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The Disability Grapevine Online Newspaper: Issue #34
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Year 5
http://www.disabilitygrapevine.com
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Title of Article:
Special Ed Kids Will Pay For Board's Fear Of Union
Submitted By: Christina
Check out my website: http://stevens_mom.tripod.com/
Written By:
Carla Bates
Instructional Technology Coordinator
University of Minnesota.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4927032.html
Article:
The Minneapolis school board's recent realignment of over 180 teachers
exposes two of the gravest problems confronting the district today: the
gross inattention on the part of district administration to children in
special education and the absolute temerity of the school board in
confronting the teachers union over outdated seniority rules.
The situation is complex and requires patience to understand. Yet I think
most citizens will ultimately agree that the Minneapolis school board must
take action to renegotiate the most egregious realignment cases and must
take steps to move the teachers union into the 21st century.
What is realignment? Due to a significant decline in students and funds,
the Minneapolis public schools had to lay off hundreds of teachers this
summer.
Fearing a legal battle with the union over how the layoffs were handled,
district lawyers advised administration to avoid pink-slipping additional
teachers by moving teachers with adequate licensing into positions left
open by the first round of layoffs.
Because the layoffs included a disproportionate number of special
education teachers, senior teachers with secondary licenses in special
education were "realigned" into the open special education positions and,
thus, less senior teachers retained their jobs. A conservative estimate is
that more than 100 teachers were realigned into special education
positions.
Although a significant number of teachers were properly "realigned," many
were not. On July 28, more than 30 teachers filed a lawsuit in the
Minnesota District Court of Appeals in search of a more reasonable
resolution to the layoff/staffing crisis.
The most egregious cases of "misalignment" concern teachers who are
unprepared to work with medically fragile or autistic children. Other
cases involve children with severe learning disabilities and emotional
problems.
Read the legal brief filed by the teachers and learn of the numerous cases
of teachers who have unused special education licenses that are 10, 15, 20
or more years old being reassigned across the district. It's like boarding
a plane with a pilot whose license expired more than a decade ago -- he'll
do his best but can he really land the plane once he's gotten in the air?
How did the Minneapolis public schools get into this mess? When the
district administration presented the "realignment" to the board as a fait
accompli in early July, the board requested staff to work with the union
to determine if a different, more flexible approach to realignment could
be taken.
The union refused, claiming that 85 to 90 percent of its members would
vote to sustain even the most ridiculous realignments -- such as that of
the band teacher turned special ed professional. The union threatened to
sue if the board backed down, and the board reaffirmed its support for the
realignment.
Ultimately, the school board is choosing by default that special ed kids
will carry the burden of the board's temerity in confronting the union.
As a parent supporter of the teachers involved in the lawsuit, I've urged
them to push their union for a vote on the realignment.
If the union rank and file does vote to promote seniority over quality, we
as parents and citizens need to know. If the union leadership is selling
the board a bill of goods, then the union members need to decide if they
want new leadership.
The dozen or so nonrealigned teachers with whom I have talked are appalled
by the realignment. From my readings on the ground, the 85 to 90 percent
figure is propaganda.
The Minneapolis school board needs to demand change from the teachers
union. The board knows the realignment is bad for children. Board members
have acknowledged often that many of the rules governing teachers in
Minneapolis are more about the adults in the system rather than the
children in the classrooms.
It's time for the board to stop being cowed by union leadership and to
start fighting for the students and families of Minneapolis.
Call on the Minneapolis school board to align teachers according to the
needs of the students now and let the lawsuits fall where they may.
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The Author's views reflect only their opinion and do not necessarily reflect
that of The Disability Grapevine.
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Publisher and Executive Editor: Paul Cannaday
Managing Editor: Marijo Cannaday
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