June 19, 2007

To: Teachers at Schools 6, 18, 19, 30, 31, 37, 53, 61, 74, 76, 79, 94, 97, 202, 206, and 301

From: Philip Rumore, President

RE: NYS Contract for Excellence

As you know, NYS has provided $26,000,000 to the Buffalo Public Schools in what is called Contract for Excellence Aid/Foundation Aid which is to be targeted predominately to students with the greatest educational needs.

Incredibly, the State set July 1, 2007 as the date that each District receiving this aid must have a detailed spending plan submitted. That date may be moved to July 15; however, that still leaves no real lead time to develop new programs, expand existing programs, and, most importantly, work with and brief teachers and staff on the new and expanded programs. What else is new?

There are certain “allowable” uses of this money. I won’t go into all of them here. The BTF’s number 1 priority was class size reduction. The District wanted more time on task with students. The District has chosen to use these resources in the 16 schools that are under review based on NY State’s “standards” – as absurd as they are.

The BTF staff and several teachers have met with District staff to work through our agreements and disagreements. Our last meeting was June 18. The meetings have been cordial, cooperative, and productive in that we have come up with a framework that we believe will work and which is, in some ways, unique. There are, of course, many details that still need to be agreed to, some of which will be based upon your input. However, we believe that they can be worked out.

Since the State really set this unrealistic timeline, there is very little time for an extended (and needed) discussion. We have agreed that all the employees at the affected schools must have a complete understanding of the program. Therefore, the District has agreed to a short video early in the day and (hopefully) written Q&A on the last day of school. The District has agreed to turn the buses around immediately, thereby having the students leave quickly.

The plan will be reviewed and re-submitted to NYS next year at which time we will have had a chance to evaluate it and correct any problems. It will also be reviewed through the year.

The key components of the framework for the sixteen schools are:

Class size:

• Class size for grades K-3 will be limited to 20 students.
• Class size in grades 4-12 will be limited to 25 students.
• The class size ratio of students to teachers during intensive intervention instruction will be no greater than 10-1.

Extended time for students:

• Each school will have an early and a late schedule for teachers. All students, however, will start at 8:00 am and end their day at 3:30 pm.
  
• Teachers on each schedule will still work only the contractually mandated hours.
• Teacher assignments to early and late schedules within a school will be based upon seniority. Those teachers wishing to transfer out will be allowed to do so and will be placed based upon their seniority on what is called the involuntary transfer list this summer for all available openings. Note: All temporary positions are considered openings as temporary teachers are hired until the end of the school year.
• A model schedule that the BTF will review and must agree to is being developed by the District. The District understands that additional teachers will be required.
• Any work beyond the contractual hours will be voluntary and paid at the contractual rate.
• No teacher will be required, strongly urged, etc to agree to working beyond their school day or in the summer. Summer employment will be voluntary.
• The District anticipates providing a 5-day voluntary professional development session at 1/200th of a teacher’s salary. There will be multiple dates available to attend.

Yes, this is short notice; however, it is NYS that has imposed these absurd timelines.

Will there be bumps in the road? Of course, but the District has been responsive and has worked cooperatively thus far.

Any signed agreement will include the caveat that this program will comply with all the terms and conditions mandated in our contract.

As I said, the staff of the BTF and District staff have worked well and hard under these very absurd State timelines.

We need to know your concerns so that they can be addressed. Any follow-up questions can be faxed to BTF at 881-6678, mailed or dropped off. Please indicate your school on the questions.

Of great importance is the District’s agreement to meet regularly with those in the schools to determine what is working and what is not. That process will be delineated in a Memorandum of Understanding. A copy of the final Memorandum Of Understanding will be sent to each teacher, probably in mid-July.

Hopefully, together we can put a model together that will be replicated across the country – one that really helps teachers teach and students learn.

Delegate Chairs are invited to come to BTF headquarters on Wednesday, June 20 at 4:15 to relate any immediate concerns relating to this letter. Some didn’t want to come on the last day of school or on Thursday, as there is a TGIF (TGIT) at Harry’s.

As mentioned above, the absurdly short timeline was imposed by NYS.

PR/rs