Update on
Teacher Requirements vs Recommendations
from
UTD President Karen Aronowitz

DEAR BARGAINING UNIT MEMBERS OF THE UNITED TEACHERS OF DADE:

I have asked your steward to read this letter to you as part of their 10 minutes at this faculty meeting to update you on some very important UTD business.

UTD has learned through our members that teachers, at some worksites, have been required to perform duties that may be good classroom practices but are not requirements. UTD leadership feels strongly about two issues:

• academic freedom; and
• the value of teachers as the professional decision makers in their classrooms.

Academic freedom under Article XXII of the UTD/MDCPS contract guarantees freedom of choice and flexibility with respect to teaching styles and methodology.  Requirements like federal or state law are mandates.  There are times administrative recommendations, best practices, and suggestions sound like mandates. Even schools with special identifications, like Zone, or FAST or any other district-determined acronym, cannot be mandated to violate our contract. The changes that have been negotiated and agreed to are included in the contract as it stands. The only exceptions to this are specific requirements that may be imposed on Corrective Action Schools by the state through the Assistance Plus Plan.

We do not question the use of assessments as a way to monitor student progress. We do take issue with a requirement to add weekly or bi-weekly assessments on top of those we’re already giving our students, especially if they are not in sync with what we’ve taught that week.  Article XXVI, Section 32 indicates that teachers will not be required to administer tests that do not appear on the jointly developed and agreed to testing calendar.

We do not question the validity of analyzing the data we get from appropriate assessments we give our students. We will, however, address a requirement to use our individual planning time to discuss this data with our peers or administration in required group meetings. Article XX, Section 7 describes teacher planning and indicates that compulsory meetings cannot be held without mutual agreement of teacher and principal.

You are charged with your students’ education and you will stop at nothing to help them succeed. If using a focus calendar helps you, and your students benefit from it, use it. If learning centers benefit your differentiated instruction, use them. If word walls contain appropriate, relevant words that compliment what you’re teaching, put them up.  If rubrics assist you in planning your instruction, create them.  But if these tools do not align with your instructional plan, please do not waste your time complying with a checklist that has been sent around the school to intimidate you into compliance.   

Let your administrator know you will take their suggestion into consideration. Make decisions for your students based on what will help them grow and thrive. Make decisions in your classes that are teacher friendly and valid. On the other hand, should you be directed to implement a program or policy, please do so, as not to be insubordinate. Once you have complied, we ask you to inform your steward immediately.

Lastly, there is only one state-approved teacher evaluation system that can be used by administrators here in Miami-Dade and that’s PACES. IPEGS is only in a pilot phase and has not been state approved. Therefore, any other instrument or checklist that may appear cannot be used to evaluate you, nor can it be placed in your personnel file or used in any negative way.

We will be meeting with the district and demand that these practices cease and desist immediately. If you have a copy of any checklist, forward it to your steward immediately. Thank you for bringing this most important issue forward and for being such a powerful voice for educators and students in Miami-Dade County.

In Unity,

Karen Aronowitz, President
United Teachers of Dade