Union TeacherAFT Local 66, AFL-CIO • Democracy in Education • Volume XLIV, Number 6 • February, 2012

The Award-Winning Newspaper of the Boston Teachers Union

BostonBoston

BOSTON TEACHERS UNION, LOCAL 66, AFT180 Mount Vernon StreetBoston, Massachusetts 02125

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6, 7 & 12

11

Estimated 1,500 Union Members GatherTo Protest District’s Stalling Tactics

Other Unions, Four City Councilors Join in Support

The Boston Teachers Union SalutesBlack History Month

BTU and Other Unions Rally atSchool Committee Headquarters

Eight Boston Teachers Recognized asNational Board Certified

Richard StutmanBTU President

By Richard StutmanBTU President

An estimated 1,500 teachers and para- professionals proudly gathered at

School department headquarters lastmonth to protest stalled negotiations. Aclear message was sent: Our BPS staffwant and deserve a fair contract settle-ment, and our members are tired of thedisrespect shown by our district’s intran-sigence during these last 20 months ofnegotiations. The district’s effort to por-tray this struggle as the district vs. theunion leadership melted away as teach-ers, paraprofessionals, nurses, psycholo-gists, OTs, PTs, SLPs and many othersmarched in the cold for an hour and onehalf with a single message to the school

district: Talk to Teachers.“Michael Lally, a teacher at the

Eliot School in the North End, said:‘‘Sometimes we get the message thatteachers are not doing a great job. Itcan be demoralizing.’’ 1

“But teachers say they work muchmore than they are required andthan the school district is letting on.“We don’t work a 6-1/2 hour day,”said Joanne Delahanty, who spokepassionately about her union’sstruggles over the zipped-up top of herpuffy red coat. “People bring workhome and come to school early.”

“She said many of her fellow teach-ers arrive at school at 7 a.m. to beginpreparing for class and stay until 6

G. Arroyo, and FrankBaker came to the rallyand spoke. CouncilorAyanna Pressley, too, at-tended the rally, but due toanother commitment,couldn’t be at the rally pre-cisely during the speakingportion. Tackey Chan,state representative fromQuincy, came as well tothe rally. The presidentsof the Boston firefighters,postal workers, electricalworkers, painters, and cus-todians were all in atten-dance. Our friends and

supporters from various quarters all madefor a strong rally and let each of us knowthat we have friends and supportersthroughout the city.

The crucial takeaway from the demon-stration is that our members are essen-tially united on the key issues. Let’s goover a few:

1) On the issue of extra time: We agreeto work additional time for instructionalpurposes and for that we do expect to becompensated. We will also work with thedistrict to expand the school day an addi-tional three hours to better mirror thetypical parent work day, and we will gladlywork with the district to bring in outsideproviders to help manage that time andprovide our children with a vast array ofappropriate academic and enrichment

The Boston Teachers Union SalutesBlack History Month

(continued on page 2)

5

p.m. to help with after-school activities.” 2

What was clear to thosein attendance is that this iseverybody’s struggle. Andit was just as obvious thatthe crowd of attendees wastruly representative of ourmembership. The rally in-cluded a diverse crowd rep-resenting all segments ofour membership. Therewere young members,members with children(and even a few in babycarriages), there were 20-year veterans, and morethan a few retirees (thank you!) who cameout, braved the cold and marched with us.To all of them we say thank you.

There were teachers from our pilotschools, our in-district charter schools —and from all over the city. Some evencame after their two-hour PD session! Toall who participated we again say thankyou.

We also thank a number of other unionofficials and elected officials who cameout to support us. The AFTMA, our par-ent organization, send over more than afew members, as did the AFT national.Steve Tolman, new president of theMass AFL-CIO came and spoke, as didRich Rogers, head of the Greater Bos-ton Labor Council, who proudly has adaughter enrolled in our school system.City Councilors Charles Yancey, Felix

BTU and Other Unions Rally atSchool Committee Headquarters

Eight Boston Teachers Recognized asNational Board Certified

2 ❖ BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012

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Michael J. Maguire

Commentary: Michael J. Maguire

Degree InflationIn the November, 2011 edition of thie

Boston Union Teacher, I touched uponthe crushing debt1 that many of our col-lege graduates incur. I had asked that weclosely examine who enables our studentsto go so deeply into debt, namely thecolleges themselves and the federal loanagencies. Today I ask that we also exam-ine who encourages our students, andteachers, to go hopelessly into debt,namely employers.

A job is a good thing to offer a youngperson. They are hungry for money andopportunity. They tend to work longerhours than older employees who havefamilial responsibilities. Being essentiallyunemployed while in college, they keenlyobserve what potential employers want ina candidate. More often than not, theemployer wants to see the name of anelite college on the resume. Therefore,students go deeply into debt to afford thecost of an elite education. Sadly, it is oftenwasted money.

We all know about the legions of col-lege graduates who now work as baristasin order to make ends meet. But equallyshocking are the hordes of employeeswho accumulate a master’s or two for ajob that requires a bachelor’s at best.Forget about being “overly qualified;” it’ssimply a waste of time, talent, and money.

Therefore I am asking the HR manag-ers, the small business owners, and evenour own BPS to put a halt to the degreeinflation that they are perpetuating. Usu-ally a graduate of a $50,000/yr school ispraised during an interview for complet-ing such a rigorous course of study. In-stead I say that the interviewer shouldask, “Why was it a smart move to putyourself deeply in debt when you couldhave learned the same material at a publiccollege for half the cost?”

Unfortunately, our very own careerdoes the same to us. Why is it that we haveto have a master’s degree in order toteach? I hope your experience was better

than mine, but I did not enjoy my M.Ed.classes. Sure, I learned a few things hereand there. But I learned more in my twoweeks on the job than I did in my twoyears of night school.

I understand that there has to be somemeasure of education and competency.But what we are currently doing is over-kill, and it may in fact deter people fromentering our field.

Like them or not, Teach for Americacan teach us a thing or two. TfA gives itsteachers a five-week intensive trainingbefore sending them off into“underserved” communities. Is five weekstoo short? Maybe. But spending fiftyweeks and fifty thousand dollars at gradschool is definitely too much.

About a month ago at lunch a group ofmy colleagues was lamenting how muchmoney they still owe in student debt.Most of my co-workers attended privatecolleges and have more red ink on theirfinancial records than a failing studenthas on his term paper. A few at the lunchtable were happy that their debt is mini-mal. One was happy to report that herdebt would be forgiven after working forthree years in an urban school system.While most people would be happy tohave debt forgiven, I am saddened thatwe are luring people into teaching byletting them “work off” their debt the waynon-violent offenders work of their debt-to-society via community service.

The BPS’s Role

It seems evident that in order to become a principal in the BPS, one needs to

attend the Harvard Graduate School of Edu-cation. Perhaps crimson is a pretty color foryour red ink, but one need not attend

A m e r i c a ’ smost cel-ebratedschool inorder torun oneof yourown.

The best administrators and princi-pals are those who have first hand teach-ing experience, and lots of it. Ten years ina classroom is more valuable to the newleader than a ten-week seminar, even ifgiven by a lauded “Hahvid” lecturer.

But that’s not who we “promote” inBoston. Instead of taking great teachersand training them in-house to be adminis-trators and principals, the BPS tacitlysays that one needs to get a master’sdegree on his own time and dime in orderto be considered for promotion.

The above is a waste of time, talent,and talents (Roman money). If we collec-tively ended the educational overkill, wewould all have more time to spend withfamilies and more money to spend onthem. I ask you, who benefits from thecurrent system? Certainly not us.

Good teaching, like good leadership,is innate. No amount of money and re-sume building can change that. Ratherwe ought to nurture and foster it fromwithin the ranks. Mentoring and appren-ticeships are proven ways to enhancesomeone’s abilities and to build camara-derie, and are far less costly for all in-volved.

(Michael J. Maguire teaches Latin atBoston Latin Academy.)1 On November 13, 2011, CNN Money reported that

the average student debt in 2011 topped $25,000, up5% from 2009.

Estimated 1,500 Union Members GatherTo Protest District’s Stalling Tactics…(continued from page 1)

2011 Tax Information

Union Dues for Teachers were$1,103.11

Dues for Paras / Subs were$551.56

BTU Dependent Scholarships

SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION

Each year the Retired Teachers Chapter of the Boston Teachers Union awards three scholarships to deserving high school seniors who are

children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews of RTCmembers. One of these scholarships is earmarked for a student who mightchoose to attend a vocational school or equivalent institution.

Applications for these scholarships my be picked up at the RTC/BTU officesat 180 Mt. Vernon Street, Dorchester, MA 02125 or they can be downloadedfrom the BTU website. The deadline to apply is April 21, 2012.

This year there will be 17 scholarships in the amount of $1,000 awarded tohigh school seniors who are dependents of BTU members. To apply, please

obtain an application from Jeanne Turner in the Union office or download theform from the BTU website and return with: a transcript of the dependent’s lasttwo years of academic work; 2) evidence of acceptance by an accredited college,junior college, vocational school or equivalent institution; 3) member’s nota-rized federal tax return for the year 2011; and 4) a one-page statement of thedependent’s professional goals. The application and the four supportingdocuments must be received in the Union office no later than Wednes-day, April 18, 2012. The recipients of the scholarships will be notified by May18, 2012.

Retired Teachers ChapterScholarships

activities.Paige Griglun, a teacher at Excel

High School in South Boston who at-tended Wednesday night’s rally, saidworking additional hours would be hardfor her because she has to pay for daycare for her own school-age children.“I’m willing to do it,” she said, “but I wantto be paid for it.” 3

2) We’d like to work with the district tocreate and allow for a range of opportuni-ties for professional growth and responsi-bility, so our members can provide lead-ership to our schools.

3) We want the district to begin tolisten to us and our ideas. Take, for ex-ample, the issue of providing better ELLinstruction in our schools. Since UNZ thedistrict has muddled through and pro-vided haphazard training for our teachersand reneged on providing adequate andneeded services and resources to ourELL students. The result: the FederalDepartment of Justice is circling its wag-ons around the school district on bothissues — better training for our members

and improved services for our students.How much better would it have been forall had the district listed to us 8 years agoinvolved us in these discussions!

4) And finally, we do deserve a salaryincrease. Offering us a 0% increase for2011-2012 is clearly insulting.

Teachers work very hard, and we aredeserving of our wages,’’ said AdelineDajuste, a teacher at the Kenny Elemen-tary in Dorchester. ‘‘We come in early,stay late, work through our lunch, tutorchildren after school, and correct papersat home. We have gone above and be-yond what we are asked to do. At leastgive us a cost of living increase.’’ 1

We believe we will accomplish all ofthe above4 with your continued support.We also understand that negotiating acontract is a two-way street. But we areadamant that at the conclusion of negotia-tions we much come together on a con-tract that is good for our students, afford-able to the city and fair to our members.

Thank you.

1 http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/01/18/hundreds-boston-teachers-expected-rally-over-contract/d7J1X7Yc0mXNMxHlR4hALO/story.html

2 http://www.wickedlocal.com/roslindale/news/x347334420/Roslindale-West-Roxbury-teachers-rally-to-protest-contract-stalemate?zc_p=1#axzz1k737V9C0

3 http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/21634 The above is of course not an all-inclusive list, nor is

it in priority order.

BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012 ❖ 3

Know Your Rights: Caren Carew, BTU Secondary Field Representative

What is the procedure for teachers in reportingsuspected or actual sexual assault?

A ll employees must review theSuperintendent’s Circular #LGL-13

Sexual Assault Policy to familiarize them-selves with the procedures containedwithin. There is a comprehensive Q&Asection in this circular to assist in appro-priately responding to a variety of circum-stances related to this issue. An employeewho has been a victim of sexual assaultreports the incident to the building ad-ministrator, the academic superinten-dents, or the chief operating officer. Theemployee who has been an adult victimhas the right to contact the Sexual AssaultUnit of the Boston Police 617 343-4400 aswell as review the Sup. Cir. #EQT-2-Em-ployee Grievances of Discrimination. Astudent who has been a victim of sexualassault may report to any school official(nurse, teacher, Para, etc.). The personwho receives said report must immedi-ately notify the building administrator(best in writing & keep a copy for yourown documentation). Those of us whowork in schools are all mandatory report-ers and are thus required to report to theDepartment of Children & Families (for-merly DSS) when there is reasonablecause to believe a child under the age of18 is suffering physical or emotional in-jury resulting from abuse which causesharm or a substantial risk of harm to thechild’s health or welfare. Refer to Sup.Cir. #SSS-17 Child Abuse & Neglect forfurther information. BTU members havebeen investigated & disciplined for notimmediately reporting suspected orknown inappropriate incidents of thisnature. Please review these policies avail-able in your main office or on the BPSwebsite.

How many BPS in-servicecredits can be used towardssalary lane advancement?

Some workshops or courses offered by the Boston Public Schools grant

in-service credit. Each in-service credit isearned after the participant has completeda minimum of 15 hours in a workshop/course which was pre-approved and ad-vertised as granting one or more in-ser-vice credit(s) upon successful comple-tion of said course. In-service credits canbe used only in the Boston Public Schoolstoward salary lane advancement. A maxi-mum of 30 in-service credits can besubmitted and used to advance sal-ary lanes in a BTU members’ career.

In-service credits also may be used torecertify. PDP’s (Professional Develop-ment Points) may only be used to recer-tify, not towards salary lane advancement.If a person has exceeded the number ofin-service credits able to be used towardsalary lane advancement, they should stillretain the certificate(s) to be used forrecertification purposes. Who knows,perhaps in future contract negotiationsthe current allowable number able to beapplied towards salary lane advancementmay be increased. [Keep hope alive!] Thismay or may not occur, but it is better tohave retained the certificates if it doeshappen than to wish one had.

When submitting in-service creditstowards salary lane advancement, youshould do so in the same manner yousubmit graduate credits. Fill out a PS03form (obtainable from your school secre-tary, on the BPS website, or at the BPSHuman Resources Office), attach copiesof your in-service certificates, hand de-liver along with an exact copy of yoursubmission to the BPS Human ResourcesDept., 3rd floor, 26 Court Street. Make

sure, as with everything you submit to HR,that you get your copy time/date stampedat the counter where you hand in yourforms. Retain this in a safe place for futurereference. Without the time/date stampfrom the BPS HR Dept. on your copy, thereis no proof you ever actually submitted theforms to them. In a dispute, as in Vegas,“The House wins”. Never part with theoriginal in-service credit certificate be-cause it is exceedingly unlikely that thegrantee of said credits is keeping them onfile for you.

Are we entitled to time forcancer screening?

Yes. There is a Superintendent’s Cir-cular HRS-PP-14 “Paid Leave for Can-

cer Screening and/or Living Organ Do-nation” which states that Mayor Meninosigned an Executive Order allowing allcity employees to use four (4) hours ofleave per calendar year for various typesof cancer screening including that forbreast, prostate, colon, skin, thyroid, oralcavity, lymph nodes, reproductive organs,and lungs. The procedure dictates thatemployees are allowed one (1) four (4)hour period that cannot be broken intohourly units. It requires that they mustmake their leave request through theirresponsibility center manager [principal]and then provide them a signed copy of amedical document verifying the date thatthe employee was given a cancer screen-ing. For attendance reporting purposes,the time reporting code S1200 to reporttime taken under this provision must beused. This cancer screening leave time isnot charged to any accumulated sick time.All questions concerning this circularshould be made to Ed Kelleher/DeborahPullen in BPS Human Resources, at 617-635-9670.

How do BTU members whohave a major conflict betweenthem receive mediation?

The BTU has a BTU to BTU mediationprogram where trained BTU media-

tors have been selected to implement amediation program with the goal of reach-ing a mutually agreed upon resolution tosaid conflict or issue. Mediation in thissetting is a voluntary, confidential pro-cess which allows the two BTU membersto explore options for resolution of anissue by reaching a mutually agreed uponsolution to their issues. Anything said inmediation must be kept confidential andcannot be used in litigation, regardless ofthe outcome of the mediation. Essentially,“what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”.

The purpose of this type of mediationis to clarify and explore creative resolu-tions in a non-judgmental setting. Media-tion is not a hearing; rather, the mediator’sgoal is to help the participants focus andmutually develop prompt, effective reso-lutions to issues which meet their needs.If an agreement is met in this process, it isbinding which means it will not proceedany further. Mediation is an agreementreaching process in which the mediatorassists parties to reach a mutual agree-ment in a collaborative, consensual in-formed manner. Any party may termi-nate the process at any time prior tosigning off on a final resolution. In theevent the BTU members come to a satis-factory resolution, that agreement oncesigned will be binding. No info disclosedduring the course of the mediation maybe disclosed to any BPS administratorwithout the consent of the party whoinitially disclosed the info. If there is an

agreement, both BTU members will signa written resolution of the issue.

Sometimes BTU members seek outan administrator to work out issues be-tween other BTU members and the unin-tended consequences of doing so may bethat the administrator takes disciplinaryaction against one or both BTU membersor the perceived inability of the BTUmembers to work collaboratively withpeers is reflected negatively in their for-

mal evaluations.If you are a BTUmember whohas a significantissue with another BTU member and theboth of you are voluntarily willing to par-ticipate in this process, emailccarew@btu.org to do so. Mediation ses-sions are held after school hours at theBTU. Let’s work together to solve ourown problems professionally.

by Jessica Tang and Richard Stutman

In the late fall, the BTU Executive Board voted to create a Community Advisory Board with a vision of beginning a two-way discussion among

stakeholders to improve our public schools and support student success. Aformal partnership with community stakeholders is perhaps long overdue, butmany BTU members are excited about the opportunity to build relationshipswith community members, including students and parents, who are as investedin the success of our schools as BTU members are.

Participants in the two planning meetings have included a diverse group ofeducators including current teachers, retired teachers, BPS parents, and aschool nurse. Two goals of the Community Advisory Board are to: 1) create aforum for authentic dialogue around the education issues that impact studentsin Boston; and 2) explore ways that our joint activity could better meet the needsof families and address related social justice issues in our greater community aswell. Through the CAB members hope to create a comfortable and honest forumfor practical and solutions-oriented conversations between BTU members andcommunity activists with the goal of creating schools in which we could all beproud.

“How can we improve our schools?” is a matter that has all too often been leftto “experts” who are not as knowledgeable about the day to day challenges asstudents, parents, teachers, and community members. Those of us who attendour schools are often left outside the decision-making process. CAB memberswould like to change that now by creating the space to begin a sincere andcourageous discussion that will lead to creative, meaningful, inclusive, andproactive school improvement efforts that address the real needs of students.

Invitations to the first meeting are being sent to over 50 different groupsidentified by BTU members of the CAB. The first meeting with stakeholders willtake place on February 27th at the BTU.

If you are interested in getting involved with the newly-created CAB, pleasee-mail CAB@btu.org

Newly-Created Community Advisory Boardan Opportunity for Two-Way Dialogue

4 ❖ BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012

The Chicago Public Schools Grind on TeachersFrom the Blogosphere: Katie Osgood

Editor’s Note: I was sitting down at my computer andwas going to write a piece called “Bashing Teachers Takesthe Heat Off the 1%.” While I was perusing the internet forideas I came across this piece. After posting it to myFacebook page a number of BPS teachers asked me if it waspossible to reprint it in the Boston Union Teacher. So I senta friend request to Katie, asked permission, and sheagreed. The piece is about Chicago. And while Boston maynot be exactly like Chicago I think most of us would agreethat the teachers and students in Boston are subject to thesame attacks. Thank you Katie for saying so eloquentlywhat needs to be said. No need to write my article. Just readthis. – GV

Recently, in Chicagoland, a story hit the papers about a teacher committing suicide. She wrote in her

suicide note that the major reason for this drastic act waswork-related. According to her colleagues, this womantook her own life because of the bullying and fear sheexperienced at her school.

As I discussed this event with afriend who is a current CPS teacher, hementioned that in the comments sec-tion of the article many non-educatorswere shocked and horrified at thistragic happening but were also quickto assume that the woman must havebeen “soft” or had some kind of under-lying mental health problem. But, hequipped, when many CPS teachersheard about the incident, they justshook their heads and said, “Yeah, Ican see that happening.”

Truth is, so could I. When I thinkback to my measly one year of teach-ing at a horribly-run CPS elementaryschool, I can very easily imagine thatscenario unfolding with a number ofmy colleagues and yes, even with my-self.

Did you all catch that? Suicide is notconsidered shocking in the realm ofteaching in CPS.

And I don’t think the general publicunderstands the toll that years of work-ing in an increasingly horrible environment coupledwith the latest wave of teacher-bashing actually takes onthe people who do the hard work of education.

Let me try and paint you a picture:Imagine you’ve had one of the worst weeks of your

life. You haven’t slept in months, you have moneytroubles building, your relationships are failing, you feelunheard and unappreciated at home and at work, youworry daily about your future and whether or not you willhave a job next year or even next week, and the idea ofgetting up to go to work the next day is practicallyunbearable. You need a moment to catch your breath, amoment to clear the clutter of worry, failure and fearfrom your clouded mind. But you don’t get it. There istoo much to get done. And all the while, you think, if Idon’t get it done, I am failing these kids. I have no choicebut to keep pushing.

Now add onto that a vindictive, power-hungry bosswho would fire you as soon as look at you, and colleaguesat work who are themselves so tired, afraid and over-whelmed that they are one bad day from breakdown.

And then there are your students. God you love them.But some of them have problems you simply do notknow how to fix. Or, even with the interventions youknow to do through experience and training, you alsoknow it will take all of your mental energy to implementthem. You don’t have that kind of energy left. Some ofyour kids are currently homeless and show up to schoolunbathed and with dirty clothes. Others have developedsignificant behavior problems and despite your bestefforts, they continue to fight, curse, and act out in class.Some of them are so embarrassed they can’t read thatthey throw books off their desks and rip up their hand-outs. You know deep down that most of the difficultiesyour children face are beyond your control. But still,most days you come home and cry because of the guiltand helplessness.

You also know that your job is on the line if you don’tget these kids to perform on some silly test. You knowthe tests are a joke, that they do not capture the intelli-gence, wit, humor and spark that live within your stu-dents. But still they hang there, always lurking in theshadows. Time is slowly marching until the day youmust administer the dreaded test and seal your fate.

Now imagine turning on your TV or flipping throughthe Tribune or Sun-Times to see yet another story loudlyproclaiming that the problem with America’s schools is,well, you. “More teachers must be fired!” they scream.“Teachers are the ones failing the kids, we need to holdthem accountable!” “Teachers are lazy and need to worklonger, harder, for less pay!” “Teacher pensions aredestroying our economy!” (Whoa, did I miss the partwhere newspapers yelled at the people who caused thefinancial crisis that is slashing education budgets aroundthe country? Are the mortgage brokers, big banks andfinancial industries getting demeaned every five sec-onds? How about the corporations not paying their fairshare of taxes which help schools? And don’t forget thepoliticians and their horrible education policies. Surelyno one reading the news is believing this baloney, arethey?) And every time you hear the insults or name-calling you think to yourself, “Well what the heck are anyof you doing to help these kids...” The unfairness of it allburns.

Now stretch that one terrible week into nine months.Welcome to CPS.

Of course, the great irony is that as the powers that becomplain about “quality” teachers they create teachingenvironments where it becomes impossible to be great.Teachers at my old school started to look liked thewalking dead as the stress and fear accumulated. Theincreased “accountability” robbed us all of the veryqualities which would make us great teachers: ourpassion, kindness, drive, energy, camaraderie and hu-mor.

And then there are people, like our lovely mayor, whoseem to enjoy kicking you while you’re down. Rahmwould have us believe that something like extending theschool day is so easy. Oh, that smirk on his face as heseems to say “How dare you expect to be paid for yourextra time!” And “Sure, you’ve been working this wholeyear close to breakdown, barely scraping by, withoutany resources and with abnormally large class sizes, butI’m sure you can come up with 90 extra minutes ofactivities for your kids. Oh, and if you really cared, you’ddo this willingly and for free. And stop asking for paperto make copies or books for them to read, you greedyteachers. And no, we are not going to fix your schoolbuilding, give you the resources you say you need, orhelp you in any way, shape, or form. You suck, yourschool sucks, and we are just biding our time until wecan shut the whole thing down.”

Sigh...Now, maybe not every school and every teacher has

as bad a time as that, but I know I did. And I know toomany other teachers out there who are experiencingthat same fear, intimidation, and stress. Teaching underthese unacceptable conditions has become the rule, notthe exception. I recently came across a blog post whichdescribed something called “compassion fatigue” whichis “a combination of physical, emotional, and spiritualdepletion associated with caring for patients in signifi-cant emotional pain and physical distress.” The authorgoes on to say:

Like nurses, teachers confronting these pathologies[such as abuse, abandonment and alienation] are forcedto perform triage. But teachers still have to somehowfind the time and energy afterward to teach the subject

matter they were hired to do. The debilitating effects onthem are cumulative. It’s little wonder, therefore, thatteachers in inner-city schools have a higher rate ofabsenteeism and turnover than their colleagues in thesuburbs. It’s also not at all surprising that teachers whoare faced with the challenge often find themselvesdrawing away from their students. The same sadnessand despair that nurses report also affect teachers.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to the educationreform debate at all in recent years, you will know thatthis is the place in the story where the corporate reform-ers of the nation, you know, the Michelle Rhees, BillGates, Arne Duncans, and yes, Rahm Emanuels, wouldjump in and say something ridiculous like “no excuses”or “poverty is not destiny.” They will fill your ear with talkof “the soft bigotry of low expectations” while com-pletely ignoring the hard bigotry of poverty, racism andcrippling income inequality. Their ignorance of thereality of life for students and teachers alike in the innercities is frankly, criminal.

No more I say.This post is for all my teacher

colleagues out there. It’s time for usto fight back. It’s time to take backour profession. Teachers, use yournatural inclination to educate and startteaching your friends and familiesabout the hard realities of our profes-sion. And don’t be afraid to sing ourpraises. What we do is good work andit needs to be protected and cher-ished.

And while you’re at it, don’t forgetto teach as many people as possibleabout the true nature of corporatereform and how it’s left behind entireneighborhoods. Let people knowabout the ridiculous goals of No ChildLeft Beind and the evils behind high-stakes testing. Tell the truth aboutcharters, that they are not, in fact,miracles. Speak up about the realityof Teach for America — how placinguntrained novices in classrooms withthe hardest to educate students is

unjust and wrong. Make people start to at least questionthe hype!

More than anything, make the act of teacher-bashingunacceptable. We know that when we are overwhelmed,upset, fatigued, demoralized and stressed out beyondour limits, we will be no good for our students. Remem-ber, fighting for teachers is fighting for students.

So fight for the kinds of teaching environments whichbenefit kids. Fight for workplaces where teachers do notflee, breakdown, or God forbid take their own lives.Fight for a steady and strong group of committed profes-sionals who actually stick around long enough to bringthe slow change that is needed in our schools. Fight forthe respect we deserve. Fight for the autonomy to makedecisions on curriculum, implementation, and assess-ment that help the kids sitting in front of us. Fight forequity in resources so we have the tools to actually do thedifficult job of teaching. Fight for the mental health thatwe need to be the excellent educators kids deserve.

By fighting, we can beat back some of the hopeless-ness and exhaustion. We need to stop blaming our-selves, alone and guilty, and instead get angry at theforces that are hurting us and the important work we do.And all you non-educators out there need to get angryright alongside us. So sing along with me:

We’re not gonna take itNo, we ain’t gonna take itWe’re not gonna take it anymore

We’ve got the right to choose andThere ain’t no way we’ll lose itThis is our life, this is our song.We’ll fight a thousand legions.Don’t pick our destiny ‘causeYou don’t know us, you don’t belong.

We’re not gonna take itNo, we ain’t gonna take itWe’re not gonna take it anymore

(Katie Osgood is a special education teacher at aPsychiatric Hospital in Chicago. Before that, she taught ina Chicago Public School and in Japan. Lyrics from TwistedSister.)

BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012 ❖ 5

The Boston Teachers Union Salutes Black History Month

Historical Context: When JamesBaldwin gave his talk for teachers it was100 years since the Emancipation Proc-lamation. Much of the civil rights legisla-tion had yet to be passed. George Wallace,governor of Alabama, was barring blackstudents from the state university. Mar-tin Luther King had beenjailed in Birminghamand 4 teenage girls hadbeen murdered in thebombing of the 16 th

Street Baptist Church inBirmingham.

On the positive sidethe March on Washing-ton and King’s “I Had aDream” speech had in-spired a nation. Presi-dent John F. Kennedyhad called for an end to”Jim Crow Laws”.Malcolm X had broughttogether urban forces inprotest. Martin was theconscience of the move-ment. Malcolm was thepassion of the move-ment. And JamesBaldwin embodied theanger and the memoryof an oppressed people. There was hopeand there was possibility.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous

time. Everyone in this room is in oneway or another aware of that. We are ina revolutionary situation, no matter howunpopular that word has become in thiscountry. To any citizen of this countrywho figures himself as responsible –and particularly those of you who dealwith the minds and hearts of young

people — must be prepared to “go forbroke.” Or to put it another way, youmust understand that in the attempt tocorrect so many generations of bad faithand cruelty, when it is operating notonly in the classroom but in society, youwill meet the most fantastic, the mostbrutal, and the most determined resis-tance. There is no point in pretendingthat this won’t happen.

… Now the crucial paradox whichconfronts us here is that the whole pro-cess of education occurs within a socialframework and is designed to perpetu-

Excerpts from “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwinate the aims of society… The paradox ofeducation is precisely this - that as onebegins to become conscious one be-gins to examine the society in which heis being educated. The purpose of edu-cation, finally, is to create in a personthe ability to look at the world for him-

self, to make his own decisions, to say tohimself this is black or this is white, todecide for himself whether there is aGod in heaven or not. To ask questionsof the universe, and then learn to livewith those questions, is the way heachieves his own identity. But no soci-ety is really anxious to have that kind ofperson around. What societies really,ideally, want is a citizenry which willsimply obey the rules of society…

Now, if what I have tried to sketchhas any validity, it becomes thoroughly

clear, at least to me,that any Negro whois born in this coun-try and undergoesthe American edu-cational systemruns the risk of be-coming schizo-phrenic. On the onehand he is born inthe shadow of thestars and stripesand he is assured itrepresents a nationwhich has never losta war. Hepledges al-legiance tothat flagw h i c hg u a r a n -tees “lib-erty andjustice forall.” He ispart of acountry inwhich any-one can be-

come president, and so forth.But on the other hand he isalso assured by his country andhis countrymen that he hasnever contributed anything tocivilization – that his past isnothing more than a record ofhumiliations gladly endured…

All this enters the child’sconsciousness much soonerthan we as adults would like tothink it does. As adults, we areeasily fooled because we areso anxious to be fooled. But

children are very different. Children,not yet aware that it is dangerous tolook too deeply at anything, look ateverything, look at each other, and drawtheir own conclusions. They don’t havethe vocabulary to express what theysee, and we, their elders, know how tointimidate them very easily and verysoon. But a black child, looking at theworld around him, though he cannotknow quite what to make of it, is awarethat there is a reason why his motherworks so hard, why his father is alwayson edge. He is aware that there is somereason why, if he sits down in the frontof the bus, his father or mother slapshim and drags him to the back of thebus. He is aware that there is someterrible weight on his parents’ shoul-ders which menaces him. And it isn’tlong — in fact it begins when he is inschool — before he discovers the shapeof his oppression…

… I began by saying that one of the

paradoxes of education was that pre-cisely at the point when you begin todevelop a conscience, you must findyourself at war with your society. It isyour responsibility to change society ifyou think of yourself as an educatedperson. And on the basis of the evi-dence – the moral and political evidence– one is compelled to say that this is abackward society…

Now if I were a teacher in this school,or any Negro school, and I was dealingwith Negro children, who were in mycare only a few hours of every day andwould then return to their homes and to

the streets, children who have an appre-hension of their future which with ev-ery hour grows grimmer and darker, Iwould try to teach them — I would try tomake them know — that those streets,those houses, those dangers, those ago-nies by which they are surrounded, arecriminal…I would teach him that thereare currently very few standards in thiscountry which are worth a man’s re-spect. That it is up to him to changethese standards for the sake of the lifeand the health of the country. I wouldsuggest to him that the popular culture— as represented, for example, on tele-vision and in comic books and in mov-ies — is based on fantasies created byvery ill people, and he must be awarethat these are fantasies that have noth-ing to do with reality. I would teach himthat the press he reads is not as free asit says it is – and that he can do some-thing about that, too. I would try tomake him know that just as American

history is longer, larger, more various,more beautiful and more terrible thananything anyone has ever said about it,so is the world larger, more daring, morebeautiful and more terrible, but princi-pally larger – and that it belongs to him.

(Delivered October 16, 1963, as “TheNegro Child – His Self-Image”; originallypublished in The Saturday Review, De-cember 21, 1963, reprinted in The Priceof the Ticket, Collected Non-Fiction 1948-1985, Saint Martins 1985.)

(Historical Context from Ty dePass ofWork For Quality Schools.)

6 ❖ BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012

BTU and Other Unions Plead With City Officials to“TALK TO TEACHERS!!!”

Photos byMichael J. Maguire

BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012 ❖ 7

8 ❖ BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012

(Amika Kemmler Ernst is a recently retiredBPS New Teacher Developer with extensiveexperience as a classroom teacher, curricu-lum developer, and graphic artist. Her “We’reLearning Here” Project features images ofeveryday learning in our public schools,along with the words of the studentspictured. )

A project by Amika Kemmler Ernst, Ed.D.We’re Learning HereExcel High School

As I climb the steps and enter the South Boston Educational Complex, the first thing I notice is a metal detector – a not-so-subtle reminder of the violence that pervades the lives of many students and the safe haven provided by our schools. Large signs direct visitors to the two schools housed here: Excel High School shares this imposing building

with Boston Green Academy, a newly created in-district charter that occupies the third floor.

This year Excel High School has a new headmaster (Stephanie Sibley) and has nearly doubled in size, incorporatingMonument HS students into its student body. Thanks to Ruthie Aframe, the school’s Community Relations Manager, for herwarm welcome and for escorting me around. Students drop by her office and greet her in the hallways; one wants to find outif she can leave early to be on time to a new job, another needs to charge his cell phone! All receive a friendly greeting andencouragement to stay focused on their education.

I was invited to visit Excel by science teacher Michael Harris, whose Forensic Science class was analyzing blood spatterpatterns when we came in. His class is an elective, serving students across the grades, as are physical education activities suchas martial arts and Zumba. Students learning French are having paired conversations to practice vocabulary, while next dooris a beginning Spanish class. A recent immigrant from Vietnam is making an oral presentation in his ESL class, and twostudents are working on a science fair project during their lunch period.

I’m impressed by the variety of programs offered during the school day, from AP classes to internships at local businesses.After school clubs in Drama, Robotics, JROTC, Model U.N. and more also enrich students’ academic experience. I particularlyenjoyed my conversation with Fartun Mohamed, a young woman who told me that her World Literature class has inspired herto join the Debate Club after school. Every time I talk with students about what they’re learning, I’m reminded of how rarelywe provide time for reflection and how valuable it can be – for ourselves, as well as for our students.

Please invite me to visit your school!

We were working on our “Do Now” in Algebra II and Mr. Hamiltonwas checking our work. In this class we’ve learned how to solvequadratic equations. – Arianna Bagalue & Nagid Craig, Grade 12

I’m taking notes in my AP Calculus class. I’mlearning about integrals, the area betweenthe x axis and the function (curve) on a graph.

– John Nguyen, Grade 12

I am teaching my ESL class what I learned about the monkseal. It’s an endangered animal because of sewage from theHawaiian Islands. I came from Vietnam a year ago and inthis class I am learning to read, write, and (mostchallenging) speak in English. – Loc Tran, Grade 10

We were taking notes in our Forensic Science class. We’ve learnedabout four different blood types. We’ve also learned that thepattern of blood spatter can tell a lot about what happened suchas the angle, distance, and velocity of an attack.

– Shamalia Barrett, Sindy Urbina, & Chanelle Mackey, Grade 12

Working with special education teacher Vicki Friedman, AndyMartinez is matching a vocabulary card to a voice-output device toidentify distance as one component of the equation for speed.

We are in Martial Arts class, learning Tung Soo Doo to fight andprotect ourselves. In this picture we’re practicing front and sidekicks. – Shanae Barrett, Cathy Phan, &

Khalee Adkin, Grade 9, and Marc Sanchez, Grade 11

Jerone was putting bags of ice on Ismael’s shoulders in Biologyclass with Mr. Pereira. We used thermometers to test changes inbody temperature. We learned that we are endothermic, whichmeans that our internal temperatures are not affected by heat orcold. – Ismael Hernandez & Jerone Elliott, Grade 10

I was taking an online exam in my WorldLiterature class with Mr. Korzeniowski.I’ve learned to analyze different works ofliterature and compare them to filmsbased on the same theme. This semesterwe’re studying the Holocaust, readingbooks like Night, by Elie Wiesel, and Maus:A Survivors Tale, by Art Spiegelman, andwatching films like “The Boy in theStriped Pajamas.” This is my favoriteclass! It deals with real life issues and Iapply the lessons learned to everything Iread or watch ~ it even inspired me to jointhe debate club!

– Fartun Mohamed, Grade 11

We’re working on our Science Fairproject, figuring out how to make a mini-launcher work. We’ve learned that youneed a particular ration of fuel to air tocreate a spark. We’ve also learned that ittakes teamwork to do anything well.

– Erjohn Milo & Robert Phan, Grade 11

BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012 ❖ 9

An Interview with U.S. Department of EducationSenior Program Advisor Brad Jupp

The Teaching Pulse: James Liou

“I don’t really think there was a secretingredient other than people being able tomove past their doubts and seize an oppor-tunity. It was a chance to create opportuni-ties where the rewards outweighed the risks.I don’t think we do that much in publiceducation…”

“You need to build systems…to demon-strate that teachers, by and large, succeedin their work.”

“I think that we, as unions and teachers,have felt so victimized by accountabilitythat we have almost betrayed our ownmission as a profession.”

— Brad Jupp, Education SectorInterview in April 2006

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Brad is a very laid back guy. And that’sparticularly impressive when you

consider his current position as the Se-nior Program Advisor for Teacher Qual-ity Initiatives in the U.S. Department ofEducation. This is an individual who hasthe ear of Secretary of Education ArneDuncan and has considerable, if not cen-tral, influence on any federal policies thatrelate to teacher quality and effective-ness.

As a former middle school Englishteacher and union activist in the Denverpublic schools, he is most known for hisrole in the development of Denver’sProComp teacher compensation sys-tem—one which ties teacher incentivesto both school and student performanceand growth.

I met Brad through the Teaching Am-bassador Program, a teaching fellowshipdesigned to orient and involve teachers innational, state and local education policy.A total of four BPS teachers, incidentally,have been a part of, or currently partici-pate, in this program, including StevenBerbeco from Charlestown High School,Shakera Walker from Young AchieversScience and Math School and RobertBaroz from the Curley School. Applica-tions for the 2012-2013 cohort have re-cently opened so definitely take a lookand pass on the word.

He was generous enough to spendnearly an hour with me this past Novem-ber while attending the Council of theGreat City Schools conference in Boston.I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation,especially as it related to one of the corequestions of The Teaching Pulse: Whatlocal, statewide and national policy initia-tives should we teachers be aware of, andwhat are practical ways and avenues toinfluence and implement those policies?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Thanks, Brad, for taking the timeto meet and talk with me this morn-ing. It’s an incredible privilege. Onekey goal of this interview is to empha-size the idea that [education] policy isimportant, policy affects us and attimes, we can actually shape it.

How would you best describe yourrole in the U.S. Department of Edu-cation and what you do?

I comprehend it first by its breathtak-ing scale. I was always overwhelmed inDenver by how many teachers I repre-sented when I was a union leader and howmany teachers worked for us when I wasin the superintendent’s office. [And] Iknew most of them.

In the Department of Education, whatI think is amazing is [to consider] thishuge river of 3.3 million people. The teach-ing workforce is enormous. And it worksunder incredibly decentralized circum-stances. You can’t say that the teacher

who works in New Jersey works underthe same circumstances as the one whoteaches in California. But you also can’tsay that the teacher who works in LosAngeles works under the same circum-stances as the teacher who works in Sac-ramento. And so it’s not just a problem ofenormity, it’s aproblem ofcomplexity.

Size and de-centralizationmakes for enor-mity and com-plexity. [It’s]been a realchallenge tolearn the bestways to shapethe directionsthat the peoplewho make upthis river ofpeople flow in.There’s a cur-rent [in thisriver, for in-stance] where30% of thepeople who have been hired have left thejob within two or three years after theywere hired. You should ask: ‘What’s caus-ing that current’?’ Then you should ask,‘what can be done to alter that current?’And in something that’s enormous andsomething that’s complicated, it’s notgoing to be a simple, single gesture.

So I think the short end of this longintroduction is that learning how to makethe right precise moves to change thetrajectory of the teaching profession hasbeen the greatest challenge of the job thatI’ve been in for the past two and a halfyears. It’s not been easy.

[It seems] like a tremendous role andresponsibility, to not only identify andunderstand what the currents are, but toalso try and establish interventions, poli-cies or even [think them through]…

Very often what people do wrong is[when] they come in with a political orien-tation and some policy preferences. Andthey impose them. I think the case that Iwas making is that you actually have tolearn how these currents move beforeyou do that, before you can alter themeffectively.

I’m making the case for knowing howthis workforce moves rather than know-ing the right sets of policy interventions.

So you’re thinking of yourself moreas a gatherer of information, under-standing how it works…

Maybe the right word for it, James,and I know it might not be good interviewmaterial because it’s too abstract… I’m apragmatist. I work with the materials andconditions that I got. I’m not an idealist. Idon’t work backwards from a set of per-fect ideas that I think need to be imposedon this incredibly complex and decentral-ized workforce.

Nice… well, to bring it back to the day-to-day, because you have this experience,how has being a teacher yourself and anaccomplished unionist affected how yourdo your work now?

So, I think the teacher weighs muchmore heavily than the union background.To be a good teacher I had to be con-stantly ask, ‘What do kids know, how istheir knowledge changing, and what evi-dence am I using to feel confident thattheir knowledge is changing the way Ihope it will?’ I use that way of thinking in

every aspect of my work, whether I’mworking with the state leader, unionleader, school teachers, [or] a governor.‘What do they know?’ Then I ask, ‘how doI know that what they know is changingand what evidence am I going to use?’ Iapply that way of thinking with every-body.

I think whatI bring frommy back-ground as aunion leader,first and fore-most, is thesentiment thatw o r k i n gpeople wantfirst and fore-most, good,fruitful jobs;not the politi-cal strugglethat they oftenfind them-selves in. Andthen second, Ibring a reallythree-dimen-

sional understanding of the psychologythat [often] occurs in the relationshipbetween unions and school districts, [andbetween] unions and state legislatures…Frankly, I’ve been on all sides of the table.And I have an insight into what’s in people’sheads on all sides of the table at this point.And that’s because [like I mentioned ear-lier], I pay attention to [connecting evi-dence to shifts in understanding with]whomever I’m working. Over the years,[I’ve gathered] an experience base inthinking like a leader of a local, of think-ing like a leader of a state affiliate, orthinking like a superintendent or think-ing like a governor’s education policyaide.

So the union experience is double. Iunderstand the aspirations of the peoplethat unions represent and I also under-stand the motivations and sentiments ofpeople who represent large numbers ofteachers.

I love the word ‘attentiveness’ becauseI think that cognitively, that’s really com-plex. Especially when you come in withyour ideas or you may be influenced, aswe all are, by a political background, orway of looking at the work, or personalexperiences that affect how we do ourwork. To be attentive doesn’t mean youdisregard it, but you almost categorize itin your head a certain way so that you’relooking at things fairly and really listen-ing to all the different perspectives.

You can never disabuse yourself ofyour own biases but you can always takeinto account someone else’s as you try tocreate progress.

That’s a nice one… (laughing)

So one of the goals of this columnis to [emphasize] that education policyis something that is important forteachers to understand. So from yourperspective and position in the De-partment of Education, what are themost important policy initiatives thatteachers should be aware of rightnow? In particular, which ones di-rectly impact us in our classrooms?

I think the most important policy initia-tive is actually a bundle of different initia-tives that are associated with college andcareer ready standards. I’ve been in theclassroom or in jobs that have been closeto the classroom for twenty-five years and

in the course of those years, I’ve seenthree to four sets of standards wash up onthe beach of my classroom. And theydidn’t really affect what I did much, al-though the last set that washed up in theform of accountability initiatives that pre-ceded NCLB in Colorado did affect theway my school was organized becausewe started to care a lot more about whetherkids were proficient or not and we beganto pay a lot more attention to kids on thecusp of proficiency. Because the num-bers made us pay attention to them. Wedidn’t know if it was the right thing or thewrong thing; I think it was probably some-where in the middle, but until there [were]external circumstances asking us to payattention to proficiency rates, the stan-dards were largely aesthetic. They werebinders with suggested student contentthat we were supposed to apply as En-glish teachers if our kids were to be ontrack.

So would you say that there wasn’toversight there?

Until there was external accountabil-ity at the state level, there were not pow-erful, coercive forces to make us payattention to the standards, so we didn’t.We did what we wanted. Now I’m not forpowerful and coercive standards, I’m forrecognizing that before the accountabil-ity movement, there was not a lot of atten-tion to what the state standards were orwhat the district standards were, at leastin [the] Denver Public Schools. And withthat, there was not much attention [paid]to whether or not kids were succeedingon the standards.

To this end, I think that the powerfulthing about College and Career ReadyStandards comes in two steps. The firststep is if we as a profession are going toget serious, we’re not going to be coercedinto owning the outcomes of these stan-dards, but we’re going to adopt thembecause they’re the right, good thing.And the second is, if we’re going to beserious about those standards, and seri-ous about the fact that they’re supposedto get all kids to college and career readi-ness, we’re going to be serious about thefact that the work that we have to do inorder to attain those standards is differ-ent than the work we’re doing now. AndI contend, because I’ve studied them asan English teacher, the language artsexpectations under College and CareerReady Standards are as good as my ex-pectations when I entered the field in the1980s… and very, very difficult to executein the classroom.

When we as a profession embracethese [new standards], we’re embracingthem because they’re the right thing forthe kids to do, but we’re also embracingthem as hard work. And we’re going toneed to honest with ourselves that theywill challenge us, me, and my colleaguesto do new and sometimes more difficultthings.

I’m convinced that just as College andCareer Ready standards are really impor-tant, I’m also convinced that a lot of thedebate around teacher effectiveness, a lotof the debate around teacher capital man-agement, is actually small fry comparedto this big fish.

So it’s about the Common Core[the adopted College and CareerReady Standards framework].

The Common Core is something thatthe profession, if it chooses to own it, and

U.S. Department of EducationSenior Program Advisor Brad Jupp

(continued on page 10)

10 ❖ BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012

chooses to own it as thoroughly as I justdescribed it, will actually just swamp all ofthe little squeaky arguments of ‘this mea-sure of teacher performance’ or ‘that hu-man capital management decision to givesomebody a raise or to advance someoneto new rung on a career ladder…’

So the Common Core is a moresignificant policy issue than even theFlexibility Waivers that states arecurrently applying for as related to NoChild Left Behind?

Yes, because I don’t think you canactually do the next generation of ac-countability systems that are anticipatedby the [Elementary and Secondary Edu-cation Act] Flexibility, without the Com-mon Core to animate them.

Can you think of some practicalways and avenues that you mightsuggest for teachers to understand,influence and implement policies likethese in our school districts at thelocal level? How do we make policyless abstract and how do we under-stand it, influence it and implementit?

Be a building rep for your union, be onyour building faculty senate or buildingcommittee, partner with people in thecentral office so that you are a practitioner[figuring out] the difficult problems ofexecution with administrators, becausejust like teachers don’t want reform to bedone to them, they want it to be done withthem, administrators want policy imple-mentation to be done with them, not policyimplementation arguments done to them.And we should assume that no one wantsto be part of that kind of loud argument.

And don’t hesitate to use those oppor-tunities to be building reps and unionleaders and district leaders as vehicles forcareer advancement. The ambitions ofteachers to be successful and efficaciousare the things that actually animate thebest things about their career. And weshould always be encouraging teachersto act on those aspirations.

So even in those particular roles, ifthose conversations aren’t happen-ing, [should we] begin them?

Begin them, encourage them to come,and then also ask… we’ve talked aboutthis now two or three times, ask ‘what isgoing on in the minds of the other peoplein this dialogue that would lead it to besuccessful or unsuccessful? And how canI take into account their motives and mymotives so we’re not adversaries but we’resolving the same problem?’

And that, I think, the idea that we’reworking together to solve common prob-lems, is the beginning of almost allprogress.

That’s a perfect segway for the lasttwo pieces [of this interview]. It soundslike collaboration and [the condi-tions that are] required for collabora-tion to take root.

I read a really great interview thatyou did with Education Sector inApril of 2006, the year following thesuccessful funding and implementa-tion of ProComp initiative in the Den-ver Public Schools. At one point, yousaid: I don’t really think there was asecret ingredient other than peoplebeing able to move past their doubtsand seize an opportunity. It was achance to create opportunitieswhere the rewards outweighed the

risks. I don’t think we do that muchin public education.

What can we do, as teachers and asmembers of our teachers union, tomake this happen more often in gen-eral? Or even more specifically, herein the Boston Public Schools?

In a sentence, navigate towards yourbest hopes and away from your worstfears.

Too much of the adversarial discoursein public education is discourse buttressedby worst fears. ‘What if the worst principalin the world were in charge of that school?’We need a rule to protect all teachersagainst the possibility of the worst princi-pal in the world.

It’s the wrong way to be organized.[We] should be organizing instead on‘how do we get the best principal in theworld in as many schools as we’ve got?That means that we’re going to needreally great incentive packages for princi-pals, and by golly they might need to bepaid more than teachers and as maybe asa teacher union leader, I need to advocatethat we accelerate the pay for high schoolprincipals so that the working conditionsin my high schools get better.

It’s a simple example, but if you beginto think like that, then you can begin toproliferate other examples.

So is it up to the individual teach-ers in our buildings as building reps,as partners with district officials, totalk and frame the conversation inthat way? Because sometimes a lot ofthe rhetoric out there is very nega-tive, as you’re probably already aware..how do we break through that?

I think the most important thing thatteacher leaders can do is to say, ‘But wait.There are some benefits here. But wait.What are the right, prudent ways to pro-tect against the fair things that are beingraised by the people who are afraid againstworst hopes?’

We didn’t say, when we negotiatedProComp, ‘let’s embrace the arbitraryand capricious.’ We said instead, ‘let’sembrace the reasonable, the consistent,the credible…’ and then we said, ‘let’smake sure we’re protecting against thearbitrary and capricious by embracing[the] reasonable and consistent and cred-ible.’ We never said anything about get-ting it all right. We always said though, wewant to keep our antennae up and avoidtreating people badly. And what’s more,we made a commitment to use data as away to inform our future decisions so thatwe were not being arbitrary and capri-cious.

And when you say ‘we,’ you mean…as teachers or as the collaborativeteam?

Labor and management, the collabo-rative team. Absolutely.

What was the structure of thatteam?

There were a number of differentshared decision-making bodies. One, thedesign team that led the pay-for-perfor-mance pilot, was two teachers and twoadministrators who managed the imple-mentation of a difficult project. Another,the joint salary task force, was five teach-ers, three principals and two central offic-ers who managed the policy develop-ment for the pay system. And there wereother collaborative bodies as well. Therewere management teams, there were ex-

ecutive teams, and at all levels, we madesure that there were good problem solv-ing ethics and a high degree of pragmaticpractice, guiding the way we did our work.

We didn’t negotiate much, we prob-lem solved a whole lot.

But were those particular taskforces borne of negotiations? Wasthere a deliberate decision to createthose collaborative groups?

So this is really important, James.All of those bodies were borne from

their need, not from the preconceivedagreement and in fact, one of the hall-marks of the early pay-for-performancepilot was that we adapted the design teamaway from what it was originally agreed todo into something very different.

And we didn’t reopen the labor agree-ment to do it.

I’m a strong believer that pre-textualpower sharing agreements only go so far.And most labor agreements, especiallymost agreements to collaborate, are justpre-textual power sharing agreements.What I care more about is not the powersharing, but the outcomes. Power shar-ing to no outcome is useless; it just makespeople comfortable.

What we did in the period of time fromthe beginning of the pay-for-performancepilot through the successful election inProComp was to create problem-solvingtables in which the problem that neededto be solved trumped the power-sharingrelationship, at any moment.

That was just the tacit understand-ing? That was the agreement from thepeople at the table and how theycommunicated?

At the risk of making it sound mystical,because it wasn’t, it was the culture thatwe led together. And it was the way thatwe framed the problem. And I don’t wantto make it sound like there were humanvariables or like I was one of them be-cause I don’t think either of those thingsare totally true. But between 2006 and2009 when the leadership of the unionand the school district became moreadversarial over ProComp, it was oftenbecause they couldn’t… they didn’t culti-vate that kind of culture in their discus-sions. And instead what they did is theyrooted themselves more deeply in theneed to share power as a way to solveproblems. And you know, it’s pretty obvi-ous that they didn’t solve their problemsand they didn’t share their power.

That’s going to be a fun quote for thepeople in Denver. (laughing)

Any final advice on how to bestreach out to each other as teachers toget behind a system or a particularprofessional approach where ‘therewards outweigh the risks?’ I meanyou talked about how to get involved,of going towards your best hopesversus your worst fears [and] thespecific roles you can do.. Anythingelse you’d like to offer to say ‘here’show we should be organizing andthinking as teachers?’

Final thought here. I say this a lot whenI’m working with people that view unionsas an inscrutable other, such as [those in]reform organizations or people trainingto be superintendents.

I say, ‘when was the last time that youchanged your mind because someone satacross the table and demanded that youdid so?’ And these ambitious and highlyinterested individuals pause for a minute

and remind themselves that it’s a point ofpride to not be coerced into changingtheir minds. And I remind them that that’sthe way that any right thinking teacher orunion leader would think. But for us asteachers to presume that we’re going tobend somebody’s will or policy orienta-tion by sitting across the table and de-manding that they do so is just as fool-hardy.

What we really have to do is realizethat we’re not going to change the gradu-ation rates in this country, we’re not goingto change the proficiency and exit rates inthis country, by demanding that some-body else change their mind. We need tobe responsible not only for our minds andits change but for engaging the minds ofpeople with whom we work, so that we’reall solving the problem together.

And you don’t learn that skill [any]better than you do than when you’re teach-ing. So I think teachers are in the rightposition to take up the lead in the nextgeneration of reform. But they’re going tohave to go back to their roots in theclassroom, where they get 4th graders tolearn how to multiply fractions, or wherethey get 6th graders to read Ezra Pound’sThe Seafarer. Those are the things thatare the hard, right things that we’re bestat and we should go about solving educa-tion reform matters using the same skills.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

There are certainly a lot of compellingideas here. Do you agree with the pointsraised in this conversation? In what wayscan you imagine teachers here in theBoston Public Schools ‘taking up the lead’in the dialogue and work of school im-provement and reform?

As usual, please consider visiting theonline forum at www.theteachingpulse.orgto offer your reactions, thoughts and ideas.

(James Liou is a Peer Assistant in theBoston Public Schools.)

Editor’s Note: The Teaching Pulse is acolumn that was initiated by James Liou.The Boston Union Teacher thanks him forhis thoughtful writing and willingness toaddress difficult issues. It should be notedhowever that differentiated compensationsystems in general, and pay-for-performancespecifically are highly controversial. Thealternative compensation program in Den-ver, ProComp, is one of these systems. TheDenver Classroom Teachers Association(NEA) did not agree to institute ProCompuntil a $25 million tax increase was passedby the voters, enough for an average of$6,000 per teacher. Anecdotal informa-tion also suggests that teachers in Denverand Baltimore, another school district thatinstituted an alternative compensation sys-tem, have been dissatisfied with these pro-grams

Pro-business education “reformers” suchas Eli Broad have made the case for theseinitiatives saying that he “could not think ofany other profession [besides teaching] thatdoes not have any rewards for excellence.”But Barbara Miner of Rethinking Schoolspoints out that a recent study by the Eco-nomic Policy Institute found only about 1 in7 private employees have pay-for-perfor-mance as part of their economic package,and then it is more often a small part oftheir overall pay. Expansion of pay-for-performance is a phenomenon concentratedin the largely male, non-union managersand professionals in finance, insurance,and real estate. At last glance these sectorsof the economy were the main cause of theeconomic collapse of 2008 that has plungedour country into the Great Recession.

An Interview with U.S. Department of EducationSenior Program Advisor Brad Jupp…(continued from page 9)

BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012 ❖ 11

RTC Executive Board Minutes • December 5, 2011

Eight Boston Teachers Newly-Recognized as National Board Certified

Members present: Anne-MarieAducci; Anne Broder, Treasurer; LarryConnolly; Sandy Carle; Martha Cotton;David Donovan, Chairman; MaryCahalane; Eileen Ganley; Donna Cooley-Hilton; Linda McNamee; Marilyn Marion,Secretary; Mary Jo Murphy; LeonardMiraglia, Vice Chairman; and PaulTenney.

Excused: Phil Fasano and RuthanneKennedy.

OfficersSecretary: Minutes read and accepted.Treasurer: Report read and accepted.Chairman: Received calls regarding

Medicare and insurance issues. He an-nounced that there will be meetings atthe BTU regarding Medicare on January12 and 24 from 10 am-1 pm. Report Ac-

cepted.Vice Chairman: Three are 1948 Delta

members. Effective January 2012, the costfor the Delta plan will be $46 for single and$92 for double. Report Accepted.

CommitteesBenefits: Chair excused - Member-

ship chair presented his report: EffectiveJanuary, 2012, eyeglass information willbe on the BTU website. Report Accepted.

Remembrance: Cards were sent todeceased members’ families. Report Ac-cepted.

Scholarship: No activity.Social: By creating a 3-tier raffle, the

50/50 raffle at the luncheon was wellreceived. The chairs were pleased withthe hard work and the dedication by themembers of the Social Committee, who

by Karene-Sean Hines

On Wednesday, January 18th, after joining more than a thousand teachers who voiced theirsupport for the Boston Public Schools and the BTU to settle a new contract, eight

outstanding teachers were officially recognized during the School Committee meeting as theBoston Public Schools’ newest National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs).

BPS Superintendent Dr. CarolJohnson, BTU President RichardStutman, and Chairman School Commit-tee Chairman Rev. Gregory Groover pre-sided over the recognition, or Pinning Cer-emony as it is called.

The eight recognized teachers wereGregory Banks, Erik Berg, PatriciaDervan, Caitlin Hollister, MatthewKazlauskas, Kristi Lucks, Ellen Lathamand Noah Patel. Caitlin Hollister was notpresent, due to the recent birth of her son,Jacob.

The new NBCTs were accompanied tothe ceremony by spouses, parents, friends,fellow NBCTs, and other colleagues. Theaudience clapped and cheered their ac-complishment as they received citationsfrom Dr. Groover, and National Board pinsform Dr. Johnson. Gregory Banks stated,“This is wonderful, and the best profes-sional development I ever had.”

Teachers seeking National Board Certi-fication are supported by the BPS, BTU and the National Board for Professional TeachingStandards Candidate Support Program. This is a unique program because it is facilitated by BPS’sown National Board Certified Teachers. Candidates who have participated in this program havestated that it was their best professional development, because of the positive impact it had on theirability to teach effectively, and positively impact student achievement.

Benefits to National Board Certified Teachers

National Board Certification lasts for ten years, and can be renewed during years eight andnine. In Massachusetts, achieving NB Certification counts for the 120 of the 150 PDPs

necessary for one certification, or recertification, in your primary content area. In addition,successful can-didates receive a4% salary in-crease (overtheir base sal-ary) and thisamount is retire-ment worthy.BPS also reim-burses success-ful candidatesfor the out-of-pocket fees theypaid in applyingfor NBPTS Cer-tification and re-certification. Inaddition, candi-dates can applyfor a federal sub-sidy adminis-tered throughthe Massachu-setts Depart-ment of Elementary and Secondary Education to cover part of the application fee.

If you are interested in learning more about this program and the opportunities it offersteachers and administrators, please contact Lead Candidate Support Provider Karene-SeanHines, NBCT. Karene can be reached at khines@boston.k12.ma.us or by phone at 617-446-3764.You can also reach our Program Director, Mrs. Ryan-Miller at lryan2@boston.k12.ma.us.

made the luncheon a pleasant event. Re-port Accepted.

Travel: The travel season is over forthis year and plans for 2012 will be madeshortly. Three trips with Collette Vaca-tions are planned for 2012: SouthernCharm featuring Charles, Savannah andJekyll Island. Report Accepted.

Legislative: The Pension Reform Billwas signed into law by the Governor onNovember 18. The major changes affectnew hires (after April, 2012). Changesthat affect us now: minimum pension isincreased from $10,000 to $15,000; ma-ternity buy back is available for pre-2004 eligible retirees. The increase inthe COLA does not pertain to us. Over100 retirees have responded to our“Rapid Response Team”. We will beworking on this for future actions. Report

Accepted.Data Processing: The Executive

Board welcomed Martha Cotton. Thecommittee will be meeting with Jonathanto address computer problems that havecome up. A new system is being pro-posed. Report Accepted.

Motion: That we approach the BTU topay a portion of the expenses associatedwith a new computer. Motion was ap-proved.

Membership: Chairman is reviewingand monitoring the card system, and cor-recting errors made. There are 2860 mem-bers. Report Accepted.

Old Business: None.New Business: None.Next meeting: January 9, 2012.

Respectfully submitted,Marilyn F Marion, Secretary

Congratulationsto Our NewNational BoardCertifiedTeachers!

12 ❖ BOSTON UNION TEACHER ❖ February, 2012

BTU andOther UnionsRally atBostonSchoolCommitteeHeadquarters

Photos byMichael J. Maguire