OK...that's being just a tiny bit disingenuous. Certainly, the plan calls for a reduction from 75 teachers to 60. Rigid right wingers will send up a cheer. The left will return fire with a voluminous jeers. And there's the middle. The rest of the world that chooses not to live or think in extremes.
On its face, it's a win for taxpayers. Oconomowoc says it provides instant savings of at least $500K per year. Nothing gets cut, class sizes will not increase. So what's the hub, bub? OK, that's where the disingenuous allegation comes in. The fine print is that, while they cut 15 teachers, remaining teachers that pick up an extra block of teaching (more on that) will be "rewarded" with a $14,000 bump in their pay. Of course, given the new ruling by our Guv, we don't know if that $14,000 will be eligible for consideration as "base" pay....but we're guessing not.
"The plan calls for most teachers to teach four blocks a day. Add on all the other things that need to be done as part of good teaching, and it's a formidable schedule - impossible, some would say.Would you want to profit from your colleague's misfortune? If Milwaukee provides any clue, those folks weren't willing to renegotiate their contracts last year, costing a ton of positions to be cut. This is where the rubber meets the road, people.
A big trade-off: Oconomowoc is planning to offer teachers with four-block loads $14,000 a year extra. That would mean the starting salary at the high school would be just over $50,000; the top salary would be in the mid-$80,000s. (Even with that, the reduction in staff will mean savings of over $500,000.)"
---Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
What is "block" scheduling?
Oconomowoc's high school operates on a 4-block schedule of 90 minutes each, while most other schools operate off of a "period" system of 7 periods of 50 minutes or so each. Proponents of block scheduling believe that having more face time with students on a subject at a time enhances learning. Look at it this way...remember back in, say, math class where you were feeling so close to the edge of understanding a concept just as the bell rings. And just like that...you lose that connection, incipient understanding goes fuzzy, and you have to start at square one the next day. Subject matter experts would then argue that having 90 minutes of the subject would allow for more time to fully grasp new concepts.
As the article points out, suddenly going from teaching for 4.5 hours a day to teaching for 6 hours a day can be a burden. Having some experience with conducting both all-day training workshops and shorter sessions, certainly we can attest to the fact that all day sessions can be tiring. But is the construction worker not tired at the end of his/her day? What about surgeons? Or general practitioners seeing 15-20 patients a day? Can that not be mentally grueling? Is work supposed to be a walk in the park? It's called work, people!
The other side of the mountain
Now professional educators --teachers-- likely won't care for this next part, but like the rest of us, they have to at least SEE the other side of an argument and try to understand it rather than just rejecting it out right. We'll say what others will whisper but never say publicly:
How is it that working at your main job (teaching) for just 4.5 hours of an 8-hour day is acceptable? Worse yet...how is asking someone to perform their primary job function--teaching-- for 6 hours of an 8-hour day is an excessive burden? Let's just toss in for good measure the fact that teachers contracts are for 190 days. That's 70 days FEWER than the rest of the world.
Don't shoot the messenger
Don't get us wrong. We are NOT advocating for Oconomowoc's proposal. We simply think that the professional educators of the world have to come to grips with the simple fact that the public has had the profession under the microscope for some time now. With all the intelligence of this group (90% of teachers will earn a Master's degree during their careers), it's only logical to assume they could understand that the public perception is that they have it pretty darn good. Sure...some of you slave away all summer working on continuing education credits or developing new lesson plans. But we know quite a few teachers that relax by the shore with a good book all summer.
Stay in touch with yourselves
Maybe this plan will all go up in a puff of smoke. (OK...let's not get literal here, OK?). Maybe cooler heads will prevail. We all need to see how it plays out. But there is a message in the undertones here that professional educators need to receive. The winds of change are not done blowing. And that fact stands regardless of whether or not the Walker Recall is successful. Backwards should never be a preferred destination.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/time-will-render-bold-oconomowoc-school-plan-effects-da56n8d-149398195.html
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