Late this evening the following Legislative update was sent out by our MEA Lobbyist, Dave Stafford. The Senate and House have made it clear that they have taken up legislation that SERIOUSLY AFFECTS TEACHER EVALUATIONS AND THE TENURE ACT. It is very important that we contact our legislators today (Dec. 2nd) as it looks as if they will be working all day and into the night!
FROM DAVE STAFFORD (MEA Lobbyist): “The Senate passed an amended version of HB 4410, a bill to change the School Code by inserting almost four pages of language to micro-manage the evaluation process for teachers and administrators. Included in this language is a requirement that at least 45% of the evaluation must be based upon student growth in academic achievement and using standardized test scores when possible. This amended version of HB 4410 was sent back to the House of Representatives where efforts are underway to buy or otherwise convince members to support this bill.”
Note: The Race To the Top Bill will already require schools to amend their evaluation process, but it allows for LOCAL BARGAINING and LOCAL Associations to bargain what is good for their district!!!!! We need to retain our LOCAL ABILITY to bargain the teacher evaluation process!
“There is also a bill attacking tenure rights that passed the Senate nearly a year ago and is currently in the House of Representatives. Part of the dealing that is going on involves the House amending that bill, SB 638, passing it and sending it back to the Senate. We haven’t seen a copy of the proposed House amendments, but we know they are already drafted and that they will probably involve taking away tenure from employees with no effective recourse against such action; and some form of additional hoops for probationary employees to jump through on top of their current four year probationary period.”
Note: The State controls what is in the Tenure Law, but they are functioning on very poor information. If your tenure is revoked, you should have the ability to pursue recourse for such action! Probationary teachers' evaluation timelines were already increased from 2 years to 4 years. The number of classes they need to take and the costs involved in meeting all of their certificate requirements have tremendously increased over the last 10 years. We should ask our legislators, are "more hoops" really needed, and what is the true agenda behind the tenure changes?
Please call or write your state representatives TODAY!!!!! Urge them to vote NO on HB 4410 and SB 638 if they come up for a vote. Representative Contacts Below!
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop
Phone: 517-373-2417
Fax: 517-373-2694
senmbishop@senate.michigan.gov
State Senator Nancy Cassis
Phone: 517-373-1758
Fax: 517-373-0938
senncassis@senate.michigan.gov
State Senator Gilda Jacobs
Phone: 517-373-7888
Fax: 517-373- 2983
SenGJacobs@senate.michigan.gov
State Representative Vicki Barnett
Phone: 517-373-1793
Fax: 517-373-8501
vickibarnett@house.mi.gov
State Representative Lisa Brown
Phone: 517-373-1799
Fax: 517-373-8361
lisabrown@house.mi.gov
State Representative Hugh Crawford
Phone: 517-373-0827
Fax: 517-373-5873
hughcrawford@house.mi.gov
State Representative Eileen Kowall
Phone: 517-373-2616
Fax: 517-373-5843
eileenkowall@house.mi.gov
MEA
About Me
- Tfitzjake
- I wrote this introduction 6 years ago, and it is even more important today than ever. The voices of educational employees need to be heard above the roar of public school attacks in this country. We are on the front line; we are highly educated and trained professionals. Why are we being ignored? I am an educator. I was the president of the Walled Lake Education Association for over 6 years, and before that, the treasurer for 8 years. I have been on the bargaining team for 15 years. I am now the MEA UniServ Director for 7K and parts of IJ. I want our voice to be heard! Today's educational climate requires that we all stay informed regarding the issues affecting our chosen profession!