Some D.C. Teachers Don’t Know Where They’ll Be Teaching
Yesterday, teachers in the D.C. Public Schools were to report to work for the new school year. Many, however, didn’t know where they were supposed to report.
That’s because, as of yesterday, dozens of teachers had yet to be placed.
According to the current contract, teachers are supposed to be informed whether there will be “excessed”—that is, moved off the roster of their current school—by the end of the school year. The school system is supposed to find them a new placement by July 31.
By July 31 this year, however, an estimated 700 teachers had been excessed and had yet to be placed. As of yesterday, 68 had still not been given placements.
Mafara Hobson, a DCPS spokesperson, says the delays have to do with an unusually large amount of flux in the teaching corps, due to the fact that 23 schools were closed and 27 more were placed into “restructuring” status under No Child Left Behind, which means drastic changes to such schools’ instructional staffs.
Under an agreement with the Washington Teachers’ Union, Hobson says, the deadline was moved back to Aug. 15. But as of that day—last Friday—219 teachers had still yet to be placed, according to DCPS; 530 had been sent placements last Tuesday and Wednesday, just ahead of the new deadline.
WTU President George Parker says there was no such agreement on his part, but that DCPS informed the union in mid-July that there was no way to have all the excessed teachers placed by the July 31 deadline. “We did not agree to a moveback of the deadline,” he says. “DCPS informed us that they would not be able to meet the deadline.”
Parker says that every excessed teacher will be placed in a new job, thanks to an agreement negotiated before the end of the school year. Rather than push back the deadline, he says, “they should have just increased their capacity.”
Earlier this week, the teachers still waiting for placements poured into the human resources department at DCPS headquarters on North Capitol Street trying to get their new assignments, says WTU General Vice President Nathan Saunders. Overflow rooms were set up to handle the activity, and the entire union field staff was on the scene to assist teachers, he says.
“I’ve never seen it this bad,” Saunders says, calling it a “wonton wanton violation of the collective bargaining agreement.”
Furthermore, Saunders says, teachers he’s dealt with were still being excessed well into the summer and as late as this week. “They don’t have their equipment; they don’t know where they’re going, they don’t know where to get their stuff.”
Hobson said this afternoon that HR employees were working with the remaining 68 teachers to find them their guaranteed placements. “It’s a rolling process,” she says.
12 Responses to “Some D.C. Teachers Don’t Know Where They’ll Be Teaching”
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August 20th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Oh PLEASE tell me that the misspelling in the Saunders quote is his! I actually think it might be a lo mein violation, or maybe an egg fu yung violation?
August 20th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I teach in a DCPS. We had 2 vacancies that were just filled by teachers who were excessed from other schools, especially ones that closed. One walked in the first day of school, positive, friendly and ready to work. At first, he wasn’t assigned a grade level, as it was still being worked out by the principal exactly where he’d teach. So he helped other teachers in their classrooms move furniture, cut out letters and do bulletin boards. Another walked in with an attitude. She was uncooperative and grumpy. She sat in the main office all day doing nothing. She hadn’t been given a grade level, again the principal was working on it. She didn’t volunteer to help anyone, but sat on her rump getting her paycheck. You gotta love DCPS.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
One of those teachers described above, the one who just sat there collecting a paycheck is typical of what’s wrong with the public schools. Some of its employees think they are owed a salary for just showing up. Maybe the lady had an attitude because she was traumatized from her original school being closed and having to go and work someplace else. But don’t think the principal isn’t going to notice her attitude and work habits.
August 20th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
The story is good but the information from DCPS is all lies. I know for a fact because I am a teacher who hasn’t been placed(even though I had a aasignment at end of school year) I know for a fact there are several positions in my discipline available. They even are putting teachers in positions that they aren’t even certified and/or qualified to teach. The system has violated every aspect of the contract and law, but yet WTU isn’t doing a thing about even when it was brought to their attention. This is a slap in our(teachers) faces yet they(DCPS admin) claim to value and respect us. I say wre is the accountability that the Chancellor and Mayor keep preaching about. If this was teacher acting this way you would fire and/or severly reprimanded, I say that is what should hppen to the powers that be(Chancellor and Mayor). Teachers need to unite for all and not just for there pay and individual jobs.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
I am saddened to hear what is happening to Edward, above, a fellow DCPS teacher and I hope he and other colleagues are placed soon. This is so last minute. Many of us, even if we’re veteran teachers at our schools, will have to go into our schools over the weekend to get ready for the kids on Monday. Last school year, a friend from a closed school wasn’t assigned to a new school into a week into the school year, after the kids were there. It doesn’t look like they’re doing a better job with this now.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Sorry, the typo was all mine. Though I’m sure Mr. Saunders loves Chinese dumplings as much as I do.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:42 am
You better read the citypaper story(8/21/08) about DCPS it is very sad and interesting to know that our colleagues aren’t valued by DCPS and the WTU. This is a sad state of affairs WTU and DCPS is putting teachers in and it is only going to get worst if it isn”t stop or people held accountable. This article cuts right to the cahse,and truly exposes DCPS administration as well as WTU representation. I hope all educators and interested party like myself bring this to everyones attention(what an injustice).
August 21st, 2008 at 11:01 am
Injustice indeed. If I were DSPS, Ed, you would be placed on a school payroll at once. As a toilet cleaner.
That’s because of your comical illiteracy.
August 21st, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Wow, Ernest, I suppose typing is a requirement for teachers now, too? Last I recall, my daughter had 1 computer in her English class while at Jefferson (only 2 years ago) and it wasn’t even running anything remotely like Windows.
Disparaging janitors and cleaners by also disparaging teachers shows that you have a few issues to work out for yourself and that judgment thing you got going on might be a good place for you to start.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Really, Ernest. You and your judgments. The non-placement of Ed is unjust, period. Illiterate educators are educators still, you know. That new superintendent with her new-fangled ideas just doesn’t get it.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Oh. NOW I understand. Thank you, Bob, uniongal.
Now the more I think of it, the more I’m convinced Ed should be promoted to a principle.
August 21st, 2008 at 5:49 pm
I can only imagine what kind of shitty teachers havn’t been able to find a principal willing to take them after months of looking. The fact of the matter is that many of these “professionals” know they will receive a paycheck even if they aren’t assigned to a school, so they aren’t doing anything proactive to find a placement.
The teacher with a bad attitude you mentioned above is probably just mad she was assigned anywhere at all. Gasp. She might actually have to work for a living this year!