Pasco union accuses district of "bad faith"

Most years, Pasco County school employee contract negotiations begin softly with pleasantries, introductions, ground rules and some softball issues that get things headed in a positive direction.

This is not a normal year.

After just two meetings, the United School Employees of Pasco has blasted the district administration for bargaining in bad faith. The issue: The administration's demand that the workers postpone their annual raises based on years of service, or steps, until the contract is settled.

The USEP offered to delay the increases until July 31. But the administration "outright rejected" the proposal, prompting president Lynne Webb to accuse the district of coming to the table without the intent of truly negotiating.

"It's premature to expect the USEP to agree to withhold steps indefinitely at this point when we're still waiting for final insurance and salary costs - costs that won't even be available until mid-July," Webb said in an alert to members that she e-mailed and posted online.

School Board members held an emergency closed-door session Thursday to discuss whether they might change their stance. But when contacted by the Gradebook, they refused to give any hint of where this quickly escalating battle is headed. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The sides have agreed to head back to the table on Monday. "Certainly a middle ground can be found!" the USEP said in an afternoon alert to members.

Comments

[Tampa Teacher]

Hey Jeanne Clements and Yvonne Lyones in Hillsborough... are you paying attention? It looks like Pasco doesn't have a union that simply rubber stamps everything their district wants. It looks like Pasco's teachers actually have representation that's worth a damn!

[Pasco teacher]

Tampa Teacher, thank you for that post! Many teachers in this county think our Union is powerless. Thanks for giving another perspective.

[Pasco Teacher 27]

I am a Pasco teacher who is embarrassed by the selfish and unrealistic stance on pay taken by the union, which ought to have other priorities, such as fighting LFS.

[Question here]

I have a couple of questions and no, they are NOT a statement in disguise. Maybe even Jeffrey can help.

(1) Am I correct when I think I read that the teachers voted NOT to go with the Merit (STAR) pay last year? (2) If I am correct, didn't the district lose a lot of money because of the teacher's vote?

(3) Now again, I am just asking, but since the district lost that money, they had to make up for it some way, right?

(4) Therefore, since the teacher said NO to the state, and the district had to solve the dilemma, then why and how can the teachers complain because steps are withheld? After all, their vote put themselves in this predicament.

Again, I don't want to be screamed at, I am just asking some questions.

So will some mature individual, who has control over their emotions please help me out. If I am wrong, I would like to know in a professional and polite manner.

[Another Tampa Teacher]

Question here: steps + STAR great because it keeps salaries at par with inflation. STAR alone baaad because it favors the long-time elite.

In Tampa, we had to go through a whole re-shuffle of the allocation of merit pay since, for example, the teacher of the year did not get it. STAR is a joke (good for the elitists who have the joke in their hand said The Love Guru) the way it is now; let's see how it works this new year.

[Answer Given]

To "Questions here":
When "Merit pay" was refused. Mnoey was not received from the STATE. More importantly - NONE was given to teachers. Nothing had to be made up.

[Question here]

Thanks, I just moved here and I am thinking of getting out of education, not because Pasco or Hillsboro board and Supts.

It is more the state ties their hands and throws them in the Gulf and tells them to swim while carrying teachers, staff and students with them.

Problem is, no one is hiring and now I am starting to think moving to Fl was a bad idea. I knew I was going to take a BIG pay cut, but this is unreal.

Good luck.

[Fed Up Reading Teacher]

Question here: MAP money is used for BONUSES. Not actual pay. Step increases are previously negotiated and teachers normally receive those no matter what as part of their contract. I.e. You sign up working for lower pay because you know in three years you will make X amount of dollars. MAP money would have been received on top of their base salary based on student test scores and evaluations. Only a certain percentage would have received it. Not sure the formula Pasco had in mind, but in Hillsborough 60% of MAP score comes from student test scores, 40% from your eval. SO in all, MAP money would have had no bearing on step increases and could not have been used for that at all. In other words, even if Pasco had voted for MAP, they would still have to fund the step increases.

Hope that helps.

[terminator]

in lieu of massive budget cuts from the state look for more districts to attempt stonewalling unions on already contractually negotiated raises and steps.
because they've wasted so much money with administrative and bureaucratic bloat now the chickens have come home to roost as Malcolm X once said.
Miami-Dade (the most corrupt and incompetent district in the state) is close to declaring a financial emergency in order to renege on their contracts with the unions.
MAP is a piece of crap and only a small fraction of the total cost of teacher raises. It's what's pushed by the radical right wingers as pay increases (unfortunately only one of a hundred teachers will get a raise under MAP).
time to break out the pitchforks and torches boys!
time to teach these school district bureacrats a lesson they'll never forget!

It is time for the pitch forks and torches but they will be pointed at the legislators not the school administrators who are trying to do more with less even as the contract between the citizens of the state and their legislature demands MORE.

The joke about performance pay (to answer the question) is that the legislature that supposedly wants and supports performance pay has passed at least six different versions of performance pay since 1997 with each version destroying any efforts to implement the previous versions. With each change, districts are left holding the bag. Here are some of the requirements over the past ten years:

1) Performance pay had to be in every district's salary schedule begining in 1999 school year based on 1997 law sponsored by then Rep. Constantine;

2) Performance pay requirement was changed in 1999 session to require 5% of each teacher's pay needed to be possibly earned based upon merit which destroyed the programs planned by a handful of systems under the 1997 law (sponsored by then Rep. Lynn);

3) The TAP program sponsored by the same Mike Milken who is a criminal in his own field of expertise was piloted in a handful of districts with a plan to go statewide eventually;

4) The BEST program was piloted in 2003-04 with a planned mandated program to begin the following year in a bill passed during the 2003 Session (sponsored by Rep. Simmons);

5) The BEST program was delayed in 2004 Session and repealed in 2005 Session;

6) The DOE started rulemaking in 2006 to mandate "eComp" but was thwarted by the Legislature that passed the STAR program;

7) The STAR program was changed to the MAP program in 2007 and $147.5 million was provided in funding; and,

8) The STAR program was cut to about $40 million during the 2008 Session.

It is the legislature that continues to start and then kill performance pay because they do not have a long term plan about what they want. If they had left the 1997 law alone, some districts would have had really good programs by now. So, terminator, enjoy your one note horn.

[patcon]

Answers to your questions:
(1) Yes, Pasco teachers rejected MAP last year, as did all but less than a handful counties. Hillsborough's union leadership accepted the plan without a vote of the teachers. I don't recall the exact numbers, but the no vote was overwhelming, even though HF declared it an even vote by the creative bookkeeping trick of counting all non-votes as yes votes.
(2) No, Pasco did not 'lose' any money which had already been given to the District. As a result of non-participation in this plan Pasco (and the other counties) did not receive the extra money which the legislature/DOE allocated for bonuses. The District also did not have to come up with about $400K of its own to implement the infrastructure needed for MAP. The legislature/DOE reneged on its own rules by not redistributing this money to the participating districts as their regulations stipulated.
(3) No, Pasco does not have to make up for it. No money was spent last year in Pasco on MAP, and no money needs to be allocated this year to continue the program. In fact, the few counties that agreed to participate are now in a situation where THEY will either have to drop the program or take money from elsewhere in the budget, as the legislature defunded the program this year.
(4) This question is moot, given that it is based on incorrect answers you assumed for question 2 and 3.

You didn't ask about it, but MAP is just the latest in a series of funding promises made by the legislature that have been broken. Lottery money initially was added to education funding to "enhance" education; now, lottery money simply replaces funding which goes elsewhere. A+ Recognition money initially was an extra allocation from the state to reward high-performing schools; now, districts must fund this progam themselves, without extra state money. MAP was initially funded by special allocation (at least the money given as bonuses, not the administrative costs); now, that money is gone, as we knew it would be.

[yo]

patcon is exactly right.

[GHSupporter]

Webb is right to fight and make the offer.
What if the step increases don't cover the
benefits cost increase to be paid by teachers? Don't think for a minute that Heather won't make that happen!!!

Is it November 4th yet.

[terminator]

6:36
spoken like a true fatcat district administrator!
we don't care who they blame, the end result will be we will continue strangling the patient (school administration) until it goes into a coma.
Then we'll rebuild our school systems into entities that actually work without the bureaucratic lard and waste.

[Try this one]

Terminator, you seem hate for district admin comes across very loudly yet your 4:22 comment that "in lieu of massive budget cuts from the state" so my question to you is if you were the school board, how would you solve this problem?

[Joe]

Whoah, Termiator is Angry today!

[Rae]

I'm tired of all the game playing and as patcon said creative bookkeeping. HF has yet to show good faith with the Union or the teachers, who are her employees too, not just her fatcat friends.Certainly the teacher has no one in their corner at District,shown time and time again by the ridiculous decisions made by HF. Don't forget GHS!Good communicator and good for community outreach. Yeah right! If only the truth could come out! Vote, vote, vote in November!!!

[Rae]

I'm tired of all the game playing and as patcon said creative bookkeeping. HF has yet to show good faith with the Union or the teachers, who are her employees too, not just her fatcat friends.Certainly the teacher has no one in their corner at District,shown time and time again by the ridiculous decisions made by HF. Don't forget GHS!Good communicator and good for community outreach. Yeah right! If only the truth could come out! Vote, vote, vote in November!!!

No termieweiner,

I am not nor have I ever been a school administrator. But I respect most people who have served that role as it is a major leadership role in any community. The one exception is you as you once served as an administrator but failed. So, now you are bitter and sad. You hate yourself and those you work for now (as most of your opinions are against the statewide and local teachers unions). You love panderers and lowlifes like Rubio while bashing lowlifes and panderers like Charlie. You add nothing to the quality of the state and should just move to Tennessee. Bye.

P.S. termie,

I make more money than you. I live a better, happier life than you. I will be here for years and years after you are gone.

What is LFS? I keep seeing this accronym used in Pasco.

[Teacher]

LFS is a new initiative that is used by many school districts across the country. The experts say it is an excellent and effective strategy for teachers to use.

Many negative teachers whine because it requires them to think about the lesson and the students in ways they haven't done so before. Therefore, it uses up precious time b/c they identified new and effective strategies to implement.

The one negative factor is that it is expensive... very expensive. So the question boils down to you get what you pay for and the district wants excellence so they paid a steep price. The teachers don't want it so they complain about its cost.

As a parent and teacher it is worth it for my child and your child!

By the way, purchasing additional LFS services is supposedly off HF's purchase list for next year. So to those negative colleagues of mine you can now stop crying about that!

[Joe]

termieweiner, ha ha ha...now that is funny. So he was a failed administrator; now I understand why his rants don't make any sense.

[Susie]

According to the district's figures -
proposed at the School Board's Budget
Workshop in May, HF is planning to
spend $560,000 more on LFS
during the 2008 - 2009 school year.
[Millions have already been spent]

[terminator]

8:51
I'd start by firing about every district administrator I could.
Then I'd get rid of almost every teacher on special assignment (code for not really qualified but has a lot of brown stuff on nose and kisses a lot of administrative butts while not really doing anything).
Then I'd review the academic record of every student in the district 16 or older and those who didn't have a good enough GPA, poor attendance or were discipline problems would be automatically withdrawn. Then the good kids who want to learn and the teachers who wanted to teach could actually do so.
Then I'd review the record of any kid 14 to 16 and those with poor grades, poor attendance or were discipline problems would be shuttled off to vocational and technical schools like the Europeans and Asians do it.
Lastly, I'd tell the Feds and state to shove it and ignore their ridiculous edicts such as NCLB and A+. They really won't do anything anyway. I worked at DOE at a high level and they are a paper tiger. The legislature won't really do anything either. The state Constitution vests about 99% of the power in the local district's school boards.

5:38
No, I was never an administrator. That never interested me. Most were just "yes men" or "yes women" who weren't the brightest bulbs in the chandelier but had kissed some butts (or had done other things) to get where they were. Little was about merit or who was actually qualified.
I was a teacher and coach, union staffer, state DOE staffer and now union lobbyist but with my own agenda.

5:39
go ahead and keep deluding yourself. Your wife had a better time with me last night when she was giving me a BJ!

Joe:
I'm not angry at all. In fact I'm really relaxed right now watching the ballgame, smoking a fatty and enjoying a nice rum and coke!
Love talking to you guys over on the other coast!

[Another teacher]

Teacher, you must be a newer teacher and in need of the guidance LFS can provide an inexperienced educator. Those of us you refer to as "negative" have had all of the reading and writing inservices, as well as being CRISS trained. We see LFS for what it is- repackaged material that we already know how to do. Then the district spends millions on it, forces us out of classroom for days on end to learn what we have been implementing in our class rooms for decades, now with an "Essential Question" instead of a standard to drive our lesson.

It's insulting! And HF only plans to cut 25% of her LFS budget for next year. It is now going under the name Learning Focused Solutions (instead of Strategies). Wake up and smell the waste of your tax dollars! If you find it beneficial, great. Sign up to take the training. Don't expect all of us who are very capable of doing our jobs (and we do them WELL!)to be happy about having this forced down our throats. Haven't you learned that a "one size fits all" strategy to teaching doesn't work? That's what LFS would have you believe!

[Pasco County Teacher]

LFS stands for "Learning Focused Solutions" or "Learning Focused Strategies." It is a company founded by Max Thompson to which the district is paying a lot of money. Thompson gives the teacher the steps to present a lesson, and the model apparently is supposed to be appropriate no matter what the grade level or subject matter. A quick Google search will show that Max Thompson was forced to resign his position as a top official with the Guilford County, N. C., school district in 2000 after the local newspaper revealed that he was violating conflict of interest laws by purchasing materials for the district from a company headed by his wife. So he then set up an educational consulting company.

[Department Head]

For teachers coming from out of state LFS might be helpful. Otherwise we know this all and have spent millions on Bridges, CRISS etc to learn it already. The new Florida grads coming fresh out of school have also been initiated with LFS at the school of Ed as someone in Tally loves Max T. as well and it is being taught there. I have to agree with the underdog here but there are an awful lot of people we could do without in our schools. My school has 2 dropout prevention teachers, at a middle school level, who do nothing but run around and share gossip. We also have 5 media tech people on staff, only one of whom does any work. The rest just "safeguard" the technology making it impossible to get what you need. Finally we have countless secretaries. I'm not sure what they do as everything is done via email in my school. One or two maybe but six? I don't think so. Just my thoughts.

[Teacher]

Terminator, your solution is crazy. Being a former DOE employee you should know withdrawing students would only make a burden on society in numerous ways (increased unemployment, crime, homeless, etc.)

As far as tech schools, it is NOT a dumping ground for struggling students. There are many excellent careers that can come out of those learning environments, and many of our strong students should be encouraged to attend if USA wants to be a factor in the global economy in the future.

As far as firing district administrators and teachers on special assignment, why? Your blanket response shows your lack of intelligence. Besides, anyone in education knows it is hard to fire teachers.

You heard of armchair quarterbacks, well you come across as an armchair administrator. It is easy to blast others, but you won't do their job. If you have Florida's solution to education, why don't you run for Supt or another office?

In other words, put you money where mouth is.

[Media Specialist]

Department Head,

Have you ever walked in the shoes of a media/tech person's job? Until you actually do and know what's involved, it would probably behoove you to think before you post and offend those who work in these positions. You see, as in ANY area of the school, there are those who work hard and those who "get by" with the minimum. That would include "classroom" teachers, and yes, even certain department heads.

[Teacher]

Dept. Head - Bringing up gossips at your school -- how is publicly bashing your colleagues on this blog seen as professional or productive on your end? You must be a real "treat" to work with as a department head.

[Teacher]

No, I have been in education for over 15 years. However, I feel I am a professional, and therefore, I owe it to my students to continue learning new and effective strategies. Yes, education is a big consumer of the alphabet soup schooling…from long before OBE, to current RTI and NCLB initiatives, but that is nothing new.

I like to place myself in the shoes of a kindergarten student 40 years from now. Did my teachers and district do all it can to prepare me for where I will be in 2048. Will I be saying why did my parents live in Flori-duh? Why not PA or NY or CT or any of the 49 other states?

Another way to look at it is if I or a family member was ill, I'd want our doctors to be trained in the best procedures to cure whatever the ailment is – regardless if they have had similar trainings in the past. I’d be very disheartened, if the doctors felt they were competent in the skills they already had and fought against learning new cures.

To prevent stagnation, many professional companies require their employees to take continuing education courses. Because I view myself as a professional, and I want to be the best teacher I can be, I don’t mind taking the skills I have learned in the past and combining them to new methods.

Remember, learning from an educator who has stop learning is like drinking from a stagnant pond.

Just my thoughts – have a great day.

[MS who is sick of defending the position]

10:29 post,

I'm sorry if your particular school seems to appear to have a media/tech program not up to your standards, but your comment offends those of us who work hard at the media job. So many others in the school are clueless as to the demands of the job. (And yes, I have been a "classroom" teacher, and am STILL an instructional employee with a class of 650 students (maybe not all at the same time) and 100 faculty (who trust me - are worse than most 5 year olds when it comes to learning new technologies or simply how to put paper in the copy machine the right way!)

The classroom teaching job and the media/tech jobs are quite different, with their own unique stresses and demands. Until you do the job on a daily basis, maybe you shouldn't assume that your colleagues do nothing. I'd welcome a job shadowing situation for a few days by ANY classroom teacher so they could get a reality check. You see, as a "teacher" for over 20 years, I could walk into a classroom and do that job, but not too sure classroom teachers could walk into my area and take over. Yes, they could learn it - but that's my point - it's a whole different ballgame with A LOT to learn. (And Media Specialists still need to be on top of their "teaching" skills when they teach classes/collaborate with teachers.)

I'm tired of defending the MS position that many are unfamiliar with because they have NEVER walked in those shoes. And I'm sure you've offended a few secretaries and dropout prevention teachers, too, with your "I'm better than others" and work harder attitude! If these employees are as big a waste as you imply, wouldn't that be up to your administrators to decide and then intervene in some way? Who are you to judge their work ethic? How do we know you don't sit around drinking coffee and reading the paper, collecting your department head supplement?!?!? Sure glad I don't work with you and your judgmental attitude!

10:34
you raise some good issues but my ideas aren't really that crazy.
as it is, we're wasting billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of manpower hours each year attempting to educate many kids who are either "uneducable" or don't give a hoot about getting an education and are there because schools are a convenient babysitter for mom and dad.
think of the tremendous amount of money we've pissed down the rathole over the past decade on trying to close the achievement gap and on nonsense like FCAT, NCLB etc. Just imagine if we were able to put that same money back into the budget for use in the classroom (not the ivory tower), in teacher raises and the teachers didn't have to deal with incompetent administrators or unruly students who prevent others from learning and teachers from teaching.
In my plan, DROP would be eliminated, any employee with 30 years of service in the FRS would be effectively "retired" immediately. This would unclog the clogged up big school districts that are laden with fat and waste (I know Pasco if that's where you're at isn't like that) but where I work is much like broken districts in Hillsborough and Pinellas.
Most all TSA would be reassigned back into classroom teaching which is where they belong.
The vocation and technical must become a much bigger part of Florida public education and I think it will under the leadership of Senator Gaetz who did it in Okaloosa when he was the Sup.
I have been asked to run before on numerous occasions for state legislature and school board.
Problem is, I currently make more than 3x what those positions pay, have kids I need to support and my teachers in the union love me for my effective representation, so that is my true calling besides my lobbyist activities.

[Timmy!]

AMEN! 12:01 (can I still say amen?)

May I also add my $.02:
How about making all classes performance based? If a student can pass a class in less than the 4 nine week time span - give 'em credit and move 'em on!

Have an authentic 8th grade test complete with 9th grade reading comprehension, math, science and history that EVERY kid must pass before they can go on. No breaks. Once the student passes the test they have a choice of going on to high school or tech school or joining the work force.

[terminator]

Timmy,
glad to see some people listen to reason!

Ok so for the record if one were to say I work at xyz school and 4 out of 5 MS are less than helpful that would be unprofessional. If I were to say all Sec. and Drop out Prevention positions were useless that would be generalizing. If you read my post I said we have 1 MS who works his butt off and 4 more who watch him work his butt off. I fully understand that the other 4 could be working just as hard, they choose not to. One of them actually told me she took the MS exam so she didn't have to deal with a "classroom schedule" anymore. I am just giving options of where the cuts could be made that would not, in my 15 yrs of observation, overtly effect our students. I drink tea not coffee and I show up to every open house, dance, etc that the school is open for. I do not see any of the MS, DP, or secretaries showing for that, at least not at my school. I also have never had, nor has anyone on my team had, a MS teach or collaborate in the classroom. As it is the one guy who does work locks his door to his office and only will see you by appointment made via email! Lord knows some days I wish I had that option but I think the parents would complain. :) I do agree that we should keep current in our areas and I think that 95% of teachers were doing that before LFS removed them from their classrooms for special training. In the end I think that district wants us to turn on each other, it keeps the finger pointing away from them. I think if any school looks around there is a Imerson who has been "admin" placed in the building. If you feel that is judgmental so be it. The union needs to keep pushing, even if it removes the "stipends" from those like me to protect the integrity of our contract.

[Teacher]

11:28

Maybe the 1 MS doesn't mind he is viewed as working his butt off because he knows what the others are doing. How do you know what they are and are NOT doing? At any given time in the day, we could say the same thing about you too.

Next, have you shared your views about the MS being less than helpful with the principal? He/she should be aware that (in your opinion) the other MS people's image in his/her school maybe causing a stir.

Also, just because 1 MS said she couldn't take the classroom schedule, does not mean every MS did the same. In other words, don't stereotype.

You point out that you drink tea, attend open houses and secretaries don't. Hello, have you looked at their contract, salary, and job requirements and yours? As far as the MS, DPs, and secretaries not attending open houses, that is between you, your principal, and maybe HR.

As far as attending dances, do you do it on your own free time (aka volunteer) or do you get paid? Either way, if it isn't mandatory then people can't be forced to attend.

As far as techie's requiring an email notice to meet with people is part of the techie trend. I also don't like it and so that too is something you need to talk to your principal and/or HR.

As far as the district wanting people to turn on each other...nah they don't need to do that as educators often complain rather than do something about it. Therefore, what is going on in Pasco goes on across the county.

However, the point of my comments is are you one of those teachers who complain or are you one who does something about it. My rule of thumb is simple and I’d like to share it with you. “If you won’t do something about an issue, then you have no right to complain about it.” After all complaining is like cancer, it grows within until it destroys the host.

[Another teacher]

To Dept. Head,
I applaud you for doing all of the volunteer work. We DO NOT get paid for going to dances to chaperone, or to open houses to greet parents. We do it to make our schools a better place for everyone!

To Teacher,
If we "do something about it" as you say, and STOP chaperoning dances and attending open house next year (and all of the other ways we donate time sans pay to our schools and our students), we will no longer be "whiny" teachers. Then we will be the selfish teachers who are money grubby and don't care about our students who only work 196 days a year, blah blah blah. The public seems to want us to do this job for free with smiles on our faces and love in our hearts.

As for LFS, love it or hate it, wouldn't it make sense to give it a break for a year (as most employees have been trained) and see how it affects classroom learning and test scores? And then that $ could be used elsewhere for this year. As with any experiment, the scientist needs to step back and make observations.

[Teacher]

To another teacher,

Your rant supports my argument - thank you very much.

However, when I said do something about it, I was not refering to "sticking it to the children." I was refering to him/her speaking to his/her principal.

People like you give the rest of us good teachers a bad name.

[Another teacher]

How is speaking to my principal going to help with LFS, step increases, the possible elimination of stipends for department heads and coaches, et. al. going to change a darn thing?

I agree that action needs to be taken to address problems, but what is a possible solution that won't be detrimental to our students? Seriously, I want to know your thoughts.

I do not give teachers a bad name, as you insist. I did not wear black or walk out on the last day. I give of my time freely to students and their parents (time taken away from my own kids). I coach and sponsor a club and am my team's leader. But when is it ok for me to ask for a fair salary for my time, my degree, my years of experience? I never planned on getting rich in this profession. No teacher expects that. I only expect what was promised when I signed on.

And to go back to our original debate about LFS: Do you disagree that it could be put on hold for one year to truly evaluate the results?

[Another teacher]

How is speaking to my principal going to help with LFS, step increases, the possible elimination of stipends for department heads and coaches, et. al. going to change a darn thing?

I agree that action needs to be taken to address problems, but what is a possible solution that won't be detrimental to our students? Seriously, I want to know your thoughts.

I do not give teachers a bad name, as you insist. I did not wear black or walk out on the last day. I give of my time freely to students and their parents (time taken away from my own kids). I coach and sponsor a club and am my team's leader. But when is it ok for me to ask for a fair salary for my time, my degree, my years of experience? I never planned on getting rich in this profession. No teacher expects that. I only expect what was promised when I signed on.

And to go back to our original debate about LFS: Do you disagree that it could be put on hold for one year to truly evaluate the results?

[Another teacher]

How is speaking to my principal going to help with LFS, step increases, the possible elimination of stipends for department heads and coaches, et. al. going to change a darn thing?

I agree that action needs to be taken to address problems, but what is a possible solution that won't be detrimental to our students? Seriously, I want to know your thoughts.

I do not give teachers a bad name, as you insist. I did not wear black or walk out on the last day. I give of my time freely to students and their parents (time taken away from my own kids). I coach and sponsor a club and am my team's leader. But when is it ok for me to ask for a fair salary for my time, my degree, my years of experience? I never planned on getting rich in this profession. No teacher expects that. I only expect what was promised when I signed on.

And to go back to our original debate about LFS: Do you disagree that it could be put on hold for one year to truly evaluate the results?

[Another teacher]

Wow, triple post! Sorry about that!

Chiming in as a new MS (not new in profession; new to this blog) regarding the issue to who works harder than whom. That is obviously a personal work ethic situation. I am a MS and my car is usually the first one in the parking lot and the last one out at 6:00 or later (in an early school that ends at 2:40). I attend not one, but two open house nights on my dime, to cover the intermediate and primary students, attend PTO meetings, help organize and present various family academic nights, serve on my Lead Literacy Team (unpaid, sitting next to team leaders who are receiving a supplement for being on this team), serve on SAC (which meets off the clock/unpaid) attend choral/instrumental concerts twice a year in the evening to help, attend LFS training and implement in my media classes, run a family night book fair two nights a year (unpaid evening hours), spend 3/4 of my summer at my media center preparing for the next school year, and attend almost every other evening function at our school - of which there are many. And yes, I do it for the kids! So please, don't think MS's are lazy across the board. As someone else put it in another post, there are unfortunately lazy teachers, secretaries, custodians, district personnel, etc. Again it's all about self motivation, work ethic, and what is best for the students. I know many hard working MS in this county and am sorry that you happen to have a school with 4 (of which only 2 are probably true MS and not assistants if you're in a high school) not doing their job (according to your knowledge of their job). BTW, yes it is partially their job to seek you out to collaborate with them, but it is also important that you learn what value they can be to you and your students through collaboration. Then you can seek their assistance/expertise with respect to teaching information literacy/technology skills to your students, based on your needs and lessons.

[Teacher]

11:28 stereotypes! What a shame an educator who stereotypes. Basd on his comments I bet 11:28 also discriminates (and no, I am not refering to skin color,but now that I think about it...).

[Pasco Teacher]

We all know people at our schools who work their butts off and who also do as little as possible. It is that way in any profession.

In terms of how we are paid, I have heard it said that those in the NBA, NFL, etc should give a portion of their salary to education. We are all hurting financially and when the law makers put things together on a ballet people don't always make the right choice and we end up with Amend. 1. The lottery is great for education however, the government took away money instead of allowing the lottery to be in addition to.

As a tech spec, I am putting in far more time at the same salary as a teacher because my position is in the same category. I don't complain. Would it be nice to make more money yes but I did not go into education for the money.

It is not just Florida who is hurting, if we look outside the box we most likely will find similar concerns with unions helping or not helping as well as budget cuts.

[Teacher]

Yawn

[Pasco Media Specialist]

I wholeheartedly agree with the comment made at 3:38 6/30 - I'm a new MS who spends a great deal of extra (unpaid) time working at my school because it's that extra effort that makes this school and media center a place that teachers and students want to come to. They know they will be welcomed and will get help with lessons, research, selecting books and more. I became a teacher because I wanted to help children learn and make a difference.

Being a media specialist allows me to expand that scope, and work not only with students, but also teachers, administrators and parents. Media specialists and tech specialists jobs are complex and focus on helping students become information-literate, lifelong learners. This includes but is not limited to: 1) creating and maintaining library collections and technical systems that support student learning (fiction, non-fiction and reference books and materials, computers and software, reading motivation programs, etc.); 2) providing leadership, collaboration and assistance to teachers; and 3) administering the library media and tech programs (training, funding, staff development, etc.).

And yes, there is never enough time in the day to do everything I hope to do, but I always leave at the end of the day knowing I've accomplished at least some good and hopefully taught or touched someone's life in a positive way. I have also met many, many media/tech specs and classroom teachers in Pasco County who feel the same way and give 110% to their schools and their students.