Personnel Lessons For Educators

Behavior That Makes Us Crazy – Personnel Lessons For Educators That We Learned The Hard Way Kelley Baker Steve Williams kbaker@hslegalfirm.com swilliams@hslegalfirm.com Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 H & S School Law

Document Review  Review and compare school policies, handbooks, contracts, and policies on file with NDE  Evaluation system  Review it with teachers at the beginning of the year  Tell teachers what you want

Unprofessional Lips Sink Ships    

E-mails Angry comments Sloppy writing “Discriminatory” comments

Be Direct and Clear

Be Direct and Clear  Honesty is a sign of respect  Speak the truth with love  Be direct with criticism • Don’t sandwich criticism between layers of praise • Avoid mixed messages

Be Direct and Clear  Set standards -- teachers can’t meet standards without knowing them  Write in the first person  Avoid the “cliffhanger” evaluation  Be consistent  The “C” word - Confrontation

But Don’t Expect Gratitude

Avoid Gratuitous Praise pecially in writing

Don’t Inflate Evaluations

Don’t Inflate Evaluations  No teacher is perfect  A gratuitously glowing evaluation does not help a teacher improve  A “C” is not an “A”  You will pay for evaluation inflation • It makes it difficult to non-renew or terminate a teacher • It lowers you in the board’s esteem

Don’t Use Cutesy Terms

Don’t Be Cute

Cute Gets You into Trouble  DON’T: • Be sneaky • RIF teachers who should be fired • Say one thing to one person and another thing to another person

Don’t Ignore Problems

It Doesn’t Make Them Go Away  Don’t ignore: • The bad, creepy, or mean teacher who is too troublesome to remediate • The teacher whose problems keep recurring and exhaust you • A bad teacher by hiding her in Title

Post Evaluation Conference  Avoid the “Post-it note” conference  Timing  Document

Don’t Depend on “Counseling Someone Out”

Counseling Someone Out  Distracts your focus  Prompts you to avoid developing necessary evidence  Creates evidence of discrimination  Leaves an impression of unfairness  Getting away with it can be is as bad as getting caught

Karate Do, Karate Don’t, Karate Maybe -- Squish

Karate Do, Karate Don’t  If you do your job: • A good result is more likely • You make the NSEA’s job easier • You impress the board positively  If you maybe do your job: • You encourage hearings • You impress the board negatively

Deadlines

Deadlines  Meet your own deadlines  For evaluations: • Observe all probationary teachers once each semester • Complete the entire evaluation process during the same semester • Make the teacher sign the evaluation at the conference

Deadlines  Set deadlines for teachers • Make them reasonable • Enforce them • Do not extend them – “you missed the deadline, get this done”

Get Your Legal Advice From Your District’s Lawyer

Get Your Legal Advice From Your District’s Lawyer  • • • • •

NOT: The NSEA The Department of Education Nebraska Advocacy Services Parents Your conference administrators

And Follow That Advice  Issue the reprimand  Implement the improvement plan

Don’t Rely on Common Sense

Don’t Rely on Past Practice     

SpEd law Negotiations Open Meetings Act Personnel Discrimination (especially age)

Max the Miracle Man

Miracles Take Time It’s easier to work miracles when:  You consult with your school attorney on all personnel matters • Early • Often  Remember, it’s never too late to begin, but earlier is better than later  Be persistent – don’t give in

Don’t Play Doctor

Don’t Play Doctor  You are an educator, not a physician  Stick to your area of expertise  Focus on job performance  Consider an accommodation for a teacher with a disability  A teacher whom you “perceive” as disabled is protected by the ADA

You’re Not as Tough as You Think

You’re Not as Tough as You Think Educators often feel that their memos and evaluations are harsh when:  They are not  The teacher and teacher’s attorney don’t agree  The board doesn’t find them to be harsh or sufficiently clear

Behavior That Makes Us Crazy – Personnel Lessons For Educators That We Learned The Hard Way Kelley Baker Steve Williams kbaker@hslegalfirm.com swilliams@hslegalfirm.com Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 H & S School Law