Friday, November 30, 2012

D-28 RATIFICATION OF THE TEACHERS CONTRACT BETWEEN UNITED TEACHERS OF DADE AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD

Miami-Dade County Public Schools School Board Members and The United Teachers of Dade (UTD) Union President Karen Aronowitz signed into existence the ratification of the three-year teachers contract, which gives teachers a step increase, offers teachers about $30 million in raises in the first year and non-instructional bargaining unit members of the UTD an approximate 2.25% raise. 
Three-fourths of the money delineated to teachers will go to the 8,500 most experienced, highest-paid teachers, who will see raises between $1,250 and nearly $11,000. About 16 percent would go to the nearly 3,800 lowest-paid, newer teachers and lift their salaries to $40,000. The remainder, for some 8,000 teachers in the middle: about $300 a year.
There have been varying opinions on this agreement regarding the effectiveness of the ratification in assisting in rising health-care costs for employees with dependents and the limited dividend for employees “in the middle”.
UTD Union President Karen Aronowitz, stated the proposed contract preserves an option for employer-paid health care for employees. “Everyone moves forward, money in the pocket,” she said. With a “no” vote, she said, “An entire year can go without anybody receiving anything in their pockets.”
Health insurance costs are the second-biggest expense for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. South Florida has some of the most expensive health care costs in the nation. This year, those health care costs for the whole district are slated to total $386 million; the district will pay about $321 million of that, said John Schuster, spokesman for the district. The district’s chief of staff, Daniel Tosado, emailed teachers, stating, they wouldn’t move to a higher bracket for health care contributions based on any salary increase in the tentative contract. Alleviating a concern for teachers who could have potentially paid hundreds more for their family’s health insurance due to the raise.
At the school board meeting Superintendent Alberto Carvalho spoke to the item. He thanked UTD Union President Karen Aronowitz, the teachers who he mentioned waited “not so patiently for a very much deserved step increase” and Enid Weisman, Jim Hodge and George Garcia from Human Resources, Recruiting, Performance Management and Labor Relations who negotiated the contract. 
The Superintendent also mentioned that no soon as we sign off on this (ratification of the contract) we will be going back to the table again to continue the discussion which will seek to restore the financial appropriateness of our teachers after 5-6 years of economic devastation due to recessionary conditions, seeking accelerated compensation for early and mid-career teachers and assist and negotiate for more equitable steps for teachers and have conversation as to how we look at the release of teachers not just at the base of seniority.
The Superintendent stated the legacy contract (UTD current contract) is not perfect and acknowledge that it took three years to see a step increase. The superintendent also acknowledged there were objections to the contract due to fairness. He mentioned fairness was not up for discussion because that was what was in the books (contract). He pointed out it honored the contract and we have an opportunity to fix every element and bring equity at every step.
The contract ratification is considered by some as a bitter sweet victory for a number of reasons, one being that healthcare cost have increased for individuals with dependents as well as deductible cost have increased. Secondly, teachers in the mid-range of the salary schedule received a minor increase in comparison with their peers who are at the beginning and top of the salary schedule. Nevertheless, the fact United Teachers of Dade and Miami-Dade County Public Schools came to an agreement is movement in the right direction, teachers who have been frozen at the same step have moved after three years frozen and there is discussion of further step increases and negotiation of teachers pay schedule in the works for the near future.
Despite the contract being a three-year contract, the verbiage in the contract states, negotiations can be held ANY time factors change that affect the agreement.   In addition, the United Teachers of Dade successfully negotiated the employee only option to remain at no cost to the employee as well as guaranteeing teachers will not move to a higher bracket for health care contributions based on any salary increase in the tentative contract.   Furthermore, teachers are directly impacted by the passage of SB-736, which completely eliminated any type of job security for new teachers, even those rated Effective, or Highly Effective. The new language negotiated in Article XIII of the contract prevents principals from terminating new teachers who have received an Effective or Highly Effective rating without just cause. There is a great of work to do to bring the profession of teachers fiscally back to a state that is respected; however, small steps in the right direction are steps in the right direction nonetheless.

E-200 PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF BOARD POLICY: FINAL READING POLICY 6320.02, MINORITY/WOMEN ENTERPRISE CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES

Voters approved the $1.2 billion bond referendum for Miami-Dade schools according to preliminary election results.
The measure aims to fix problems at aging Miami-Dade schools, suffering from delayed maintenance and few capital dollars, and also improve technology across the district. The money, borrowed from bond investors, would be repaid with property taxes over 30 years.
Its approval is a major win for Superintendent Alberto Carvalho who proposed the measure to the School Board in August and took a lead role in advocating for the bond in a fast-paced campaign.
At the school board meeting several speakers expressed concerns regarding the equitableness of companies being selected to fix the problems being faced in the aging school buildings. The speakers voiced concerns ranging from what constitutes a small business, to the prior concerns expressed by the NAACP regarding Miami Dade County Public Schools not using minority businesses in the past.  In addition, concerns with the repealing of the Business Development and Assistance Program, which promotes the development and growth of Minority/Women Business Enterprises, and ensure there is a maximum opportunity to do business with the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida. 
The current members of the M/WBE expressed concern minorities will be left out of the bond referendum process once the program is repealed and replaced with something else.  Members of the board expressed the necessity to create an in-house program that differs to the federal government’s program. This program would have a lower threshold allowing for smaller businesses to qualify for jobs they would not previously be eligible for under the federal governments program.
Superintendent Carvalho mentioned it is necessary to repeal M/WBE because it is considered illegal and may cause problems in the future because it gives the appearance that there is priority to members who are in this preexisting organization. 
The bond referendum is something that demonstrates what good can happen when the school district and the taxpayers work together to do good for the students as well as boost the economy by utilizing local small businesses. The previous bond referendum was a disaster that led to questioning the fiscal decisions of the school board and the decisions and “back door” deals that were possibly made during that bond and therefore it is even more impressive that we were able to successfully get the constituents of Miami-Dade County to invest in an education bond again, the maneuver on the school boards part to remove themselves from any signs of impropriety before it happens seems to be the right call.
A-1 2012 Broad Prize in Urban Education

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho gave a few remarks on Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) winning the Broad Prize in Urban Education.  The Broad Prize is one of the nation’s top education prizes and was won by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools for its dramatic gains in achievements by Black and Hispanic students and for raising academic standards across the board.
The Broad Prize for Urban Education brings national prestige to the district and more than a half-million dollars in scholarships to Miami-Dade students graduating in 2013 who demonstrate need and academic improvement.
The district, which has been a five-time finalist for the prize, won this time with a unanimous vote by the 11-member jury.
Alberto Carvalho accepted the award given in the month of October in New York. He and several School Board members attended the ceremony at the Museum of Modern Art, where the announcement was made.
This prize opens up scholarship opportunities for 35 M-DCPS students who meet the requirements to win a $20, 000 scholarship.  The requirements are that the students graduate in 2013 from M-DCPS, have a weighted G.P.A. of a 2.7, enroll full time in a college, university or community technical school in the fall of 2013 for the entire upcoming year and show academic improvement from 9th grade to 12th grade, display financial need, be a U.S. Citizen and complete a Broad Prize Scholarship application by March 1, 2013. Winners will be announced in May 2013.
This is a great recognition of the hard work of the teachers, students and all other stakeholders of M-DCPS. This award shows teachers are teaching and students are learning.  In addition, the scholarship opportunity will make a difference in the future of several students who will find it easier to go to college thanks to the combined efforts of so many.