Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/40928
Leading the way Delaware NEA- Student member elected to NEA Board of Directors R David Kohan is a local leader in Glasgow High School in Christina. He shares his experiences as a Union Leader in a Performance Zone School. Christina may have more schools entering "the Zone" for 2011-2012. Kohan is also a member of the DSEA Executive Board. Performance Zone schools: learning from last year, preparing for 11-12 School in Christina; Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, part of the New Castle County Vo-Tech School District; and one charter school, Positive Outcomes in Dover. Although this past year was just a planning year, it was difficult, sometimes disruptive to be working in one of those P-Zone schools. That said, the experiences at Howard, Stubbs and Glasgow were all very different, and each have lessons to teach us. To do better this year, with both the current schools and the ones to be announced, DSEA staff and lead- ers have discussed what they would do differently to better help the newly-identified schools be more successful during their planning year. "To be fair, this past year was new By the time you read this, we may know what six schools have been tapped to join Delaware's first four "Performance Zone" schools. DSEA and local leaders are committed to learning from the first year. B y Delaware regulation, the second and final list of schools for the state's "Performance Zone" will be identi- fied by the Sec. of Education near the end of August. These schools must be: • low-performing that have the potential to do better • Title I or Title I-eligible • Among the lowest 5% or the five lowest schools • For high schools, graduation rate is below 60% for two of the last three years. Under Delaware regulation, once identified, these buildings must make significant organizational changes – while receiving addition- al Race to the Top funding – in order to improve their student results. This past year, the first four schools identified were Glasgow High School and Stubbs Elementary for everyone, both the DSEA staff and the local union leaders and members involved. None of us had gone through this before," com- ments Howard Weinberg, DSEA's executive director. "We have learned where the traps are, what we need to do, and when we need to do it." In August, DSEA brought togeth- er local union leaders from the New Castle County teacher locals to a preparation meeting: we had enate Cuffee (far right), an education student at Del Tech in Georgetown, is pres- ident of the NEA Student Chapter here in Delaware. She was elected this summer to the NEA Board of Directors. That's right, not the Board of Directors of the NEA Student Chapter, but the NEA Board, representing students! She is currently working on a web page for all of Delaware's collegiate edu- cation majors, to organize them into one group. Also pictured above is Sarah Burr, also an education major and NEA Student member. She was able learned from Sec. Lowery that she would most likely be choosing buildings from New Castle County, and not from Kent or Sussex. DSEA staff reviewed the require- ments spelled out in for Performance Zone Schools; what local union leaders and their mem- bers need to know going in to the process; the roles and responsibili- ties of the local union, the district, the Dept. of Education, and DSEA. Timelines are tight to com- plete work for the first year Following what the regulations require, the district must create an agreement with the state that includes choosing a "change model" (Closure - shutting the school; Restart - Making it a charter school; Turnaround - Removing the princi- pal and half the staff; or Transformation - Replacing the principal, increasing school leader effectiveness, instructional reforms, increasing learning time and creat- ing community-oriented schools with operational flexibility.) The district also must decide who will provide "oversight" for the school. This is known as a "lead partner," an organization that will direct the changes. Neither DSEA nor the local have any legal right to influence either the change model chosen or the structural changes the building decides to pursue. Helping DSEA collate membership pack- ets this summer are Sarah Burr (left) and Renate Cuffee (right), education majors at DelTech/Georgetown, and active members of their NEA Student Chapter. to take an educational trip to Italy this summer, funded in part by gen- erous local DSEA leaders who raised money at last year's DSEA Winter Advocacy Retreat. You can see her trip's Facebook page by searching for "Sarah's Trip to Italy." MOUs for P-Zone schools must be clear and well- understood Where the local does play a role of course, is in sitting down with the district, looking at the building's plan (its MOU with the state), and identifying those parts of the plan that contradict terms of the con- tract. They then negotiate a two- year "Memorandum of Understanding" for that building alone. And there are many areas that need negotiating, since building plans normally include changes to hiring, reassigning and transfers; work rules such as instructional day/year; reform issues; profession- al development/training plans; and monetary incentives for new and existing staff who remain. One thing everyone agreed on at the DSEA meeting in August: com- munication, preparation and plan- ning are essential for many rea- sons, including that there are very tight timelines to get this work done. www.dsea.org September 2011 DSEA ACTION! 7 Delaware Code