...I'm scared. Really and truly, stomach-clenchingly scared. The atmosphere for teachers in my state, and especially in the schools facing the big budget cuts, is terrifying. In my school district, the number of teachers has been cut almost in half in the past 10 years. We are stretched to the point where things are soon going to break or snap back at us in a very painful way.
This coming school year, we are facing cuts of one million. This is a very rural school district. I don't know exact numbers, but we are under 1500 students k-12, and a staff of about 50 teachers. For next year, it is being proposed that we close both of our elementary buildings, consolidating the entire district into the middle/high school campus. There will also be a "retirement" incentive, which is being offered to everyone on staff--a staff in which the youngest teacher has been here for at least 6 years.
After these savings, we are still faced with needing to cut $400,000. And that will mean more teaching jobs cut. And that is why I am scared. Since the legislature in my state has targeted the main teacher's union, we have lost most of our rights. One of these is our tenure and seniority protection. That means any teacher can be cut.
I am not afraid because I don't do my job. I am afraid because in order to save the most money, the administration can now just choose to cut the people at the top of the pay scale. To me, that means that the longer a teacher works in a district, the LESS sense of security they will have in their job. Especially in small districts like mine.
I know that in theory, lawmakers may have thought that doing away with tenure would help to get rid of ineffective teachers. But in the economic situation the state has brought us to with their repeated cuts to education, they have created a situation in which veteran teachers, no matter what their evaluations say, have to be fearful of losing their jobs.
What I see happening is a rapid decline in teacher morale. And in a time when we need to pool our resources and collaborate to ensure student learning, what I see beginning to happen is teachers closing their doors. They are afraid to work together. They are afraid of turning on each other. They are afraid of losing their jobs. And that fear is going to undermine the work we have to do.
This two lines made me so sad, "They are afraid to work together. They are afraid of turning on each other." Ug..... So sorry this is the climate that you are experiencing right now.
ReplyDeleteUgh.
ReplyDeleteThe climate across the country is just chilling... and this is the kind of thing that is crazy. They aren't trying to get rid of actually ineffective teachers, they are trying to dismantle public education. I just don't understand.
We are going though a similar thing down here in Texas. We never had tenure. If there is a Reduction in Force - it goes by evaluations. The lowest evaluation scores get cut.
ReplyDeleteSo our principal starts the year by announcing if he could he would take everyone on waiver off of waiver. (When you have your big evaluation and score above a certain level you get a 2 year waiver). Several senior teachers were taken off waivers.
I have to say that most of the teachers on my campus have come together. If you tell someone you got marked down on a walk through for X - by the end of the day you have lesson plans, activities that address that issue that the principal loved in another class.