In 2011, nearly 2,000 teachers in the Tacoma school district went on strike after disagreements on pay cuts, class sizes and seniority for the district. After a week of protesting, picketing and debates on both sides, a consensus was reached and the school district returned to normal.
Over the past month, however, that agreement has been cracked by the proposed Senate Bill 5242 that would give more power to principals to decide how to move teachers between various schools in the district.
The Tacoma district, being the third largest in the state, is often subject to shifts in employees based on the student population and the needs of the school.
Part of the bill states that, during a discussion of reassignment, a “mutual agreement” must be reached between the school’s principal and the teacher in question. Previously, the decision has been discussed between a committee of two other teachers and the principal; this bill eliminates that agreement. Under the new wording, if an agreement between teacher and principal is not reached, then the teacher may be given a temporary assignment and, if a permanent place is not found, potentially fired.
The blog “We Teach Tacoma” claims that this new bill allows for principals and school authorities to fire teachers for any reason they choose. “It eliminates any sense of job security and puts all teachers at risk of losing their jobs,” the blog states. “We Teach Tacoma” is a community outlet and extension of the Tacoma Education Association.
The previous concord found in the agreement of 2011 could be completely disregarded if this bill comes to pass in the Senate. The contract, which will expire after its three-year length in August of 2014, was not reached without struggle and disagreement on both sides. Contention between the district and the TEA has been detrimental to students, teachers and the government in the past. It has only been recently that a lull in the fight for teachers’ rights has been found.
In addition to this proposition, another bill, 5856, has been suddenly brought to the table by Senator Rodney Tom. The bill gets rid of previous plans that have dictated pension plans for those employed by state and public schools under the age of 45. Instead, it allocates the money into a savings account for the teachers.
Senator Tom has not had found the most favor in the eyes of the state’s educators, especially following a 2012 controversy in which severe budget cuts to state services and public education were cast away by the state. More recently, he has spoken against using money for the state’s education to increase teacher wages. Senator Tom stated that, “We want to make sure the investments affect student outcomes.”
That notion of direct student improvement is what has driven the incentive to give principals more command over their schools. The idea behind the bill is that a principal knows what is best for the students and the nature of the school; therefore, the more power given to the principal, the better off the student body will be.
The union is not expecting a positive response from the state House or education reform groups in the Senate. The mostly democratic house has not shown favor to the TEA and those who initiated the strike in 2011, but those opposing the bill continue to hold the right to argue and propose contract language and bills. However, another strike to counteract these bills will not serve to bring the opposing forces to any peaceful conclusion. The last thing the Tacoma district needs is students out of the schools they are trying to save.
