The school employee unions are out in force here at the Anaheim City School District Board of Education meeting, where the Parent Trigger petition to convert Palm Lane Elementary into a charter school.
The local teacher union president spoke a few minutes ago; where the rubber meets the road, her real focus was whether current Palm Lane teachers will be retained if converted to charter status. This is part and parcel of a scare campaign aimed at spooking parents into thinking all the teachers will be fired – which, of course, is not true. There’s no reason NOT to keep good teachers. In fact, there’s every reason to keep them.
When pro-charter parents are at the microphone, I hear a steady stream of murmured carping. When one parent pointed to the failure to deliver promised services and programs to Palm Lane, an anti-charter guy muttered “What more do you want?”
When another charter supporter who needed a translator began to speak, a charter opponent carped that she it allow her to get more than three minutes, then quipped “Why doesn’t she learn English?”
6:57 pm: Former ACSD Board member and current Anaheim City Councilman James Vanderbilt arrived a few minutes ago.
6:59 pm: another charter petition supporter expressed her dissatisfaction with the help her daughter was getting. “Well, we’re YOU helping her?” murmured a charter opponent.
I don’t believe the focus of the teachers’ union president remarks was the retention of teachers at Palm Lane but you’re there and I’m not. If so that’s surprising to hear. The teachers at Palm Lane will not be fired. There could be layoffs in the school district if there isn’t enough attrition to create openings for the displaced teachers but that remains to be seen. But while they will not be fired, they will certainly no longer be at Palm Lane–there will be new teachers who will be employees of whatever charter ends up in charge. The current teachers will probably be moved to other schools. If parents were told the teachers would not longer be there or be replaced that is accurate. If they were told they’d be fired, that’s not.
The union president’s comments remarks were absolutely not about the teachers keeping their jobs; however, anyone who was there and actually listening would have heard that the parents want the teachers to stay at Palm Lane with their children. Even those who went door to door to get the petition signed got up and spoke highly of the teachers and administration, and said they were just trying to get more for their children. Clearly, there was a disconnect between what the petitioners thought they were doing and what actually happened. Where was the solidarity Gloria Romero spoke of?? Glaringly absent.
The statement made in this article regarding the focus of the AEEA president’s speech is patently false. Please refer to the speech below in its entirety- we trust that the community will (again) get it right.
February 19, 2015
Good Evening, I’m Kristen Fisher, AEEA President. On behalf of Palm Lane Educators and the Association, I’m here to set the record straight about our involvement in the parent trigger process at Palm Lane.
When parent trigger organizers announced they had gathered signatures, the Staff at Palm Lane had many questions about the law. The Staff also received many questions and concerns from parents about the law.
The Association held informational meetings to explain the law to the Staff and Parents. As parents who are here tonight can attest, at those meetings we reviewed the history of the law and how it works. We planned to spend a minute going over a few of our concerns about the law: among them, the lack of a requirement for open discussion and debate regarding the options available to parents prior to the circulation of a petition. However, it was the parents themselves who raised concerns first.
We heard in these meetings from parents who did not understand what they were signing, who said they were misled, who were upset, even angry, that they had not been asked to sign. We heard from parents who did not know the staff would (could) be replaced: parents who did not know that only those who signed the petition would legally have the right to choose the new charter. We heard from parents who did not understand that any promises made to them are pure speculation, not guarantees. Many parents did not realize that Palm Lane has had a steady increase in test scores over the last decade. And frankly, we heard from parents who were extremely grateful to finally have someone actually explain the many facts associated with the law and what the impact of this petition would be.
In response to our informational meetings, parent trigger organizers –people who have avoided open discussion and debate at all costs —wrongly accused us of somehow trying to “trick” parents. The only trick here is the lack of transparency in the trigger process. In fact, nationally recognized education expert Diane Ravitch, has called the law, “The Parent Tricker.”
So tonight you have a weighty decision to make. AEEA urges you to follow the law, but in doing so we urge you to take into account the information you hear tonight from parents. Make sure your decision about Palm Lane is based on views of allPalm Lane parents—including those who chose not to sign, those who were never asked, and those who have now changed their minds.
I want to assure you and everyone here tonight that the Palm Lane Staff will continue to work closely with all parents to provide their students the best education possible.
Finally, to the well-meaning parents supporting the trigger tonight, we have no argument with what you believe is best for your child. We do, however, have an argument with this poorly designed trigger law that makes it far too easy to keep parents in the dark about the information and options related to this important decision. Regardless of the outcome, we will continue our efforts to include parents to make Anaheim schools the best they can be.
Now that Matthew has had a chance to read the transcript, since he clearly couldn’t hear at the board meeting, perhaps he will rescind his statement that Kristin Fisher’s speech was focused on teacher retention…ha.