In an abrupt shift in teacher contract negotiations, School Superintendent Carol R. Johnson retreated Wednesday from a sweeping proposal to add 45 minutes to Boston’s elementary, middle, and K-8 schools, and instead will pursue a narrower effort that would add two hours at a handful of low-performing schools.
Extending the school day had been a hallmark of Johnson’s push to secure substantial changes in the contract in an effort to reinvigorate city schools. But after two years of intense and exhaustive talks with the teachers union over a new contract, Johnson said it appeared that her proposal was going nowhere. The union had insisted that teachers be paid at a rate she said the city cannot afford, prompting her to pull the 45-minute proposal.
Comments
good ol sam "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME MUTUAL"tyler. ya want reasons why this guy ain't a CITY WATCHDOG as the globe likes to refer to him as. i'll give ya 46.5 million reasons why. ma
"Samuel Tyler, President of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, said he was "dis¬appointed" that only a few schools would get additional time. "It's not the giant step in ¬reform we were looking for," said Tyler, faulting the union for asking for too much money." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Samuel R. Tyler, is "faulting the union for asking for too much money!" Excuse me! He made $257,787 in 2011 (that's only the money we know about) to represent corporations, large hospitals, private universities and colleges, and non-profits (not to be confused with charity) organizations! If these companies and organizations paid their fair share for municipal services under the Mayors P.I.L.O.T Program, the City of Boston could compensate people equitably for services rendered, and we would not be having this conversation. By the way, it's time for The Boston Municipal Research Bureau to pony up its fair share for municipal services! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ http://www.cityofboston.gov/Images_Documents/FY12%20Second%20Half%20PILOT%20Status%20Report%20for%20Web_tcm3-33007.pdf
In all fairness, I noticed that James Vaznis hasn't called Boston Municipal Research Bureau a "watchdog" in quite a while. I am really impressed and appreciative!
The day isn't extended because the city wants teachers to work for free. If cops work extra time, guess what? They get paid. If firefighters work extra time, guess what? They get paid. Non profits don't pay their fair share for municipal services. Non profit board members are on the board of both BMRB and Boston Foundation. Publishing companies ,such as Pearson, rake in millions in profits from Boston schools. They profit by selling us overpriced scripted curriculums and over emphasized bubble tests. Lastly, the supplies our schools purchase (including what is bought from Pearson) are criminally overpriced. Teachers feel disrespected when asked to work for free. We feel our work is not valued. Teachers will work an extended day, but refuse to be exploited. By the way Boston's school day is 12 minutes shorter than the national average - look it up. Johnson's quote is misleading - one would think all other districts send their kids to school much longer than Boston. By many measures Boston is rated the number 1 urban school district in the United States. We can continue to improve through working out fair and meaningful reforms through collective bargaining. Let's put all the money on the table and cut out the "fat". Let's spend this fat on direct services for kids - like the extended day and a glasses initiative that keeps glasses at school for kids who need them. Most kids in Boston are not wearing their glasses to school. We can boost student achievement when kids can see and teachers are valued more than Pearson and Sam Tyler.
Thanks for telling it like it is. Twelve minutes!!! Surely my school can make that up if we did not have so many buses at dismissal. The average time it takes for dismissal is about 20-25 minutes. We have too many buses for an elementary school. There's my 12+ minutes for teaching.
Please join 200+ families and community members demanding an immediate change in Boston Public Schools https://www.change.org/petitions/superintendent-johnson-has-lost-the-public-s-trust-and-must-resign-or-be-fired-immediately