In the first week of the new legislative session, Rep. Debra Maggart (House District 45) and Sen. Dolores Gresham (Senate District 26) have filed two bills that strike at the hearts of Tennessee’s teachers.
The Maggart bill (HB 130), if passed and signed into law, will end 32 years of teacher negotiations in this state.
For over 100 years before the Educators Professional Negotiations Act became law, teacher compensation was at the whim of school superintendents and local boards of education. Men were paid more than women. Caucasian teachers were paid more than African-American teachers. Secondary school teachers were paid more than elementary teachers and friends of the ‘right people’ were routinely paid more than their peers. There was no fair and equitable salary schedule. Negotiations changed that.
The Gresham bill (SB 102) would replace the ability of teachers to select the teacher representatives to the TCRS Board of Trustees with appointments by the Speakers of the Senate and House of Representatives. Teachers who contribute to the system would have no voice in determining who represents them on their retirement board. Instead, politicians who are not members of the system would make that determination.
As of this writing, no bills have been filed to support teachers in getting the job done in the classroom. Nothing has been introduced that would enhance teaching and learning in our schools and classrooms. Everything talked about so far is about restrictions and loss.
It is ironic that this comes at a time when teachers are asked to work harder and smarter in order to help our students achieve ever more rigorous standards.
All of us recall a period in our lives that we term the good old days. When we look closely, however, we realize those good old days never really were. In the fictional good old days, teachers had even lower salaries, no voice in determining education policy and only a fraction of boys and girls graduated from high school compared to today.
Teachers will not sit still while some legislators attempt to take the teaching profession and public education back to a simpler but less effective time.
Media reports indicate Gov. Bill Haslam intends to make public education a key component of his agenda. Our experience with the former mayor of Knoxville has shown him to be a thoughtful man. We believe he wants to make a positive difference in public education and the lives of all Tennesseans. We will be meeting with the governor to understand what he wants to accomplish, and we will let him know what teachers believe will be helpful in educating Tennessee’s students. We anticipate working with Gov. Haslam to improve our public schools.
Some legislators appear to be preparing to pass anti-teacher and anti-TEA legislation because they think they can. They suggest it will return us to the good old days. However, laws with no socially redeeming value are inherently destructive and represent abuses of discretion and power.
Tennessee’s teachers will not be silenced. TEA will rise to fight to protect the hard-won rights some misguided forces seem willing to eliminate.
Tennessee Education Association Executive Director Al Mance
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Al,
You talk about the bad old days. I remember no pressure, no TV, no need to buy gas often, playing ball with a rubber ball from a bolo pad and a broom stick. They are good old days for most of us.
I believe what is happening is for a lot of years you cannot educate our children no matter how much more money we give you every year. We have had enough and are willing to try other things.
You and the teachers have no answers so we will come up with a few. And yes, we will return to the days of merit raises. You will reap what you sow as far as ability and desire to educate. Unions in government are a thing of the past and will fade like the bad old days.
Tommy Burrows
Chattanoogan
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Now, Al, I know a thing or two about teaching. I have quite a few family members who teach in the public school systems in a few different states. I myself have taught in the private, college prep school environment. I laughed out loud when I read what you said. The TEA will rise and fight. We will not allow them to take us back to less effective days. You have got to be kidding. When could public school education have been more ineffective than it is today?
All teachers’ unions are part of the problem and hardly ever the solution. What you are fighting for is protecting your self important job. You do not help teachers, especially the good ones. What unions do for teaching is help lousy teachers keep their jobs.
When I taught in the private school I kept my job because I was a good teacher. It was about my ability to teach and the atmosphere I helped create with students and parents. I collectively bargained all by myself and based solely on performance. I had no trouble finding a job especially if I was effective at what I did.
I am not down on teachers. In fact I am so pro teacher that I wish them freedom away from the cancer that is the unions. Budgets cannot be balanced, teachers cannot teach and students will learn less all because of the strangle hold unions have on education. You are right though about one thing. Teachers will not be silenced but hopefully TEA and other unions will be. Again I laughed when you said they are taking us back to less effective days.
Johnny Franks
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I am done with the continual teacher bashing. You act like this pending legislation is a godsend to save us from the evil unions that keep us hostage in Tennessee, to put an end to unfair practices that waste taxpayer money and employ people for life regardless of ability. While none of those are true, do you really think that’s what it’s about? Have you seen what’s going on in Wisconsin and some of these other states lately?
Let me tell you what it really means. It means that you are telling Jim Scales, Tommy Krantz, Rick Smith, Rhonda Thurman, etc. that they can unilaterally dictate exactly how long teachers work, what their duties are, what their benefits can be, and what they will be compensated (or not), while at the same time deciding their own, very different employment package. Salary, benefits, duties, hours and days, coaching supplements, all based on their idea of what’s compensatory. Do you get retirement pay that you contribute nothing toward? Are you eligible for full benefits as a part-time employee? It's great when you get to make the rules for your own employment.
You think this is about merit pay? Really? Under our new legislation passed last year in the “Race to the Top,” right at 70% of secondary teachers in the state of Tennessee will now be evaluated on the work, i.e. test scores, of the other 30% of the teachers. Does that sound like merit pay?
Bottom line is that this is about saving a buck. Why keep that 25 year veteran around, even if they are one of the top teachers in Hamilton County? You can pay two kids fresh out of college with their salary.
It’s not about your child’s educational experience, it’s about saving a buck – don’t kid yourself. Don’t worry though, those 20 year veterans won’t be around much longer anyway. With all of the pressure being brought to bear on teachers right now even without all this new legislation, they are retiring just as soon as they can. Tenure is simply a right to due process, regardless of what the current spin is from Nashville – teachers get fired all the time, they just have to provide a reason if you’re tenured. They also quit all the time, which will be a lot more often in the near future.
Oh, and do you think this will change a thing at the central office? They’re the ones making the decisions. Their pay will continue to increase, they will continue to answer to no one, and the brunt of everything legislated will once again be placed on the classroom teacher. The only merit pay here will ever be is getting a central office job. Are our school board members responsible? What about the county commission? No, cuts don’t happen at central office or political offices, they come from the classroom every time. It is not, nor will it ever be about your child getting a decent education in Hamilton County. It is about how politicians and administrators protect themselves and cut spending at the same time. This legislation gives those people free reign to do exactly that. Teachers merit nothing except contempt.
Lee Crews
Hixson
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I agree that there is no room for ineffective teachers in the classroom any more than there is room for ineffective pilots in airliner cockpits. Under the guise of common sense, I’ve heard this in analogy form before: a factory manager who consistently ships defective products should be replaced.
So far so good, but let’s extend this analogy a little. Where does the problem actually lie? Is the manager truly ineffective? If he/she is, then they obviously need to find another vocation. Consider this: what if the manager consistently receives raw materials that have quality-control problems?
In a factory, the manager is in a position to find a new supplier; in the schools, teachers can hardly remedy a difficult home environment, a lack of parental involvement, emotional disturbances, empty stomachs, physical abuse and the like. You see, children are not factory-made widgets where quality control is something that is easy to measure.
Despite the best intentions of statistical studies using a variety of methodologies, the fact remains that human behavior and response is exceedingly difficult to quantify or predict. This is not an engineering (or accounting) problem with a clear solution. As a professional in another field, I can certainly tell you I don’t want my compensation based on factors I have no control over.
My spouse is a teacher and works exceedingly long hours to make sure she does a good job. I’m amazed and humbled by her daily efforts. I also hear the despair in her voice when she tells me about the miserable conditions in which some of her students live-and the utter lack of parental support they receive.
Yes, teachers influence student performance, but Mr. Burrows' glee at striking a blow at a union's perceived power is more revealing of his politics than his desire to offer meaningful solutions to the problems found uniquely in public education. By considering all of the parameters beforehand, he will uncover a complex problem with more than a simple feel-good partisan remedy.
Kelly Martin
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I am glad that Mr. Martin has cleared this whole thing up for us. The utterly horrible decline in American education standards is entirely the problem of the students and parents. Who knew?
I do not doubt for a moment that Mr. Kelly's wife is an exemplary teacher, as many in the teaching profession are. I actually agree that Mr. Martin's contention regarding students and parents is part of the problem. However, I suspect that the decline in education standards might, just might, have some correlation to the rise in teachers' unions throughout the country. I also suspect that it is probably easier to get ineffective pilots out of the cockpit than ineffective teachers out of the classroom. The primary reason that those ineffective teachers are still there is due to the protection provided by the union.
I read a letter to the editor to the Times Free-Press a couple of weeks ago sent by a local teacher who, rather vigorously, stated that teachers were professionals and should be treated as such. In my humble opinion, if you want to be treated like a professional, then start by acting like one. True professionals regard their performance on the job as the best way to maintain both job security and decent compensation. Having said that, schools should reward their best and brightness accordingly.
Jim Nelson