 2: I am a high school special education teacher.

Teacher I: Iam a young teacher.
Teacher 2: I am a seasoned teacher.

Teacher 1: I am a Filipino.
Teacher 2: I am an African-American.

Teacher 1: I am single with no children.
Teacher 2: I am not married but I have three college graduates.

Teacher 1: Teaching is my journey.
Teacher 2: Teaching is my passion.

Teacher 1: I believe children are our future.
Teacher 2: I believe that all children are entitled to an appropriate education
that meets their individual needs.

Teacher 1: One significant thing DCPS has taught me is how to persevere and
strive for success.
Teacher 2: One significant thing DCPS has taught me is how to work with a
very little resource but turn out a great product.