June 15, 2010
Dear Member,
On April 7, 2010, the New Bedford Educators Association filed a grievance against former Superintendent Portia Bonner on behalf of Unit A members at New Bedford High School relative to the Math and Science Initiative (MMSI) Advanced Placement Grant (AP).
As you may know, the MMSI-AP Grant places several preconditions upon our members who will teach the AP courses at New Bedford High School. These preconditions directly interfere with our collective bargaining rights as well as the active collective bargaining agreement between the New Bedford School Committee and the Association. Specifically, Article I, Recognition; Article II, Salaries; Article VI, Supplies and Materials; Article XII, Hours and Workload; Article XIII, Transfer and Assignments; Article XIV, Vacancies; Article XV, Schedules; Article XX, Facilities; and Article XXXII, Professional Development of our collective Bargaining Agreement.
The New Bedford Educators Board of Directors is strongly opposed to the MMSI-AP Grant because it requires participating teachers and schools to accept a pay-for-test-score provision. Although we have been working hard to get that mandate eliminated, the grantors insist that it be included. They have rejected our suggestion that the money in question be spent on directly helping students rather than on bonuses. MMSI-AP has been and continues to be unwilling to eliminate or negotiate over the elements of the program that we oppose.
This rejection calls into question whether Exxon Mobil Foundation and other funders of this program are primarily concerned with improving student performance on the AP test or about using this as a vehicle to establish a test-score-based salary system in our public schools.
The New Bedford Educators Board of Directors opposes differentiated pay for different subject areas and paying teachers on the basis of student test scores. We believe that students are most successful when teachers work as a team and are all compensated appropriately. We believe – and experience has demonstrated – that differential pay based on subject area and test scores are divisive.
It is the NBEA’s position that all terms and conditions of employment be negotiated by the Association. Therefore, based on the refusal of MMSI to exclude the controversial aspects of the grant and negotiate over implementation of the program, we recommend that our members not participate in this program.
On Monday, June 21, 2010, MTA consultant, Joy Robbins Beckwith and I will be at the high school to address any concerns you may have on this issue. We will be in the Green House Faculty Room at 2:20PM.
Sincerely,
Lou St. John
2 comments:
don't let them wave a carrot in your face that could contain a laxative later on... I vote no to MMSI
It is obvious that pay for test results will result in fraud. Exxon and MMSI private economy suits may think they have a solid model but real students of economics know that these are what are called "perverse incentives."
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