North Carolina has released preliminary results from its biennial Teacher Working Conditions Survey.
A quick scan indicates Charlotte-Mecklenburg educators are slightly less satisfied than state averages on most items, but happier than they were two years ago (although it's called a teacher survey, it's open to all licensed school-based educators, including administrators). About 80 percent of CMS teachers said their school is a good place to work and learn, compared with almost 85 percent statewide. That result was up about one percentage point in CMS and virtually unchanged statewide.
I actually expected to see more dramatic gaps or changes, given all the talk about dismal morale in the last couple of years. Because this poll happens every two years, we don't have data from spring of 2011, when frustrations with layoffs, pay freezes, school closings, performance pay and excessive testing may have peaked. Teachers took the 2012 survey in March and April.
The biggest thing that jumps out is that about 3,100 of the 9,795 eligible educators in CMS didn't do the online survey. The state participation rate was 86 percent. In CMS it was 68 percent, down from 77 percent two years ago.
I don't have time to dive deep or compare individual schools today. But I expect a lot of you are interested and will have good insights -- as always, please share.
Friday, June 8, 2012
CMS morale: Good and bad news
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41 comments:
The drop in participation is important because it speaks to the issue that many of us inside CMS no longer feel that our voices are being heard, so why participate when we are overwhelmed with additional duties and responsibilities.
Clearly since we have not had a leader in CMS since PG almost 1.5 years ago the numbers are flat to down. We have lost alot of CMS folks and continue to lose great employees. In the first comment I echo as well Teachers feel they are not being "heard" and if they did complain it goes on Deaf Ears. (Hugh) So in the grand scheme of things I think the ground forces have "manned up and accepted" CMS as it is. We dont have leaders with the guts enough to get more funding from the state. Our BOE just this week was crying to the BOCC the smallest portion of our funding 22%. Time would have been better spent at state level going after the real cahs they have.
The problem with the survey was that it did not ask us our opinion about CMS central office! I would like to see one of those surveys and I can guarantee our responses would look a little different. The tactics from uptown are what have lowered our morale but I guess they don't want to hear those opinions. Most of us support our principals and are happy within our schools. However, we don't feel supported or trusted as a professional by downtown. Would be interesting to see numbers on survey concerning downtown...
On a side note, I think you should do a story on how the 3% pay increase is only on our local supplement which equals out to be roughly 10 dollars per month. I believe elementary school teachers would rather have their extra 45 minutes a day (or 2 hours after planning and duties) back so they can hold a second job and earn 2x or 3x as much.
The biggest thing that jumps out is that about 3,100 of the 9,795 eligible educators in CMS didn't do the online survey. The state participation rate was 86 percent. In CMS it was 68 percent, down from 77 percent two years ago.
It's close to the graduation rate so what else should we expect?
1:01, it has always been my understanding that they were talking about 3 percent of total pay, not just increasing the local supplement by 3 percent. Right now everything is hypothetical, but when they get their budget from the state and settle things out, I will definitely ask that question and make sure there's a clear answer.
As teachers learn it is CMS BOE and CMS Aministration that has chosen not to give raises you can expect even lower morale. Over the years BOE has been succesful blaming BOCC. The true BOE feelings have been "smoked out" by the BOCC decision to ensure raises are given to teachers. Don't be surprisef if BOE gives administrators and themselves a raise.
Ann @ 1:47 - I'm pretty sure the school board / CMS doesn't have the power (or funds) to give teachers a 3% raise based on total salary. Why should they? That's the state's responsibility. The state has decided for the last 3 years that cost-of-living increases ("raises") for teachers are LAST on its list of budget priorities.
CMSteacher, you're right. But Hugh Hattabaugh and Sheila Shirley specifically said in the early discussions that they were asking the county to cover an expense that's traditionally paid by the state. They said if the state were doing its share, the cost for matching 3 percent raises for county-paid employees would be only about 30 percent of the $25-30 million they asked for. They also acknowledged that if the raises were given this way, it would be an ongoing expense to be funded by the county.
What will actually happen is anyone's guess, but I'm pretty sure they pitched true 3 percent raises paid for with county money.
Ask any high school teacher about...
Ask any high school teacher about...the truth behind graduation rates and .....being told that they "must" pass a student.
Rhonda Lennon continually ran her mouth about the 3% being part of total salary, not just 3% of county pay. (She needs to be more vocal to fool her constituents into believing she is a good representative.)
I think we know differently...
A beginning level teacher currently makes about $35,000 a year. A 3% raise is an additional $1,050.
The CMS board chair requested a travel budget increase to cover a $4,800 trip to London. Prior to this, she wanted CMS to pick up her cell phone bill.
You do the 5th grade math.
"The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board will consider boosting its travel budget after Chairman Ericka Ellis-Stewart found herself short of the $4,800 she needed to pay for the recent London trip sponsored by the Charlotte Chamber."
I suppose Ericka could have been headed to London to take an important seminar about boosting teacher morale.
The state's survey results are about as suspect as CMS graduation rates!
Once again
Bring back the dental and vision benefits.Then pay me the bonus money that was promised but never paid. Bring back the common core standards and then pay what you owe before we resume what should be the COLA which is nothing more than trying to keep up with inflation.
Written so the head of the BOE and LaTarza can understand it.
I've already asked Ms. Shirley about the 3% raise. She sent me a spreadsheet a few weeks ago that shows the 3% is on the Total State and County Base salaries (not just the local supplement).
But realize this, too... the Board of Education and Superintendent and the rest of the high level administrative folks are included in this calculation.
Aside from this travesty, I found it interesting at the Wednesday night BOE meeting, that Ms. Shirley presented some calculations that REMOVED the $3.6 million market adjustment. This market adjustment had been included in this 3% raise all along. I don't think anyone on the BOE even caught that little fact.
If I heard her correctly, then, CMS already "saved" $3.6 million by excluding the market adjustment.
The retirement rate from the State was also less than expected, so that saves CMS more money, too.
If you removed the BOE and the other high-level admin staff's 3% raise, they could save more money there, too.
But what I find MOST disturbing is the fact that so many people are still puzzled over what the 3% raise is based on.
Houston, we have yet another COMMUNICATION ISSUE.
CMS has pretty low morale. Anne you mentioned that most people are happy with their principals....well they have had a high turnover rate as well. Look what happened at Rama. Took away a great principal and gave him to the competitor school (Lansdown). They have now inserted Denny who staff say is pretty "heavy handed", and down right poor morale at the school.
"competitor school" - what does that even mean?
Ann, please trust me on this issue: There are schools in CMS right now that have greater than a 50 percent turnover rate for one full year. If that is not telling about morale, then nothing is!
Someone please remind Rhonda Lennon where she lives and who the people are that she represents!
I agree with this whole-heartedly!!! I support and appreciate both admin teams I work for and most teachers I work with are very frusterated at the cental office, upper level admin and the BOE...
I look forward to what you find, but I too am under the impression that the raise is only on the local supplement. I also agree that getting the extra 45 minutes per day back would be better than a "raise".
Ann,
If you want to know what morale is like within CMS, you ought to go tour some schools and talk to teachers anonymously and off the record.
The real numbers would say about 25% are satisfied, 75% trying to get the heck out of CMS.
7:29, 7:49
Example of "Competitor Schools":
1. "The Holy Trinity" - Myers Park, Providence, Ardrey Kell High.
2. "The Holy Moly" - West Charlotte, Garinger, Harding High.
From 11:19
Every school has fantastic and successful students so singling out "Holy Moly" schools isn't a fair or accurate portrait. However, there is some truth to long held public perceptions surrounding these schools.
"Holy Trinity" schools have their share of failures and problems too.
Oops, from 11:28
I was lucky enough to find employment outside of CMS last year after working with this horrible district for eight years. Next Wednesday my husband will be handing in his letter of resignation as he hands in his keys. Thank goodness that will be my family's end of having to deal with CMess! Low Morale! 75% may even be too low!
Anyone looked into the millions of tax dollars CMS inevitably discovers at the end of the school year? Departments develop spending plans outside of the budget for the finance Queen. Are these numbers presented to the public and others by CMS, not? These outside of budget plans do not seem to be reported at the county board and only a smidgen at the school board for approval. Another example of CMS creative finance or deception through omission? The County Board's move to force CMS to fund raises was a classy move.
As a teacher who filled out the survey last year, I can offer anececdotal support to your premise that morale is down. I chose not to do the survey this year and pointedly ignored several e-mails asking me to do so. I would have given significantly lower marks to CMS and my school administration this year for many reasons. Although our budget was stable, the lack of raises coupled with a growing lack of respect by sdministrators (who are perhaps under pressure themselves) made teaching a more miserable performance. Our failure to vote was meant to be a quiet vote against the system and I know several other teachers at my school also chose to "protest" by not filling out the survey. In retrospect, perhaps a negative survey would have made the statemnt in a clearer way but given the insensitivity of much of the public to the difficulties of teaching, we chose not to give them ammunition they could use to further hammer CMS. I will say a drop in survey participation within CMS of that magnitude (statistically, it is significant) speaks a great deal if you interpret it the way many of us intended.
Those of us who left spoke in a different fashion. Our vote was to completely sever ourselves from a system rooted in spin. From testing to raises to principal flight to creative finance CMS is more about the spin factor than lifting up the community or it's staff.
Some one please tell the truth about Denise Watts and Project lift! An earlier poster did a great job(see Below) but Ms. Watts is in the paper today stating Jefferies has “been a tremendous leader “. Does this mean she approved 27 of some of the schools most effective and dedicated teachers to be replaced because he did not like them? You can not tell me that the Project Lift’s Board Members do not know about these debacles every step of the way. Private money should not mean the right to destroy the education of others at any cost.
“I think the entire communications department conveniently reports what they want to report and of course it's about damage control. For instance, did you know that the principal of a Project Lift School has resigned his position to become a part of the Union County Public School System? His resignation was extremely " thoughtful" in the middle of testing....before the scores come out and in the middle of this enormous $55 million dollar initiative; how convenient. Ann this has been public knowledge since Tuesday...where have you been? Do you need more staff to keep up? I guess it's time to bail.....Let's see who is next!”
June 8, 2012 6:38 AM
The fact that participation in the survey is down 9% from 2 years ago and is 18% below the state average should tell you plenty. Most people I know who work in CMS have pretty much given up on having a voice in anything. Not participating in the survey is one way the can rebel without repercussions. I know some who also are paranoid about the survey being anonymous after so many years of retribution for any who dared speak out under King Peter.
A 3% raise for 18,000 would amount to a cost of around $25 to $30 million ?
With all this talk about salaries - at the very least the state could unfreeze our pay. I know a bunch of 4 years of experience in CMS teachers still getting a beginning teacher salary. This is demoralizing! No wonder no one does the survey. We were all busy trying to secure summer jobs so we can eat and pay rent.
Good survey results don't help and bad ones are used as a hammer. The problem is the surveys don't ask the right questions, especially any that have to do with zone or central office.
Again this summer many of the CMS teachers will be offered jobs in the private sector. Leaving CMS to hire a bunch of lackey teachers which they did last year to just warm seats. Test grades resulting in declining numbers does not help CMS achieve greater funds for their budget or beloved travel funds.
CMS with low morale scores for teachers. How in the name of Pete Gorman does that happen? Who ever came up with this stuff test them to death !
Note that no one is responding with their names. That should tell you something about the morale. Forget about whether anyone listens or not. No one wants to speak out because like it or not we need our jobs and there is fear in giving a real opinion. I have seen principals read through their surveys and try to figure out which teachers were responsible for certain responses. Better to not respond at all.
10:55
That is the cowardly way out, even allowing for the real atmosphere of threat and intimidation that is present. I know teachers are psychologically and emotionally abused but this is the one survey that is completely anonymous. The letters are sent to the NCAE Representative at the school who is not allowed to document who received one.
If a school achieves a 40% response rate then its results are published. Don't be intimidated anymore, this is your real chance to put the truth out there otherwise you are doing exactly what the bully wants you do, cower in fear.
Here's even more for morale...Some of us work as Deans of Students at our school. That's an Assistant Principal making Teacher Salary. We do the same jobs, and sometimes even more. Call it, Entry Level School Administration. Well, we have to go through the Pool Process to try to even move up the list. You wait months to hear something and then you get denied and told to "grow" and re-apply after 1 calendar year. However, you never get told what you need to improve on. How can someone get better when they get high evaluations from their principal, yet some Yahoo in HR denies them and tells them "wait a year." This is rediculous!
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