Springfield Education Association Contract Proposal:

A Ground-breaking Proposal That Promotes Enhanced Professionalism as the Road to Great Schools and Greater Student Achievement

SEA proposes: System-wide standards-based curriculum.

• Curriculum standards will cover all seven areas of the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks ... not the 2-3 that the FCB proposes.

• The interconnectedness of the curriculum areas – and learning – will be emphasized.

• In a district with significant student mobility, curricula must be fully aligned across the district so that mobile students can seamlessly progress in their studies and achievement.

• Springfield will become one of the first school districts in Massachusetts to broaden the scope of curriculum standards rather than narrow them around MCAS.

• SEA believes that raising the bar to cover all seven standards will provide Springfield’s students with a significantly better education and much higher student achievement, no matter how achievement/proficiency is measured.

• SEA believes that urban districts, such as Springfield, should aim higher and commit the resources, build the structures and honor and value the professionals who make success possible.

SEA proposes: Significant changes in working relationships, decision-making and community-building so that higher levels of student achievement are realized.

• All research demonstrates that decision-making structures and work environments that are truly collaborative and empower those working directly with children dramatically enhance student achievement.

• SEA proposals provide teachers and other education professionals with significant roles in the design, implementation and assessment of curriculum and assessment tools, at the district and school levels.

• SEA proposals create a new position – that of Instructional Leadership Specialist – to facilitate the development and implementation of School Improvement Plans, school-based professional development and the mentoring of new teachers.

• The FCB proposals shift and consolidate authority and power to principals and the school department.

• SEA proposals promote team-building and teamwork – not individual competition – as the best means to improve student achievement and promote higher professional standards and satisfaction.

• SEA proposals support greater parental and community involvement in schools as a critical element in individual student and school-wide achievement.

SEA proposes: Class size must be reduced, and resources and support must be provided, if student achievement is to be raised and sustained.  

• SEA proposals call for meaningful reductions in class size – at every level – over the next three years. Class size is universally recognized as one of the most important factors in raising student achievement, especially among children of color and those in poverty.

• Overall, the FCB proposals will raise the class-size ratios.

• SEA proposals call for all textbooks to be aligned to the curriculum frameworks.

• SEA proposals commit the district to provide every student with books and other materials, tools and technology to allow each student – and classes and schools, together – to fulfill expectations and to sustain higher levels of achievement.

• The FCB proposals eliminate language that ensures every student has a textbook.

• SEA proposals call for the district to provide the supplies, equipment and support to allow educators to develop and deliver challenging, interesting and innovative lessons for all students.

• The FCB proposals not only fail to guarantee essential resources, but they also eliminate language in the current contract that says teachers should not have to use their own money to pay for essential supplies.
  

SEA proposes: Give educators the support, the resources and the ’voice’ to create dynamic, high-standards schools and we will accept the responsibility for improved results. And, when student achievement improves, reward the entire school team.

• SEA proposals call for additional compensation – for the entire school team – each year that school achievement improves or maintains appropriate achievement levels.

• This is one of the first proposals of this kind in Massachusetts – if not the first.

• This proposal emphasizes teamwork and collaboration, as well as shared reward, as the best road to successful students, schools and professionals.

• The FCB proposals emphasize an untested, unproven approach – based on competition between and among individual teachers.

SEA proposes: Carefully crafted, comprehensive recruitment and mentoring programs that – along with truly competitive wage-benefit packages and collaborative, professional-centered schools – will attract and retain talented and dedicated educators.

• SEA proposals offer numerous incentives for advanced education, tying district-paid licensure and graduate education to commitments to stay in Springfield.

• SEA proposals provide innovative, flexible incentives to meet needs in ‘critical shortage’ areas.

• SEA proposals offer an innovative, comprehensive mentoring and support program for new teachers, so that new teachers succeed and remain in Springfield.

• The FCB proposals will actually make it more difficult to attract new teachers to the Springfield schools. The top-down, command-and-control model will not appeal to motivated, creative teachers. The lack of a comprehensive mentoring program and advanced education incentives will increase the failure and departure rate of new teachers. The non-competitive wage and benefit package will steer applicants elsewhere. Its individual competitive approach will most likely undermine collaboration in individual schools.

SEA proposes: A truly competitive wage and benefit package that will stop the catastrophic loss of talented educators. More than anything else, this will ensure that Springfield can retain the great educators currently working in the city and attract – and retain – great new teachers.

• SEA wage and benefit proposals will achieve parity with surrounding school districts within three years.

• The combination of competitive wages and benefits, predictability of future earnings, incentives for continuing education and collaboration and professional ‘voice’ in the schools and across the district will keep great educators in the city and attract the best and the brightest of those looking for jobs in public education.

• The FCB proposals create a ‘class ceiling’ for excellent teachers who choose to remain classroom teachers – the building blocks of great schools and high student achievement.

This is how you provide a great education and great schools for the children of Springfield: You honor, you empower, and you reward great teachers.