The State of Education in Tennessee: Chaos, Collective Bargaining for Teachers

Article Via: theeducatorsroom.com

This article is part of our new feature “State of Education” where we hear what is going on in each state around the country, from an educator in that state.  If you would like to write about your state, contact us at info@theeducatorsroom.com!

The state of education in Tennessee is chaotic, at best. We are in a state of mind that I liken to terroristic confusion. Let me explain what I mean. After an act of terrorism, the masses are confused and reactionary. People do not often make decisions based on sound judgments; they act more out of emotion. In my opinion, as a product of public schools and as a public school teacher, education in Tennessee does not look good because the decisions are not made based on sound judgments. My opinions are based on legislation passed in Tennessee over the past two years. Two major laws have been passed by our majority conservative legislature and this does not speak well for educators like me.  Tennessee teachers have lost our right to collective bargaining, and we have to increase the amount of money we contribute to our pension.
Collective bargaining, commonly misnamed unions, has been given a bad name in our country. I am not sure about other areas in the state, but in Memphis, we have a professional association. That association is responsible for brokering a collective bargaining agreement.  By definition of thefreedictionary.com, “A collective bargaining agreement is the ultimate goal of the collective bargaining process. Typically, the agreement establishes wages, hours, promotions, benefits, and other employment terms as well as procedures for handling disputes arising under it.” In 2012, the State of Tennessee legislature declared that collective bargaining was the enemy and it was assassinated like an international terrorist. Obliterated was not only our say in how we are treated as professionals, but also our perceived worth as educators. Along with that assassination came a new evaluation process and a move toward basing teacher pay on standardized test performance and ever-changing performance standards; all of this without support or training to help teachers improve.
To add insult to injury, this legislative session has decided that teachers hired after 2014 have to contribute more to their pension plan. I won’t confuse you with the numbers, but the amount contributed by the state employee has increased as well as the age of potential pay out. With the average teacher salary just under $46,000 and health insurance prices rising, there is little room to contribute more to the pension plan. Sounds like a lot of teachers will be taking on more outside jobs to make ends meet in our present economy.
More chaos is evident on the local levels of education, especially in Memphis City and Shelby County Schools. Those events are either the aftershock of the state’s terroristic confusion, or perhaps they were precipitating events. (The state of education in my city is another article.) As in all tragedies, there are casualties. Too bad those casualties are our innocent students and our hard-working teachers.

© 2015 The Educator’s Room™

School Board Recognizes Labor, Gets Security Update

Article via: Memphis Daily News, Bill Dries

Interim countywide schools superintendent Dorsey Hopson told the school board Tuesday, Aug. 27, that “jurisdiction issues” between the Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office were the primary cause of security problems at schools this month.
Hopson added that he, Memphis Police brass and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office continue to review school security measures.
“We have more uniform officers at our schools than we ever have before,” he said. “But there was some misunderstanding or disagreement between the sheriff’s department and the city of Memphis as to who had jurisdiction. … Obviously that’s a jurisdictional issue that we can’t solve. We are working with both the sheriff and police director to make sure we get this right.”
Elementary schools began using handheld metal detectors last week as part of the reaction to a kindergarten student who brought a gun to Westside Elementary School in his backpack. The gun went off inside the backpack in the school. No one was injured. But the incident exposed the jurisdiction issues Hopson referred to.
Hopson told the board ordering more of the handheld metal detectors for the elementary schools for all to have them will mean spending an extra $18,000 to $20,000 in the current fiscal year.
He also said the emerging security considerations will not amount to a “one-size-fits-all” security policy for every school.
On the school board’s agenda Tuesday were three resolutions, each from members of the old Memphis City Schools board who were attending their last meetings as the 23-member board becomes a seven-member board effective Sept. 1.
The board approved a resolution recognizing unions that had represented employees under the old Memphis City Schools system as a representative of some employees. The resolution by board member Dr. Jeff Warren does not recognize the unions for purposes of collective bargaining.

WARREN

It was the most debated item of the evening with Warren saying it was a simple recognition that the school system would talk with the union leaders representing teachers and other employees.
“We wouldn’t be where we are without unions,” Warren said. “It costs nothing but says we respect them.”
Other board members, including Chris Caldwell, thought union members in the audience might believe it was a formal recognition in terms of bargaining rights.
“This doesn’t give you any bargaining right,” Caldwell said. “I want you to know what the truth is.”
Hopson said state law prohibits collective bargaining with or without such a resolution. As long as employees and union leaders and board members realize that, he told the board he was “probably agnostic” in terms of his position on the resolution. He also noted signs in the audience urging the board to “support labor contracts.”
School board member David Pickler said the passage of the resolution reflected the intent of the 23-member board. But he added that he did not consider it binding on the seven-member board to come.

REAVES

School board member David Reaves criticized the resolution as “nothing more than a feel good piece of paper.”
Plumbers, carpenters and other craft trade workers were among those in the audience. The workers from the legacy Memphis City Schools system complained that craft trade workers for the legacy Shelby County Schools system are paid more than them.
Hopson said the higher pay for some workers who are all now a part of a single school system will see a leveling up over a three-year period with the inequity remaining for now. The three-year period is part of the state law that sets the terms of schools mergers.
The other resolution approved Tuesday by board member Patrice Robinson requests the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office review the school system’s health care plan and report on the feasibility of the school system’s employees joining either the Shelby County government health care insurance plan or the state government’s group insurance plan.
Meanwhile, the board deferred action Tuesday on a resolution by board member Betty Mallott to move toward setting up some method for more objectively judging the performance of charter schools. Hopson requested the indefinite delay saying he and his staff plan to come back to the board with a more detailed plan.

Human Resources 101