Contracts, pay and tenure remain in limbo

July 1 marked the start of the 2014-15 budget year,  but crucial decisions about educator pay and working conditions remain in the hands of the N.C. General Assembly,  where GOP leaders remain deeply divided.

That means leaders of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and other districts had better come back from the July 4 week revved up and ready to hustle.  Consider:

*The fate of hundreds of teacher assistants remains uncertain. The Senate plan cuts jobs to boost teacher pay, while plans from the House and governor preserve them.  Additional teacher jobs that were promised in last year's two-year spending plan also remain in limbo.  The result:  Schools will have to adjust staffing plans whenever lawmakers come to agreement.

*  The Senate's budget requires teachers to choose between a scale where they keep tenure and get locked into current pay or a  "professional scale"  that provides significant raises with no job protection.  The House and governor's plans do not.  If the Senate approach prevails,  districts will have to figure out how to get thousands of teachers to indicate their choice,  then adjust their pay accordingly.  If that's not done by the state of the academic year,  which seems likely,  they could  have to calculate retroactive pay.

*Teachers who are working on master's degrees don't yet know whether they'll be compensated for them.

*Under the  "25 percent plan"  approved last year,  CMS had to designate teachers eligible for four-year contracts,  and teachers selected would have had to say yes or no by Monday.  A judge put that plan on hold,  but the Senate budget would revive it.

CMS never notified teachers whether they made the 25 percent cut.  But in June the district did offer one-year contracts to teachers who haven't qualified for career status,  or tenure.  Spokeswoman Kathryn Block says just over 84 percent of those contracts have been signed,  and the rest are getting reminders.  Six who didn't sign have resigned,  she added.

*Money for textbooks,  technology and three new college-based high schools that CMS will open in August also remain up in the air.

All of this makes the back-to-school countdown nerve-wracking for all concerned.  And while Aug. 25 is the big day,  it comes even earlier for students in year-round Project LIFT schools and the high schools based on Central Piedmont Community College campuses and at UNC Charlotte.

Charter schools are exempt from many of the state rules about tenure and pay.  But they,  too,  are waiting on passage of a state budget to know how much money they can count on.

Still no plan for teacher pay reform

A task force created by the General Assembly last summer to study teacher pay and effectiveness will hold its final meeting in Raleigh today to wrap up a report for state lawmakers.

So will we finally get a look at North Carolina's long-range plan for identifying and rewarding the best educators?

Bryan

Nope.

"It's heavier on goals and principles and thin on specifics,"  said state Rep. Rob Bryan,  a Mecklenburg Republican who co-chairs the task force.  He said the state is still early in the process of working through an issue that has challenged politicians and educators across the country.

Watching North Carolina and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools slog toward pay reform feels a bit like watching  "Groundhog Day,"  without the assurance of a happy ending.  Over and over,  study groups convene and conclude that the issue needs more study.

The big picture is the easy part.  Is it essential to identify the teachers who make the biggest difference for kids?  Absolutely.  Should they be rewarded for excellence?  Of course.  Do N.C. teachers deserve a raise and a better pay system?  Most would say yes.

The stumper is how to identify those teachers,  how to distribute the rewards and above all how to pay for it.  Last summer the state legislature created the much-reviled 25 percent plan as a first step and charged the task force with taking a longer view.

Bryan said his group is interested in getting local districts to create their own pay plans,  perhaps with a state fallback for those that can't or won't.  That's in line with what CMS is seeking as an alternative to the state-mandated four-year contracts and $500-a-year raises for 25 percent of qualified teachers.

But it was just over a year ago that the state invited local districts to submit performance pay plans for consideration.  CMS was initially gung-ho,  appointing  (of course)  a teacher task force and hiring consultants to study the issue.  But ultimately the district missed the deadline and said there was little point creating a detailed plan without state money to make it happen.

What we've seen so far is a series of pilots and experiments that fizzle when the money runs out.  The conclusion is inevitably that the effort needs more study  --  and more money.

Today's meeting will at least bring a new visual device:  College students putting 10-foot ladders outside the legislative building to illustrate the need to  "rebuild the ladder"  to the teaching profession.  Lynn Bonner of the News & Observer wins this week's round of  "identify that advocacy group;"  click here to see what she found out about who's behind Students For Education Reform-North Carolina and who's footing the bills.

Charters, tenure, testing and Project LIFT

It's a good week to learn more about education, with an array of public meetings and forums taking place.

At 3 p.m. Tuesday,  Mecklenburg County commissioners will hear a presentation from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools about the county money that's passed along to charter schools.  Some commissioners want to know more about how that money is being spent and whether they can exercise any control.  As required by law,  CMS is passing along about $25 million from this year's $356.5 million allocation to cover costs for almost 11,000 Mecklenburg students enrolled in charters.  With 11 new charters opening in the Charlotte area in 2014-15,  CMS projects it will take another $7.5 million to cover almost 2,300 more charter students.

Pine Lake Prep in Iredell County serves Mecklenburg students

The special commissioners' meeting,  in room CH-14 of the Government Center,  is open to the public.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday,  the CMS board will vote on its version of the controversial  "25 percent plan" to phase out tenure (details of the CMS plan have not yet been released)  and the district's 2014 legislative agenda.  The agenda also includes a report on academic achievement at the Project LIFT schools. That meeting,  in Room 267 of the Government Center, is also open and streamed online.

Cobitz

At noon Wednesday,  Wingate University Ballantyne kicks off a "lunch and learn"  series with assistant professor Chris Cobitz talking about  "What's all this testing in schools about?"  Cobitz is a former testing official with CMS and N.C. Department of Public Instruction.  Bring your own lunch and attend the session at Suite 150 in the Harris Building, 13024 Ballantyne Corporate Place.  (It'll be like Throwback Wednesday if I can make it; I worked extensively with Cobitz and Lloyd Wimberley,  director of the graduate school of education, when they were with CMS.)

Stuckenberg

As they say in the late-night infomercials ... but wait!  There's more!  You can cap off this education marathon by hoisting a mug at  6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Heist Brewery in NoDa,  where there's a  "Policy and Pints"  session scheduled.  Just keeping up with new education advocacy groups these days is a challenge:  This one is sponsored by N.C. Policy Bridge,  a  "grassroots and top roots"  organization trying to get teachers more engaged in public policy discussion.  Kayti Stuckenberg,  a CMS middle school teacher,  is one of the organizers.  Adam Rhew of MeckEd,  which is helping promote the meetings,  says the core group is young teachers associated with Teach For America.  To attend,  RSVP here.

Update: Just found out CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink and CMS administrators will also be at the Tuesday Breakfast Forum this week  (8:30 a.m. at the West Charlotte Rec Center) speaking about the state's charter school law and the district's desire to have similar flexibility.

Survey: Lawmakers are in the doghouse

People who answered a recent UNC Wilmington online survey are plenty mad about the N.C. legislature's recent changes to education, according to a recent report.

With the 2014 session looming,  we seem to be getting a poll a week,  and most of them show what the sponsors go in looking for.  So let's be clear up front:  This was a self-selected group of more than 2,350 people who responded to links shared by PTAs and social media,  including,  apparently,  the Observer's Facebook page.  Participants were skewed toward middle-class women who have kids in public schools and/or have worked in public education.

Respondents trust teachers ...

Still,  it's always interesting to hear what folks have to say.  More than 95 percent said they trust teachers and principals to make decisions about education,  compared with just over 60 percent who trust their local school board and just over 3 percent who trust the governor and state legislature.

... a lot more than they trust these guys.

More than 90 percent said North Carolina is headed the wrong direction when it comes to public education.  Especially unpopular: Increasing class sizes,  decreasing per-pupil spending,  giving schools letter grades,  cutting pay for advanced degrees,  providing private-school vouchers and lowering the percentage of certified teachers required at charter schools.  Among people who have never worked for a school system,  there were mixed reviews for Teach for America,  the Read to Achieve program and the controversial  "25 percent plan"  to replace teacher tenure.

About 30 percent of the parents who responded said they've considered private or charter schools for their children. “We are actively searching for private school options to escape the ridiculousness that has become the NC school system!”  one reported.

And,  of course,  the overwhelming majority think teachers need a raise.  It's looking like the only debate on that point is going to be who gets how much  (and that debate will be a doozy).

The survey by UNCW Professors Robert Smith and Scott Imig follows one that tallied educators'  reactions to the legislative session in December.

Tenure resolution on CMS board agenda

A resolution asking the General Assembly to defer its controversial  "25 percent plan"  so Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools can craft its own plan for teacher pay and contracts is on tonight's school board agenda.

The request seeks a reprieve from the mandate to choose 25 percent of teachers who meet requirements for experience and job ratings to receive four-year contracts and $500-a-year raises.  Instead,  CMS will ask lawmakers to save the money designated for the first year's raises and combine it with additional state money for a revamped pay scale and contract plan to be designed by CMS.

It's a less confrontational approach than that taken by Guilford and Durham counties,  which have voted to take the state to court to block the 25 percent plan.

Teachers applaud Wake's vote

Wake County's board drew a large, enthusiastic crowd of teachers and supporters when it passed a resolution last week seeking repeal of the law.  The resolution didn't appear on the CMS agenda until Monday,  so it's unclear how much audience response this one will draw.  But there's still time to sign up for the three-minute public comment period;  call 980-343-5139  by noon or sign up on site before the meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at the Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St.