just sent Dear Superintendent Thomas-Manning and Reynoldsburg School Board members: The federal mediator has officially released a statement online, which reads in part “… the parties are free to meet without the presence of the mediator if they wish. At this time, no further meetings have been scheduled with the FMCS mediator.” So, I urge you to immediately contact REA representatives to schedule a time to meet with them to fix this situation and get our teachers back into the classrooms where they belong. Now. Today. Before Reynoldsburg students are forced to endure another day like last Friday. Every step of this has been ugly, and what is ugliest of all is that the whole situation was avoidable had you been willing to sit down and engage in meaningful negotiation with the teachers, rather than simply putting out a press release saying that was the plan and then refusing to back away from your last position except for making OTES-based bonuses voluntary. You are well aware that class size caps are a focus of the negotiations, and not just from the teachers’ point of view but the larger Reynoldsburg community as well. Our students deserve to be in manageable class sizes, and if you don’t agree with the limits set out in the teachers’ recent proposal of 25 at the elementary level and 30 beyond that, then suggest some limits that you think you can live with. Come up with a plan, but STOP refusing to engage in conversation about class size limits. You see, I read the entire teacher proposal, and I saw that the teachers were willing to give up some parts of the contract that I wouldn’t have been happy with (namely requiring specials teachers to be certified and load limits for kids on IEPs), so I know they have been willing to make additional sacrifices. Your team, on the other hand, appears unwilling to step away from the absurdity of ‘attract and retain high quality teachers’ which is still a statement made by Superintendent Thomas-Manning as late as this past Friday, even after it has been proven to be divisive and quite frankly, as far away from accurate as possible. I’m extremely discouraged by the missive put out by the Superintendent last Thursday night after negotiations wherein it was stated that what was seen by the REA reps was the best offer the teachers were going to get. Why? What are you so afraid of in common sense class size caps? There can certainly be caveats built in so that one or two extra students doesn’t create the need for an additional teacher, or so that certain classes have different, separate limits agreed to by both sides. Or is the fear that if class size caps are written into this contract, you won’t be able to get what you really want: technology-heavy classes with a much higher student to teacher (or parapro) ratio, because after all, who needs a real teacher if we have a computer? The purchase of devices and software (some reading programs which teachers, I’ve heard, have been asking the district to purchase for years) and the letter I got today from the Superintendent lead me to believe that somehow our subs’ use of personalized learning via computer is somehow going to replace teaching by highly qualified instructors. I have news for you- there is no replacement for personalized, one-on-one attention from a trained educator. Teachers cannot and will not be replaced by technology; not all kids learn well with technology. Technology tools are only as valuable as the teachers who guide the students’ use of those tools. If I’ve missed the mark, then, please, write me your reassurance that this is not the plan for the district going forward. Remember, you represent the taxpayer, the community, the parents, and the students. I look forward to your reply, and to hearing quickly about a time scheduled to meet with REA. Thank you, Beth Thompson
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:39:12 +0000