Comments on: Oakland students stand up for their pink-slipped teachers

By: Annoyed Teacher

Annoyed Teacher — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 02:35:53 +0000

Schools only get a certain budget to pay for teaching staff. These things are not paid for as they should be at the district level. With the current system a school composed entirely of teachers at the upper end of the wage scale will find its budget severely stretched and will have to eliminate certain non-teaching positions. This is the undeniable reality of the current system.

If layoffs are based solely on seniority then the wage bill for many schools will increase while the staff levels will decline as adjustments are needed to ensure that the books get balanced. It’s a crappy system but there you go this is OUSD after all.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:28:46 +0000

According to the California Department of Education (source 2) the average per pupil expense for the 07-08 school year was $8,594. This puts California just below the national average of around $9,000 per student, and well below states like New York and New Jersey who average around $12,000 per student.

As for other countries who are rated higher educationally than the United States:

* Korea (ranked 1st in scientific literacy and 2nd in mathematic literacy): spends around $4500 per student for primary education and $6500 per student for secondary education.

* Japan (1st in mathematical literacy and 2nd in scientific literacy): spends around $6700 per student for primary education and around $8000 per student for secondary education.

* Finland (1st in reading literacy and 3rd in scientific literacy): around $5500 per student for primary education and around $7000 per student for secondary education.

* New Zealand (3rd in reading literacy and 3rd in mathematical literacy) around $5000 per student for primary education and around $6000 per student for secondary education.

**all data collected from OECD/PISA, chapter B, indicator B1 (source 1)
source(s):
http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_2649_39263238_41266761_1_1_1_1,00….
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/fd/ec/currentexpense.asphttp://www.siteselection.c…
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=66

By: AH

AH — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:03:36 +0000

“IMO teachers are bearing an unfair burden, and there are many who would be happy to malign any other public employee at present.”

Well said.

Veteran teachers are not the cause of these layoffs. I’m sorry for those who got pink slips, and I do hope they are rescinded.

By: livegreen

livegreen — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:01:44 +0000

Teachers and parents need to let OUSD Board members know that concentrating cuts on schools is not the answer. Yes, school sites will have to share, but emphasizing teacher & principal layoffs is not going to solve anything except cause the district to lose much of the progress it has made…

The Strategic Plan is noble and can greatly help OUSD in future. But we need help now, and today cannot be sacrificed for an unknown future. The Strategic Plan won’t do anybody any good if implementing it delays cost cutting measures until after layoffs occur.

Ideally we’d be able to do both. But the timing is simply not ideal.

I sure hope Dr. Smith has some financial aces up his sleeve (like some as of yet unannounced foundation grants). Otherwise, somethings got-to-give. & it can’t be mostly School Sites and Teachers.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:54:41 +0000

Here is an example of the seniority system placing someone who(it sounds like)didn’t want to be there. Over the last couple of years this has happened at various school districts(sans the publicity)teachers generally keep these feelings amongst themselves(not in this case though). It sounds like she was in over her head, but gave it a go for the money. Now lets see if they can manage appropriate measures(I very much doubt it though).

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/119071054.html

By: livegreen

livegreen — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:41:01 +0000

AH, Could elaborate on the affects of RBB, and your perspective on it’s impact on teacher layoffs? As I understand this method was designed to help higher needs schools by giving them the ability to use money remaining from less expensive, less experienced teachers so they could supplement where necessary to make up.

What’s wrong with this & what’s the affect on teacher layoffs? (With or without RBB we’d still have seniority).

My question is not to challenge but to learn…

By: On the Fence

On the Fence — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:21:45 +0000

Steven: Many thanks for your explanation.

In general, I agree that Edna Brewer will survive. I feel very sorry for the teachers who have gone above and beyond to create programs of distinction in this school and maybe will have to leave them. I hope that they will be asked to return. If not, I am sure that they will carry their work ethic and reputations with them to their next jobs. I also hope that the families that have options do not flee from EB due to the perception of disruption. There are many very hard working and dedicated teachers who were not pink slipped. I am confident that EBMS will do fine as long as they retain the confidence of the community.

Nextset has been warning of the budget issues and changes to come for many months. I was more optimistic, but I do have to admit that things are sounding pretty dismal for teachers and everyone else. Quite a shame. IMO teachers are bearing an unfair burden, and there are many who would be happy to malign any other public employee at present. We are all more connected than we’d like to admit, however, and if we bring down one sector (public employees) there will surely be unintended consequences to all.

By: AH

AH — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 18:15:18 +0000

“The result will be a wage strain that eliminates many of the programs that help to make Brewer successful.”

And, you plan to remain in teaching? Do you plan to remain at the entry-level pay scale throughout your career?

The problem is RBB, not teacher salaries. And, veteran teachers can and will do a good job. There is no reason to believe that Brewer will “decline,” nor that it would take “years to recover.”

Brewer students will continue to do well.

There will be changes, and life there will go on without you.

Perhaps you shouuld start speaking frankly about the damage done by RBB.

By: Steven Weinberg

Steven Weinberg — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 05:54:55 +0000

On The Fence, I will attempt to answer your questions about how layoffs are handled, but if anyone has more complete information or a correction please add it. There are two considerations. The first is a person’s credential. Each set of teachers with the same credential are then laid off according to seniority in the district. So, for example, if the the district decides to eliminate 10 positions held by people with single subject PE credentials, the 10 least senior are let go. If 2 PE teachers are released from a school that needs 2 PE teachers for its program, that school will select or have assigned to them 2 PE teachers who were more senior but whose positions were eliminated elsewhere in the district. If positions are restored after June 30, teachers who were released will be called back to the district according to seniority. If their old position is still vacant they might return to it.
Right now there is a huge disconnect between the budgets schools have been told to prepare to staff with through the RBB process (significant reductions, but much smaller than those entailed by the lay-off letters), and what the district has done with potential lay-off letters. If the district were to really proceed with the number of cuts indicated by the March 15 letters, each school would have to make huge cuts in their own master programs. If the district decides not to cut the school site budgets more than they already have, the number of lay-offs will be much less than the number of March 15 letters.
It needs to be stressed again that most of this disruption could have been avoided if the Republicans in the State Legislature had agreed to a June election to keep California taxes the same for the next 5 years.

By: On The Fence

On The Fence — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:13:54 +0000

I’m a bit confused with how this might work. On this Pink Slipped list are 2 PE teachers, both music instructors, the Spanish teacher, and the only school counselor, among many others. I simply can’t fathom that Edna Brewer could lose some of these staff members because of their specialized roles. I get that they may not have been around for as long as others, but how will the school staff certain programs? I really don’t see the music program going away, and only certain staff can run that specialized program. In fact, given the success and recognition that Mr. Pitt Smith has brought to the program, I can’t even see them not hiring HIM (as opposed to a music teacher from other school) back to this very site. So my question is how will this work? Will they first look at their need for say a qualified counselor and then reverse the pink slips for the number of counselors they need, or look at the staffing need for music teachers and then rescind the pink slip for that specific type of teacher? Will they take back the most senior counselor who was pink-slipped from anywhere in Oakland and offer them a slot at Brewer or will they rehire from the pink slipped staff at Brewer? Will there be any attempt to keep staff at their individual sites or will it be a toss up? Will the principals’ be able to offer recommendations on which staff they need back? On this same note, if there are already enough history teachers, but not enough math teachers, can they rehire the first year math teacher while overlooking the 4 year veteran history teacher?

I am particularly interested in this school, but I am sure that there are many folks interested in this process in general. Can anyone comment?