my experience with teacher contract issue as a parent who cares more than most
1. at the school level, teachers are still getting hired, working, and getting paid. So "no contract" has a "gut" meaning at first impression of "annoying union dispute."
2. Most DC parents who even think about this believe that DCPS competes with neighboring school systems by paying teachers better than neighboring systems, so there is an information requirement on this specific point for any union contract push. If DCPS pays its teachers less than its neighbors, that's news to me.
3. The shrillness and generalized knee-jerk anger of any interaction between union and DCPS, or union supporters in education-related (and even sometimes non-education related, e.g., ANC) settings, as observed by DCPS parents, is very off-putting to me, and I suspect many others. Generally, it's hard for me to naturally get on the union side at a visceral level when the general tone feels like I'm tuning into some kind of bad Maury Povich-cum-Jerry Springer TV-divorce-court knockoff. Just to cite one example, chancellor goes around doing meet-and-greets for the public/parents asking what they look for in excellent schools and union folks show up to ask, "why do you treat us so badly?"

SO - union guys - day to day you are the visible expression of calm, control and reason in the face of our crazy children and you realize the importance of this. That's a big part of what you've got to be as the union as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not so fast!

Teacher contract proposed in D.C. for the first time in five years

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teacher-contract-proposed-in-dc-for-the-first-time-in-five-years/2017/08/14/c2b4cc84-8032-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html?utm_term=.3b748b747254

Hoping that this gets approved by the teachers. Seems like a good thing to spend our city surplus on.

Pleased that this also means some additional funds for charter schools/charter students, as the contract will increase the DCPS per pupil allocation.

I wonder if the charter school funding increase will go to the charter teachers or into higher management salaries or more spending on "management fees".

This isn't being done by the mayor to increase charter funding -- it's just the natural consequence of increasing the DCPS per pupil spending (which is good -- they could have decided to cut DCPS facilities or something else to pay for the teacher salary increases).

As for what the charter schools do with it, since there are dozens of independent LEAs, each schools' board would make its own decision about how to spend its allocation (salary increases, facility costs, classroom materials, extra curriculars or after care) but their annual budgets are reported to and released by the DCPCSB. And any contracts over $25,000 (which would include new management fee contracts) go to the DCPCSB for advance approval.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not so fast!

Teacher contract proposed in D.C. for the first time in five years

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teacher-contract-proposed-in-dc-for-the-first-time-in-five-years/2017/08/14/c2b4cc84-8032-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html?utm_term=.3b748b747254

Hoping that this gets approved by the teachers. Seems like a good thing to spend our city surplus on.

Pleased that this also means some additional funds for charter schools/charter students, as the contract will increase the DCPS per pupil allocation.

I wonder if the charter school funding increase will go to the charter teachers or into higher management salaries or more spending on "management fees".

Anonymous wrote:Not so fast!

Teacher contract proposed in D.C. for the first time in five years

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teacher-contract-proposed-in-dc-for-the-first-time-in-five-years/2017/08/14/c2b4cc84-8032-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html?utm_term=.3b748b747254

Hoping that this gets approved by the teachers. Seems like a good thing to spend our city surplus on.

Pleased that this also means some additional funds for charter schools/charter students, as the contract will increase the DCPS per pupil allocation.

Not so fast!

Teacher contract proposed in D.C. for the first time in five years

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teacher-contract-proposed-in-dc-for-the-first-time-in-five-years/2017/08/14/c2b4cc84-8032-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html?utm_term=.3b748b747254

I also wanted to add that the behavior problems I have in my new school (still title 1) are completely different and to be blunt, also worth the pay cut. I am not burn out like I was at my EOTP title 1 school.