tagged w/ union-busting
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THE SAN Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is asking educators to shoulder the burden of the economic crisis--and wants to trample the union contract in the process.
The School Board voted 5-to-1 on February 29 to send out pink slips to 245 teachers and 249 paraprofessionals. The board also decided to bypass seniority in implementing the layoffs by exempting the 14 schools in the so-called Superintendent's Zone, using social justice language to justify their attack.
According to an SFUSD press release, the district created the "Superintendent's Zone of 14 schools located primarily in the Bayview and Mission neighborhoods of San Francisco to focus more resources on closing the achievement gap in some of the city's historically lowest performing schools...In skipping certificated employees in the Superintendent's Zone in the layoff process, the district is living up to its commitment to access, equity, and social justice."
As a member of United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), I know that there is no social justice in this these layoffs. For starters, the schools have been placed in the zone on an arbitrary basis. Other schools serve the exact same student demographics, but are left out of the zone. As a UESF document pointed out, all public schools in San Francisco have a mix of students, and there is no clear way that these schools have been chosen.
In fact, some of these schools have already been targeted for reforms under state legislation required by the federal Race to the Top program. For example, Carver Elementary was forced last year to use the turnaround model, which meant they had to replace at least 50 percent of their classroom teachers and the principal.
However, Carver is in the Superintendent's Zone, and will be skipped over for seniority for layoffs this year. How is it possible that they replace a majority of teachers one year ago and then claim social justice to jump seniority the next? SFUSD wants to have its cake and eat it, too.
Even worse is that the exemptions are conditional. They are not for all staff at these schools, but only for teachers. Our most vulnerable union members, the paraprofessionals, will be laid off.
Overwhelmingly, paraprofessionals work directly with students who need the most attention. Paraprofessionals are not compensated at living wages and have been left out of most pay raises. Why is it okay to lay off paraprofessionals, mostly people of color, at a school, yet save the mostly white teachers? That doesn't sound like social justice. (story via The Socialist Worker by permission) for original go to socialistworker.org
http://figrd.blogspot.comTHE SAN Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is asking educators to shoulder the... more
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