Greetings!

Legislative leaders are now determining what components of the mayor's bill and the Governor's bill will come out of committee as part of their Ed Reform package. There are no written details as of yet, but following is a report of what the AFT Mass has heard from legislative leaders. The news has gone from bad to worse, and is current as of Saturday, 11/7/09.

The legislature is considering doubling the amount of charter schools. For Boston, this development could cost the city's public school an additional $49.5 Million in lost revenue yearly. This year--without the expansion of charters--the city will lose $49.5 million.  Though the state has considered changing the reimbursement formula to help offset some of this additional loss, the net annual loss to the city would still hover between $80 Million and $99 million. (The city of Gloucester, MA, is now squabbling with the state over the addition of a single charter school. In Boston, there is danger of an additional 20! See the Globe report .)

On the governor's Readiness Proposal, according to the AFT-Massachusetts...Readiness Schools are now called "Innovation Schools." Under the new proposal, Innovation Schools that are taken over by the state can require staff to apply for their own positions. Staff who are unsuccessful applicants to remain in their own buildings will have a finite amount of time to find a position elsewhere. During this transition time, staff will earn full salary and benefits. After that time expires, staff will lose their right to employment. Long story short: the new Innovation proposal trumps collective bargaining agreements, which generally allow displaced permanent staff to exercise their seniority rights and move to another positions.

This essentially was the same message we received from Mitchell Chester, the state commissioner of education, last week when a group of BTU officers (and urban superintendents) met with State DOE officials in Worcester to hear about the state's quest for Race to the Top Funds. Commissioner Chester affirmed much of the above, specifically, in regard to the issue of what would happen to displaced teachers and paras in Innovation schools.  Lowell School Superintendent, Dr. Chris Scott, asked the commissioner what would happen to staff who are unsuccessful applicants for their own positions. Commissioner Chester answered that after a set amount of time, staff would be terminated and there would be some state funds for 'outplacement services.'

None of this is law yet. It is just a proposal. But the danger in these proposals is evident. All of the talk about 'collaboration' with teachers and staff to improve our schools is just that: 'talk.'

It is clear that some state and national leaders are using the Race to the Top Funds as a convenient excuse to dismantle public education and public sector unions. We have to work very hard  to counteract this, and we ask for your help.

Please Get Involved

What can you do? Please get on the telephone and call your state representative and state senator and demand that our collective bargaining rights not be taken away. Here's your state senator's phone number ?  Your state rep's . If you wish instead to email, please log onto the AFTMA's website and fill in a few blanks. We would prefer you to make a phone call, as it is more direct and effective.

• Tara Brown, Assistant Professor of Education, Brandeis University
• Larry Myatt, Senior Fellow for Leadership and Education Ventures Northeastern University

• The Marran Theatre, Lesley University
• 47 Oxford Street, Cambridge
• 4:30 pm - 6:30
• Tuesday, November 17, 2009