Judge tells JCTA "No"

Kentucky children are guaranteed a fundamental right to an adequate education by our Constitution. But teachers have no such guarantee of employment - especially when they are under a one-year contract - and especially when their performance is generally lousy or specifically harmful.

This from Toni at the C-J:

Judge rules against request to rehire teachers
Judge denies request for immediate action

Jefferson County Public Schools will not have to rehire 18 teachers who were let go for alleged disciplinary and performance issues, at least for now.

Circuit Court Judge James Shake refused yesterday to grant a temporary injunction that would have given the teachers their jobs back, saying the law "does not provide for a right of employment as to these employees."

But an attorney for the teachers' union said he was disappointed with the judge's decision and will continue to work to have the teachers reinstated.

"This is a preliminary stage of the lawsuit … a final decision on whether they can be hired is many months away," said Everett Hoffman, representing the Jefferson County Teachers Association. "At that time, the court will decide whether they have a right to be reinstated and if they deserve back pay and other damages."

Tyson Gorman, the attorney representing the school district, said he has filed a motion for summary judgment and hopes the case soon will be dismissed.

"We are pleased with the judge's decision today," Gorman said. "This is a tremendous step in the right direction and a great victory for he district and the children of Jefferson County." ...

...According to documents filed in court by the school district, 14 of the 18 teachers had significant misconduct or disciplinary problems in addition to having received a poor evaluation for the 2007-08 school year...

...In his ruling, Shake said the plaintiffs "have failed to meet their burden of supporting the motion for injunctive relief."

He added that "while there is clearly a substantive question of law at stake, there has been no showing that a concrete personal right is in jeopardy and no showing of injury that is not compensable by monetary damages."

Two teachers in the lawsuit, Bryan Beeler and Cynthia Norton, said they were disappointed with the ruling.

Beeler, whose contract was not renewed for failure to maintain a learning environment and poor performance, received two excellent evaluations from Southern Leadership Academy before his arrival at Knight Middle School last year.

"I am not a bad teacher and I believe that my record shows that," he said. "I received one written reprimand in three years. It never even crossed my mind that I would be looking for another job at the end of the year. When I got my nonrenewal letter, it came as a complete shock to me."

Norton, who taught at Doss High School, received reprimands for tardiness and failure to follow proper procedures in securing a substitute when absent. She also was suspended for five days for calling students a "bunch of assholes."

In her file, Norton admitted it was an "inappropriate thing to say."

Yesterday, she said the incident was "completely mischaracterized."

"I know that I have things that I needed to improve on, but they never gave me the chance … I didn't know that it would be the end of a career," she said.

In a related story, the Courier-Journal ran the word "assholes" on the front page of the paper, above the fold.

JCTA is "a bunch of Assholes." Oh wait... I deserve 83 more chances to take that back.

Toni's story today would be laugh-out-loud funny if it wasn't so indicative of just how low the JCTA has sunk in its effort to defend - what one can only hope are - the district's worst teachers.

How many times is it OK for a teacher to threaten to bring a gun to school?

JCTA says they need a 12-week chance to improve.

How many student-teacher sleepovers are OK?

JCTA says 12-weeks worth....so...84 I suppose.

Suppose a foreign teacher's visa expires?

JCTA says it doesn't matter.

Suppose a teacher is drunk at school? ...and then got a second chance by completing a treatment program - which he then failed to complete. How many chances should he get?

JCTA says he's "still entitled to that 12-week period of time to correct his deficiencies."

Party on, Wayne! Party on, Garth! Excellent.

This from Toni Konz at the C-J:

JCPS tells why it let 18 teachers go
Suit contends employees didn't get chance to correct problems

One teacher allegedly threatened to bring a gun to school.

Another is accused of taking students shopping and having students spend the night in her home, and is under investigation by the school district and state for rewriting student portfolios.

A third was absent without leave for a month, and a fourth called her students "a bunch of assholes."

They are among 18 teachers suing Jefferson County Public Schools to get their jobs back, saying they weren't given a chance to correct their deficiencies.

Records filed in Jefferson Circuit Court by the district show that 17 teachers, who were on one-year contracts, received poor performance evaluations for the 2007-08 school year, and 14 had documented disciplinary problems, with some resulting in written reprimands and suspensions.

One teacher's contract was not renewed because his work visa expired.

But Everett Hoffman, an attorney representing the teachers as part of the lawsuit that was filed in May by the Jefferson County Teachers Association, said some were never reprimanded or disciplined for the instances cited in their dismissals. And he said many of those teachers had received glowing job evaluations in previous years...

...According to documents filed by the district in court, 14 of the 18 teachers had significant misconduct or disciplinary problems, in addition to having received a poor evaluation for the 2007-08 year.

Only three teachers -- Valerie Jefferson, Clarence Harvey and Deborah Owen -- had no misconduct or disciplinary notes in their employee files. The fourth teacher, Peter Cossid, had an expired work visa and has since moved back to the Philippines.

The other teachers' files included incidents ranging from excessive tardiness and absenteeism to berating students and permitting students to skip class. Other allegations are more serious...

...The union is arguing that if the 18 teachers are not rehired, they will suffer irreparable harm.

"Some of these teachers have medical conditions; some are taking care of family members; some are single mothers or single parents; some could lose their homes if they do not get their jobs back," Hoffman said.

Gorman said this type of job loss doesn't rise to the level of irreparable harm. He argued it's the students who are facing irreparable harm, on the "verge of getting back 18 teachers ... who don't have very good performance and documented misconduct issues."

Berman Smacks "Despicable" JCTA for Defending Bad Teachers

This from Sheldon Berman in the C-J:

Superintendent explains staff decisions

High-quality teaching is essential to move the Jefferson County Public School district toward increased excellence. Administration, parents, staff and the entire community maintain high expectations for quality instruction in our schools. Ensuring a high level of quality sometimes requires difficult, but diligent, decision making. State law and common sense require that as superintendent, I exercise my responsibility to ensure that only the very best teachers are employed and working in our classrooms -- this includes exercising the responsibility provided under Kentucky law not to renew some employment contracts.

I do not take these decisions lightly; however, our bottom line is about educating children and ensuring that only the best and most qualified teachers are leading instruction.

The contract of a limited contract teacher expires at the end of each school year. Pursuant to state law, I, as superintendent, must determine whether or not those teachers will be rehired for a subsequent school year.

This year, 21 non-tenured teachers in the district received nonrenewal notices based on documented poor performance, misconduct or repeated disciplinary problems. Each of those teachers was employed on a one-year contract, and that contract had expired. The Jefferson County Teachers Association has continued to protest my decision to exercise the right provided under Kentucky law not to renew these limited contract teachers despite arbitration and court rulings that clearly uphold my ability to take this action. They also have moved their concern to the next level by filing suit in Jefferson Circuit Court on behalf of these teachers.

JCTA also has distributed misinformation both internally and to the community at large about this situation. JCTA has attempted to remove the focus on the poor performance and repeated misconduct of these teachers who were not renewed. They have tried to divert the public's attention from the true reason for these actions by playing the race card, which is despicable.

We cannot account for the inaccurate numbers that JCTA is publishing. Even in its own publication, The Action, and in The Courier-Journal, both on May 14, JCTA
president Brent McKim is quoted as saying there are 20 teachers who were not
renewed for performance reasons. According to JCPS records, there were over
2,000 non-tenured teachers last year. Of those, 21 teachers' contracts were non-renewed due to poor performance, repeated misconduct or disciplinary measures. Of those, only five are African American.

It is important to point out the other inaccuracies of JCTA's arguments:
JCTA contends that the collective bargaining agreement covers nonrenewal of limited contracts; however, previous arbitration awards and court decisions have clearly recognized that nonrenewal of limited contracts is not addressed in the collective bargaining agreement and that a labor arbitrator may not supersede the superintendent's statutory authority to not renew a limited contract.

JCTA asserts that the nonrenewal is the equivalent of termination or discipline under the discipline clause in the collective bargaining agreement. The fact is that nonrenewal of a limited contract and termination are two separate actions. When teachers are non-renewed, they work through the end of their contract period and are simply not rehired for a subsequent school year.

JCTA does not acknowledge the difference between tenured and non-tenured teachers.

JCTA claims that these teachers were not told the reasons they were not renewed.

The fact is that in compliance with state law, as superintendent, I provided each teacher upon request with a written statement of the reasons for nonrenewal.

The facts relating to these 21 teachers are as follows:

Each teacher was employed under and signed a one-year limited contract that clearly expired at the end of the 2007-08 school year.

Each teacher's performance was monitored, and he/she was provided multiple support systems for improvement.

Each teacher's situation was reviewed on an individual basis.

Each teacher's contract was not renewed based on legitimate nondiscriminatory reasons, including performance issues, repeated disciplinary problems and/or other misconduct.

The reason a non-tenured teacher receives and signs a one-year contract is to give the administration the opportunity to judge the quality of the performance of a teacher and to make a decision about that teacher's future with the district. In
fact, in order to improve the quality of our teaching faculty, nonrenewal of some non-tenured teachers is essential.

I stand firm in my belief that the district has acted within the provisions of Kentucky law and that our decision not to renew these limited-contract teachers was based on the best interest of students, parents and the entire community.

SHELDON H. BERMAN

Meanwhile, JCTA President Brent McKim grabs a law book and trots out discrimination...also in the C-J.