We are currently working with our Uniserv Director in regards to the TA (tentative agreement) we voted on and signed in late November. The school board approved this TA at their Nov. 28th meeting. The very next week, Matt brought bargainers to the table again to present us with a brand new contract. This contract takes out all subjects that are no longer “acceptable topics of bargaining”. Your building reps do have copies for you to see — nine pages of language removed. We have always agreed to discuss the language changes that may need to occur because of new laws. This has not happened. Your bargaining team have been pleading to keep items in the contract, and if they do have to come out, we want board policy to replace them so that all members are being treated fairly.

The following email exchange is our last contact with Matt:

> Matt,
> As you know, the bargaining team has not been comfortable with the idea of “taking out” language from the contract since we saw the proposed version. We do understand that it is no longer bargain able, however, we still feel strongly about simply not signing away language that can have dire effects on our members in the future.
>
> The members have voted on the TA in regards to financials. Regardless of where we are with language discussions, this should be honored (as it was approved by the school board Nov 28th). Our feelings on this is that members should be receiving election forms for PD day/ $100 bonus as well as actual contracts to sign. The language issue is separate as it was presented to us AFTER vote occurred.
>
> We do prefer to continue having conversations with you and our team on the matter of language. We would like to work towards areas of compromise as even stated in the MASB newsletters we have read. A possibility could be to explore creating board policies to speak to all items the board feels “need” to come out of the contract language. Our concern is having these items addressed in policy so that all members and situations that arise will be handled the same way and fairly.
>
> We would like to meet with your bargaining team at your earliest opening. We have asked Ana to attend this meeting also, so if you would like to invite Mr. Champion, we understand and look forward to working on this together.
>
> Now comes the hard part… times..? The bargaining team would prefer to stay in our classrooms as much as possible, if that is possible.

Matt’s response was as follows:

That is very disappointing to hear Nicole. We can meet throughout the rest of the year and the language is staying out. It is the new reality handed to us from Lansing. We will not move forward with the TA until we have a signed contract. Please work with Shauna to set up a time to meet.

As you can see, he and their bargaining team is not interested in working with us on resolving this matter.

What does this mean to you? Wish I had all the answers. Our Uniserv Director does feel we have and Unfair Labor Practice. We will meet with Matt at the earliest possibility of their entire team and ours. If he still feels that they will not honor the TA we signed and the board voted, we will file that day for an ULP. Until then, we are not saying time for full crisis mode. We are waiting for guidance from our UD and MEA legal.

I do think it is important to keep doing what you are doing. I know this is a difficult time for everyone and not having a TA, like we thought we did, is beyond describable. As we have said before, things in this bargaining cycle are things we have never really seen happen and never thought would.

I will send a copy of the MASB Newsletter to everyone also. You will be able to see that they are clearly following that playbook and want to show us their power.

I do advise people to make sure they follow the contract… in this time of tension I do anticipate Matt advising principals to make our lives difficult. This could come in all forms, so although you do not feel like you are treated professionally, take the high road and prove we are the better group, the stronger group and keep doing the great job you do DAILY!

As soon as we know something, we will get back to you.

• We have an approved contract for this year, and in March some of you will see pay increases.

• The administration wants to remove everything in our current contract that is now (by law) made “prohibited subjects of bargaining” — including evaluation language, layoff/recall language, and transfer language, just to name a few. Some of the language they plan to remove is not prohibited and/or simply restates the current tenure law. We feel that keeping some language (that conforms to law) brings clarity to a new situation that is confusing.

• We are still waiting for the administration to get on the same page regarding evaluations. What you have been told is critical (in their observations of your work and in your final rating) is different, depending on which principal you work for. If you teach in more than one building, you probably already have seen this.

• The PEA needs your involvement, more critically than ever before. The top four elected officers of the association also form its bargaining team. This “doubling up” creates a great deal of stress on these individuals, which leads to burn out. We need members to step up and take on leadership roles (from President on down) or join the bargaining team. The more of us involved, the stronger an association we’ll have.

• Negotiating next year’s contract will be the highest priority of the association. Step increases and “lane changes” (for earning advanced degrees) are no longer automatic. These have to be negotiated. And who knows what MESSA will have in store? Unless bargained otherwise, the contract spells out the maximum our district will pay towards our insurance. The state caps their contribution at 80%. If rates go up (and they always do) we’ll have to take a hard look at what we can afford and (perhaps) what other insurance providers can do for us.

• November could be very interesting for two reasons: we may not have a contract in place (like this year) and there is an election. PEA member involvement will make a difference in both areas. (There is no way to know for sure, but our red shirt fiasco came right before the school board made some concessions to their entrenched position. Coincidence? Perhaps. Pressure? Maybe.)

For now, your best approach in the classroom is to continue doing your best. Add one more thing to that: documentation. Keep a log of your parent contacts (e-mail or phone). Keep copies of pre-tests, formative assessments and final (summative) assessments (keep the actual tests and the test data, to prove that there is student growth happening). Keep a record of any additional training you have taken. Keep copies of lesson plans used to differentiate instruction. No matter how you are observed and rated, have the “proof” needed to show that you are focused on your goals and on student learning.

To get an interesting perspective on what has happened (and will continue to happen) in this state, check out the articles below.

Cyber School Failure (from the NY Times)

Overview of Michigan’s education “reforms” (from Mother Jones)

The good news, of course, is that those of you who should have received a wage increase because of your advancement on the steps — essentially your willingness to remain a “valued member of the Parchment School District” — will now get some of the money to which you are entitled. Those of you who have not been expecting a step-based pay increase will get something, but not very much.

The vote was not unanimous. Contract votes rarely are. As a member of the bargaining team, I can tell you that we brought this agreement to you with a lot of fear and trembling, because we know it’s not a great deal. Yes, other area teachers have actually accepted pay cuts over the last year or two, and many have seen a reduction in the steps like we have. But it’s hard to feel valued when the district cannot (or will not) put a financial price on your value.

So that’s the bad news. Some of you are not happy with the settlement and perhaps not happy with the bargainers.

I would urge you who are not happy to turn that emotion into positive action. We are in this contract mess because of the men and women in Lansing who changed the rules of the game — no more automatic step increases, no say in how we are evaluated, no tenure protection, and giant cuts to school funding. As soon as you get the chance, vote for candidates who actually support the job you do. Consider donating to political parties or funds. Write letters to those in office now. Speak to family, friends and neighbors about the so-called shared sacrifices that have hit you and your family personally.

If those activities aren’t enough to dispel your unhappiness, you can go even further. Volunteer to be a PEA building rep, run for an executive board position, or ask to become a part of the bargaining team and have a personal voice at the table. We are not a large local association, but we do have many people performing two or three association jobs when other teachers are just as capable. None of us who have served the association had any really clear idea of what we were getting ourselves into when we stepped up, but all of us have been rewarded by knowing that our work helped, even in small ways, make the teaching experience of a colleague a little better.

I know that I personally benefited from having a building rep who sat with me in a thorny meeting with a principal about 25 years ago. I was pretty new at the job and could have been pushed around by the administrator, but that rep by my side made sure he didn’t go too far.

So don’t sell yourself short — there are plenty of others out there willing to do that for you — and consider taking a more active/involved role in the association that won tenure rights, evaluation language, salary scales, and many other contract items many years ago. The administration doesn’t just hand its employees a contract like the one we have. There are plenty of teachers who don’t have a critical needs bank or sick leave bank or severance pay or many other things that we take for granted. These things were won over the years by bargaining teams who also faced stubborn and (at times) stingy school boards.

Let’s make the best of this current situation and work together (like we did during our week of protest) to get the message out: Parchment teachers care and are worth paying fairly. Let’s get the community on our side before we go back to the bargaining table.

Please look over the agreement and forward any questions or concerns to your building rep or one of the bargaining team members (Carol B / Tim S at the HS; Tom N / Nicole B at the MS). It is appropriate to use school e-mail to send your questions.

Remember to vote!

If you are unable to attend, your building representative will have complete details for you Friday. We will hold balloting in your buildings on Friday, Nov. 18 through Tuesday, November 22. We will inform you of the vote results as soon as possible, via this website and your home e-mails.

The agreement is certainly not as good as your bargainers would have wanted, but is an improvement over the administration’s previous positions. As we hear of other associations forced to take major concessions, we feel this settlement moves us in the right direction rather than backwards.

How you feel about the agreement will be for you to decide after the complete details are announced. Please make every effort to attend Thursday’s meeting, so your questions can be answered by members of the bargaining team.

We are meeting Monday, November 7th at 2:40. We will let you know the results of the session as soon as possible.

Keep up the good work!

The administration and board of education needs to know — and they will soon — that taking away our steps, as if working for a year doesn’t count, is NOT acceptable.

We understand money problems, but we don’t see the need for this extreme position. There are other ways to balance the budget.

Tuesday we fire the second shot by wearing our red PEA shirts and again walk in together in the morning. If they don’t get the message by Tuesday afternoon (can you picture the staff meetings in red?) they may never get it!

Be sure to join your fellow members in this show of unity and protest. We can get them back to the table with a better offer.

1. All PEA members are encouraged to wear the red PEA shirts on every Tuesday, beginning Nov. 8.

2. Starting Monday, Nov. 7, all PEA members are urged to “work to rule” — which means doing no more extra work than you currently do (not including schedule B duties, coaching, attendance at required meetings, etc.) and not arriving any sooner or staying any later than your contractual reporting time.

This show of unity works best when all PEA members in a building enter in the morning as a group, and depart in the afternoon also in a group.

When the community realizes that its well-respected teachers are working under the tension of no pay increase, increased insurance costs (since July) and a murky (at best) new evaluation process, they may begin to ask questions of our administration and school board. When principals have the sole responsibility for supervising students before and after school, they may also begin to ask that this contract situation be resolved.

How long will we have to do this? That depends on the school board’s level of cooperation and willingness to offer reasonable proposals. Our superintendent has made it clear that he is not being allowed to offer more than what the board is “comfortable with” economically. So the pressure from our side needs to focus on the school board. The red shirts and decreased staff presence should be obvious to older students and adults in the buildings within a couple of weeks. The crisis team will evaluate all proposed activities to determine when to change strategies or add new ones.

The leadership of the PEA knows that you don’t have enough time to do all your work now. Coming later and/or leaving earlier will be a burden. You’ll have to grade papers, organize lesson plans, call parents, etc. from somewhere other than your classroom. If you are an early bird, you may find it necessary to leave home at your usual time, but stop at the coffee shop to do your work before actually reporting to your classroom. Crisis activities are not easy nor fun. They are, however, necessary if we want to send the message that we are not pleased with the way things are. If we don’t change our behaviors in a clear, noticeable way, the district will assume we are content with our current contract situation, and the accompanying loss of pay and loss of steps.

The crisis team is also preparing a “fact sheet” of information to give to community members — you friends, neighbors (in Parchment) and parents. Look for this soon.

We cannot succeed without unanimity. Divided, we fall.

1. We had a pretty good turn-out on Friday, October 14 for the Homecoming Parade. I don’t know if our presence makes a big difference in the minds and hearts of the community, but I sure saw lots of students excited to see their teachers riding (or walking beside) a truck!

2. We are still without a contract. That means that the language in the old contract is pretty much still in place regarding working conditions and for sure in place regarding pay. As many of you know from personal experience, the step increase you thought you’d receive in September is not automatic, nor is the increase after earning an advanced degree.

The bargaining team plans to meet with administration on Monday, October 17 and hear their official counter proposal. Then we can give you a thorough update on the progress (or lack) at the PEA meeting on Thursday, October 20. This meeting has been changed from a regular executive board meeting to a general membership meeting, so we can tell you what our contract status is, and HEAR from you about where you want the negotiators to move next.

3. Teachers in all levels continue to struggle with the new evaluation system. Major changes were already in store as we bargained most of this two years ago. More changes happened after the administration took matters into their own hands. The result has been mass confusion, starting with how to complete a simple goal form. PEA leadership is monitoring the process and will protest if it seems that different principals are expecting radically different teaching behaviors, while using one evaluation form.

Note: If you are and have been (in the past) an effective teacher, you probably already know it. You have heard from students and parents that you helped a student learn. The evaluation changes should not suddenly make you look ineffective. Instead, our intention at the bargaining table was to help people who do struggle with various aspects of teaching identify and improve in those areas. Those already at the top of their game will continue to teach effectively, and simply need to keep clear records to show those things that your principal won’t notice in the quick observation.

Despite the changes made by the administration, I don’t personally think any principal is using the new method to “target” anyone. If they had concerns in the past, they still have those concerns. If they have been impressed with you in the past, they still are.

Part of the principal’s evaluation is based on our performance, so they definitely want you to be good at what you do!