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News : Catalyst Crib Sheets
Cleveland board approves new contract
This article orginally appeared in the April, 2010 issue of Catalyst. Click
here to see that issue's table of contents.
July 30, 2010: Panel now eyes possible levy in November
The Cleveland school board voted 7-0 Thursday to accept a new three-year contract with teachers that contains $17 million in concessions and changes in the way the district evaluates and assigns classroom instructors.
Now comes the hard part.
Board members are expected to meet again Monday to consider a tougher question: whether to place an operating levy on the November ballot. It’s been 14 years since Cleveland voters approved a new tax hike for the city’s schools.
“Check back Monday,” District CEO Eugene Sanders said when asked whether he planned to recommend the measure. The filing deadline for the November ballot is Wednesday.
Concessions from teachers and other district employees, as well as closing schools and other cuts, should enable the district to balance its budget for the current fiscal year. But without new revenue and with federal stimulus money running out, the district faces a $50 million budget hole next year – a deficit that would threaten Sanders’ ambitious transformation plan.
If the district doesn’t seek the revenue locally through a levy, it could come from two other places: additional federal stimulus money, or additional money from Columbus. Neither is especially likely.
If the district seeks a levy, it will be crucial that is shows marked improvement on its new state report card, which will be released Aug. 27. Last year, the district’s ranking slid from “continuous improvement” to “academic watch.”
The board’s approval of the new pact came a little more than 24 hours after members of the Cleveland Teachers Union overwhelmingly ratified the contract. The union agreed to eliminate a handful of paid training days, delay some step pay increases and pay more for health care. The three-year deal, approved by 82 percent of the members who voted, includes economic reopeners in the second and third year.
Most important, the majority of the 650 laid off teachers and support personnel are expected to be called back under the new pact – a move that will keep class sizes at their current levels – 20-to-1 in kindergarten through third grade and from 28 to 33-to-1 in other grades.
The union also agreed to changes in work rules that could have a lasting impact. While protecting basic seniority rights, the two sides agreed to flexibility that will allow panels of principals, teachers and parents to often hire teachers at individual schools. The union and district also agreed to expand a peer-review program in which veteran teachers mentor struggling colleagues. If the struggling teachers don’t improve within a year, they will face dismissal. Both programs have existed in pilot forms.
“We wanted to build on what was working,” Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke said.
Beginning in mid-August, the union and the administration will begin meetings aimed at fashioning a new teacher-evaluation system that will use multiple measures – including student performance – to measure teacher effectiveness. The district hopes to have a pilot of the new program running this school year.
“I think this is an area where we can really make a difference and work with the Cleveland Teachers Union to really change what happens in the classroom,” board member Natalie Peterson said.
Board member Robert Heard admitted he had been pushing the administration to get more concessions from the union, noting that Sanders had taken some “flak” because of his own hard-line posture. Still, Heard voted to approve the agreement.
“Are we where we need to be on some issues? Personally, I don’t think so,” Heard said. “I was really hard-line. I told (Sanders) if you don’t come back with this, don’t count on my vote. I’m at a different place today.”
Sanders said district negotiators tried to accomplish the board’s goals within the practical confines of collective bargaining.
“We took our marching orders from the board,” Sanders said in an interview. “Ultimately, we came out with a resolution that is positive for all parties concerned. We believe that collaborative action by all parties is important to move forward.”
This article orginally appeared in the April, 2010 issue of Catalyst. Click
here to see that issue's table of contents.
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The Cleveland school board voted 7-0 Thursday to accept a new three-year contract with teachers that contains $17 million in concessions and changes in the way the district evaluates and assigns classroom instructors.
Now comes the hard part.
Board members are expected to meet again Monday to consider a tougher question: whether to place an operating levy on the November ballot. It’s been 14 years since Cleveland voters approved a new tax hike for the city’s schools.
“Check back Monday,” District CEO Eugene Sanders said when asked whether he planned to recommend the measure. The filing deadline for the November ballot is Wednesday.
Concessions from teachers and other district employees, as well as closing schools and other cuts, should enable the district to balance its budget for the current fiscal year. But without new revenue and with federal stimulus money running out, the district faces a $50 million budget hole next year – a deficit that would threaten Sanders’ ambitious transformation plan.
If the district doesn’t seek the revenue locally through a levy, it could come from two other places: additional federal stimulus money, or additional money from Columbus. Neither is especially likely.
If the district seeks a levy, it will be crucial that is shows marked improvement on its new state report card, which will be released Aug. 27. Last year, the district’s ranking slid from “continuous improvement” to “academic watch.”
The board’s approval of the new pact came a little more than 24 hours after members of the Cleveland Teachers Union overwhelmingly ratified the contract. The union agreed to eliminate a handful of paid training days, delay some step pay increases and pay more for health care. The three-year deal, approved by 82 percent of the members who voted, includes economic reopeners in the second and third year.
Most important, the majority of the 650 laid off teachers and support personnel are expected to be called back under the new pact – a move that will keep class sizes at their current levels – 20-to-1 in kindergarten through third grade and from 28 to 33-to-1 in other grades.
The union also agreed to changes in work rules that could have a lasting impact. While protecting basic seniority rights, the two sides agreed to flexibility that will allow panels of principals, teachers and parents to often hire teachers at individual schools. The union and district also agreed to expand a peer-review program in which veteran teachers mentor struggling colleagues. If the struggling teachers don’t improve within a year, they will face dismissal. Both programs have existed in pilot forms.
“We wanted to build on what was working,” Cleveland Teachers Union President David Quolke said.
Beginning in mid-August, the union and the administration will begin meetings aimed at fashioning a new teacher-evaluation system that will use multiple measures – including student performance – to measure teacher effectiveness. The district hopes to have a pilot of the new program running this school year.
“I think this is an area where we can really make a difference and work with the Cleveland Teachers Union to really change what happens in the classroom,” board member Natalie Peterson said.
Board member Robert Heard admitted he had been pushing the administration to get more concessions from the union, noting that Sanders had taken some “flak” because of his own hard-line posture. Still, Heard voted to approve the agreement.
“Are we where we need to be on some issues? Personally, I don’t think so,” Heard said. “I was really hard-line. I told (Sanders) if you don’t come back with this, don’t count on my vote. I’m at a different place today.”
Sanders said district negotiators tried to accomplish the board’s goals within the practical confines of collective bargaining.
“We took our marching orders from the board,” Sanders said in an interview. “Ultimately, we came out with a resolution that is positive for all parties concerned. We believe that collaborative action by all parties is important to move forward.”
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