When DISD paid out the first Teacher Pay for Performance Awards at the end of 2008, there were a number of teachers who did not get their incentive. A large number of teachers did not get theirs because their administrators did not do the required multiple observations. Another large group did not get theirs because they did not meet the 95% attendance rule.
On December 18, 2008 the Board of Trustees voted to pay those teachers who did not get their incentive because their administrators did not do their job. Those teachers have since received their incentive from DISD's General Operating Budget instead of the Teacher Incentive Fund Grant used for the program.
Last Sunday night, I was going over the minutes from the DISD Trustee meetings for the last two years. I was compiling the voting records of Trustees on important issues to employees when I came upon the minutes for the December 18, 2008 meeting.
To my pleasant surprise, and somewhat my chagrin because I was at that meeting and somehow missed this, I came upon the recorded discussion and actions where the Board voted for General Operating money to pay teachers who missed their Performance Pay Incentives.
"Mr. Garza made a friendly amendment to Dr. Blackburn’s motion that we include as part of this compensation, any teachers that did meet the academic standards and raised their students’ level but did not meet the 95 attendance level rule.
The board voted on Dr. Blackburn’s amendment with Mr. Garza’s friendly amendment. The motion passed 5/4 with Adam Medrano, Jerome Garza, Leigh Ann Ellis, Lew Blackburn and Ron Price voting yes. Voting no were Carla Ranger, Edwin Flores, Jack Lowe and Nancy Bingham.
The main motion as amended was voted on. Motion passed 7/2 with Carla Ranger and Jerome Garza voting no." DISD Board Minutes, December 18, 2008.
According to these minutes, teachers who missed the payout because of attendance should also have been paid their incentive from General Operating funds. They have yet to be paid.
As soon as I found this, I emailed DISD's new Executive Director of Human Development - Claudia Rodriguez. She responded on Monday that she is getting the documentation from DISD Legal and Board Services and will be pursuing this further.
NEA-Dallas will be pursuing this as well. The way this reads is that teachers who missed the award because of attendance should have been paid already. Regardless of whether they filed a grievance or not, they should have been paid.
And, paid the 2008-2009 payout rates! Not the 2009-2010 rates that have been cut by 60%!
If you are a DISD teacher who missed last year's Teacher Pay for Performance Award payout because of attendance, please call us at 214.821.2061. Give us your name, the school you were at last year (if not the same as this year) and a contact number. DO THIS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE A MEMBER OF NEA-DALLAS! I will be taking this list to the DISD Administration and Board to get these payments underway!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
UNBELIEVABLE!
No letter of reprimand. No administrative leave. Not even a slap on the wrist. Nothing, zilch, Nada. A little tongue-lashing from Trustee Carla Ranger, but that's about all that came out of today's specially called board meeting to discuss possible disciplinary action against the Superintendent.
I can actually believe that a "clerical error" placed the raise for the the Chief Academic Officer on the September 24 agenda instead of the October agenda. However, two things came out during today's conversations that, if I were a Trustee, would have required SOME kind of action!
Under questioning from Trustee Ranger, Superintendent Hinojosa admitted that he learned that the raise was mistakenly on the agenda some 24 hours BEFORE the September 24 Board meeting. Why didn't he then call the Board President and inform him of the mistake? Why didn't he at least inform the Board BEFORE the Consent Agenda came up for a vote that one item had mistakenly been placed on there and needed to be removed?
He KNEW that the item was on the agenda and said NOTHING! He KNEW it was on the agenda and only said something some days later after getting busted. HE KNEW and DID NOTHING!
The second statement that caught my attention today was when the Superintendent said he directed staff not to implement a duly-approved board action. He said he directed staff not to implement the raise when he learned that the Board really did not know what they had voted for.
Trustee Ranger, gotta love her, pointed out that she didn't believe the Superintendent had the authority to just ignore, or direct staff to ignore, a duly-approved Board action. This was quickly passed over, but Trustee Ranger is correct. Since when can a Superintendent NOT IMPLEMENT something the Board has approved? I think never.
Trustee Ranger moved that an independent investigation be conducted into what happened. She did get a second from Trustee Dr. Lew Blackburn, but lost the vote 1 to 8 when the question was called. Ranger made another motion to place the Superintendent on administrative leave, but that motion died for lack of a second. The Trustees then moved for adjournment, voted in favor, and the meeting was adjourned.
I thought I had seen it all in DISD, but today took it to a new level. If any other employee in the DISD violates district policy, they are promptly handed their termination letter. But not the Superintendent. He doesn't even get a letter of reprimand, slap on the wrist, nothing, zilch, Nada. Unbelievable...
I can actually believe that a "clerical error" placed the raise for the the Chief Academic Officer on the September 24 agenda instead of the October agenda. However, two things came out during today's conversations that, if I were a Trustee, would have required SOME kind of action!
Under questioning from Trustee Ranger, Superintendent Hinojosa admitted that he learned that the raise was mistakenly on the agenda some 24 hours BEFORE the September 24 Board meeting. Why didn't he then call the Board President and inform him of the mistake? Why didn't he at least inform the Board BEFORE the Consent Agenda came up for a vote that one item had mistakenly been placed on there and needed to be removed?
He KNEW that the item was on the agenda and said NOTHING! He KNEW it was on the agenda and only said something some days later after getting busted. HE KNEW and DID NOTHING!
The second statement that caught my attention today was when the Superintendent said he directed staff not to implement a duly-approved board action. He said he directed staff not to implement the raise when he learned that the Board really did not know what they had voted for.
Trustee Ranger, gotta love her, pointed out that she didn't believe the Superintendent had the authority to just ignore, or direct staff to ignore, a duly-approved Board action. This was quickly passed over, but Trustee Ranger is correct. Since when can a Superintendent NOT IMPLEMENT something the Board has approved? I think never.
Trustee Ranger moved that an independent investigation be conducted into what happened. She did get a second from Trustee Dr. Lew Blackburn, but lost the vote 1 to 8 when the question was called. Ranger made another motion to place the Superintendent on administrative leave, but that motion died for lack of a second. The Trustees then moved for adjournment, voted in favor, and the meeting was adjourned.
I thought I had seen it all in DISD, but today took it to a new level. If any other employee in the DISD violates district policy, they are promptly handed their termination letter. But not the Superintendent. He doesn't even get a letter of reprimand, slap on the wrist, nothing, zilch, Nada. Unbelievable...
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Good News REALLY IS TRUE!
The DISD Board of Trustees tonight unanimously APPROVED PAY RAISES for ALL DISD EMPLOYEES! The pay raises include a long-awaited 3% raise for all of our support staff; a 3% raise for all other non-instructional employees; and, a raise of an average of $1701 for all of our teachers and related instructional personnel.
Again, a lot of thanks goes to DISD CFO Larry Throm, Trustee Jerome Garza, and former DISD Chief of Human Development Kim Olson and her staff. The money for these raises comes from the fact that DISD Human Development has placed all but fifty-eight (58) of the over 500 teachers who were released from their positions but still had a contract for 2009-2010.
I would personally like to thank NEA-Dallas Executive Vice President Diane Birdwell, NEA-Dallas Vice President for Teacher Affairs Kathryn Brothers, and all of you who contacted your Trustees and kept up the pressure on them to make sure that they did the right thing by our employees.
You see, when WE all work together, WE can achieve our goal! Together we can, Together we will, and now, Together we have!
Again, a lot of thanks goes to DISD CFO Larry Throm, Trustee Jerome Garza, and former DISD Chief of Human Development Kim Olson and her staff. The money for these raises comes from the fact that DISD Human Development has placed all but fifty-eight (58) of the over 500 teachers who were released from their positions but still had a contract for 2009-2010.
I would personally like to thank NEA-Dallas Executive Vice President Diane Birdwell, NEA-Dallas Vice President for Teacher Affairs Kathryn Brothers, and all of you who contacted your Trustees and kept up the pressure on them to make sure that they did the right thing by our employees.
You see, when WE all work together, WE can achieve our goal! Together we can, Together we will, and now, Together we have!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Finally! Some Good News!
After fourteen straight months of bad news for Dallas ISD employees, we finally got some good news today in a meeting with DISD Chief Financial Officer Larry Throm. Mr. Throm informed us today that he will propose that the District's support staff employees (maintenance workers, teacher assistants, clerical staff, community liasions, cafeteria workers, janitorial staff, etc)receive a 3% pay raise for 2009-2010!
This pay increase is long overdue for these vital employees of the DISD. After enduring hundreds of layoffs and not even a salary step increase in 2008-2009, these employees will finally get some reward for all of the hard work that they have continued to put forth on a daily basis.
Another bit of good news led to the funding being available for these raises. At the end of 2008-2009 DISD had over 500 Chapter 21 contract employees who had a contract for 2009-2010 but no assignment. DISD promised these employees their contracts would be honored even if the District was unable to place them in a new position by the start of school.
Throm budgeted for this year with that in mind. However, as of today, only 58 employees remain without an assignment. He feels that by the end of this school year, all will be back in assignments as vacancies occur in the DISD on a weekly basis.
The credit for placing this large number of employees falls squarely on the DISD Human Development Department. Former HD Chief Kim Olson and her staff have spent their summer making sure as many of these displaced employees have a place to call home for 2009-2010. Not only do these employees have a home, as a result, support staff will be getting a pay raise!
The State Legislature gave teachers and some other employees a raise based on the wieghted average daily attendance (WADA) plus a salary step earlier in the year. School districts across the state have hesitated in announcing their raises because they were waiting for the Department of Education to approve the use of federal stimulus money to pay for that raise.
Mr. Throm told us today he will also recommend to the Board that our teachers receive the salary step, an average of $850, plus the WADA calculation of $851 for a total of $1701. There are two salary steps that receive more than the $850 average. Those will receive their respective amounts plus the $851.
The starting teacher salary will also go up in Throm's proposal. Currently, teachers with 0 years of experience start out at $44,350. Mr. Throm will propose raising that to $45,350.
While there is still the question of how much, if any, of a raise teachers who were receiving longevity pay will get, the news we received today is very welcome!
I would like to thank Mr. Throm for working to find the money for these raises and for his honesty in his discussions with us. I would also like to thank Trustee Jerome Garza for pushing the Administration to get something done for our support employees.
The Board of Trustees will hear the details at this Thursday's Board Briefings and will vote on Mr. Throm's proposal August 24. Employees should see the raise in their September paychecks with the Board's approval.
Finally, some good news...
This pay increase is long overdue for these vital employees of the DISD. After enduring hundreds of layoffs and not even a salary step increase in 2008-2009, these employees will finally get some reward for all of the hard work that they have continued to put forth on a daily basis.
Another bit of good news led to the funding being available for these raises. At the end of 2008-2009 DISD had over 500 Chapter 21 contract employees who had a contract for 2009-2010 but no assignment. DISD promised these employees their contracts would be honored even if the District was unable to place them in a new position by the start of school.
Throm budgeted for this year with that in mind. However, as of today, only 58 employees remain without an assignment. He feels that by the end of this school year, all will be back in assignments as vacancies occur in the DISD on a weekly basis.
The credit for placing this large number of employees falls squarely on the DISD Human Development Department. Former HD Chief Kim Olson and her staff have spent their summer making sure as many of these displaced employees have a place to call home for 2009-2010. Not only do these employees have a home, as a result, support staff will be getting a pay raise!
The State Legislature gave teachers and some other employees a raise based on the wieghted average daily attendance (WADA) plus a salary step earlier in the year. School districts across the state have hesitated in announcing their raises because they were waiting for the Department of Education to approve the use of federal stimulus money to pay for that raise.
Mr. Throm told us today he will also recommend to the Board that our teachers receive the salary step, an average of $850, plus the WADA calculation of $851 for a total of $1701. There are two salary steps that receive more than the $850 average. Those will receive their respective amounts plus the $851.
The starting teacher salary will also go up in Throm's proposal. Currently, teachers with 0 years of experience start out at $44,350. Mr. Throm will propose raising that to $45,350.
While there is still the question of how much, if any, of a raise teachers who were receiving longevity pay will get, the news we received today is very welcome!
I would like to thank Mr. Throm for working to find the money for these raises and for his honesty in his discussions with us. I would also like to thank Trustee Jerome Garza for pushing the Administration to get something done for our support employees.
The Board of Trustees will hear the details at this Thursday's Board Briefings and will vote on Mr. Throm's proposal August 24. Employees should see the raise in their September paychecks with the Board's approval.
Finally, some good news...
Friday, July 3, 2009
NEA's Town Hall with Arne Duncan
Yesterday, before the official beginning of this year's NEA RA, over 7,000 NEA members met with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. NEA hosted one of his many "listening and learning" town hall forums on education here at the San Diego Convention Center.
Secretary Duncan first shared with us his background in education. He then went on to say that we should not let seniority and tenure rules put adults ahead of students, and that their performance should be measured--in part--by student scores.
Teacher pay -- and teacher tenure -- needs changing, Duncan said. He and President Obasma hope to collaborate with NEA and its members on new systems of compensation that will depart from traditional seniority-based salary scales.
Duncan went on to say that, "Excellence matters and we must honor it -- fairly, transparently, and on terms teachers can embrace."
Next, finally, our members had their turn. A member from Virginia asked how much of our input would be seen in the reauthorized version of the ESEA? The crowd responded with and thunderous, standing applause. A member from California asked Duncan to promise to not close schools, turn schools into charters and tie salaries to test scores.
Duncan responded to these questions like a typical, well-trained politician. He repeatedly said, "Great question." before not really answering the question and going back to his message. Messages like, "We've been scared to shine a spotlight on excellence," and, "Children have only one chance, one chance to get an education."
The Secretary never did give any straight answers. He did however, promise one thing: That the Administration will work in collaboration with the NEA and other organizations to develop a new plan for education in our country.
Well, I have heard this before from our own Dallas ISD Administration. The DISD has repeatedly brought in employees from across the District to talk about issues and propose solutions. These employees took time out of their day to come and provide their input with the understanding that their input would be used. Only thing was, their input was put into File 13 and the Administration of DISD did their own thing anyway!
I just hope that this Administration in D.C. is NOTHING LIKE THE ONE IN DALLAS! I encourage all of you to watch closely what happens in the coming weeks and months. To watch and see if President Obama and his Administration truly do work cooperatively with educators to improve education.
We all have seen how "merit pay" has divided our campuses instead of promoting collaboration and working together. We've seen charter schools draw money from public dollars and actually do worse than the public schools that they were supposed to have replaced.
We've all heard the promises. Now, it's time to see some action.
Secretary Duncan first shared with us his background in education. He then went on to say that we should not let seniority and tenure rules put adults ahead of students, and that their performance should be measured--in part--by student scores.
Teacher pay -- and teacher tenure -- needs changing, Duncan said. He and President Obasma hope to collaborate with NEA and its members on new systems of compensation that will depart from traditional seniority-based salary scales.
Duncan went on to say that, "Excellence matters and we must honor it -- fairly, transparently, and on terms teachers can embrace."
Next, finally, our members had their turn. A member from Virginia asked how much of our input would be seen in the reauthorized version of the ESEA? The crowd responded with and thunderous, standing applause. A member from California asked Duncan to promise to not close schools, turn schools into charters and tie salaries to test scores.
Duncan responded to these questions like a typical, well-trained politician. He repeatedly said, "Great question." before not really answering the question and going back to his message. Messages like, "We've been scared to shine a spotlight on excellence," and, "Children have only one chance, one chance to get an education."
The Secretary never did give any straight answers. He did however, promise one thing: That the Administration will work in collaboration with the NEA and other organizations to develop a new plan for education in our country.
Well, I have heard this before from our own Dallas ISD Administration. The DISD has repeatedly brought in employees from across the District to talk about issues and propose solutions. These employees took time out of their day to come and provide their input with the understanding that their input would be used. Only thing was, their input was put into File 13 and the Administration of DISD did their own thing anyway!
I just hope that this Administration in D.C. is NOTHING LIKE THE ONE IN DALLAS! I encourage all of you to watch closely what happens in the coming weeks and months. To watch and see if President Obama and his Administration truly do work cooperatively with educators to improve education.
We all have seen how "merit pay" has divided our campuses instead of promoting collaboration and working together. We've seen charter schools draw money from public dollars and actually do worse than the public schools that they were supposed to have replaced.
We've all heard the promises. Now, it's time to see some action.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
CEIs to be on JUNE DISD BOARD AGENDA
After hearing from several NEA-Dallas members who have been negatively impacted by the CEI in the last month and after receiving the hundreds of signed petitions you all turned in, the CEI and its use will now be on the June Dallas ISD Board agenda.
A little after 9:16pm, Trustee Ron Price made an amendment to agenda item A.1: Approve the 2009-10 Non-Campus Staffing Guidelines to add "CEIs will not be used to non-extend, nonrenew or terminate teachers." The amendment was seconded by Trustee Dr. Lew Blackburn. Trustee Dr. Edwin Flores quickly questionned the legitimacy of the amendment saying that this issue was not posted.
Trustee Price asked DISD Attorney Jack Elrod what his opinion was. Elrod stated that it was out of order.
As a result of being ruled out of order, Trustee Price requested that his amendment be placed on the June agenda. Newly-elected Board President Adam Medrano then told Trustee Price it would be on that agenda.
While WE have achieved a MAJOR VICTORY, the war is far from over. I know you are all looking forward to a summer vacation and time away from your classroom. But, we still need you! You to email your Trustees and you to SHOW UP for the June Board Briefing and the June Board Meeting. The only way that we can get five (5) votes to "Kill the CEI" is for all of you to participate.
Again, thanks to all of you and your colleagues for signing our petitions and thanks to you who came to tonight's meeting.
Please tell all of your colleagues that NEA-Dallas and our teachers MADE A DIFFERENCE TODAY! If you want to make a difference, join us!
A little after 9:16pm, Trustee Ron Price made an amendment to agenda item A.1: Approve the 2009-10 Non-Campus Staffing Guidelines to add "CEIs will not be used to non-extend, nonrenew or terminate teachers." The amendment was seconded by Trustee Dr. Lew Blackburn. Trustee Dr. Edwin Flores quickly questionned the legitimacy of the amendment saying that this issue was not posted.
Trustee Price asked DISD Attorney Jack Elrod what his opinion was. Elrod stated that it was out of order.
As a result of being ruled out of order, Trustee Price requested that his amendment be placed on the June agenda. Newly-elected Board President Adam Medrano then told Trustee Price it would be on that agenda.
While WE have achieved a MAJOR VICTORY, the war is far from over. I know you are all looking forward to a summer vacation and time away from your classroom. But, we still need you! You to email your Trustees and you to SHOW UP for the June Board Briefing and the June Board Meeting. The only way that we can get five (5) votes to "Kill the CEI" is for all of you to participate.
Again, thanks to all of you and your colleagues for signing our petitions and thanks to you who came to tonight's meeting.
Please tell all of your colleagues that NEA-Dallas and our teachers MADE A DIFFERENCE TODAY! If you want to make a difference, join us!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Show me the MONEY $$$$$$
Those of you who signed up for the Pay for Performance portion of the Teacher Incentive Fund shouldn't be counting your money just yet. Even though the DISD web site still lists payouts for individual teachers' CEIs and SEIs for four deciles, as one DISD Administrator said yesterday, "Changes are in the works."
This comment made yesterday during the Teacher Incentive Fund Advisory Council meeting indicates to us that the DISD Administration is looking to make changes to the payouts to their Pay for Performance Plan. During the 2007-2008 school year, the District piloted this program in 59 schools. This year, 2008-2009, the District decided to make the plan available to almost all DISD schools and their teachers.
The payouts for 2008-2009 will come in the fall of 2009. However, don't expect them to be as advertised. The Administration is looking to slash the payouts because of their budget woes and the simple fact that even though this program is being paid for by a federal grant, the grant amount each year decreases while the District's responsibility increases.
According the DISD Administrator chairing the meeting, the District is looking at two options.
OPTION 1:
A) Eliminate the payout for the lowest deciles for both the CEI and SEI. ($2000 for the CEI, $1250 for the SEI)
B) Additionally, the District would reduce the remaining payouts for the top three deciles. (Currently the top three deciles are listed to be paid out at $8,000, $6000, and $4000. The reduction in payout could be quite extreme: by as much as 50%.)
OPTION 2:
Eliminate the ability for teachers to win both the CEI award and the SEI award. Teachers would only be eligible to attain the highest of the two. Not both combined.
The result of these changes could be quite significant to teachers. Instead of a maximum of $10,000, the maximum award could be as low as $5,000. Maybe even lower!
The Administrator was quick to point out that, "Nothing is set in stone," and advised that we all should keep an eye on the Board agendas to see what the Administration will bring forward.
NEA-Dallas has opposed this Pay for Performance Plan from the beginning. We have done so because of two reasons:
1) Employees do not have a stable salary schedule. (The Board of Trustees can waive the schedule in district policy at their discretion.); and,
2) The award is generated by the CEI and SEI. (We believe that neither of these measurements are truly accurate indicators of a teacher's abilities. And, we were afraid that once teachers signed off on being paid by these indicators, the Administration would turn around and use them to harm teachers. That fear has become a reality this Spring as hundreds of teachers had their contracts "non-extended" simply because their CEI Quintile was a 1.)
And now we have yet a third reason, The District cannot be trusted to keep its promises!
Teachers, now is the time for you to be diligent as to what the Administration will be proposing to the Board and what the Board will subsequently do with that proposal. The Administration seems to be talking out of both sides of its mouth. On one side, they tell everyone, "Sign up for this plan and you could earn up to an additional $10,000" while on the other, "We're so sorry, but we just don't have the money to pay you what we promised, and what you earned."
This comment made yesterday during the Teacher Incentive Fund Advisory Council meeting indicates to us that the DISD Administration is looking to make changes to the payouts to their Pay for Performance Plan. During the 2007-2008 school year, the District piloted this program in 59 schools. This year, 2008-2009, the District decided to make the plan available to almost all DISD schools and their teachers.
The payouts for 2008-2009 will come in the fall of 2009. However, don't expect them to be as advertised. The Administration is looking to slash the payouts because of their budget woes and the simple fact that even though this program is being paid for by a federal grant, the grant amount each year decreases while the District's responsibility increases.
According the DISD Administrator chairing the meeting, the District is looking at two options.
OPTION 1:
A) Eliminate the payout for the lowest deciles for both the CEI and SEI. ($2000 for the CEI, $1250 for the SEI)
B) Additionally, the District would reduce the remaining payouts for the top three deciles. (Currently the top three deciles are listed to be paid out at $8,000, $6000, and $4000. The reduction in payout could be quite extreme: by as much as 50%.)
OPTION 2:
Eliminate the ability for teachers to win both the CEI award and the SEI award. Teachers would only be eligible to attain the highest of the two. Not both combined.
The result of these changes could be quite significant to teachers. Instead of a maximum of $10,000, the maximum award could be as low as $5,000. Maybe even lower!
The Administrator was quick to point out that, "Nothing is set in stone," and advised that we all should keep an eye on the Board agendas to see what the Administration will bring forward.
NEA-Dallas has opposed this Pay for Performance Plan from the beginning. We have done so because of two reasons:
1) Employees do not have a stable salary schedule. (The Board of Trustees can waive the schedule in district policy at their discretion.); and,
2) The award is generated by the CEI and SEI. (We believe that neither of these measurements are truly accurate indicators of a teacher's abilities. And, we were afraid that once teachers signed off on being paid by these indicators, the Administration would turn around and use them to harm teachers. That fear has become a reality this Spring as hundreds of teachers had their contracts "non-extended" simply because their CEI Quintile was a 1.)
And now we have yet a third reason, The District cannot be trusted to keep its promises!
Teachers, now is the time for you to be diligent as to what the Administration will be proposing to the Board and what the Board will subsequently do with that proposal. The Administration seems to be talking out of both sides of its mouth. On one side, they tell everyone, "Sign up for this plan and you could earn up to an additional $10,000" while on the other, "We're so sorry, but we just don't have the money to pay you what we promised, and what you earned."
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