Letter to the Denver Post regarding John Newkirk’s Guest Commentary of September 26, 2014
In his guest commentary about the recent activities in and around
Jefferson County schools, Mr. Newkirk brings up an interesting question:
if teachers are receiving the first raise in five years, why are they
protesting now when they didn’t protest before? Specifically, he wrote,
“We've upped entry-level salaries by up to 13 percent and approved
significant raises for all our effective teachers. In contrast, in 2011,
the prior board cut compensation by 3 percent. There were no teacher
sickouts then. In 2012 and 2013, the board froze salaries and, once
again, there were no sickouts or protests.”
So why are teachers, parents, students, and taxpayers so upset now?
As Mr. Newkirk points out, it’s NOT about the money.
If the teachers were only interested in making more money, then the
issue should have been settled. Unfortunately for Mr. Newkirk, the
issue goes to something far deeper.
IT IS ABOUT RESPECT:
respect for the community, respect for the process, respect for the
teachers, and respect for the students.
In terms of the teacher
pay raises, what Mr. Newkirk does not mention is that teachers were not
involved in developing the new pay system. An unbiased, neutral federal
fact-finder agreed that the way teachers were being given a raise was
unfair and ill-conceived. That fact-finder recommended the District
take a year to develop a really good system. The Board majority chose
to ignore this advice for intelligent reform, and instead created its
own system of pay which has a number of problems. It’s not about the
money – it’s about the process.
In terms of the AP US History
curriculum, Mr. Newkirk asserts that “union-led teachers have
misinformed those students rather than encouraged them to exercise
critical thinking skills.” I would suggest that Jeffco students showed a
great deal of critical thinking when they read Ms. Williams’s proposal,
which is publicly available. The students in Jefferson County decided
for themselves that that language in that proposal was objectionable.
Even the College Board, the writers of the Advanced Placement frameworks
and tests, an organization made up of educators at the high school and
college levels, found the original wording of the proposal problematic.
Mr. Newkirk also fails to realize that student leaders at the various
high schools decided to do this on their own, with input from their
parents
Additionally, now Mr. Witt, the President of the
School Board, has said that Jeffco may drop AP US History from its
curriculum. That shows incredible disrespect for the thousands of
highly motivated and intelligent students in Jefferson County who want
to challenge themselves by taking an optional college-level class in
order to gain college credit. Mr. Newkirk does not seem to recognize
that our best and brightest choose to take Advanced Placement classes,
including AP US History, and parents want them to be able to earn
college credit while in high school. Mr. Newkirk mentions some of the
academic hurdles Jefferson County continues to face, but the answer to
bringing up test scores is NOT to take away the option of taking a
harder course!
Mr. Newkirk also mentions the Board majority’s
efforts to equalize charter school funding. While this is an admirable
goal in the long run, it completely disregards community input. When
the generous voters of Jefferson County approved the mill levy override,
they were promised that the majority of money would go to class-size
reduction, maintenance of electives and additional school-support
personnel. However, the Board majority has decided to spend millions
more on charters, while also wasting money on a private attorney, a
public relations firm, a dubious superintendent search, and a host of
other projects. The process has not been honored and the voters of
Jefferson County have been told their priorities are not valued.
Collaboration is certainly a watchword in business today; we all
know that when people come together to create change they are normally
more successful than when a small group imposes its will. Author Mattie
Stepanek once wrote, “Unity is strength . . . when there is teamwork
and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.” Mr. Newkirk and
this Board majority don’t seem to want to collaborate with anyone; they
don’t seem to understand that a strong school district is based on
teamwork of all the players: teachers, parents, business people,
voters, students – everyone. Mr. Newkirk and other Board majority
members imply that a system where the “union” dictates to the District
is “bad.” The same can be said when three individuals choose to impose
their will on an entire District without collaborating or respecting all
the stakeholders.
So why are Jeffco teachers upset if we are receiving a raise? It’s not about the money. It’s about respect.
Sincerely,
Tammie Peters, Jeffco taxpayer, parent and teacher
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