By Greg Sampson
Clear answers to these questions would put many concerns,
and yes suspicions, to rest.
I enjoyed listening to the interview Dr.
Vitti gave on WJCT this morning via the First Coast Connect program (9 to
10 AM). The establishment of single gender classes and schools is an important
topic that we need to hear more about.
But first, I want to talk
about a comment Dr. Vitti made that revealed he has had a nerve struck in
regard to TFA, Teaching For America, that brings new teachers to our schools,
most often to the schools that struggle the most.
He
said, “We have to get over this idea that there are union teachers and Teach
for America teachers, they’re all teachers, and they all serve our children, we
will have—initially, we do have a lot of teachers who are surplused, our
enrollment is declining as I have been talking about for some time due to
charter enrollment, and this process happens every year … then what happens is—based on the contract
which we have to follow—more veteran teachers are placed in those open
positions throughout the county, and then we hire new teachers . Some of the
new teachers that we hire were Teach for America teachers that work in our
hard-to-staff, traditionally lower-performing schools because unfortunately we
don’t have a line of teachers ready and waiting to teach in our hard-to-staff
schools. So at the end of the year, I do believe we will arrive at a point where
all of our surplused [teachers] are placed and we’ll have to hire some new
teachers, usually again in our hard-to-staff schools, mainly in science and
math on the secondary level.”
He was asked via a listener
email if TFA teachers would receive priority in placement from the surplus
pool. I have edited his response to remove the ums and pauses. The ellipsis
omits his challenge of the number of surplus teachers reported as 700. (You can
listen to the entire half-hour here: http://www.wjct.org/fcc-june-30-2014/)
Understand that, despite the
superintendent’s effort to downplay it, the number of teachers surplused this
year is unprecedented. Understand further that the process of teacher movement
and new appointments has become very disorganized. Very few understand what
process the district is following, HR does not communicate eligibility for
screened posts (Test Chair, Dean, etc.) as it promises, no one has been told if
they are eligible for a transfer, and everyone is shaking their heads saying,
“I’ve never seen it this bad.”
The process has become a
massive free-for-all as teachers take initiative to contact principals about
openings and scramble to find a position. Some principals made some commitments
and had to retract them as HR canceled the transaction because the surplus pool
has to be dealt with first.
If I could say something to
Dr. Vitti, it would be this: you have created mistrust between yourself and
teachers on many issues. We are tired of your surveys without end that seem
designed to yield the answers you want, rather than giving us a chance to share
what is on our minds. Give us an open comment box on a survey—let us tell you
what we want you to know—then read, ponder, and respond.
Back to
TFA: there is clearly mistrust between career teachers, new teachers who came
with education degrees, and even alternate certification teachers and DCPS on
this issue. The overall question is whether TFA recruits are a privileged class
of teachers or are we treated the same? Specifically, we want to know:
1. There
was a heavy surplus of teachers this Spring. Were TFA teachers protected from
surplus or, as some of the most inexperienced teachers, were they surplused
according to seniority like everyone else?
2. If
TFA teachers are in the surplus pool, will they be placed first? Or will DCPS
proceed strictly according to seniority?
3. If
a RIF (reduction in force) takes place, are TFA teachers subject to RIF? Or
will teachers with more seniority be RIFFed to preserve a place for them?
4. DCPS
has entered into a contract to increase the number of TFA teachers it will
accept a minimum of 100 teachers for the next three years. If DCPS does not have 100 positions
available, will DCPS tell TFA sorry, we can’t take them, or will it RIF
existing teachers to make room?
5. Even
if DCPS doesn’t RIF existing teachers, will TFA applicants be hired before
applicants with a four-year degree from an accredited teaching college?
These are questions that Dr. Vitti should answer to eliminate speculation among current teachers. He should also make sure that parents and the public are fully aware of what/who 'TFA' teachers are. ^0^ Thanks for writing this article,
ReplyDeleteI could not have said the above better myself. Vitti most clearly favors TFA above veteran teachers, as praiseworthy sentiments are regularly conveyed to TFA as if they are angelic messengers sent to save the world.
ReplyDeleteMost of the TFA I have worked with will readily acknowledge the ridiculous construct that is TFA.
When I was surplussed once many years ago I was assigned to a school, not given a chance to pick & choose. It was definitely not a school someone would have chosen, but I stayed 5 years.
ReplyDeleteThe only person I've known personally who signed up for TFA did it to have her student loans forgiven, not because she wanted to "save the children".