Legislator Survey
Please take a moment to let us know what you think:
School Funding
Blount has the 12 highest fiscal capacity, which is the measure of a county’s ability to fund programs, BUT 65 school systems invest more in each child’s education than Blount county.
Sources: http://bit.ly/CountyFiscalCapacity & http://bit.ly/PerPupil
Evaluation Survey Phase II
TEA used your responses to the first evaluation survey to advocate with legislators for changes. There are legislators who are listening! Please take the time to complete the second phase of the survey, below.
Happy New Year!
Make your New Year’s resolution to be a stronger supporter of public education: Register to vote!
- Who decides how many students are in each class?
- Who decides how much money your school gets to educate students?
- Who decides how students are tested?
- Who determines how teachers are evaluated?
Elected officials! And voters elect these officials — to school boards, county commissions, city councils, the General Assembly and Congress.
If you’re already an active voter, make this the year you become more involved! Visit TEA’s legislative action center to find out more.
If you’re not a voter, register today! Deadline to register for March Elections is February 6th!
Charter Decision
The State Board of Education voted unanimously to uphold Dr. Gary Nixon’s recommendation to uphold the Blount County Board’s denial of HOPE Academy’s application.
Evaluation Day
Job Evaluation from joe-ks.com
Teachers, look for your ballot on Collaborative Conferencing NEXT Thursday, December 8th. You get to vote on this process because of the petitions circulated by your Association Representatives earlier this year. There should be two questions on the ballot:
- The first question will be something like: Do you want to have collaborative conferencing? At least 50% plus one of the professional staff will have to answer yes to that question for the process to continue.
- The second question will apply only if the first is approved, and will be something like: Who do you want to represent you?
BCEA has experience in advocating for your interests, and is the professional organization of the majority of Blount County’s teachers. We are organized and experienced with interest-based bargaining, which is very similar to the process outlined by PECCA.
More information from the TDOE FAQ sheet on Collaborative Conferencing:
What is collaborative conferencing?
Pursuant to the PECCA, collaborative conferencing is the process by which the chair of the board of education and the board’s professional employees, or representatives designated by either party, meet to confer, consult, discuss and exchange information, opinions and proposals on matters relating to terms and conditions of professional service using the principles and techniques of interest-based collaborative problem-solving.The following items are required for discussion:
1) Salaries or wages;
2) Grievance procedures;
3) Insurance;
4) Fringe benefits;
5) Working conditions, except those working conditions prescribed by federal law, state law, private act, municipal charter or rules and regulations of the state board of education, the department of education or any other department or agency of state or local government;
6) Leave; and
7) Payroll deductions, except such deductions for political activities.
Listen to the State Board’s decision.
You can listen in to the State Board of Education’s conference call on the proposed charter school on December 19th. Instructions will be posted on their website at: http://www.tn.gov/sbe.
Don’t forget to submit your comments on the charter school decision to the State Board by December 6th. Contact information is posted below.
Charter schools were originally designed to provide an alternative for disadvantaged students in overcrowded, struggling urban schools. The recent expansion of charters has revealed that districts with charter schools or schools of choice are also segregating students by socioeconomic status.
Why? Based on several studies, charter schools tend to attract more economically advantaged students, leaving the district’s public schools with a higher concentration of economically disadvantaged students. (See studies here: 1, 2, 3)
The proposed charter school in Blount County does not plan to provide transportation, but most students in Blount County’s public schools ride the bus to school each day. The only students that could attend the proposed charter school would be those who able to arrange their own transportation, which immediately leaves this “public” school out of the reach of most of our public school students.
Do we want a situation similar to this one in California?
If you’d like to comment on the impact the proposed charter school will have on all the students in Blount County, please attend the appeal hearing. There will be time for public comment at the hearing, or you can submit written comments afterward.
The charter school appeal hearing will be
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 11:30 am
Blount County Schools, Board Room
831 Grandview Drive, Maryville, TN 37803
If you are unable to attend, you can submit your comments after the hearing: Comments must be received in the State Board of Education office by 4:30 p.m. CST on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, to be considered. Submit comments to:
Dannelle F. Walker
General Counsel
Tennessee State Board of Education
9th Floor, 710 James Robertson Parkway
Nashville, TN 37243
FAX: (615) 741-0371
E-mail: Dannelle.Walker@tn.gov
Charter Schools-worth the cost?
Are charter schools an effective use of local tax dollars? Research shows questionable academic results:
Nearly half of the charter schools nationwide have results that are no different from the local public school options and over a third, 37 percent, deliver learning results that are significantly worse than their student would have realized had they remained in traditional public schools.- CREDO study, Stanford University 2009 (emphasis added)
The State Board of Education will determine whether to overturn the duly elected Blount County Board of Education’s decision on the proposed charter school at a public hearing:
- 11:30 a.m.
- November 29th
- Blount County Schools Central Office, 831 Grandview Drive.
