Education should focus on the students and teachers.
It is that simple. But, last week, the Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD), in the +City of Scottsdale (Official), asked teachers to vote for a proposed rate cut in a manner that disgustingly resembles that of +The Hunger Games. It is unfortunate that time and time again, the SUSD has disregarded the factors that make education great.
According to the teachers, the SUSD gave them two choices:
- Keep the bonuses and pay at the current level, but cut a number of teachers.
- Lower the bonuses and pay from the current level and make no cuts.
To make matters worse, the SUSD decided to circumvent employer-union processes, among others, and skip directly to asking the teachers. While I hold my own opinions regarding labor unions, processes are in place for a reason. The SUSD should understand that and adhere to those specific policies, especially when they have so many abnormal, arduous and special policies and processes of their own that they force students and teachers to follow.
The superintendent, in his speech to the staff, even likened this situation with that of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the recent Boston Marathon bombings, in the sense that it was a community "coming together." Not only is the situation completely unlike either of the examples, but it is an exaggeration of the situation that tries to capture emotion and use it to manipulate people.
Teachers abstained from voting, as they should. Of the 1,570 teachers in the SUSD, only 884 cast their votes. The District needed 70% (or 1,110 votes) of all teachers to approve option 2 to proceed with their proposal.
And that has led to headlines such as +azcentral.com's "Scottsdale teachers won't give up Prop 301 funds to save jobs." It is sad that at the low pay our teachers already receive, and the immoral procedure SUSD chose to use in this instance, as in many others, the AZCentral and other media continue to choose to characterize teachers as greedy.
The article makes no mention of the unethical treatment and method the District went about the process and the long history of irresponsible spending that characterizes and plagues my District.
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| Last week, teachers protested before and after school on the issue. |
Well, I do too.
I am sad to say this, but, even as a senior who will not be coming back next year, I am sick and tired of the SUSD's gross practices to make cuts that hurt students and teachers, while District officials carelessly and inappropriately waste money and give lame excuses portraying their solutions as the only practical methods.
I have protested SUSD's poor judgement and management in the past, as have many students and teachers. In the past couple years, they have changed start times, modified bus schedules, cut important school programs, packed more students into classrooms, axed teachers and more.
We understand that it is a tough economy. But almost every cut has negatively affected the classroom experience in some way, shape or form, while administrators and management continue to gain more benefits yearly that stress the budget.
Every year, the budget is of discussion. Every year, we cannot meet the budget. Every year, the District asks for more and more cuts.
It is time they fix their own problems for the long-term and come up with a viable solution. Top District officials do not need rental cars to drive to the office. Classrooms do not need technology that students and teachers do not use (though the District claims it is entering the 21st Century... with SmartBoards). The District does not need to purchase things that are not necessary, such as Microsoft Office 365, which is not even offered to either students or teachers; it is just there.
Students, teachers and parents should not have to fight to make sure the District keeps both students and teachers a priority. Teachers should not have to spend time fighting for ethical treatment, especially after a day of teaching. Great education should be the focus of the District -- the best teachers teaching the best content in the best environment to produce the best students.
The District clearly does not have the community's interest in mind, and many times makes decisions that it feels are best without asking for the community's opinions, and it is a shame to see one of Arizona's finest school districts go down this path, just like many others across the nation.
Voice your opinion. Tell the SUSD to put students and teachers first: susd.org. Stand with us and tell SUSD that enough is enough.
- Dr. David J. Peterson, Superintendent (djpeterson@susd.org)
- Dr. Jeff Thomas, Associate Superintendent (jeff.thomas@susd.org)
- Mrs. Pam Kirby, President (pkirby@susd.org)
- Mr. Denny Brown, Vice President (dennybrown@susd.org)
Ian, this is an incredibly articulate and insightful article. I urge you to write a My Turn (opinion piece) for the Scottsdale Republic. You can send it to Grant Martin gmartin@republicmedia.com, it can be no more than 500 words. Honestly I can not think of a more powerful piece for them to publish than one from a current SUSD high school student, especially one as eloquent as you. Please take the time to do so. I will be looking for your My Turn in an upcoming issue...
ReplyDeleteThank you for your advice and kind compliment -- it means a lot and I truly hope it will leave a positive effect on future SUSD decisions. Yes, please keep a lookout for it. :)
DeleteThank you! One point I would like to clarify though is that the 301 money is not a bonus. It is part of our salaries. There are three "buckets" of 301 money. The section they were asking us to use was the pay for performance section. Thanks for your support!
ReplyDeleteYou are quite welcome; I truly appreciate you taking the time to read, discuss and contribute! Thank YOU for your clarification and adding more to this discussion. Your point is well-taken and I certainly did not know that from the student perspective. I think that makes it all the more important that it IS part of the salary!
DeleteI would like to bring up just a few quick corrections to some of the assertions in your passionate article. Your opinion piece will be even more powerful if it doesn't contain misinformation. And maybe you can assist others in focusing on how to most effectively impact public education in their community.
ReplyDeleteBoard members do not get paid. They volunteer thousands of hours every year. They do not get rentals cars. In fact, they use their personal cars for their school and district visits and pay for their own gas while performing their duties.
The previous SUSD Boards have managed to keep cuts from the classroom in every year that there has been a revenue decline since 2008. The one year that there was a bit of an increase, it went to salaries because they had been frozen. It is only now, after many years of cumulative cuts, that people are starting to take notice...now that the extension of the local override that directly funds the classrooms has failed. That is because year after year, students and teachers and classrooms have been the priority, and cuts were kept away from the classroom as much as possible.
The State legislature determines how much is allowed to be spent per student through setting a statewide Revenue Control Limit. That means that every student in the state gets the same base support and districts must look elsewhere to increase that base level support. There are some adjustments for High School, Special Education, etc. but that is also consistent throughout the state.
The ONLY way that the State allows the SUSD community to add to that formula is through very specifically-purposed "overrides" (that are capped by the State)at 15% of the Maintenance and Operations budget.
Although the language on the ballot (also determined by the state)calls it a "budget increase", it is not an over-expenditure of funds, but rather a request of support to the local community to increase funding for the classrooms past the operating limit authorized by the State. That operating limit, by the way, is consistently one of the very lowest in the nation, and funding has been decreased by 21% over the last four years - the largest decrease of any state during the recession.
Also, the override that failed in November was a chance for the SUSD community to extend two existing overrides that were supported by the voters in the past (one at 5% and the other at 10%). These were not additional requests. Overrides do not get funded in perpetuity. Overrides are only good for seven years, and most fall off by 1/3 in the last two years of existence. That is what is going to start happening next year in SUSD.
So, although it may seem like SUSD keeps asking for more and more money from the local taxpayers, in reality - they are just replacements or extensions of past funding and there is a limit as to how much support the local community can extend at any one time.
The Board and the District are required to hold Budget meetings every year and to discuss the Budget in open session, that's why it is talked about so often. The funding - for most years - has been steadily going down, so that's why you hear about cuts so often. These are not cuts the Board or District wants to make...they are cuts needed because the expenditures cannot exceed the revenue approved by taxpayers in any year.
Federal, State (due to the expiration of Prop 200 funding), and Local revenues to SUSD are decreasing ALL AT THE SAME TIME next year, and this current situation comes as no surprise to those who have been paying attention to the assault on public education for the past five years. Districts across the state who lost their Override support from local voters are now fighting to save teachers' jobs and programs that all contribute to making SUSD a great district.
Thank you for writing such an impassioned article. It is a testament to your teachers and parents that you are such a literate and caring individual!
First of all, thank you SO much for your thoughtful comment. It means the world to me that you took the time to read through my thoughts and give me feedback to make it better. This is a community issue, and as such, I think everyone in the community should join in and be a part of the process. I will try to address your comment, to the best of my ability, in pieces to make sure I cover everything.
Delete"Board members do not get paid. They volunteer thousands of hours every year. They do not get rentals cars. In fact, they use their personal cars for their school and district visits and pay for their own gas while performing their duties."
Thank you for your correction. I stand corrected. Others who read this early on also noticed that wording mixup! It was a mistake and was a shame I worded it that way -- my bad! I have since corrected it, so please note the change and accept my apology. I was referring to the top District officials, who work for the District, and completely worded it incorrectly. That was my mistake.
"The previous SUSD Boards have managed to keep cuts from the classroom in every year that there has been a revenue decline since 2008. The one year that there was a bit of an increase, it went to salaries because they had been frozen. It is only now, after many years of cumulative cuts, that people are starting to take notice...now that the extension of the local override that directly funds the classrooms has failed. That is because year after year, students and teachers and classrooms have been the priority, and cuts were kept away from the classroom as much as possible."
While I understand that the SUSD Boards have made some cuts in other areas that were meant to keep cuts away from the classroom, from a student perspective, I have seen several different ways that cuts have affected the classroom since 2008. It is also unfortunate that at times, when SUSD does invest in classrooms, the investment goes to waste deploying new technology or material that students and teachers do not need. Instead of finding out what may be put to good use instead, they have brought in new stuff and called that as "investing." I think there may be a disparity between the District and students/teachers regarding what actually would be helpful to have in the classroom. These "investments" may not have been needed, thus saving money for future years.
"The State legislature determines how much is allowed to be spent per student through setting a statewide Revenue Control Limit. That means that every student in the state gets the same base support and districts must look elsewhere to increase that base level support. There are some adjustments for High School, Special Education, etc. but that is also consistent throughout the state..."
DeleteThank you for the details. I knew that Arizona gave each school district the same amount of funding and support, and unfortunately, Arizona is one of the states that receive and gives the least funding. It is really a shame that more focus isn't put into education. With that being said, I still believe that the SUSD needs to work with that budget, and, as you said, continue to look elsewhere. However, that does not give the District the right to forget ethics and do whatever they believe can get them money. I think there are still guidelines to be followed, and in this specific incident, I don't think that those guidelines were followed. Again, I want to emphasize it is shame that our state has set the levels for education funding at the levels they are at now, especially after the decrease. Part of the problem certainly does lie with amount of funding the District receives and can have. But ultimately, the District has many other ways to go about its obstacles.
"So, although it may seem like SUSD keeps asking for more and more money from the local taxpayers, in reality - they are just replacements or extensions of past funding and there is a limit as to how much support the local community can extend at any one time."
Again, thank you for addressing this issue. It is important because it affects many people. Your knowledge is appreciated and certainly adds to this discussion. Although, as you note, it is not an increase but an extension, I think a lot of taxpayers have heard about the different ways in which SUSD struggles with its budget and were, quite frankly, finished with continuing to approve these overrides. As I have noted in my post, a lot of the money goes elsewhere, besides the classroom. And as students, we can definitely see that. That is probably the main concern and problem. If SUSD were to properly use the money and taxpayers do see that the money is put to good use, I think the results would be different. It certainly has a lot to do with Scottsdale's voting demographics as well.
"The Board and the District are required to hold Budget meetings every year and to discuss the Budget in open session, that's why it is talked about so often. The funding - for most years - has been steadily going down, so that's why you hear about cuts so often. These are not cuts the Board or District wants to make...they are cuts needed because the expenditures cannot exceed the revenue approved by taxpayers in any year."
DeleteI am glad that these meetings are done in open sessions, as they should be. It is a community issue and it is great that they are talked about so often. Everyone in the Scottsdale community should play a role, to whatever extent, because it is crucial to Scottsdale's own future, as well as to the parents, students and teachers. Transparency is key. This is a public issue and, as such, should be discussed in the open. I understand that cuts have to be made. Especially since the recession started, it is quite obvious there are cuts everywhere, in the family and out. However (and I apologize for repeating this so often, but it is true), the cuts seem to directly affect students every single time. There have been very small cuts and sacrifices from top administration officials, as I have noted. I am not one to advocate for "the 99%" or "the 1%" (I believe in the American dream and the ability for anyone, from all walks of life, to achieve it), and quite clearly, this is very different than the private sector. It is not the reason I wrote this post. Instead, I just believe that education should focus on the students and teachers, and when the students believe that cuts are affecting them, there is a severe problem. Finances should, for the majority, be invested in improving education, which means most should be going to classrooms, students and teachers (in ways that truly have an affect).
"Federal, State (due to the expiration of Prop 200 funding), and Local revenues to SUSD are decreasing ALL AT THE SAME TIME next year, and this current situation comes as no surprise to those who have been paying attention to the assault on public education for the past five years. Districts across the state who lost their Override support from local voters are now fighting to save teachers' jobs and programs that all contribute to making SUSD a great district."
It is sad to see the value of education decreasing in the eyes of our legislators. Education is one of the most important things in society and we must make sure the majority of society has access to good education -- education that not only empowers student with knowledge but also fosters creativity and innovation, not just rote memory. This leads to progress and a better community, state and nation. But that's a topic for another day. Many different people, organizations and companies are facing cuts in the next weeks, months and year. It is not just education. Many people will have to make cuts and sacrifices as the economy continues in its current state. Yet, there are many ways to make changes and the SUSD should reach out to the community. It should not make decisions on its own and it should not forget ethics and guidelines. I understand the money troubles that the District has. But I also know that money troubles do not justify anyone, including the District, to make unethical proposals and immoral practices. The District has a responsibility to carry out its actions ethically and with integrity. After all, it is a role model that students see and learn from.
DeleteAgain, I appreciate your points and they are well-taken! I have been an SUSD student since a very young age. Believe me, there have been many opportunities that would not have been possible without the support of the District, but more importantly, the guidance and support of each of my teachers. They are what directly plays a role in how the next generation grows and matures. It is for this reason that my ultimate wish for this post is that it plays a role in a bigger debate about how we can address the tough issues we are facing as a community regarding education, and how to improve so that these things do not happen in the future and so that the generations after me can continue to experience the many things I was able to enjoy throughout my years at SUSD schools. Your participation is part of that debate.
I write this post because I sincerely do not want to see a great District, like SUSD, continue to be degraded. We all want to see our community be at its full potential and each child filled to the brim with education. But in the past years, I have seen schools, such as my elementary, middle and high school, slowly change negatively, from Aztec and Zuni (now Redfield), Cheyenne and Desert Mountain respectively. Further stories from other Scottsdale families also confirm that what I see is right, and it is quite sad.
No problem can be solved unless we realize there is one. And there is one right now. We cannot just try to explain and pretend there is no problem. However, in times of trouble, many opportunities also often show themselves. We cannot give up or just start eliminating things, such as teachers and music programs that foster creativity and innovation, because of these troubles. The effects from such actions, if we continue in this direction, surely will not show themselves until many years from now when they hinder progress in the future. More importantly, each individual, organization and company in our society has self-responsibility, which includes ethics, integrity and morals. And those should be adhered to, no matter what the situation.
I am grateful for your kind words, and the participation that I have received from the community, and your feedback can only make things better! Thank you!