Better the Devil You Know?

As recently as 2009, a survey of JCTA members pointed toward trouble for recently non-renewed Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Sheldon Berman.

57.1% either disagreed or strongly disagreed that they were satisfied with Berman's administration of the schools. 60% disagreed or strongly disagree that Berman exhibited effective leadership that fully supports teachers. 76.2% agreed or strongly agreed that they felt safe in their school. 59.9% disagreed or strongly disagreed that Berman involved classroom teachers in a collaborative decision making process.

So it has been somewhat surprising to find the JCTA leadership apparently lining up behind the superintendent.

It also seems it won't matter.

This from C-J:

Sheldon Berman supporters say

they will seek new JCPS school board

vote to keep him

With the teachers union and NAACP lining up behind him, supporters of ousted Jefferson County Superintendent Sheldon Berman say they will push for a new school board vote next month to keep him.

Board of education member Linda Duncan said Tuesday she will formally ask the school board at its Feb. 14 meeting to reconsider its decision to replace Berman, whose contract expires on June 30.

Duncan, a Berman supporter who was on the losing end of the 5-2 vote last November that ended his tenure, said she wanted to give Berman's supporters
time to make their case to retain him — which would require at least two board members to change their mind.

“I wanted a little bit more time for input from the community, before we close this and say, ‘That's it,'” she said.

Members of the Jefferson County Teachers Association and the Louisville branch of the NAACP both said they plan to use that time to lobby board members to retain Berman, who they say has been a staunch advocate for integrated schools and has instituted education reforms.

But board members who voted against Berman, including Debbie Wesslund, Diane Porter, Joe Hardesty and Carol Ann Haddad, said Tuesday they remain committed to finding a new superintendent....

Jefferson County teachers union votes to ask that Sheldon Berman be retained

Board Members Express Doubt in a Revote

Wesslund Replaced as Chair

This from the Courier-Journal:

Jefferson County's influential teachers union has thrown its support behind ousted Superintendent Sheldon Berman, voting Thursday to ask the school board to extend Berman's contract, instead of letting it expire June 30.

The board of directors for the Jefferson County Teachers Association voted 18-9 Thursday afternoon to formally ask the school board to retain Berman, whose contract was not renewed last November.

Thursday's vote came after Linda Duncan, a school board member who represents District 5, and state Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, met with the teachers union and asked it to endorse Berman, JCTA President Brent McKim said...

“We've already discussed this — it's over,” said school board member Carol Haddad, who represents District 6. “We need to move forward — the community needs to know that we are moving forward.”

Joe Hardesty and Diane Porter, two other board members who voted against a contract extension for Berman, also said they did not favor revisiting their votes.

“A lot of thought went into my decision, so I would not be inclined to change my vote,” said Hardesty, who represents District 4...

[Steve] Imhoff, who represents District 2 and who was voted school board chairman by a 6-1 vote Monday night, said he has not talked to any board members about bringing the issue back up for consideration.

Non-Union Teachers Forced to Pay JCTA

This from Toni at C-J:

Jefferson teachers, board OK 1 percent raise

Yearlong rift also resolved by pact

Teachers with Jefferson County Public Schools will get a 1 percent raise next year as part of an agreement that resolves a yearlong rift between their union and district officials.

The agreement, approved 6-1 last night by the school board, also ends the union's involvement in a pending lawsuit filed by 18 non-tenured teachers whose contracts weren't renewed in May because of performance issues.

Union members had complained that the district was getting rid of the teachers without trying to help them first, and from there the union's relationship with Superintendent Sheldon Berman steadily deteriorated.

"The war is over," Steve Neal, executive director of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, said after the board meeting. "There are other things I would have liked, but for the most part, this is a good agreement."

The agreement, the result of four days of mediation, also requires nonunion teachers to pay part of their salary to the teachers association to cover the cost of representation.

That sparked protest from some teachers and prompted board Chairwoman Debbie Wesslund to vote against the agreement.

Sherry Hoza, a speech pathologist with the district, said the fee is tantamount to "forced unionism."

Roughly 5,700 district teachers are members of the union. Neal said about 300 to 400 aren't members.

The agreement establishes a new process for evaluating non-tenured teachers and will still allow Berman the option of not renewing their contracts for performance reasons....

C-J: JCTA on the Path to Extremism

This from the Courier-Journal:

Drop the bullhorn

It's not surprising that a state review of Jefferson County Public Schools finds a non-cooperative relationship between the district and the Jefferson County Teachers Association. The questions are, who's responsible for the bad blood and what can be done about it?

There's seldom a governmental standoff in which all fault lies on one side. And that's not the situation here. But the non-renewal of 18 teacher contracts for alleged disciplinary and performance problems -- which were necessary to protect kids' educational opportunities -- seems to have put JCTA on the path to extremism...

KSN&C Backstory.

Reform 'No Child Left Behind'

I wish I felt better about agreeing with JCTA President Brent McKim.

Perhaps if he had not spent so much time defending poor teachers rather than Kentucky's children I'd be less suspicious. Whatever inroads McKim thinks were made installing pro-educaton legislators in the Kentucky General Assembly will have to be demonstrated to me. I don't see it.

But that said, McKim speaks the gospel to C-J readers today. NCLB needs fixing and funding. School accountability should be an efficient outgrowth of good pedagogy rather than an expensive preventer of best practices - and the ruination of CATS.

This from C-J:

We have all worked very hard during this election season to put pro-public education officials into office, but now the real work begins. Louisville, along with the rest of the country, faces immense hardships, so we must continue to remind our new officials of what is important to us.We must also hammer home to Washington and to Frankfort that No Child Left Behind has reduced teaching to nothing but test preparation, leaving behind the whole child, and has drained all financial sustenance from millions of schools.

Just completing the paperwork required by the federal government to comply with the reporting provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act costs states and local schools $135 million every year -- and takes more than 6.4 million hours away from time that could be spent teaching students. We need to remind our elected officials of the
children and educators they promised to support. We must remind them that teachers should be involved in finding solutions to the problems that plague our schools and that we're counting on them to be supportive partners in education, not dictators who impose more testing and unfunded mandates.

We must urge these government leaders to stop No Child Left Behind, end the interminable testing, and let teachers do what they do best -- teach.

JCTA: More Union...Less Teacher's Association

Toni Konz reports on the JCTA's latest stunt at C-J's Learning Curve blog:

The radio advertisement paid for by the Jefferson County Teachers Association that criticizes Superintendent Sheldon Berman that was supposed to be canceled has aired at least once this morning.

I heard it on WHAS-84 as I drove to work....

Click here to hear the ad

JCTA President Brent McKim told me this morning that the union tried to get it pulled and even substituted another ad in its place, but knew it was a possibility that the original ad was going to "slip through" a few times, since the decision to pull it came late Friday.

The minute-long ad, in which the union voiced its displeasure with Berman's decision to not rehire 18 teachers over alleged disciplinary and performance issues, was supposed to run all week on four local radio stations.The ad features people reading positive evaluations from some of the teachers' former supervisors and accused Berman of ignoring "the review process agreed upon by the administration, school board and the Jefferson County Teachers Association."

The ad also featured the home phone number of school board Chairman Joe Hardesty and asked listeners to call him and "tell him that teachers who get fair treatment are teachers who perform at their best."

The new ad that JCTA is going to run in place of the anti-Berman as apparently voices its support for the three Jefferson County Board of Education members who are up for re-election this fall -- Hardesty, Steve Imhoff and Larry Hujo.

C-J's Editorial Board responded with this:

Making waves

The Jefferson County Teachers Association never should have concocted an ad campaign against Superintendent Sheldon Berman in the first place. The fact that
one of the spots accidentally aired, after the union decided against targeting Mr. Berman in this way, is regrettable.

JCTA does deserve credit for deciding against a broadcast assault on the superintendent. It's never easy to put that kind of effort in reverse. Those who suggested the idea presumably were vested in it, and convincing them it should be abandoned would not have been easy. Nor would opposing them, if they stubbornly continued to push such a plan.

But then whoever among JCTA leaders finally decided against radio broadsides may have been yielding to facts, such as these: (1) the case for not renewing the contract of 18 teachers had been laid out clearly and specifically, and (2) the public gave no indication of buying the JCTA's opposition.

In the absence of any substantial public show of support for the JCTA complaints, it would have been futile to waste money on radio ads. The union would have looked small-minded and mean-spirited, and determined to give Mr. Berman an early show of muscle-flexing, when exhibiting more cooperation and collaboration would have made more sense.

Teachers are critical to the success of Jefferson County Public Schools -- the institution that will have the most impact on quality of life in this community over coming decades. They deserve respect and help, as they work hard at doing a very difficult job -- preparing Louisville's next generation to compete in the emerging economy and to live full, rich lives.

But Mr. Berman deserves the same measure of respect and help, as he puts his new administration and his best ideas in place.

Radio attack ads don't help. Nor would political maneuver.

It's no secret that JCTA actively supports board candidates whom it likes. Nothing untoward about that. However, it would be reckless of the union to threaten withdrawal of support from board members who merely failed to take the union's side in the dispute over these 18 former teachers. That would undercut crucial relationships, not undergird them.

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."

JCTA Argues: Poor Performing Teachers are owed the Chance to become "the Best Teachers We Have"

Public schools are in the people business. Educators do a lot of good for a lot of folks every day - but the school system is not a benevolent society. Neither is it a employment agency for adults.

Countless teachers enhance the lives of Kentucky students in immeasurable ways every school day.

But a relatively small number of Kentucky teachers don't.

Some are simply lousy instructors who lack the skills needed to be effective with kids. Some could be effective, if they weren't so lazy. And some are abject disasters - acting inappropriately toward students and doing great harm in the process.

The public is best served by building the capacity of every school faculty in the state. Keep the best teachers. Keep the average teachers and help them get better. But discard those who can't cut it.

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

Judge asked to order teacher rehiring

A Jefferson Circuit Court judge will likely decide this week whether to grant a temporary injunction that would force Jefferson County Public Schools to rehire 18 teachers who were let go for alleged disciplinary and performance issues.

Judge James Shake heard three hours of testimony yesterday and arguments by attorneys from the school district and the teachers union.

The request for an injunction, filed in May as part of a lawsuit by the Jefferson County Teachers Association, would force the district to rehire all 18 teachers and reinstate their health and insurance benefits, which are set to expire July 31.

Everett Hoffman, an attorney representing the union, said Superintendent Sheldon Berman decided not to renew the contracts of the 18 teachers without giving them a chance to correct deficiencies.

"The district's policy and the labor agreement with JCTA requires that a teacher be given a 12-week opportunity to address their deficiencies before they are nonrenewed," Hoffman said. "That did not happen."

Berman has maintained that the district doesn't need to follow those procedures because it did not terminate the teachers but simply chose not to renew their one-year contracts.

He also said it is his responsibility to ensure the district has the highest-caliber instructors.

Hoffman said the 18 teachers will suffer irreparable harm if they are not rehired. "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," he said.

But Tyson Gorman, representing the school district, said the job loss doesn't rise to the level of irreparable harm.

"We don't doubt that there are hardships that will be faced by the plaintiffs through the loss of their employment and loss of income … but at the end of the day we are talking about things that are ordinary and economic," he said.

Gorman 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."

Hoffman said the lawsuit is not about "trying to keep bad teachers in schools."

"This is about the policies that are designed to help teachers become the best they can be," he said. "And when the superintendent and district bypass those procedures, they are denying our teachers that opportunity, but they are also denying the students in Jefferson County the opportunity of having some of the best teachers we have."

C-J Gives JCTA a well-deserved Smack

JCTA agit-prop

Shame on Jefferson County's teachers, for putting up with representation of the kind that union president Brent McKim and executive director Steve Neal have been providing of late.

These two leaders of the Jefferson County Teachers Association understandably feel an obligation to fight for members who lose their jobs. However, their recent conduct plays right into the hands of labor's opponents, who relish any evidence that a union ultimately will serve its own selfish interests rather than the broader interests of industry or society.

Are JCTA members proud of Mr. McKim and Mr. Neal for gratuitously and recklessly playing the race card, in a dispute with the Jefferson County Public Schools administration?

Do they want their leaders playing games with the most incendiary of local issues -- distorting numbers, obscuring relevant facts and reaching clearly unsupported conclusions on the school district's attitude toward race, of all things?

Superintendent Sheldon Berman has explained the non-renewal of one–year contracts held by 21 teachers, five of whom were African Americans, for poor performance, repeated misconduct or disciplinary problems. He has provided the facts -- not the speculation and innuendo that JCTA offered -- about 16 more teachers whose employment was not renewed.

Jefferson County teachers who already have earned their positions and their job security, and are fully familiar with the four-year process through which tenure is granted, will understand these facts. And they will understand these numbers: Of 419 fourth-year non-tenured teachers, 65 were African Americans, and all 65 earned, and were granted, tenure.

The duplicity in which Mr. McKim and Mr. Neal engaged is, or should be, beneath them as labor officials and community leaders. They say in one breath that they're "not accusing the district of racial bias." In the next gasp, they invoke "unlawful discrimination" and make a show of differentiating between two different kinds, then admit they don't know if they have found either in the contract renewal records.

This is agitation and propaganda, not serious, responsible representation of teachers. One hopes it won't spoil the good working relationship teachers seemed to be enjoying with the new superintendent.

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.

$253,000 TO FIRE ONE TEACHER

Last week KSN&C posted a story about the on-going conflict between the Jefferson County Schools and the Jefferson County Teacher's Association. Superintendent Sheldon Berman non-renewed several teachers whose contracts expired. But since some of the dismissals were based in part on poor performance the JCTA says Berman has to give them additional protections in the form of a 12-week rehabilitation program. C-J and KSN&C sided with the district.

In a response to C-J, Brent McKim reminded readers of the possibility that a "bad" principal might fire a "good" teacher, and that would be bad. True enough. Apparently, McKim can tell which is which, but doesn't think Berman can. McKim wrote,

The predictable characterization that JCTA is trying to protect "bad" teachers is wrong. We are trying to protect a fair process that eliminates ineffective teachers while protecting good teachers from "bad" administrators... A fair process that eliminates ineffective teachers while protecting good teachers from arbitrary termination is truly in the best interest of students

Today the New York Post reminds us of the other side of the story. In this case, a tenured teacher enjoyed so much protection that the time and resources necessary to remove the teacher were simply ridiculus.

This from the New York Post:

May 27, 2008 -- It took more than four years and $253,000 for the city's Department of Education to get rid of just one tenured teacher in 2007, according to data obtained by The Post.

Former PS 197 teacher David Salkin, 56, had taught for only five years in Queens before administrators accumulated enough documentation asserting he couldn't control his classroom - and in 2005, bumped him to the department's "rubber room," where educators get paid to do nothing while under investigation, records show.

It then took another 21/2 years for the school system to cut him loose - while Salkin, who had earned tenure after his third year teaching, collected a total of $169,000 in salary.

Salkin's case is just one example of what officials call the needlessly long and arduous process for removing inadequate teachers...

JCTA chief responds to editorial criticism

This is C-J:

I am writing in response to your recent editorial, "It's about the kids," dealing with the arbitrary termination of many beginning teachers in JCPS. I agree with the title of the editorial, but strongly disagree with its content.

Early in my career, I taught with an excellent second-year English teacher at one of our JCPS high schools. A number of my students at the time described him as the best teacher they ever had. Due to a personality conflict with the principal having nothing to do with the teacher's performance, the principal placed this English teacher on notice of "significant deficiency." This set in motion a procedure, required by the labor contract and by school board policy, in which he was notified of the specific deficiencies he needed to address and was given 12 weeks to do so with assistance from appropriate district personnel.

To make a long story short, because other district personnel found the teacher to be effective, the principal removed the teacher from the deficiency process. The teacher transferred to a different high school, where he still teaches and has been elected by his peers to be English department chair each year. He works well with the principal and parents, presents professional development for other teachers across the district, and students continue to describe him as the best teacher they have ever had.

If Dr. Sheldon Berman and The Courier Journal's editorial board had their way, this teacher would have been summarily non-renewed back in 1993 without just cause and without a fair process that provided an opportunity to correct (or in his case, dispel the false accusation of) deficiencies. If "it's about the kids," how would depriving 15 years of students of this outstanding teacher be doing the right thing?

The predictable characterization that JCTA is trying to protect "bad" teachers is wrong. We are trying to protect a fair process that eliminates ineffective teachers while protecting good teachers from "bad" administrators. Think for a moment about your favorite teacher. Wouldn't you want him or her to be entitled to such a fair process?

Two separate and independent third-party arbitrators hired jointly by JCTA and JCPS, have reviewed the district's actions and have determined that the JCPS administration is violating the contract by not following the significant deficiency process. The district has been ordered by the arbitrators to "cease and desist" in violating this process, but Dr. Berman continues to do so.

A fair process that eliminates ineffective teachers while protecting good teachers from arbitrary termination is truly in the best interest of students, and after all, "it's about the kids."

BRENT MCKIM
JCTA President
Louisville 40218

How Teacher's Unions get a Bad Name

Apparently teachers union officials in Louisville know that some non-tenured, pink-slipped teachers are not performing up to par. But that's not stopping the union from fighting to keep them. This, despite the fact that the non-tenured teachers were only under a one-year contract, which the district apparently satisfied. A one-year contract is not a loophole. It's a one-year contract.

Every time unions try to protect underperforming teachers it sends the wrong messsage to the public.

This from Toni at C-J:

Teachers fight loss of contracts

A court battle is brewing between the Jefferson County Teachers Association and Superintendent Sheldon Berman over the district's decision not to renew contracts for about 20 teachers.

Union representatives are accusing Berman of using a loophole to get rid of teachers with performance problems without trying to help them improve.

Berman says he can't comment on why the teachers are being let go, but he maintains that it's his responsibility to ensure the district has the highest caliber instructors.

Three of the teachers whose contracts were not renewed are suing the district in Jefferson Circuit Court, asking a judge to void the nonrenewal notices they received late last month.

The teachers and union also are seeking an injunction preventing the district from choosing not to renew the other teachers' contracts under similar circumstances, said Everett Hoffman, the lawyer representing JCTA...

[JCTA President Brent McKim] said Berman "unfairly and inappropriately terminated" the teachers for performance reasons without allowing them to correct their deficiencies...

Berman said the district decided not to renew about 100 teachers' contracts this year, adding that there are several reasons why they might not be renewed, including performance.

"I want the highest quality teachers possible. If we have a teacher who is not tenured and not performing well, we evaluate them and may choose not to renew them at the end of the year," he said. "If someone has a one-year contract, there was never a guarantee that they would be hired back." ...

JCPS Teachers Union, doing what unions do

This from C-J:

It's about the kids

Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers Association, has a big job: to protect teachers. He's a union guy, and that's what union guys do: protect the interests of their members.

But someone has to keep eyes trained on the interests of students, and that is the job of Sheldon Berman, the superintendent of the Jefferson County Public Schools. It's his responsibility to ensure the schools prepare the next generation for a very tough and competitive world. That means staffing schools with strong teachers and principals and booting out those who don't have the skills or the energy for what can be a very grueling job.

With that goal in mind, Dr. Berman decided to not renew the contracts of about 20 non-tenured teachers this year. He encouraged his principals to let weak teachers go, rather than pass them along to some other school -- which has happened in the past.

It's about time that awful practice changed.

But Mr. McKim is fighting that decision and claims the way it was done violates a contractual process -- one that requires that each teacher be notified of his or her deficiencies and gives them time to improve.

"Dr. Berman does not have unlimited and unrestricted power to not renew," were Mr. McKim's exact words this week. But teachers certainly enjoy an exalted status in this world if they are able to sign a one-year contract with clear start and end dates on it, then are entitled to an automatic renewal.

Bad teachers don't belong in the classroom -- not for another day, let alone for a semester or a year, while processes that please the JCTA are followed.

Dr. Berman believes he has acted in accord with the school district's contract with the teachers union. Certainly, he is doing exactly what he should do, and what he has shown a real passion for this year: taking seriously the quality of classroom instruction.

And considering that the public schools hire about 600 new teachers a year, if 20 don't get their contracts renewed, that's a very modest number. It would be hard to accuse the superintendent and his principals of launching an unfair and unreasonable attack on teachers.

This case may end up in court, as many disagreements over contract language do. As for us, we're rooting for the kids.

Brinkman's Sweetheart Deal for JCTA

The General Assembly is now considering legislation that would apply to Jefferson County Schools - ONLY. That's questionable....but perhaps not the worst thing about House Bill 753.

It's a big wet kiss to the Jefferson County Teacher's Union.

Is anyone else bothered by a law that grants a teacher's union more authority than state law otherwise allows schools throughout the state?

This from the Courier-Journal:

Union issue may doom school hiring bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A bill that would expand the authority of the Jefferson County school superintendent is in jeopardy after an influential lawmaker vowed yesterday to kill the measure because of another provision.

House Bill 753, sponsored by Rep. Scott Brinkman, R-Louisville, would expand the superintendent's role in hiring principals, a decision that is currently left up to site-based school councils. However, under the bill the councils would still have the final say.

The bill reads: ...in counties of four hundred thousand (400,000) or more inhabitants, a school council shall not have the authority to adopt a policy or take any other action that violates or conflicts with an employer-employee bargained contract governing the terms and conditions of employment of employees at the school. If there is a conflict between a policy or other action taken by the school council and any employer-employee bargained contract governing the terms and conditions of employment of employees at the school, the contact shall prevail....

The bill, which would not apply to any other school district in the state, was approved by the House Education Committee. But it could be withdrawn from consideration by the full House.

The key opponent of the measure, Rep. Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, said another provision in the bill would wrongly require the district's site-based school councils to seek the teachers union's approval when making certain decisions.

"That's been a continuing fight with the Jefferson County Teachers' Association for several years," Moberly said. "They've always tried to do things to diminish the authority of councils and increase the authority given under their negotiated agreement. That's not what was intended under education reform."

The Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 allows superintendents to screen and recommend principal candidates but gives hiring authority to the councils. Superintendents have long complained that the law gives them little say over the leadership of a school, even though they are ultimately held accountable for a school's performance.

Even though teachers' unions have traditionally opposed efforts to give superintendents more authority, the JCTA viewed the bill as a compromise to achieve its goal of preventing councils from violating bargained contracts.

JCTA President Brent McKim said the group is willing to let Brinkman withdraw the bill because it does not want the measure to jeopardize other education issues.