BOSTON TEACHERS UNION, LOCAL 66, AFT Non-Profit Org. Performance Evaluations and 180 Mount Vernon Street U.S. Postage Boston, Massachusetts 02125 PAID Terminations 4 Boston, MA 02109 Permit No. 52088 25th Annual BTU Paraprofessional Conference 7 BTU Honors 2011 Building Representatives of the Year 12 BostonBostonUnion Teacher The Award-Winning Newspaper of the Boston Teachers Union AFT Local 66, AFL-CIO • Democracy in Education • Volume XLIII, Number 10 • June, 2011 End of the Year Check-In: Some Good News, Some Bad, Some Promise By Richard Stutman professional devel- area. We will continue to negotiate over BTU President opment or graduate the summer, and both sides have a goal of ood day. By the time you get this courses. Others of wrapping up negotiations as soon as pos- Gmost likely the school year will be in you will be working sible. its last few days, and you will be ready to in other jobs, often On the matter of health insurance, enjoy a few short days of vacation. Before for a healthy diver- while the “i’s” are not all dotted on the long some of you will be back in school sion. Regardless of impending state legislation as we go to either teaching summer school or taking what you do in the press, it appears certain that the our mem- summer, your bers, along with other city employees, ★★★★★★★★★ thoughts will never Richard Stutman will have a very good health care package be far away from BTU President for the next four years. In July of 2015, our your school and your health insurance will have to match up BTU Election Results students, and September will be here with the new state legislation – a down- before you know it. That’s just the way it grade that will diminish the quality of our June 1, 2011 works: We take our work home with us, health care while making it more expen- PRESIDENT even in the summer. That’s why it’s im- sive. We’ll cross that bridge when we get Richard Stutman, O’Bryant HS ....................... 1,165 portant to take some sort of break and do to it, and in the meantime will try our best EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT something different when possible. legislatively to get some needed changes Patrick Connolly, BTU Office ............................ 1,103 So where are we union-wise at the end in the law. of the 2010-2011 school year? We’ve been There are a host of other external SECRETARY-TREASURER Angela Cristiani is elected new Political Di- Charles R. Johnson, Madison Park TVHS ...... 1,060 negotiating for a complete year and have problems facing us, as well as our col- rector of the BTU. made some limited progress. We’ve leagues around the country. The difficul- POLITICAL DIRECTOR reached a tentative agreement on how ties we face – charter schools, privatiz- The city will attempt to close even Patricia Armstrong, BTU Office .......................... 492 Angela Cristiani, Psychological Services ........ 793 teachers and paras will move from school ation, increase in high stakes testing, and more schools, in particular smaller to school. There’ll be a slightly different continued inadequate funding – are found schools, to cover the loss of funds and SECONDARY FIELD REPRESENTATIVE assignment process that will take the everywhere in cities across the country students. Truth is, even more schools Caren Carew, King MS .......................................... 514 place of the excess pool; both the school from Baltimore and New York to San would have closed this year were it not for ELEMENTARY FIELD REPRESENTATIVE department in the BTU are pleased with Francisco and LA. No urban school sys- the tremendous resistance offered by Michael W. McLaughlin, BTU Office ................. 417 the outcome. We have made slim progress tem has been immune from these as- parents, teachers, and students in the PARAPROFESSIONAL/SUBSTITUTE in other areas of concern, however. The saults. Although we have weathered these affected schools. FIELD REPRESENTATIVE issues of compensation, performance a little better than most, this is about to Statewide, we will face increased stan- Carla Johnson, Ellison Parks EES .......................... 51 evaluation, professional growth and de- change. In particular, the expansion of dardized testing, as the state hastens to Jenna Fitzgerald, BTU Office .............................. 130 velopment, and the extended day remain. charter schools under the new Ed Re- impose even more testing to meet the EXECUTIVE BOARD That said, the state is about to release new form law will drain from our district an twice-yearly RTTT demands to establish John Allocca, Alternative Education................ 421 performance evaluation regulations that additional yearly cost of $40-$50 million, beginning and after data-points of student Karen L. McCarthy, Brighton HS ........................ 412 Garret Virchick, Brighton HS ............................... 501 will dictate some – not all – of the evalua- on top of the current loss of $65 million. benchmarks. Add to this the strong pos- Michael Maguire, Boston Latin Academy ...... 656 tion language we will have to adopt, pav- Individual school budgets will face con- sibility that the state will mandate that Evangeline Kariadakis, Ohrenberger ............... 109 ing the way for some movement in this tinued declines. (continued on page 6) Allison Doherty-LaCasse, Urban Sci. Acad. ... 521 Jessica Tang, Young Achievers K-8 ................... 543 Karene-Sean Hines, Timilty MS .......................... 380 Robert P. Carroll, Sumner ES ............................... 433 Eileen A. Weir, Madison Park TVHS ................... 510 Karen Wood-Hocker, Holmes ES ....................... 259 Sterling Scott, Blackstone ES .............................. 152 Mary Ann Urban, Retired .................................... 495 Michael Crain, MPTVHS, HPEC, SBEC ............... 307 Tricia Melanson, Madison Park TVHS .............. 347 James (Timo) Philip, Brighton HS ..................... 526 Erik Berg, Philbrick ES ........................................... 597 Alice Yong, Murphy ES ......................................... 591 Cheryl Kelly, RN, Alighieri ES/Edwards MS ..... 541 PARA COUNCIL Debra Brown, Sumner ES .................................... 105 Christine Buttiglieri, Umana MS ........................... 76 Lynette Harrell, Holland ES .................................... 61 Adrianne Jordan, Edison K-8 ................................. 78 Josefina I. Lascano, Edison K-8 .............................. 76 CaSandra Samuel, Holland ES .............................. 76 Maureen Sutherland, Gavin MS ........................... 91 Donna Adame, WREC: Brook Farm ...................... 28 See results for the Delegates to All Affiliated Bodies on page 6. The candidates await the results at BTU Hall. Commentary: Michael J. Maguire An Electronic Grass Roots Campaign ave you recently felt like nobody portant because our jobs are in the public tional approval. So a comment that is efits for the stu- H cares about you, your job, or your domain. “The people” have a say in our positively influential snowballs into the dents and their efforts? Me too. It happens most acutely jobs, so it is important that what “the most popular comment of the day. While parents. when I read the Globe or Herald. Sadly, people” read be positively influential. seemingly silly, this is important because But perhaps even in our daily newspapers, not many So, how best to do that? comments can be ranked by most/least the most fright- Michael J. Maguire people seem to care about the topic dear- I suggest that all of us register on the popular. After several days or weeks of ening sentiment est to our hearts: public education. major on-line news sources, especially this, you will get to know the personalities on the Net is that “unions served a pur- I would like to draw your attention to the Globe and Herald. Pick a user name of some of the more persistent commen- pose years ago, but are not needed now.” the electronic editions of the newspapers. that protects your identity but is playful tators. And those who are friendly to Good people really do believe this. They Most papers allow a reader to post a and fun, e.g. “BeantownTeacher.” Then public education will benefit from our think that when the heavy-duty machines comment at the end of a story. Some each day – especially in the morning – we support. went away, so did the need for unions. comments are thoughtful, but most are need to scan the on-line newspapers and If you are so inclined, I suggest adding Why does this sentiment matter to us? the equivalent of person talking just to TV news shows for stories about educa- short, targeted comments. Few people It does matter because if the public views hear his won voice. tion. Here’s were the fun begins. want to read a comment that is longer collective bargaining as a “thing of the Usually there are a few dozen com- Most comment areas allow for two than the original story. But a well thought past” or “an impediment to innovation,” ments on a front-page education story separate but related actions: voting to out verbal jab can do more to shape a then the politicians will enact legislation and only a handful of comments in the approve (or disapprove) of another debate than can a long, detailed rant. restricting or moving collective bargain- editorial section. Compare these low num- person’s comment, and making your own I suggest we emulate Socrates. Let us ing. We are on the verge of loosing our bers to those in the business or sports comment. Let’s take these on at a time. pose pointed questions to those who seek “right” to negotiate our health insurance; sections and you too will develop an infe- If you are new to such commenting to weaken public education and/or we could loose even more. riority complex. Comments in these sec- activities, I suggest you all read the com- unions. Let us ask where they get their So once again I am asking you to help tions number in the hundreds! ments in order to get the pulse of the “facts.” Let us ask them to pack up their shape public opinion. When you read a Now I don’t believe that the number of crowd.