TEA Public School Advocate - April 7 by Chris Watson

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TEA LEGISLATIVE REPORT | APRIL 7, 2015 | VOL. 1, ISSUE 6

LONG PUSH FOR MORE HEALTH INSURANCE

FUNDS GETS RESULTS

TEA continues to make progress in the fight for more school funding and protecting the health insurance benefits of all educators.

Gov. Bill Haslam announced a budget amendment to fund an extra month of teacher health insurance, adding an additional $30 million in recurring funds to the BEP. This comes at a time when TEA has been pushing a bill through the General Assembly to up the state’s insurance contributions in the BEP from 10 months to 12. “This is great news for teachers and districts struggling to cover insurance costs,” said Jim

Wrye, TEA chief lobbyist. “This amendment is a strong step by the administration on helping teacher compensation. So many teachers who are paid the least also have to pay the most for health insurance, and this will have an impact on that unfairness. It will benefit every teacher across the state. The most important thing is that this money will be reccuring, not just a one time expenditure. The governor deserves credit for this step.” The state currently funds a percentage of health insurance premiums for teachers for only 10 months out of the year. This policy has forced school districts into a

Voucher threats alive and growing With $130 million of public education funds at stake, TEA is fighting deeppocketed out-of-state organizations as they attempt to push through vouchers in the Tennessee General Assembly.

“We defeated vouchers in the two previous legislative sessions and we’re fighting them again this year,” said TEA Executive Director Carolyn Crowder. “It’s an everchanging minefield.” The Senate Finance Committee tacked on an amendment to the principle voucher legislation, SB 999. The amendment adds the words “public or nonpublic school” to the bill, which means that students could use the so-called Opportunity Scholarship to pay “out of district” tuition to a

neighboring school district.

For instance, if a family lives in Davidson County but wants their child to attend school in Williamson County, the new language allows them to use the voucher to send their child to school in Williamson County if they meet all the other voucher requirements. This is problematic on several fronts. First, there’s no way for districts to predict how many students will apply for admission from outside their district. This makes planning for growth/space needs difficult. Also, the voucher amount may or may VOUCHERS go to page 3

A tale of two towns illustrates lawmakers’ concern over the state minimum salary schedule Last year, TEA won the legislative fight to make sure school systems could value teacher experience and degrees by keeping their traditional salary schedules. It was an important victory that protects many teachers’ earnings and retirement. This year, TEA has been asking for another change in the state salary schedule law: when the General Assembly passes a teacher raise in the state budget, the

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baseline of the State Minimum Salary Schedule goes up automatically. The measure has great momentum in the House, though recent actions show the Senate will move slower on the issue. Hearings on the bill have brought some issues to light about the direction the administration would like to take on

difficult position of fully covering the expense of premiums for two months each year.

“Many districts are drowning under the weight of unfunded state mandates and rising operating INSURANCE FUNDING INCREASE go to page 2

$30 million

in recurring funds!

Radical “parent trigger” bill, measure to gut tenure and other rights stop in committee A measure that would have allowed a simple majority of parents of a school to fire half of the teachers and the principal failed to advance out of committee on the final day of March. SB600/HB651 would have created a radical expansion of the so-called “parent trigger” provision, but was pulled before a vote in House Education Instruction and Programs committee after hearing withering criticism from TEA members and other public school advocates. The bill would have allowed a simple majority of parents to initiate either a charter conversion, or the forced adoption of turnaround or transformation models for a school. It doubled the number of schools eligible for restructuring, making eligible the bottom 10 percent according to standardized test scores. The effect of this bill would be to severely damage a parent’s

STATE MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE go to page 4

PARENT TRIGGER go to page 6

PUBLIC SCHOOL THE STRONGEST VOICE FOR SCHOOLS AND EDUCATORS ADVOCATE 1 TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Gov. adds $30 million to health insurance funding INSURANCE FUNDING INCREASE from page 1

costs,” said Wrye. “This injection of recurring dollars into the BEP will be a welcome relief to districts who, like their teachers, are struggling to make ends meet. This doesn’t end the fight for increased state funding for public education, though. It is just one baby step forward.”

An administration proposal would have allowed the State Insurance Committee to abolish the right to keep insurance, or to change it into a voucher program. TEA staunchly opposed the administration proposal, gained legislative

The administration agreed to: • Maintain that the State Insurance Committee shall provide an insurance benefit for teachers who retire after 55 until Medicare eligible.

This increase in insurance funding is one more victory added to TEA’s other recent wins in its fight to protect the benefits of educators.

• Protect the current benefit in law. Teachers may keep their insurance: 75 percent of premiums for less than 20 years of service, 65 percent for 20-30 years of service, 55 percent for 30+ years of service. LEAs may contribute to this.

The state administration opened the 2015 legislative session pushing an insurance bill that would have significantly cut certain retiree healthcare benefits provided to teachers. TEA’s lobbying efforts but a stop to the most damaging parts of the proposal and protected benefits for educators.

• Keep the right of teachers to vote if an LEA wants to change insurance, either exiting from or going into the state group insurance plan.

“Providing quality health insurance is one of the things the state touts as a ‘mea culpa’ of sorts for poor teacher pay, but the two don’t need to be mutually exclusive,” said TEA President Barbara Gray. “The fact that it looks like teachers might actually receive a raise this year does not give just cause to cut healthcare benefits.” Under current Tennessee law, teachers retiring after age 55 have the right to keep their health insurance until age 65, when they become Medicare eligible. A retired teacher pays a portion of the premium for the insurance based on the number of years of service. This is a critical benefit for teachers, often having put 30 or more years into the classroom by 55, and how difficult it is to find affordable quality private insurance because of age and gender.

administration,” said Gray. “Thanks to communication from educators and the efforts of TEA staff, we were able to get several important changes made.”

The one continued point of disagreement is the issue of new employees. Any new teacher hired after July 1 would not be eligible for the retirement benefit decades in the future under the current proposal. The amendment does create investment funds to plan for future benefits, but there is no guarantee for future teachers as for every current teacher in the state. support, and offered some common sense changes to protect retired teachers while addressing some of the financial issues. “After publishing stories in recent issues of ‘The Advocate’ about the administration’s proposal, the response from teachers was heard loud and clear by legislators and the

“Recent national accounting changes really hurt the next generation,” said Jim Wrye, TEA government relations manager. “However, like with the hybrid retirement fight we had two years ago triggered by accounting changes, we will work to make the benefits for the next generation better.” TEA will continue its work to make sure that all teachers, present and future, are compensated as professionals.

TEA transparency bill raises questions about testing contract As legislative committees wind down, TEA is poised to pass its “Parent Empowerment and Testing Transparency Act.” The bill requires the state to release students’ test books to their teachers and parents following end-of-year state assessments. “We are getting closer and closer to true test transparency in Tennessee,” said TEA President Barbara Gray. “Parents and teachers being able to see test questions and how their students answered will be a tremendous tool in improving student achievement and identifying where students may be struggling.” The bill has already passed both the House and Senate education committees. Its next vote will be in the finance committees of both chambers in the next couple of days.

Bill discussion raises questions about new test When the media reports the tremendous amount of money paid to testing companies there is always speculation about what exactly we are getting for those millions of dollars. Well, now we know.

with a $19 million yearly fiscal note. This figure would be on top of the $108 million 5-year contract the state already signed with Measurement Inc. State law already requires a 70 percent turnover of test questions every year. Presumably that cost was factored into the original contract. A $19 million price tag seemed awfully steep for creating only 30 percent of the test questions, plus the expense of getting test books back to teachers. A closer examination of the contract between the state and Measurement Inc. reveals the real reason for the enormous price tag for such a small number of questions. “The motivation behind issuing an RFP to find a new test vendor was to have a test created specifically for Tennessee students, taking into account our state standards and feedback from Tennesseans,” said Rep. David Byrd, a co-sponsor of TEA’s bill. “Instead, the state agreed to licensing questions from a test bank owned by Utah and also used in Arizona and Florida. How does this format take into account the needs of Tennessee students and the feedback received from Tennessee parents and educators? Do we really even own our own test?”

transparency bill was originally saddled

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“While I do feel strongly that all questions should be released, I think it is more important to start getting at least part of the tests into the hands of our parents and teachers,” said Rep. Kevin Dunlap, the bill’s sponsor. “As a result, I worked with Rep. Forgety to add an

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bucks?” said Rep. Byrd.

for Tennessee’s assessment, the state would be fined $5,000 per question.

MANAGING EDITOR: Alexei Smirnov asmirnov@tnea.org ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Jim Wrye EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & PUBLISHER: Carolyn Crowder

TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCATE (USPS PP 332) is published nine times, biweekly, mid-January through mid-May, by the Tennessee Education Association, 801 Second Avenue North, Nashville TN 37201-1099. Pending Periodicals postage paid at Nashville, TN. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCATE, 801 Second Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201-1099. Periodical postage paid at Nashville, TN. The subscription price of $2.57 is allocated from annual membership dues of $258.00 for active members; $129.00 for associate, education support and staff members; $16.00 for retired members; and $10.00 for student members. Member of State Education Editors (SEE).

DISTRICT 3 Michael Carvella (865)212-9774 DISTRICT 4 Anthony Hancock (865)293-9232 DISTRICT 5 Shawanda Perkins (423)385-9569 DISTRICT 6 Scott Price (931)455-7198 DISTRICT 7 Regina Harvey (615)765-3168 DISTRICT 8 Kevin King (615)504-0425 DISTRICT 9 Theresa L. Wagner (270)776-1467 DISTRICT 10 Becky Jackman (931)980-0206 DISTRICT 11 Wendy R. Bowers (731)645-8595 DISTRICT 12 Suzie May (731)779-9329 DISTRICT 13 Nellie Keeton (901)840-9700 DISTRICT 14 Tiffany Reed (901)412-2759 DISTRICT 15 Tom Emens (901)277-0578 ADMINISTRATOR EAST Jessica Holman (865)591-4981 ADMINISTRATOR MIDDLE Julie Hopkins (615)822-5742 ADMINISTRATOR WEST Dennis Kimbrough (901)494.0105 HIGHER EDUCATION Clinton Smith (901)230-4914 BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER EAST Pam Thompson

The amendment states that the state will only release questions that do not violate a copyright infringement. Teachers and parents will still have access to students’ test books, but questions owned by Utah will be redacted.

Rep. “Coach” David Byrd (above), and Rep. Kevin Dunlap (below), educators and career-long TEA members, are co-sponsoring HB1089/SB439.

The agreement with Utah also includes a clause that any release of the questions either by accident or as required by law, will result in a $5,000 fee per test question released. This means if TEA’s bill continued in its original form through the legislature and the state is required to release a bank of questions generated from the Utah test and used

TEA’s testing

amendment that will bring the fiscal note down.”

As distrust in standardized tests and state mandates grow, gaining any amount of transparency is an important first step in regaining the trust of parents and educators. If passed, TEA’s transparency bill (SB0439/HB1089) will provide a system of checks and balances, restoring the public’s faith in what we are getting for our $108 million. “The reduced fiscal note of $1.3 million should not be a hindrance for this bill. That figure works out to less than $2 per Tennessee student. Isn’t improving student achievement and teacher instruction – plus regaining the confidence of parents and educators – worth the two

More questions about how Measurement Inc. is using taxpayer money were raised after the Tennessee Education Report reported the company was soliciting test graders on Craigslist for $11 an hour pay. “There is too much uncertainty as the state transitions to this new assessment. It is important for parents and educators to see exactly what is being asked of students and how they are being graded to build any confidence at all in this new assessment,” said President Gray. Contact legislators now to ask for support of SB439/ HB1089.

(615)948.7378 BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER MIDDLE Kenneth Martin (615)876-1948 BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER WEST Sarah Kennedy-Harper (901)416-4582 STATE SPECIAL SCHOOLS Debi Ponder (615)969-4362 NEW TEACHER Carrie Allison (812)205-7689 ESP Stephanie Bea (901)265-4540 TN NEA DIRECTOR Melanie Buchanan (615)305-2214 TN NEA DIRECTOR Diccie Smith (901)482-0627 STEA MEMBER David Johnson (865)828-5324 TN RETIRED Linda McCrary (423)473-9400 * Executive Committee AT LARGE RETIRED DIRECTOR ON NEA BOARD JoAnn Smith (423)283-9037

TEA HEADQUARTERS STAFF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Carolyn Crowder; ASST. EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS: Terrance Gibson; Steve McCloud; Jim Wrye; TECHNOLOGY & BUILDING

OPERATIONS MANAGER: Galen Riggs; COMPTROLLER: David Shipley; UNISERV FIELD MANAGER: Karla Carpenter; STAFF ATTORNEYS: John Allen, Virginia A. McCoy; GOVERNMENT RELATIONS COORDINATOR: Drew Sutton; WEB MASTER & COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR: Amanda Chaney; MANAGING EDITOR & COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR: Alexei Smirnov; INSTRUCTIONAL ADVOCACY & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COORDINATORS: Rhonda Thompson; William O’Donnell; COORDINATOR OF ORGANIZING SUPPORT & AFFILIATE RELATIONS: Shannon Bain; ADVOCACY HOTLINE COORDINATOR: Forestine Cole, Gera Summerford & Cynthia Wood.

UniServ Staff contact information can be found on page 6.

There are hundreds of education bills filed during the session. Below is a partial list of bills of interest. VOUCHERS from page 1

not equal the actual per pupil dollars spent on the child — creating a financial burden for the receiving district as well as for the district that loses the student. Indeed, even if students leave a public school system, fixed costs mean vouchers increase, not decrease expenses. The amendment will undoubtedly require a new fiscal note — an analysis

the annual state tests administered to public school students, and McKay schools are not required to report any information on student outcomes— which goes against the national trend toward standards and accountability in public education. Thus, it is virtually impossible to say whether specialneeds children using McKay vouchers to attend private schools are faring better, worse, or about the same as they had in their old public schools. It is also difficult to determine whether the McKay program is improving existing special-education services, since, unlike public schools, McKay schools are not required to provide these services at all.

TEA members need to get ready for a big fight on vouchers in the coming weeks. of the financial impact of the bill. And its adoption delayed consideration of the companion bill in the House Education – Administration & Planning Committee. Following this adventure in vouchers, both the Senate and House Education Committees approved a voucher plan that would allow any Tennessee student with an IEP – Individualized Education Plan – to receive vouchers, potentially opening it up to 120,000 Tennessee students currently meet this definition. That means that in addition to the 20,000 student cap that is in the first voucher bill, another 120,000 students would be eligible. It’s not hard to imagine an ultimate goal of making vouchers available to every single student in Tennessee. The idea for the IEP voucher plan is based McKay scholarships, a controversial plan promoted by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who saw the program adopted in his state while he was in office. A report by Sara Mead of Education Sector at American Institutes for Research notes that the Florida program, on which the Tennessee legislation is modeled, is problematic.

Tennessee’s plan would have a similar lack of accountability — which means parents could claim the voucher and then have their child be grossly underserved. Mead continues: McKay’s lack of accountability requirements and its minimal quality and service expectations make McKay a seriously flawed program. Under the current structure of the program, taxpayers have almost no knowledge of how their money is being spent, and neither taxpayers nor parents have access to solid information about the performance of different McKay schools. For parents, the stakes are very high, as they are required to give up their due process rights under IDEA if they choose to participate in the McKay program. Parents, taxpayers, and the state’s special-needs children deserve better. Moving toward a program with zero accountability and unproven results seems a grave disservice to the families of special needs children in Tennessee. Next week may yield a slow-down for these two voucher initiatives. Or, it could be more vouchers gone wild – more tax dollars spent, less accountability.

Here are some highlights:

Bills TEA Supports SB806 / HB836 Notice of charges and hearing prior to dismissal for LEA employees Requires that an LEA employee in a position for which no teaching license is required be given notice, in writing, of charges and a hearing prior to dismissal. Provides that such an employee wishing to appeal an adverse decision of the hearing officer must first exhaust the employee’s administrative remedies by appealing to the local board of education within ten days of the finding. SB808 / HB1362 Charter school funding - attrition rates As introduced, requires K–8 charter schools to return funding to the LEA, at the LEA’s request, if the charter school’s attrition rate exceeds 200 percent of the average attrition rate for LEA K–8 schools; sets the amount of funding to be returned at all state and local funds attributable to the students above the 200 percent threshold. SB893 / HB1031 Timely notification of non-renewal Changes, from June 15 to May 15, the date on which a board of education or director of schools must notify certain teachers of their dismissal or failure of reelection or assignment to schools for the next school year. SB894 / HB1032 Pay for work done beyond 200-day teacher contract As introduced, limits the length of a teacher’s obligations under a written contract with the director of schools or board of education to the term of each school year; requires LEAs to compensate teachers in an amount equal to their daily rate of pay under the contract if the LEA requires the teacher to work between school terms. SB1013 / HB858 ASD Parent Trigger As introduced, allows the commissioner to assign certain schools or grade configurations within certain schools to the ASD unless the parents of 60 percent of the children enrolled at the school object by petition, at which time the commissioner and the LEA may agree to certain alternate interventions for the school. SB1308 / HB1117 State salary schedule strengthened As introduced, requires that each step of the state salary schedule for licensed personnel be at least equal to the 2012–2013 schedule increased by 1.5 percent; adds other revisions to the computation of the schedule. SB1241 / HB1154 Delinquent acts of a student As introduced, expands the delinquent acts for which a student’s school shall be notified; transfers duty to notify the LEA from the child’s parent to the clerk of the juvenile or general sessions court. SB1299 / HB1091 PECCA revisions As introduced, deletes statement that nothing in the Professional Educators Collaborative Conference Act of 2011, requires collaborative conferencing.

Bills TEA Opposes SB122 / HB210 Tennessee Choice and Opportunity Scholarship Act Establishes vouchers in Tennessee. SB183 / HB158 Little Hatch Act - public school employees Makes the “Little Hatch Act” applicable to teachers. Prohibits a teacher from displaying campaign literature, banners, stickers or other political advertising on the premises of any building or land owned by an LEA. SB300 / HB155 State board of education - grading system for school performance Requires the state board of education to develop a school grading system that assigns letter grades to schools based on their performance on TCAP tests or end-of-course exams, their effect on student growth as indicated by data from the Tennessee value-added assessment system and other measures of students growth, and other indicators of student achievement. Provides that the department of education shall include the school grades on the state report card. SB607 / HB648 Changes to state, local government & local education insurance plans As introduced, makes various changes to state, local government, and local education insurance plans. SB692 / HB781 Charter schools to contract with nonprofit and for-profit entities As introduced, will allow for-profit charter school. Permits a charter school to contract with nonprofit or forprofit entities for the operation or management of the school subject to certain conditions. SB604 / HB645 The Educator Protection Act of 2015 Will provide a liability pool for teachers, quality of coverage is suspect.

McKay students do not have to take

Legislators push back on efforts to silence TEA A bill sponsored by Rep. Glen Casada targeting TEA and its effective efforts to elect pro-education legislators had a rough go in the House State Government Committee. The bill, captioned to hide its real intent, was initially rumored eliminate all payroll deduction of dues. When Casada produced an amendment to rewrite the bill, the measure attacked the collection of PAC contributions, members’ efforts in politics, and staff at TEA. TEA has vigorously fought the bill, as an encroachment on our rights and a threat to our ability to help legislative friends. Casada’s bill was broad and poorly written. Any political activity by TEA members, such as “making contributions to a candidate, political

party, or political campaign committee,” or “providing any type of in-kind help or support of a political candidate” such as volunteering, canvassing, or phone banking could be considered illegal if coordinated through the association.

democratic process. TEA is the largest independent contributor to legislative candidates in Tennessee, and is the only counterbalance to the avalanche of out-of-state special interest money focused on privatization and tax cuts.

Any TEA staff who lobbied may not “advocate for or against a political candidate or to engage in political activity on behalf of the organization or association.”

The measure would threaten TEA communications about legislators, their voting records and position on the issues that could possibly be viewed by non-members.

The bill labeled political activity as exceptionally broad and possibly unconstitutional.

“In a strange way the bill is a big complement to what TEA did in the last elections, especially with the turnout in GOP primaries,” said Jim Wrye, the lobbyist for TEA.

This bill would stop TEA staff from informing membership and PAC board members on voting records and positions of legislators, prevent TEA staff from making PAC recommendations, and threaten TEA staff when participating in the

“We were able to elect pro-education lawmakers, and it may have rubbed some people the wrong way.” Republican and Democrats on the House Government Committee

attacked the bill, not allowing the amendment to go on the bill and trying to kill it then and there. Committee chairman Rep. Bob Ramsey was against the bill, as was Reps. Bill Sanderson, Johnny Shaw, Bud Hulsey, Jason Powell, and Darren Jernigan. The most vocal opponent was Rep. Curry Todd, the Republican from Collierville who was a long time member of the Fraternal Order of Police, an organization that would also be affected. “This is a bad bill,” said Todd. All it does is keep those folks out of the political process regardless of which side they are on.” While the bill is not defeated, it did get a major setback. TEA will keep fighting this bill until it is dead.

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THE STATE MINIMUM SALARY, EQUI

POVERTIZATION OF TENNESSEE T

Pay inequity a drain on talent, economy an SYSTEMS READY TO SUE STATE from page 1

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Hancock County has a limited tax base as a rural county, with state caps on rates for agricultural land and few retailers, reducing the ability to raise sales tax revenue.

A 50% DIFF IN TEACHE UNCONSTIT ONE REME STRENGTH MINIMUM SCHED

STATE MINIMUM SALARY SCHEDULE from page 1

teacher compensation. TEA’s effort is in large part a response to the plight of teachers at or near the bottom of pay in our state. Right now there are teachers in Tennessee— teachers in mid-career—taking home less than $1,300 a month after paying health insurance premiums. It is that reality driving TEA’s efforts on the State Minimum Salary Schedule and to increase state funding on teacher health insurance. Over the past years when lawmakers have appropriated a raise, the State Board of Education has by custom increased each step in the schedule. This mechanism helps drive much of that state funding into paychecks rather than other uses of those funds—like insurance. “We have been in the Capitol demanding a great deal from our teachers, and frankly they can and should demand a great deal from us, that is why I believe we should pass this bill,” said Rep. David Alexander, vice-chair of the House Finance Committee and sponsor of the bill on the state schedule. “When we say we’ve passed a teacher raise, we should do everything in our power to make sure those funds get into teacher paychecks.” Alexander noted in testimony in the committee he also sits on the committee for Pensions and Insurance, and that if money does not get into salaries, retirement may suffer.

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“It is the cumulative effect over a career of earnings, and how high those earnings go as a teacher approaches retirement, that determines how much the teacher can expect from a retirement check. If they go for years with some salary money being diverted for other things it will hurt,” said Alexander.

need to step up to match what the state does.

It is legal to use increases in teacher salary money (known as the BEP teacher instructional component) for things other than raises. Administration officials in committee said systems have used these funds to supplement health insurance, pay administrators, hire more teachers, and for one-time bonuses.

There is an open question whether the state board will continue its custom of raising the state schedule by the 4 percent placed in the state budget.

Education committee member Rep. Kent Calfee noted that if you hired teachers using only state raise money, then you would keep them all poorly paid. The salary schedule bill in the House now moves to the Finance Ways and Means committee. The chair of Finance, Rep. Charles Sargent, has said he will sign on to the bill, and there is every indication it will move toward passage in the House. The bill does have a fiscal note. State Department officials have told the legislature that if thereis an automatic increases to the schedule, it will cost local governments $1.2 million. Some supporters of the bill point to that figure as proof of the need for the bill. Local governments

TEA disputes the local government figure, noting that for decades the schedule was raised by the state board when a raise was passed and those costs were always met by local systems. But what has been learned during these debates is significant.

Senate will watch the state board On April 1, in consultation with TEA, the Senate sponsor of the schedule bill, Sen. Paul Bailey, moved the measure to the first calendar of 2016. The General Assembly considers bills over a period of two years, and while the House is moving forward, there was concern that the Senate Education Committee would not approve the bill and stop all progress. The timing of the announcement just before the Senate committee meeting of the excellent news of an additional $30 million recurring funds for teacher insurance also reduced the impetus to pass something this year. By rolling the bill to the beginning of next year,

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lawmakers will be able to view what the state board will do, and how that affects teacher salaries. “It is my hope the State Board, which now has the power to raise the baseline of the schedule, will do so to reflect the increases in the state budget. I think the entire General Assembly should take an interest in what happens moving forward,” said Bailey in committee. He noted that the way the state tries to stop this gross inequity is through the State Minimum Salary Schedule. The goal of this bill was to make sure when the General Assembly passes a raise, it is reflected automatically in the State Minimum Salary Schedule. It is the way the state encourages the use of compensation funds to get into teacher paychecks.

Fast approaching an unconstitutional disparity Take a tale of two Tennessee towns less than 50 miles apart as the crow flies. In Sneedville, the county seat of Hancock, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree and several years experience, choosing Partnership family health coverage, takes home less than $1,300 a month. Across several ridges, a similar teacher in Kingsport with the same health coverage brings home more

Kingsport has a robust retail, commercial and industrial sector, as well as strong employment that generates 45 percent more school funding than Hancock County.

than $2,400, or approximately 50 percent more in salary. It’s not that Hancock County doesn’t want to pay its teacher more, they absolutely do. The county has a limited tax base as a rural community, with state caps on rates for agricultural land and few retailers, reducing the ability to raise sales tax revenue. Many folks travel to adjacent counties for some shopping needs, further reducing revenue. It is why Hancock has paid the state minimum for teacher salaries and the state minimum for employer contributions to health insurance— making teachers pay 55 percent or more of the cost of the health insurance they choose. Kingsport takes advantage of its community’s economics to invest in schools. The city has robust retail, commercial and industrial sectors, as well as strong employment. Kingsport has many locally funded teacher units, whereas Hancock has few. The city has one of the highest percentages of funding above the BEP state funds of any system in the state. That is why teachers in Kingsport have far higher salaries, and pay 30 percent of the cost of the health insurance they choose, not 55 percent or more. One of the issues TEA raised with lawmakers about the state schedule is that the disparity between Hancock and Kingsport, if allowed to continue, is unconstitutional and will be up to the

state to fix. The state has relied on the schedule to check pay disparity, but the last two years have been problematic. In 2003, the State Supreme Court ruled that a 46 percent difference in teacher salaries was unconstitutional, a ruling commonly referred to as Small School III. The fix by the General Assembly in 2004 cost the state up to $100 million, and special legislation passed. It took the teacher pay disparity down to 35 percent, but it has steadily increased, especially in years where there were no state raises. We may have already crossed the threshold for unconstitutional disparity again, but TEA believes if the state schedule remains stagnant it will certainly happen. Having the General Assembly take control of the schedule increase would certainly be considered if any new suits were filed. There is a heightened awareness of the importance of state salary schedule among lawmakers, and the bill will continue to make progress. Now with a 4-percent teacher pay raise and an additional $30 million for insurance, TEA will be watching just how school systems use the new money and reporting back to the General Assembly. It is clear lawmakers want to see money get to a teacher’s paycheck.

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Legislators seek to ban educators from county commissions The collective voice of Tennessee teachers is getting stronger and stronger. As a result, more legislation is introduced to try to silence your voice.

through the General Assembly to prohibit public educators, and all other county employees, from running for county commission positions.

A new proposal (SB466/HB985) is making its way

TEA is working to make sure this proposal does not pass, especially in its current form.

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NOW!

“Our first priority is to get educators exempted from this bill,” said TEA Chief Lobbyist Jim Wrye. “Teachers are employees of the local school district and answer to the local school board – on which they are unable to hold a seat. Teachers provide an important perspective and should not be grouped in with county employees who report directly to the county commission.” The second line of defense against this bill will be to make it permissive. This means, each county commission would have to vote to enact a ban against county employees running for a commission seat. “There is not strong support for this legislation from county commissions. The House sponsor’s own district, Sumner County, has publicly opposed

banning county employees from its commission,” said Wrye. TEA has had great success working with local associations to elect educators and pro-public education candidates to county commissions. The best example of the valuable role educators can play on a county commission comes from Blount County. In Blount County, BCEA-backed candidates swept all county commission and county school board seats they were active in. Grady Caskey, BCEA president, was himself elected to the county commission. Since assuming his role as a county commissioner, he has provided an educator’s perspective on important decisions that impact students and teachers. “No one is better suited to providing insight on what a county’s children need than its educators,” said TEA President Barbara Gray. “Educators interact with more families on a daily basis than any other professional in the community. We experience first-hand the struggles and hardships faced by the families we serve. Having an educator’s voice on a county commission benefits the entire community, not just teachers.” The bill is scheduled for its next votes on Tuesday, April 7, in the House and Senate local government committees.

Grady

CASBKEDY en

TEA local campaign assistance program helps member-backed candidates win at the county and city level. Some legislators seek to silence the voice of educators in local elections

At left and above are examples of printed campaign materials created by TEA staff to help local associations. TEA set up direct mail for Overton County, and printed campaign brochures for BCEA President Grady Caskey.

inee Republican nom

oner Blount Commissi B District 8, Seat itte Paid for by Comm

skey e to Elect Grady Ca

PARENT TRIGGER, DESTRUCTION OF TENURE BILLS DIE IN COMMITTEE BILLS DEFEATED from page 1

ability to have meaningful dialogue with their school. “Parents currently have the ability to engage with leadership at the school or system level to discuss a wide variety of potential fixes. This bill would force them to choose between a limited set of three options, and provide no flexibility for individual circumstances,” said Jim Wrye, Director of Government Relations for TEA. “Parents deserve more than cookie-cutter solutions.” Wrye notes there is already a parent trigger law on the books, and that no effort by Tennessee parents has ever initiated the law.

Need information, services? Tennessee Education Association 801 Second Avenue N., Nashville, TN 37201-1099 (615) 242-8392, (800) 342-8367, FAX (615) 259-4581

UniServ Coordinators

District 1 — Harry Farthing, P.O. Box 298, Elizabethton, TN 37644; phone: (423)262-8035, fax: (866)379-0949; Assns: Carter, Hancock, Hawkins, Rogersville, Johnson, Sullivan, Bristol, Elizabethton, Kingsport. District 2 — Jennifer Gaby, P.O. Box 70, Afton, TN 37616; (423)2340700, fax: (423)234.0708; Assns: Cocke, Newport, Greene, Greeneville, Unicoi, Washington, Hamblen, Johnson City. District 3 — Tina Parlier, P.O. Box 74, Corryton, TN 37721, (865)688-1175, fax: (866)518-

A separate bill that would have wiped out tenure, planning time protections and many other rights also failed to advance out of the Senate Education committee. SB1085/HB1227 would have given every LEA the ability to apply for waivers from any state law and board rule that would allow them to be more “innovative.” Similar “innovation” laws have passed in other states in recent years, with catastrophic results for student learning.

3104; Assns: Claiborne, Grainger, Jefferson, Sevier, Union, Scott, Campbell, Oneida (in Scott Co.). District 4 — Duran Williams, KCEA, 2411 Magnolia Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37917 Assns: Knox,TSD, District 5— Jason White, P.O. Box 5502, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; (615)521-1333, fax: (865)200-5254; Assns: Anderson, Clinton, Oak Ridge, Blount, Alcoa, Maryville, Lenoir City, Loudon. District 6 — Chris Brooks, P.O. Box 3629, Chattanooga, TN 37404, (615)332-2636; Assns: Bradley, Cleveland, McMinn, Athens, Etowah, Meigs, Monroe, Sweetwater, Polk, Rhea-Dayton, Roane. District 7 — Theresa Turner, HCEA 4655 Shallowford Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37411; (423)485-9535, fax: (423)485-9512; Assns: Hamilton. District 8 — Josh Trent, P.O. Box 451, Livingston, TN 38570, (931)279-9530; Assns: Clay, Cumberland, Fentress, Jackson, Morgan, Pickett,

PUBLICSCHOOL SCHOOL PUBLIC TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

“This is another case of out of state special interests groups coming in a trying to impose their demands on Tennessee,” said Wrye, noting a national charter chain was behind the measure. “Every year we fight things like this, and every year it is important we defeat them.”

ADVOCATE ADVOCATE

Putnam, Overton, York Institute, TN Tech. Univ, Bledsoe, Sequatchie,Van Buren, White. District 9 — Jackie Pope, 2326 Valley Grove Dr., Murfreesboro, TN 37128;phone: (615)898-1060, fax: (855) 301-8214, Assns: Bedford, Moore, Cannon, DeKalb, Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Manchester, Tullahoma, Marion, Warren. District 10 — Jeff Garrett, P.O. Box 1326, Lebanon, TN 37088-1326; (615)6302605, fax (855)320-8755—; Assns: Rutherford, Murfreesboro, Sumner, MTSU, Macon, Smith, Trousdale. District 11 — Antoinette Lee; Assns: FSSD, Williamson. District 12 — Sue Ogg; phone: (615)856-0503 — Assns: Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Fayetteville, Maury, Wayne, Marshall, Perry. District 13 — Mary Campbell, Susan Dalton, Metro Nashville, 531 Fairground Court, Nashville, TN 37211; (615)347-6578 (Campbell), fax:

Systems with similar legislation in place saw dramatic increases in teacher turnover, along with marked deterioration of working conditions once workplace protections were removed. “I’m not sure how anyone could think that destroying a teacher’s job security and working conditions is supposed to improve student outcomes,” said Carolyn Crowder, Executive Director of TEA. “Anybody who tells you the problem in education today is that teachers aren’t working hard enough is clearly not paying attention,” Teachers can expect similar, radical reform legislation to be back next session, and can expect TEA to be ready to fight it.

(855)299-4968 (Campbell); Assns: Metro Nashville, TN School For The Blind, Lebanon, Wilson. District 14 — Maria Uffelman, P.O. Box 99, Cumberland City, TN 37050; phone: (931)827-3333, fax: (855)2994925; Assns: Clarksville-Montgomery, Robertson. District 15 — Cheryl Richardson, P.O. Box 354, Goodlettsville, TN 37070; phone: (615)630-2601, fax: (888)519-4879; Assns: Benton, West Carroll, Central, Clarksburg, Huntingdon, McKenzie, Henry, Paris, Houston, Humphreys, Stewart, Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman. District 16 — Lorrie Butler, P.O. Box 387, Henderson, TN 38340; (731)989-4860, fax: (855)299-4591; Assns: Chester, Hardeman, West TSD, Henderson, Lexington, Jackson-Madison, McNairy, Decatur, Hardin. District 17 — Terri Jones, —Assns: Crockett, Dyer, Dyersburg, Gibson, Humboldt, Milan, Trenton, Haywood, Lake,

Lauderdale, Obion, Union City, Tipton, Weakley. District 18 — Zandra Foster, Ashley Evett, 3897 Homewood Cove, Memphis, TN 38128; (901)3779472, fax: (855)320-8737;—Assns: Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Germantown, Lakeland, Millington, Fayette. District 19 — Assns: MemphisShelby County Education Association — Ken Foster, Executive Director; Memphis-Shelby County EA UniServ Directors: Glenda Jones, Tom Marchand, 126 South Flicker Street, Memphis, TN 38104; (901)454-0966, fax: (901)454-9979; Assn: Memphis-Shelby County.

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More than a score By Andrew Kimball All you students, parents too, I got a message, I got a message for you: If you’re a student or teach in Tennessee. You know there’s more to you and there’s more to me: More than an A, B, C or D, more than a 5 or 3, You’ve got a history that’s more! Yeah, you’re more than a score, Or a TCAP bubble form. Yeah, you’re more than a number on a data wall.

Futrell Redditt, Memphis-Shelby Co. EA.

Andrew Kimball, Athens EA, author of the song “More than a score” (youtube.com/TennesseeEA).

It’s the time, it’s the place To stand up and state your case That you’re more, more, more, more – more than a score. People in charge know they ain’t got a clue What you and I are going to do. They don’t understand what we’re fighting for Why we’re screaming out loud, “Judge us on something more!” More than an A, B, C or D, more than a 1 or 3, You’ve got a history that’s more! Yeah, you’re more than a score, Or a TCAP bubble form. Yeah, you’re more than a number on a data wall.

PUBLIC SCHOOL TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

ADVOCATE

Jessica Roberts, Germantown-Arlington-Lakeland EA.

TEA Vice President Beth Brown.