Arizona Education Association

Summer 2013

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VOIC E YOU R V I E WS Teacher Evaluations and Dismissal Bill Below are responses from AEA members regarding the work AEA has done lobbying for changes to HB 2500, which makes substantial changes to teacher evaluations, improvement times, and dismissal procedures. Read a summary of HB 2500 on page 7. Thank you for the hard work and the information. My only question is when do we as teachers get to evaluate the principals/admins? Georganne Wolfe Mesa EA member f Thank you for all that you do. Amy Westrick Madison CTA member f Thank you, Andrew and the others, for your work on this bill. It is still a bad bill and I will continue to vote NO. Thanks for the update. What is with ASBA? Representative Lela Alston (LD 15) AEA Retired member and state representative f Please convey my sincerest appreciation for the efforts expended by the AEA's legislative department and also to Andrew for removing the onerous provisions that were contained in HB 2500! It is nice to read about a legislative victory so now and then, even if it involved staving off negative components of proposed legislation! It was also good to read about the cooperation between the AEA and the ASA. Robert Johan AEA Retired member f This is why I love my AEA! Rudy Aguilar Glendale Union EA member f I appreciate the AEA's efforts on behalf of teachers that potentially will be treated unfairly, however, there are teachers that should be let go because they are incompetent. With the oncoming implementation of Common Core nationwide in the next year before the PARCC year and the oncoming first year of PARCC testing, we need to move forward with teachers who are able to make the shifts necessary. It is not just the standards that are changing. Teachers need to change the way they teach to make the standards effective. Without effective teaching, the new standards will not make the significant difference they need to make. I don't want our new laws to keep our students from having the best teaching possible. The new evaluation is supposed to weed out teachers who should are not good teachers. I am a mem Summer.13advo.indd 5 ber of AEA and I receive very good evaluations. I am frankly tired of teachers who continue to do their job poorly but cannot be let go on their merits or lack thereof of teaching. Jan Ogino Peoria EA member f While I am happy teachers have some protection, classified staff are "at will." We too are at risk for workplace problems due to a personality conflict between employee/ manager and/or HR supervisor. I know this because this happened to a co-worker of mine a few years ago. She was demoted; not given a chance to state her side of the issues. I would like to see a bill to give us classified staff some protections. Thank you for what you and the AEA do for us! Becky Keafer Littleton EA member f Thank you for your work on this new legislation. The school system leaves little space for teachers who are ill. About our only protection is in the FMLA legislation. It can take many weeks to diagnose a medical issue, and there is no protection against mediocre or damaging evaluations received during that time. Supervisors still expect to see the required improvement in those first 45 days back at work, and, given timelines for evaluations, these will likely happen in the first 30 work days in order to meet the district's deadline. Even at 60 days the timelines are too short. It should be an entire semester, unless there is some egregious complaint. Thank you for advocating for teachers. Val Ofiesh Tucson EA member f Thank you for your diligent effort. I think, if we can do this to our profession, perhaps our legislative body should have the same standards also. Cynthia Stiles Casa Grande Elementary EA member f Thank you for the hard work and the good news. Principals have been on a witch hunt and driving teachers away with threats and use of the evaluation as it stands. Irene Raynoha AEA Retired member MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK MEMBER TALK Write us! Readers are MEMBER encouraged to state opinions or make TALK comments in letters MEMBER that will be considered for publication TALK in this column. The MEMBER editor reserves the right to edit lengthy TALK letters representing aMEMBER balance of viewpoints. Generally, TALK letters will not be MEMBER published without the names of their TALK writers and local M EMBER associations. Send letters to: TALK "Member Talk," AEA MEMBER Advocate, 345 East Palm Lane, Phoenix, TALK AZ 85004. Email: sheenae.shannon@ arizonaea.org. AEA Advocate x Summer 2013 5 3/18/13 12:03 PM

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