edTPA, the Illinois House hearing, Will Guzzardi and the IFT.

State Representative Will Guzzardi has concerns about edTPA. He sits on the House education committee.

Our efforts over the past 24 hours in getting folks to submit witness slips (you still can this morning) to the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee opposing edTPA has been a great success. It has resulted in over 230 opposition slips with less than 20 in support at 8AM this morning.

Thank you.

Illinois 39th State Representative Will Guzzardi is a member of the House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education that has called the hearing on edTPA at 10:30 AM.

I asked him for a statement on edTPA.

He wrote me:

“I look forward to a rigorous hearing on Ed TPA today in Springfield. I worry that it presents many of the same challenges as other standardized testing regime’s: excessively high stakes placed on a single days performance; evaluation by a faraway entity with no context about the student or classroom; bias against people of color; and a high financial cost with no proof that it actually solves a problem.”

As usual, he gets it.

Meanwhile John Cusick, a legislative director of the IFT wrote me to complain about my characterization of the IFT on this issue.

Fred – In terms of your IFT comments. This committee hearing is scheduled today because IFT worked quietly for many months with former Rep. Golar, Other reps, house staff, and the Higher Ed coalition challenging EdTPA, to bring EdTPA concerns to the fore. So your point is not on the mark. Please check with the leads of the Higher Ed Coalition opposing EdTPA. Thank you, John

What did I write that is “off the mark”?

Neither the IEA nor the IFT have educated or mobilized members over this shift toward’s privatizing teacher licensure even though it impacts every future union member.

Sorry, John. My characterization is right on the money. Quiet behind the scenes efforts are fine. But educating and mobilizing union members are the union’s jobs one and two.

I will give John and the IFT credit: They have done more than the IEA on this issue.

But ask a member of the IFT what edTPA is and what their union is doing about it. Most have no idea about either.

This is not just a higher ed issue.

This is an issue for our profession. There would be thousands of slips in opposition if the unions had been doing their job.

Correction. IEA supports #FightForDyett.

Note IEA President’s signature, lower right on IFT stationery.

Fred,

Crickets?

Don’t blame others for your inability to pay attention. Note the statement was posted a day before your comment.

http://www.ieanea.org/2015/08/28/iea-ift-support-dyett-protesters/

– Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for the correction.

I am pleased to see that the presidents of the two state teachers unions sent a letter to the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus in support of the #FightForDyett hunger strikers.

You are right. I was not paying attention to the fact the IEA President Cinda Klickna’s signature could be found on the bottom right of the letter of support with an IFT letterhead.

-Fred

What are they doing to us in Springfield?

As I write this early in the morning of Monday, there are only a few more days left in the current session of the Illinois legislature.

The worst always happens in the last days of a legislative session.

It is why I worry about handing over what had previously been negotiated locally to the legislature to decide.

Over the past twenty years our local negotiating team has never come away with a contract that did not improve our living and working conditions.

In Springfield, our lobbyists have rarely come away with anything that didn’t make our situation worse.

The good news is that is appears that the united efforts of the IEA, IFT and CTU have slowed the anti-union runaway train.

The bad news is that we seem willing to make major sacrifices on issues of tenure, seniority and performance evaluations.

Read the IEA website and be sure to read member comments. I am not the only one that is worried about what our alternative bill looks like.  Members haven’t seen it. We’ve only had the rough outlines described to us.

To me it suggests that the CTU is looking to have their seniority rights strengthened by having Chicago rules look like what the rest of the state presently has. Good for them.

It looks like the IEA is willing to have our seniority rights weakened to look like what the CTU presently has.

Time to fight, talk hard truths and bring backup.

Stopping a runaway train.

Who knows what goes on behind closed doors?

Certainly not the rank-and-file teachers who will be most affected by what kind of so-called reforms get adopted. The General Assembly is notorious for last-minute deals that rarely work in our favor. So, why should it be different this time?

Going in to this lame duck session the teachers unions’ leadership had two goals.

Like with the runaway train in the movie Unstoppable, they hoped to be Denzel. Perhaps they could keep the train from becoming a catastrophe by slowing it down.

They also wanted the three main union players, the IEA, IFT and the CTU, to jointly agree upon an alternative proposal that a majority in the GA could agree to and was less draconian than the reformy proposals.

Part one was smart. With only several days left in the lame duck session, any delay would put off the fight until the new session and would allow us to mobilize our forces. After all, the last two weeks were winter break and most teachers in the state were not really reachable and could not be mobilized to contact their reps and their colleagues.

Part two is problematic. The Big Three unions seem to  draw a line on the right to strike. But almost everything else has been placed in the negotiable column: Tenure, seniority and pay for performance.

Catalyst:

Given just about two weeks to draft an alternative proposal, lawyers for the Chicago Teachers Union, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association worked through the holidays and came up with a plan they call “Accountability for All.”

Although they differ in the details, the proposals have similar elements. Both would link a teacher’s classroom performance to the granting of tenure, recertification and decisions on dismissal for incompetence, filling job vacancies or reductions in force.

Performance would be measured in part by student achievement. Both proposals would streamline dismissal, but the union version would require better support for teachers in such areas as professional development and remediation.

The IEA leadership has a history of calling defeats victories and calling set backs advances. This was their practice when they surrendered local collective bargaining rights to a failed attempt to win Race to the Top grant money a year ago.

Even if the GA adopts their alternative proposal, it will be hard to convince the membership that this is a victory. No doubt, Swanson and IEA Executive Director Audrey Soglin will give it a shot.

But that is if their proposal is adopted, which is questionable. I have been told that they are barely a part of the negotiations.

While the members have been bombarded with requests to call our reps to support the union alternative proposal, I can’t bring myself to support the further erosion of our union rights, even if it is not as bad as the reformy one. It is not as bad by very little.

And for those of you who love bad news, it seems that the legislature is this evening on the verge of passing the Madigan-sponsored so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), which would limit the legislatures ability to raise taxes and would require a supermajority to increase state pension payments, including those of teachers.

IEA, IFT and CTU offer an alternative reform bill.

The Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Chicago Teachers Union issued a challenge to the General Assembly today. In response to the so-called Performance Counts legislation that has been bought and paid for by big money reformy outfits like Stand for Children, the three unions offer a different approach.

January 3, 2011 – Springfield, IL – Illinois educators this week will introduce major reform legislation that will hold school administrators, school board members and teachers accountable for their performances on behalf of school children statewide.

Three unions representing more than 230,000 Illinois education employees, the Illinois Education Association (IEA), the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Chicago Teachers Union are proposing the legislative package Accountability for All.

Accountability for All would streamline the process for removing underperforming teachers from Illinois classrooms. The changes would ensure a proposed teacher dismissal is resolved in a much shorter time, helping to reduce costs associated with dismissals for both districts and employees.

“We believe these reforms are fair and rigorous standards that will make a difference in children’s education. This legislation provides accountability and support for all of the adults involved with our schools. Teachers will also continue to have the right to advocate for their students without fear of reprisal,” said Dan Montgomery, president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

“Every student has the right to be taught by a top-quality teacher.  Teachers who have received support but who are unable to do the job, will have to leave the classroom,” said Ken Swanson, IEA president, “Accountability for All proposes reforms that will improve teaching and learning that come from teachers, the classroom experts.”

“How do you improve schools?  Lower class sizes, limit instructional time spent on standardized testing, fund schools based on need, not clout, and be sure that all children receive a full diet of art, music, physical education and foreign languages,” said Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

The unions also propose that teacher performance evaluations be clearly tied to a teacher obtaining due process rights, usually known as “teacher tenure.” Educators are calling for performance evaluations to help determine which teachers will be laid off during a financial crisis in a district. Currently, layoff decisions are made based solely on seniority.

Another provision of Accountability for All would provide for the expansion of training and mentoring programs for teachers and school administrators. In addition, under the union plan all school board members in Illinois would, for the first time, be required to participate in training aimed at improving their performances as board members. And the package also contains a “Student Bill of Rights” that would hold districts accountable for providing every student with a qualified teacher on day one of each school year.

The Accountability for All legislation builds on previous education improvement initiatives in which IEA and IFT have been key players, including the state’s application for Race to the Top funds.

There are several things that are very good in this statement.

It represents an unusual coordinated effort by the leadership of the three unions (technically the CTU is an affiliate of the IFT).

It represents a defense of tenure rights. It opposes the emphasis on testing, supports reductions in class size, increased funding and greater accountability for boards of education.

But there is a however.

There is no arguing that we are in a tough spot and the statement reflects that. There are concessions on seniority rights and local bargaining rights.

Perhaps the leadership of the three Illinois unions believe they are giving a little to protect a lot. Each year we have seen more and more of our rights chipped away.

Who should not be concerned by this?

Time to fight, talk hard truths and bring backup.

Big bucks enter governor’s race. Teachers and an NBA star.

I’m back in Sweet Home Chicago after a long weekend with the family in New York. And with the election two weeks away, big bucks are coming to Chicago as well.

Brother Mike tells us to go to a Greg Hinz column in Crain’s Chicago Business. Hinz rep0rts that in the last few days $4 million dollars has been thrown into the Illinois race for governor with roughly equal amounts going to Dem Pat Quinn and the other half going to the Republican Neanderthal Bill Brady.

The interesting contribution is from the Milwaukee Bucks forward Corey Maggette who gave the Quinn campaign $25,000.

Not surprising is the money going to Quinn from public employee unions, particularly teachers. Brady has shown himself to be no friend of public schools, public school teachers, teacher or public employee unions. And on top of all that he has declared that it is okay with him to teach science from a purely biblical point of view.

Heading the list is the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which is wary of budget cuts and has donated $350,000 to Mr. Quinn, with another $150,000 coming from its parent national union. Narrowly trailing is the Service Employees International Union, with at least $265,000 — so far.

The teabagger Brady’s contributors have been less transparent. The GOP has been better at bundling contributions in order to hide where the money is actually coming from.

But even with that, Hinz reports:

The biggest local (Brady) donor: Citadel hedge fund owner Ken Griffin and his wife, Anne Dias Griffin, at a combined $200,000.  But the biggest donor is the Republican Governors Assn., $576,000 and counting. It’s been bundling cash from all sorts of GOP-leaning groups, so it’s nearly impossible to say who in particular is backing Mr. Brady. 

Other big donors; the Illinois Manufacturers’ Assn., $100,000; Illinois Hospital Assn., $50,000; various members of the Ozinga construction company, $40,000; and $25,000 from the Florida-based Consumer Lending Alliance.

I’m not sure what the latter is and have asked Brady’s campaign for some background.

Maggette comes from Oak Park where he played for Fenwick. A forward for Milwaukee, Maggette played for the Warriors before being traded to the Bucks.

We have teachers, unions and an NBA star on one side and the Illinois Manufacturer’s Association and under-the-radar stealth contributors on the other.

IEA responds to the Trib’s journalistic terrorism. But in the Trib?

When the Chicago Tribune (which owns the now infamously teacher bashing LA Times) ran a story suggesting $100,000 a year teachers were commonplace in the state of Illinois (I wish!) it was the last straw for many of us. The IEA asked subscribers to cancel and daily buyers to stop.

I canceled mine. No problem really. It’s been a crappy paper for a long time.

Then the Trib ran a scare piece by the right-wing Dennis Byrne with the headline, “Pension check may not be in the mail.”

IEA President Ken Swanson and Illinois Federation of Teachers President Ed Geppert called that scare headline and the column by Byrne exactly what it was: an act of journalistic terrorism.

The odd thing to me is that they sent it to the Trib to be published as an op-ed piece. Which it was.

Am I the only one who thinks having your article published in the newspaper that you’re asking members and supporters to boycott is weird?

Here’s the IEA’s latest response to the Trib. It’s not linked to the Trib. I don’t do that.

Joint statement by the IEA and the IFT: “The Chicago Tribune is a tool of terror.”

Dennis Byrne is a long-time Chicago right-wing hack writer. So naturally the Chicago Tribune has him write a guest editorial attacking public employee pensions and extolling the questionable legal opinions of R. Eden Martin, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Responding to the continued attack on earned pensions by the Tribune, the Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers issues a joint statement. I’m printing it in full. Please distribute it widely:

How much longer will the Chicago Tribune allow itself to be used as a tool of terror by millionaire Eden Martin in his quest to deprive hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans of the reasonable retirement they, in large part, have paid for?

The August 10 opinion piece, ostensibly written by public relations specialist Dennis Byrne, is a blatant attempt to frighten and intimidate innocent people who simply expect the State of Illinois to keep its promises.

Byrne/Martin’s claim that the state pension shortfall was caused by overly-generous pension benefits paid to state employees and teachers is provably false. And they know it.

They also know that suggesting that police officers, fire fighters, teachers, and state workers could be denied the reasonable retirements promised them is an unconscionable use of a newspaper to force a surrender by those who continue to work hard and well for the people of Illinois.

Enough.

We, and the 236,000 Illinoisans we represent, believe the facts matter. Even on the opinion page:

FACT – The state’s pension debt was caused by politicians who habitually refused, over decades, to pay the state’s modest share of pension costs, using the money instead to stave off needed tax increases. The legislature’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability found that from FY 1996 through FY 2008, the state’s pension debt grew by $35.6 billion. Of this, $30.3 billion (85%) is the result of factors not attributable to employees (53% the state’s failure to pay its share, 24% early retirement incentives, 8% poor stock performance).

FACT – Four of five state pension system annuitants rely solely on their pensions for survival. By Illinois law, contributors to the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and the State University Retirement System (SURS) are barred from receiving full social security benefits, even when they have been earned from non-education employment.

FACT – Public employees contribute significantly to the cost of their pensions. Teachers pay 9.4% of their salary directly into TRS. State employees on the alternative formula contribute 8.5% of their pay into SERS. And state employees on the standard formula in effect contribute 7% of their checks-4% deducted, and an additional 3% in the form of a pay raise given up in 1998, with the understanding this amount would go directly into the pension fund.

FACT – The typical retired state employee on the standard formula-those who do receive Social Security, including the caregiver for the disabled, the child protection worker, the state park employee-earns a pension of about $22,000 a year.

FACT – Illinois law clearly states that pension payments payment are, “obligations of the State.” (40 ILCS 5/16-158(c)) It’s clear that Byrne and Martin’s scare tactics are nothing more than that. Respected judges and other legal analysts have also said cutting pension benefits for current public employees is unconstitutional. The law firm which once employed Eden Martin as a partner (from which he retired with a handsome retirement package that a teacher could never even dream of enjoying), has failed to produce a signed opinion that refutes this basic fact.

Eden Martin, Dennis Byrne and the Tribune want the public to forget that the pension shortfall is the result of bad financial management by the State and that the present and future annuitants have always paid their share.

We won’t let that happen.

The truth should not be ignored or distorted.  Even on the opinion page.

IFT opts for Hynes over Quinn. Two-tier pension system is a big reason.

The other state teacher union, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, endorsed state comptroller Dan Hynes over Governor Quinn in next year’s governor’s race. The deciding issue was Quinn’s support for a two-tier teacher pension system that would penalize new teachers.

While the IEA opposes the two-tier system, they have made no endorsement as yet in the governor’s race. I’ve been told that IEA Springfield lobbyists find Quinn difficult to work with, disorganized and not very sympathetic to the teachers’ legislative agenda.

Hynes is a Chicago Democrat with long personal and family ties to the old Daley Machine and traditional union leadership.

Medill Reports:

Amid a throng of teachers and union leaders, Illinois Federation of Teachers officials said they’ll back Comptroller Dan Hynes in February’s Democratic primary because, among other things, he supports maintaining pension benefits new public school teachers – the opposite of a Gov. Pat Quinn proposal in light of the state’s $75 billion unfunded pension liability.

It’s simple, really.

“There are two kinds of endorsements,” said Don Rose, a longtime Chicago political consultant. “There are those that are professional and those that are business. This was business.”