Mark Anderson wrote: And it is my understanding that this is mostly due to union rules, so I don't understand why people blame the school board for that.
D. McGuire: Teacher tenures rules are not just "union rules" - the district is a party to negotiations and derives benefits from the rules. Much of the teacher contract is for the benefit of the district, not the teachers or union. As in the following communication today from the MPS Communications department, state law plays a big part in this current action. And as I said in an earlier post, I'm confused as to why the union is not fighting this obviously unreasonable and impractical action and why the district can presume it to be reasonable and practical as the Strand court ruling clearly states it must be. Dan McGuire Ericsson MPS Communications to undisclosed recipients: "Teacher realignment process in Minneapolis Public Schools is governed by Minnesota Teacher Tenure Law On June 29, the Minneapolis Board of Education, faced with a fourth consecutive year of declining enrollment and budgetary reductions, passed a 2004-05 budget that resulted in the layoff of 608 teachers. The reduction in teaching ranks reflects an anticipated enrollment decline of 4,600 students from Fall 2003 to Fall 2004. Staff layoffs of this magnitude are extremely difficult. While the district has made every effort to minimize the disruption caused by this year's teacher layoffs, we are bound by a landmark court decision* that dictates how school districts must apply seniority in teacher layoffs. The court's interpretation of the Teacher Tenure Act requires districts to save tenured teaching positions by realigning teachers who hold multiple teaching licenses. Law dictates that realignment must be educationally "reasonable and practicable." Legally, this interpretation is very narrow. The Minnesota Department of Education considers a teacher qualified for teaching in a given area if the person holds a valid license in that area. Thus, several tenured teachers who hold more than one license have been reassigned to a new area. For example, a third-grade tenured teacher who holds an arts license in addition to her elementary teaching license would be reassigned to an art position held by a less senior teacher, thereby preventing the layoff of a tenured, elementary teacher. Legal precedent requires the district to realign teachers in this manner. An attorney from Education Minnesota, the state teacher's union, has monitored the district realignment process very closely to ensure that the district is following the letter of the law. The district will make every attempt to mitigate disruptions caused by this realignment process, including staff orientations and trainings for teachers who are entering areas of instruction that may be new to them." *Arlene M. Strand, Edward P. Lue and Barbara Johnson v. Special School District No.1, 392 N.W. 2d 882 (Minn. 1986)" REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
