Advocate - March 24

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TEA LEGISLATIVE REPORT | MARCH 24, 2015 | VOL. 1, ISSUE 5

TEA makes real gains on protecting retiree insurance 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.

4 %! Revenue remains good go to page 8

Vouchers to take $130 million from schools!

Call legislators to stop them now!

What costs $130 million in education funding, has no accountability, and provides dubious benefit to Tennessee students?

An administration proposal would have allowed the State Insurance Commitee to abolish the right to keep insurance, or to change it into a

The proposed private school voucher program currently making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly.

TEA FIGHTS TO PROTECT RETIREE INSURANCE go to page 2

pass a voucher bill and we intend to do so again this session – with your help.

It is easy to brush aside the threat of private school vouchers if you teach outside one of the districts targeted in the proposal, but this is a real threat to all public schools in

TEA and other public education advocates successfully defeated previous attempts to

STOP VOUCHERS go to page 2

Systems across Tennessee gear up to sue state over inadequate K-12 funding It’s about the economy! Our schools must do more......

When schools cannot afford toilet paper, it’s time to sound the alarm — or sue the state over inadequate funding.

That is exactly what Polk County Board of Education chose to do earlier this month.

The inability of Copper Basin High School in Polk County to pay for toilet paper for its students while meeting multiple mandates demanded by the state was one

TN BIG BIZ

of the reasons cited in the board’s vote to file a lawsuit against the state over the Basic Education Program (BEP), the formula through which our state funds public schools.

Polk County schools have joined Bradley, Grundy, Marion, McMinn, Coffee and SYSTEMS READY TO SUE STATE go to page 4

and they have plenty already to do it with.

TN BIG BIZ

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Vouchers give choice to private schools, not parents STOP VOUCHERS from page 1

Tennessee. As we have seen with other unproven reform schemes, what starts in one district can quickly spread across the state.

“It is important that all educators understand what is being proposed and the serious implications for public education in our state, should the legislation pass,” said TEA President Barbara Gray. “Together, with strong, clear and frequent communication with legislators, we can defeat this threat for a third year.”

At full implementation, the plan being discussed and advanced by legislators will serve a minimum of 20,000 students. Which means a cost of $130 million.

“That’s $130 million not being invested in Tennessee public schools. That’s $130 million not available to provide resources to Tennessee’s public school students. That’s $130 million not being invested in supporting our state’s teachers – teachers who too often earn poverty-level wages,” Gray said.

Some of those advancing this voucher scheme suggest that when vouchers are fully implemented, costs to public schools will go down.

That’s simply not the case. In fact, a recent report on the cost of charter schools in Nashville reveals the same problems the state will face if vouchers are implemented: “The key question for determining fiscal impacts is whether enrollment reductions allow a district to achieve expenditure reductions commensurate with revenue reductions. Fixed costs are incurred regardless of whether students attend traditional or charter schools. The problem is that some fixed

costs, such as building maintenance, computer network infrastructure, and health services do not vary based on enrollment. Therefore, teachers and their salaries are a key cost driver tied to student enrollment … However, it is not always possible to reduce teacher costs proportionate to losses in revenue. For these costs to be reduced significantly, the school would need to close altogether.”

of voucher research and action and found that vouchers had no strong effect on student achievement. The most positive results come from Milwaukee County’s voucher program, but the effects were small and limited to only a few grades.

Make no mistake: If this voucher bill passes, teachers will lose their jobs and public schools will close.

A critical study of the Milwaukee program found that it

In fact, the voucher scheme being debated may be the largest diversion of public education dollars to private sources in Tennessee history.

“In addition to the significant concerns around funding implications, we also have serious concerns about private schools’ ability to cherry-pick the students they want at their schools,” said Gray.

“When you get into the details of this proposal, it is really about choice for private schools, not for our parents.

Private schools are free to admit only the best athletes or only the students with strong academic performance, leaving behind the students who proponents claim will benefit from vouchers.”

Proponents of this privatization scheme claim it will help improve student outcomes. In fact, research on vouchers shows that students receiving vouchers perform no better than their non-voucher peers and that voucher programs tend to perpetuate a pretty negative status quo: In 2010, the Center on Education Policy reviewed 10 years

TEA fights to keep retiree health insurance TEA FIGHTS TO PROTECT RETIREE INSURANCE from page 1

voucher program. TEA staunchly opposed the administration proposal and offered some common sense changes to protect retired teachers while addressing some of the financial issues behind the measure.

TEA expressed to lawmakers that concerns over accounting rules, bond ratings and the ACA were premature.

TEA also gave alternatives to the bill, including giving the teacher the choice of keeping coverage or getting a voucher, but always maintaining the right.

Most Tennessee school systems get their insurance from the local education portion of the State Group Insurance Plan (SGIP), and other systems are required by law to provide the same or better benefits if they choose not to join the state. The SGIP is governed by the State Insurance Committee (SIC), for local education.

Weeks of constant contact with legislators and administration officials seems to be making an impact.

As first introduced, the bill would have given the SIC the ability to eliminate altogether the pre-Medicare benefit. Short of elimination, the bill would have allowed the SIC to simply provide a cash equivalent to the benefit, a voucher, and make teacher retirees find private insurance.

Private insurance costs often increase based on age and gender, and there was every indication that removing this guaranteed benefit could have forced difficult decisions for educators not yet eligible for Medicare.

The administration is concerned about new national accounting rules the state will follow about pre-Medicare retirement benefits. These rules could possibly hurt the state’s bond rating down the road. The administration also cited possible excise taxes caused by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The administration also contended

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The amendment preserves the right of teachers upon retirement to remain in the state insurance plan if they choose prior to being Medicare eligible. The amendment also let’s the SIC offer retired teachers the choice of whether to keep their employee insurance, or take the voucher and look for possible better deals in the private market if the ACA works in coming years.

“We are pleased that lawmakers have listened and the administration is able to work with us on addressing teacher concerns with this bill,” said Jim Wrye, TEA Government Relations Manager.

“Frank discussions with leaders and administration officials seem to have

Tennessee Education Association 801 Second Avenue North Nashville, TN 37201-1099 Telephone: (615)242-8392, Toll Free: (800)342-8367, (800)342-8262 Fax: (615)259-4581 Website: www.teateachers.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT: Barbara Gray* (800)342-8367 VICE PRESIDENT: Beth Brown* (931)779-8016 SECRETARY-TREASURER: Carolyn Crowder (615)2428392 DISTRICT 1 Joe Crabtree (423)794-9357 DISTRICT 2 Lauren McCarty (865)385-5220

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801 Second Avenue North, TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION Nashville, TN 37201-1099.

The administration presented major amendments to the bill during a meeting of the Joint Pensions and Insurance Committee on March 16 that met most of TEA’s concerns.

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).

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that the new federal law would help teacher retirees find possibly better coverage in private insurance, making vouchers more palatable.

overwhelmingly helped those already receiving education through private means. Two thirds of Milwaukee students using the voucher program in the city already attended private schools. Instead of increasing mobility for low-income students, the program primarily served to perpetuate status quo.

The bottom line: Vouchers are a very expensive experiment that doesn’t improve outcomes. It’s a bad deal for taxpayers and even worse for Tennessee students.

TEA is leading the fight at the General Assembly to stop vouchers. Add your voice and contact your legislator today. Find your legislators at www.capitol.tn.gov.

RIGHTS PRESERVED FOR EDUCATORS TEA fought for amendments to SB607 The State Insurance Committee shall provide an insurance benefit for teachers who retire after 55 until Medicare eligible.

The current benefit is protected in law. Teachers may keep their insurance: 75% of premiums for less than 20 years of service, 65% for 20-30 years of service, 55% for 30+ years of service.

LEAs may contribute to this.

Teachers must vote if an LEA wants to change insurance, either exiting from or going into the state group insurance plan.

us moving in the right direction.

There is a ways to go and still issues of disagreement.”

Another critical amendment was maintaining the right of teachers to vote to approve whether a school system may exit the SGIP. A loophole weakening this vote was closed.

This vote is a safeguard against cronyism, and guarantees any system that wants to leave the plan must go to its teachers, explain reasons, and show benefits.

The one continued point of strong 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.

Accounting rules again.

The amendment does create investment funds to plan for future benefits, but there is no guarantee for future teachers as for

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

every current teacher in the state.

“Recent national accounting changes really hurt the next generation,” said Wrye.

“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 and that discussions about future funding of this benefit continue going forward.

(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.

The new voucher fight: Special Ed The Tennessee General Assembly is contemplating a voucher program for special education based on a Florida law.

Looking at what is happening in Florida, a disaster is on the horizon.

The Senate Education Committee and a House subcommittee approved a voucher plan that would allow any Tennessee student with an IEP – Individualized Education Plan – to receive vouchers. 120,000 Tennessee students currently meet this definition.

IEPs run the gammut from severely disabled to Attention Deficit Disorder and behavioral problems.

All would qualify for vouchers for state and local dollars.

The idea for the IEP voucher plan is based on a 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.

Here are some highlights: Special education voucher students do not have to take 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 special-needs 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 specialeducation services, since, unlike public schools, McKay schools are not required to provide these services at all.

Tennessee’s plan would have a similar lack of accountability — which means parents could claim the voucher and then have their child be grossly under-served.

Mead continues: Special education vouchers 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.

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.

Next week may yield a slow down for these two voucher initiatives.

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.

Or, it could be more vouchers gone wild – more tax dollars spent, less accountability.

SB604 / HB645 The Educator Protection Act of 2015 Will provide a liability pool for teachers, quality of coverage is suspect.

Thief, liar and hypocrite walk into a bar. Again.

By TEA Executive Director Carolyn Crowder This column first appeared in the April 2014 issue of Teach, shortly before TEA defeated vouchers in the 2014 General Assembly.

A thief, a liar and a hypocrite walk into a bar.

They pull up to the counter and start swapping stories on their favorite subject: how to destroy public education.

The thief says, “Public schools cannot operate if we take away their funding. I propose we steal funding from public schools and give it to private schools. Eventually, there will be no public schools and we won’t have to pay anything to educate other people’s children.”

The liar adds, “The best way to convince policymakers to take money from public schools is to set the schools up to fail. Implement ‘reforms’ that focus everyone on test

results that don’t accurately portray what students are The three men then ask the bartender what she thinks of learning. Then make evaluation and licensure of teachers their ideas. (They don’t know she is a public school teacher depend on those results. Good teachers will be forced out working her second job.) of the profession because of an inequitable accountability She replies, “You haven’t come up with anything new. system or they will choose to leave because they get tired Vouchers have been proven not to work. They don’t work for of teaching the tests instead of the students. We also have the kids you say they are for. (Two-thirds of all Cleveland to continue the rhetoric about failing schools and failing vouchers went to families already sending children to teachers instead of poverty and home environments. private schools.) They don’t work to improve student Then we can act like achievement. (The most humanitarians as we say comprehensive study of The thief says, “Public schools cannot vouchers are for the poor the D.C. voucher program operate if we take away their funding. kids in failing schools. found ‘no conclusive I propose we steal funding from public We will have to ignore or evidence’ of improved discount the fact that many schools and give it to private schools...” math and reading scores private schools (90 percent for students who used a in Florida) either don’t voucher to leave a public accept vouchers or have tuition higher than vouchers are school for a private school.) So – who in the world do you worth.” think you can get to buy into this old, failed idea?”

The hypocrite says, “I am proud of you guys, but we have The three men respond in unison, “The Tennessee to do one more thing for this to work. We have to make sure General Assembly.” the reforms we push on public schools are not used in the Don’t let this story become a reality, go to schools that receive vouchers. We can’t set those schools and www.capitol.tn.gov to contact your legislators and urge teachers up to fail or our whole scheme will be exposed.” them to VOTE NO ON VOUCHERS!

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SCHOOL SYSTEMS SOUND ALARM ON F More systems expected to follow suit SYSTEMS READY TO SUE STATE from page 1

Hamilton counties in the decision to sue the state over school funding. School boards in Knox and Shelby counties have also recently contemplated litigation, and Metro Nashville Schools are rumored to be on the cusp of such a decision.

At the heart of this saber-rattling is the 23-year-old BEP formula and the state’s tax system that relies too heavily on sales tax and can’t always keep its taxes on corporate profits at home, causing school systems to revert to drastic measures in order to keep their buildings and staff in operation.

“Tennessee is falling down on the job of providing funding for our schools,” said TEA Executive Director Carolyn Crowder. “The state has been demanding more, placing more mandates on the classroom and for the systems, and yet there has not been more funding to meet those mandates.

State keeps creating more mandates without accompanying funding Crowder points to RTI, the Response to Intervention system, that the state requires for children who are falling behind academically, and as a stepped process prior to a student being assigned an IEP or a 504 accommodation plan.

RTI is a policy with tremendous promise. However, without adequate funding it often becomes a problem for the average classroom teacher.

For the wealthier school districts, when a student is placed in the second or third tier of intervention, there are math and language arts specialists who can work directly with those children, often pulling them into smaller work groups outside the classroom.

For the average Tennessee teacher, there are no specialists or outside help to rely on. Often teachers work with these students while the rest of their class goes without direct instruction. It is a real and growing problem.

“If the state has the right idea with RTI and imposes it on schools, then they should also come up with the resources to do it as well,” said Crowder. “We all can see the benefit of a policy, but without funding it can and does become just another burden on the classroom teacher, hurts overall instruction, and doesn’t meet the goals it was set out to do.”

New lawsuits about adequacy, not equity There has been a long history of school systems suing the state over funding. In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s there were Small Schools lawsuits, where rural systems sued over inequity in student funding.

The small systems pointed to the Tennessee state constitution Article XI, Section 12, that says “[t]he General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools,” and asked the state Supreme Court to rule their lack of funding, especially when compared to urban and suburban districts, was unconstitutional. It is how the BEP formula was developed and put into law.

The Small Schools suits were about equity, or how the state distributed its funds. The suits being contemplated now are about adequacy, whether the state does enough to meet the constitutional mandate to support a system of free public schools.

“Past lawsuits have been about how we distribute the pie, but there is growing recognition that the pie is simply not big enough,” said Steve McCloud, TEA Assistant Executive Director of Legal Services. “It would be groundbreaking for school systems big and small to come together and ask the state courts whether the state is meeting its obligation under the state constitution.”

Tennessee state government contributes less of a percentage of all

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K-12 funding than all neighboring states except Georgia. Tennessee is also 45th in the nation on investment per student, below every neighboring state except Mississippi and North Carolina.

Kentucky provides a stark contrast to how Tennessee state government has been falling behind in education investment. In order to meet our neighbor to the north’s funding per student, Tennessee would need to come up with $1.2 billion in additional education funding this year. In the current budget proposal, there is approximately $150 million in increased spending.

The reason why Kentucky far outpaces us in funding is because their state government takes the lead. Approximately 55 percent of all K-12 funding comes from the state.

Contrast that with Tennessee, where state government provides only 45 percent of all K-12 funding, local governments provide 41 percent, and federal funds provide 14 percent.

It is far easier to raise funding at the state level than it is at the local level, especially for rural districts with a large portion of agricultural land. That is why most southeastern states come up with the majority of K-12 funding. It is glaring that Tennessee does not.

members, according to th

School boards, both large mandates that have been contemplate a lawsuit.

In the past, local school b decisions. It is that histor government in Tennessee

Over the past decade, and with often rushed “reform what schools do, often wi

Critics have long predicte to the effort the state mak passed BEP 2.0 several ye some calculations, Tenne the law.

Now rural and urban systems seem to be coming together to sue the state on whether it is meeting its obligations.

TEA is at the forefront of more teacher salary fund money, RTI support and funding, and is ready to p need more.

“This is not just about the four large districts,” Hamilton County Board of Education attorney D. Scott Bennett recently told Hamilton County board

“The TEA Board passed a get involved in what will

FUNDING, GEAR UP FOR LEGAL BATTLE TEA Board Resolution on state funding Adopted March 7, 2015.

T

he Tennessee Education Association recognizes public education is chronically and fundamentally underfunded. TEA resolves:

Whereas, the Tennessee State Constitution, Article XI, Section 12, states: The state of Tennessee recognizes the inherent value of education and encourages its support. The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools; Whereas the state of Tennessee provides less than half of all K-12 funding, and the state provides less as a percentage of K-12 funding than almost all neighboring states; Whereas, the State of Tennessee’s funding of K-12 public education is universally considered to be inadequate. Every year since 2009, Education Week’s “Quality Counts” report has given Tennessee an ‘F’ for school spending. Governing magazine ranks Tennessee 45th in per-pupil funding. The Tennessee General Assembly’s Basic Education Review Program (BEP) Review Committee said the state should provide at least $541.7 million in additional support for local schools and school systems.

Whereas, unfunded state mandates related to ever-changing academic standards, new technology to support online state assessments, and new policies for struggling students are creating more budget pressures than ever on rural and urban school districts.

Be it resolved, the Tennessee Education Association believes the General Assembly and administration must honor previous commitments to increase funding for K-12 public education, adequately fund new mandates on local K-12 schools and school systems and provide increased state funding for all school systems — rural, suburban, and urban alike.

to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

large and small, have pointed to an avalanche of state been unaccompanied with funding as another reason to it.

ool boards have had much more control over school historical local control, and the tradition of reduced state nessee, that has kept the state roll relatively small.

e, and accelerating with Race to the Top and continued eforms”, Nashville has been dictating more and more en without accompanying funds.

edicted a school funding lawsuit if no changes are made e makes on education funding. The General Assembly ral years ago, but it has yet to be funded. According to Tennessee would need $560 million to meet the targets of

ont of working for more state funding. From pushing for funds, to advocating for insurance, classroom supply and other important needs, the association fights for y to partner with those who know Tennessee schools

ssed a resolution outlining our position, and allows us to will be a historic fight for K-12 funding,” said Crowder.

Tennessee education funding compared to neighboring states, by investment per student. $1,446

$1,386 MORE

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PER STUDENT

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$737

$2,048

79%

$181 $164 $779 LESS

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$98

OF NATIONAL AVERAGE ON INVESTMENT PER STUDENT

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LESS PER STUDENT

$1148

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TEA fights in General Assembly to get proposed raises to teacher paychecks Have you noticed getting one-time bonuses rather than an actual salary increase, or getting nothing at all? TEA is working to see when the General Assembly approves a raise for teachers it will actually show up in your paycheck.

A disturbing trend has seen some school systems, often strapped for local dollars, use reoccurring state salary money for health insurance costs, administrator raises and handing out one-time bonuses to teachers. It is all legal. But it is not what legislators intend.

This practice not only denies teachers the raise legislators intended for them to receive, it also may have negative impacts teachers’ retirement.

“When the money does not go into a teacher’s paycheck in a reoccurring fashion, like a pay raise rather than a bonus, it can and often does hurt retirement,” said TEA President Barbara Gray. “If this trend of bonuses instead of raises persists, teachers will find themselves at the end of their careers with much less in their retirement than expected.”

TEA was successful in the 2014 legislative session in reinstating the original 20step state minimum salary schedule as an option for districts, along with the limited schedule created by then commissioner Kevin Huffman. However, the power still resides with the State

Board of Education to pass on the amount the legislature approves by raising the schedule.

“TEA was successful in the first round of this fight last session when we got the 20-step schedule back as an option for locals,” Gray said. “Now, we must press forward and make sure teachers are building on their salaries to build on their retirement.”

A legislative proposal drafted by TEA (SB 1308/HB 1117) requires that the state salary schedule include more steps, each representing an additional year of teaching experience. Most importantly, it provides an automatic increase in the schedules. The State Department of Education has tried to torpedo the legislation with a huge fiscal note, saying that the bill would cause the loss of $30 million in federal grant money. Such a fiscal note usually kills a bill.

TEA, working with lawmakers, has come up with a solution.

An amendment has been drafted and will go before committees next week that the state minimum salary schedule will increase by the same percentage as any state teacher raise. The amendment also has language that will discourage supplanting local dollars with state salary dollars for health care and other benefits.

“It is reasonable for a teacher to expect to receive the raise promised to her, not

TEA’s timely notification bill passing easily through legislature Being a new teacher is hard. You have to put into practice for the first time all of the things you learned in college, including managing a classroom full of students, learning to balance home life with getting through the bottomless pile of papers to grade, fitting in enough test prep while still actually educating your students, and the list goes on and on.

On top of all of these things, teachers should not have the unnecessary burden on their shoulders of worrying about being notified halfway through summer break that they no longer have a job or have been reassigned to a new school.

TEA has drafted legislation to put an end to lastminute notifications to give teachers time to prepare for a new school year.

TEA’s bill (SB 0893/HB 1031), sponsored by two freshmen legislators from Knox County, Sen. Richard Briggs and Rep. Martin Daniel, states that teachers must be notified of dismissal or failure of re-election within five business days following the last instructional day for the school year.

“This is an easy thing for legislators to get on board with,” said Jim Wrye, TEA chief lobbyist.

“Legislators understand that there is really no need to wait so long to notify teachers of position changes. The bill has already passed the Senate unanimously, and I expect it to do the same in the House.”

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-

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TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

ADVOCATE ADVOCATE

BEP Raise Actual Raise As passed by the General Assembly

Average teacher raise statewide

1.6% 2.0% 2.5% 1.5%

1.4% 2.0% 2.2% 0.5%

FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14

Source: Tennessee Department of Education, TEA some watered down version in a onetime bonus. The livelihood and future retirement of our teachers depend on the State Board responsibly passing on the raise approved by the legislature

to teacher’s paychecks. TEA’s proposed legislation will do just that,” said Gray.

Visit www.capitol.tn.gov now to find your legislators’ contact information and ask them to support SB 1308/HB 1117.

Audit finds ASD mishandled funds; Lawmaker questions trustworthiness Less than a week after we published proof of Achievement School District head Chris Barbic’s troubles with the truth, further evidence emerged of his institution’s uncanny ability to do less with more.

A financial audit found that the state-run Achievement School District mishandled $66,336 in taxpayer money over a two-year period, according a report by Nashville’s WSMVTV. The ASD was created by the state to improve the performance of struggling schools and entrusted with $18 million of funding. But instead of focusing on schools that truly need help, it has been caught misstating the truth and was famously protested by parents and community groups in Nashville for taking over schools that are doing just fine.

invoices in order to mitigate the risk of paying inaccurate, unsupported, or fraudulent invoices.

“This is an organization that should be particularly good at managing funds because of what we’ve entrusted them, and yet it turns out the opposite is the case,” Stewart said. “I think before it takes on new missions, it needs to get its own house in order.”

While the State Department of Education says the audit findings have been addressed and the ASD required three Charter Management Organizations to repay the remaining $6,336, it’s becoming harder and harder to trust the district and its leaders.

The audit findings led Rep. Mike Stewart (D-Nashville) to question ASD’s trustworthiness going forward.

ASD’s performance is no better and sometimes worse than what is happening at district schools, achievement gains are slower than the district pace and English/Language Arts are regressing.

“I don’t think $66,000 is ever a drop in the bucket when it’s taxpayer dollars,” Stewart said, according to wsmv.com. “Why would we hand over our schools to an organization that can’t even get its own act together?”

The conflicting information and PR stunts by ASD head Chris Barbic have caught the attention of top education blogger Diane Ravitch and Tennessee parent T.C. Weber, who blogs under the nickname Dad Gone Wild.

Among its findings, the recent comptroller’s audit of the Tennessee Department of Education states that ASD charged $100,000 to a grant before it was even awarded. It spent thousands of dollars on benefit overpayments without appropriate paperwork. According to the report, there were times when no one served as a public grant manager between 2012 and 2014 and when the position was vacant, no other employee assumed the role of reviewing and approving the

“It’s time to add the Achievement School District to that list of failed experiments and embrace policies that will take us into the future, before the damage is irreversible,” Weber wrote.

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; Assns: Clay, Cumberland, Fentress, Jackson, Morgan, Pickett, Putnam, Overton, York Institute, TN Tech. Univ,

PUBLIC PUBLICSCHOOL SCHOOL

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Where did the money go?

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: (855)299-4968 (Campbell); Assns: Metro Nashville,

With mounting evidence proving ASD’s ineffectiveness, perhaps it’s time our data-driven Department of Education pulled the plug.

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.

www.teateachers.org www.nea.org

s-

TEA MEMBERS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY OF YOUR SPRING BREAK?

a ke

Ta

! l o t i p a C ! e s h r t o t o t a l e s i ! m g n o e o l C our i t a c e u y l l d i o v t e h r s k l a o f N Ta d up O!) in W n T a R t S t day (O

a e r g a y Enjo

!

S E L I M R O F S E S R U B TEA REIM FAST AT TEA HQ! K A E R B !

T D E G N A GREA R R A S G N I T E E M !

L E V A R CAPITOL T G N O L R O F L E T O PRE-PAID H ALL MEMBERS! OPEN TO

Do you have plans for your Spring Break? Consider coming to the capitol to talk to your legislators and enjoy the great entertainment of Nashville! It’s a Civication, combining vacation with civic pride in our profession.

New this year is an option to stay a second night in Nashville to learn how to “Build a Movement” back home. Visit the registration link below for more details about the

extended stay plan.

TEA pays mileage for any members who want to attend Civication during Spring Break. There is complimentary breakfast at TEA Headquarters in downtown Nashville, free parking, shuttle service to the Capitol, and House and Senate Education Committee meetings to see the legislature in action!

If you live more than 50 miles

outside of Nashville, TEA has a supply of pre-paid hotel rooms for members for Monday night (limited basis). Build a Movement participants will get a second hotel night.

Come to Music City, enjoy the city and have a successful and important Civication. Members who took part in Civication last year had a huge impact on the legislative success of TEA!

REGISTER ONLINE: WWW.TEATEACHERS.ORG/CIVICATION PUBLIC SCHOOL TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

ADVOCATE

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TEA members make history, influence education votes as part of TEA Civication

TEA Executive Director Carolyn Crowder leads the second wave of Civicationers and their children in a cheer following a hearty breakfast at the TEA headquarters in Nashville as TEA President Barbara Gray (top right) looks on.

“Kennedy got to see her mother actively advocating for her profession and she loved the daycare offered by TEA during our training,” Stokes said. “The ‘Build a Movement’ training was very inspiring.”

Memphis-Shelby Co. EA member Danette Stokes (right) brought her daughter Kennedy to Civication in Nashville during her spring break.

The first thing Danette Stokes plans to do when she returns to her colleagues at Treadwell Elementary School in Shelby County is share that she and other Civicationers were able to help delay the voucher vote in the Tennessee General Assembly during the second week of TEA Civication.

Stokes, a first-time Civication attendee, came to Nashville during her spring break with daughter Kennedy and took advantage of the extendedstay option offered this year as part of Civication.

“I’ll be sure to tell my friends and colleagues in Memphis and Shelby County that when we stand together, people hear our voices,” Stokes said.

“When we stand together, we get things done.”

Stokes said bringing her daughter along during spring break was a no-brainer.

TEA vigilant as 4% raise still in budget With state’s revenue way ahead of projections, TEA remains vigilant as the 4 percent raise promised to Tennessee educators by Governor Bill Haslam remains in budget.

TEA was the only organization in the state to call for a muchneeded pay raise for teachers.

We asked for a 6 percent raise and more raises over time.

Gov. Haslam heard our call and proposed a 4 percent increase in the budget, with the total earmarked for raises at approximately $100 million (meaning the average Tennessee teacher pay increase would be approximately $2,000 annually, not including step raises).

“The largest pay increase in more than a decade is a longawaited relief for Tennessee teachers,” said TEA President Barbara Gray. “It’s a great first step to fulfilling the governor’s promise to make Tennessee the fastest improving state in terms

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of teacher salaries.”

After a 2 percent teacher raise was cut from the state budget when tax collections on corporate profits dropped unexpectedly, TEA worked to find fixes for the holes in the corporate excise tax and other revenue problems in order to increase investment in schools and improve educator salaries.

With the Haslam administration now on the same page, TEA is monitoring tax revenues to ensure the promised raise stays in the proposed budget.

“What happened last year was devastating to family budgets across the state,” said TEA Executive Director Carolyn Crowder. “All of a sudden, the state said the revenue they were expecting was not there. We never want this repeated and we will not stop at just 4 percent.

With revenue continuing to rebound, we’ll be pushing for more raises.”

PUBLIC SCHOOL TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

ADVOCATE

breakfast will be available on Wednesday.

Part of registration includes indicating whether you will be bringing any of your children with you to the training. If there are children registered – we will provide something for the children during the training from 3 to 5 “I’ll be sure to tell my friends and p.m. on Tuesday and colleagues in Memphis and Shelby County that when we stand together, 9:30 a.m. to Noon on Wednesday.

The training offered through this year’s Civication follows the day of lobbying on Tuesday. people hear our voices. When we Participants in this stand together, we get things done.” We will also ask optional part of the hotel for a late

Danette Stokes, Civication learn checkout at the

Memphis-Shelby Co. EA how to engage hotel for TEA guests colleagues back so that if a spouse home to enact or friend wants to change at the local and state levels. stay with the kids at the hotel or sleep in on Build a Movement will start from 3 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday after Civication – and then continue on Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to Noon.

TEA will reimburse lunch up to $10 per person on Tuesday and will provide an extra night in a hotel (for those who live 50 miles or more away) if you register and attend the training. We will also distribute gas cards to those who live less than 50 miles away who sign up for both days to help reimburse them for driving in twice. Continental

Questions arise about Measurement Inc. contract Back in November, the State of Tennessee awarded a contract to Measurement Inc. to develop the new assessment that would replace TCAP.

This assessment is to be aligned to state standards (largely based on Common Core State Standards) and should take into account feedback from Tennesseans.

Measurement Inc. will be paid $108 million for the contract.

Chalkbeat noted at the time the contract was awarded: Measurement Inc. is subcontracting to AIR, a much larger player in the country’s testing market. AIR already has contracts with Utah and Florida, so Tennessee educators will be able to compare scores of Tennessee students with students from those states “with certainty and immediately.” AIR is also working with Smarter Balanced, one of two federally funded consortia charged with developing Common Core-aligned exams. That means that educators in Tennessee will also likely be able to measure their students’ progress with students in the 16 states in the Smarter Balanced Consortium.

The Department of Education notes on its website: Comparability: While the assessments will be unique to

Wednesday, that is also an option.

“Please join us on Tuesday of your Spring Break to advocate for our students, our schools and our profession,” said TEA President Barbara Gray. “We encourage you to bring your friends and family, and remember that gas and hotel room (if more than 50 miles from Nashville) are on us.”

Visit www.teateachers.org/civication for more details and to register for Civication.

Tennessee, TNReady will allow Tennesseans to compare our student progress to that of other states. Through a partnership between Measurement Inc. and American Institutes for Research, TNReady will offer Tennessee a comparison of student performance with other states, likely to include Florida and Utah.

While Measurement Inc. has an interesting approach to recruiting test graders, another item about the contract is also noteworthy.

The Department and Chalkbeat both noted the ability to compare Tennessee test scores with other states, including Utah and Florida.

Here’s why that’s possible. On December 5, the Utah Board of Education approved the use of revenue from test licensing agreements with Florida, Arizona and Tennessee based on contracts with AIR, the organization with which Measurement Inc. has a contract, as noted by Chalkbeat.

The contract notes that Utah’s expected arrangement in Tennessee is worth $2.3 million per year (running from 2015-2017) and that Tennessee will use questions licensed for the Utah assessment in Math and ELA in its 2015-16 assessment.

So, Tennessee’s new test will use questions developed for Utah’s assessment and also licensed to Florida and Arizona.

The contract further notes that any release of the questions either by accident or as required by law, will result in a fee of $5,000 per test item released. That means if Tennessee wants to release a bank of questions generated from the Utah test and used for Tennessee’s assessment, the state would pay $5,000 per question.

While Tennessee has said it may change or adapt the test going forward, it seems that the 2016 edition of the test may be well underway in terms of its development.