The same week that Washington, DC's city council approved that district's landmark teachers union contract, an arbiter in Ohio has issued a ruling that may kill Cleveland's academic transformation plan before it even has a chance to succeed.
After two and a half years of negotiations, teachers and DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee have agreed to a voluntary performance-pay system, teacher evaluations linked to student performance, and ???mutual consent??? hiring ??? a practice in which seniority is not the primary factor in placing teachers, and principals have say over who works in their buildings.?? Cleveland Metropolitan Schools CEO Eugene Sanders had hoped to implement a similar hiring provision in his district by requiring teachers in 22 shuttered schools to reapply for jobs in the district's remaining schools rather than allowing them to transfer on the basis of seniority.
If the Cleveland Teachers Union won't go along with this relatively small change, how likely is it that it will agree to bolder aspects of the plan?
The success of Sander's ambitious and admirable transformation plan hinged on this fundamental change to how schools are staffed.?? As Jamie recently wrote in the Ohio Gadfly:
Sanders has already defended his move to force Cleveland teachers to reapply for their own positions (rather than upholding seniority-based transfers) but is being sued by the Cleveland Teachers Union. How this shakes out will be indicative of the likelihood that Sanders' vision for the district can be realized.
If the Cleveland Teachers Union won't go along with this relatively small change, how likely is it that it will agree to bolder aspects of the plan, like turning over low-performing schools to successful charter operators?
This ruling is nothing but bad news for a city that desperately needs a swift change in direction when it comes to education.
- Emmy Partin
