This message is political in nature. Do not reply, forward or print from school computers. Do not make political calls from school phones.

Imagine a world in which reductions in force are made according to employee evaluation, there are no recall rights for employees who are laid off, and teachers who are eliminated from one building have no guarantee of being placed elsewhere in the district, even if there are openings for which they are qualified.

 State Representative Ruth Kagi proposed just this world in House Bill 1609, which she co-sponsored.

 EVERY SINGLE EDUCATOR COULD POTENTIALLY BE IMPACTED BY THIS LEGISLATION!

 Kagi’s bill deals primarily with reductions in force and has the following “highlights”

·         In a RIF situation, decisions are made according to a weighted average of the prior two years’ evaluations.

o   Teachers who are new to a district would be retained before teachers with similar current year evaluations who had lower scores the previous year.

o   Seniority would serve as a tie-breaker, but would only take into account time in district.

·         Employees who are non-renewed are guaranteed an interview, but not employment. Even if they have received satisfactory evaluations.

o   This proposed law would forbid locally bargained language to guarantee recall.

·         In-district reassignments would no longer be mandatory. If a building has a reduced number of positions displaced employees must apply for jobs in other buildings within the district and be ‘hired’ by those buildings.

o   Employees who have been hired into other buildings within 6 months may be non-renewed by the district.

Ø  Possible Example: Due to declining enrollment Shorewood loses a math position. Two Shorecrest teachers split a winning lottery ticket and resign at the end of the school year. It is possible for Shorecrest to hire two teachers who are new to the district while the displaced Shorewood teacher is non-renewed.

·         The only provision for enacting these measures is “When reductions in the workforce occur due to enrollment decline or revenue loss…”

 

The bill presents a rationale that principals should be evaluated on creating a school culture, and “a principal needs the ability to select teachers who have demonstrated effectiveness and have demonstrated qualifications and teaching experience that support the instructional practices of the school.”

 

The bill also eviscerates the collaborative spirit of the new 4-tier evaluation system that is being piloted by districts in Washington (required to be in place state wide in two years). WEA worked closely with the legislature last session to form a system that is focused on professional development and fosters trust and dialog between educators and their evaluators.

 

House Bill 1609 undermines that legislation and effectively reverts Washington to a two-tiered (“top tier” or “in danger of losing your job-tier”) system.

 

ACTION NEEDED!

 

It is very important that YOU take the time to contact Representative Kagi from your home phone or computer and let her know how these changes will negatively impact the teachers, students, and schools in her home district. Her bill is disrespectful, and assumes teachers are the problem. Her misdirected effort devalues the thoughtful work that is already underway to reform our evaluation system and improve student learning. Please tell her we need her support, not more bills that promise reform but only undermine the good educators working in our schools now.

 

Thank you.

 

E-mail: kagi.ruth@leg.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 786-7910