For the record, and in response to many emails and comments, I oppose furloughs on principle. Neither I nor any of my colleagues are happy with the budget outcome. None of us, given the opportunity to craft a budget individually, would have come up with this one. But that's the consequence of having nine independent voices, as was described in the Loudoun Independent:
Members wrestled all evening in their support for restoration of an item but opposition to the item that offset the restoration and/or opposed the item targeted for restoration but agreed to eliminate the identified item which provide the funding but in the end they just could not connect all the dots.Further, I'd like to point out the following, from the same story:
With midnight fast approaching School Board Chairman John Stevens (Potomac) sought to recess the meeting and allow more time for budget reconciliation at a reconvened meeting another day. Stevens indicated he had several options he wished to bring forth and it was evident Sugarland School Board member Dr. Joseph Guzman had not given up on his fight to restore summer school, and School Board member Robert Ohneiser (Broad Run) had more motions to offer. But before members commented on Stevens notion to recess to a date to be determined Sterling School Board member Warren Geurin called for a vote on the original motion to adopt Hatrick’s revised list of budget cuts and approved amendments.
Mr. Marshall offered up a proposal to give up FLES and SAMS and keep HS summer school- badly needed! AND eliminate the furlough days. But instead of listening, the board caved. Still can't figure out why one would think that a unproven and lackluster program would be desired over high school summer school- now leaving many kids out in the cold and having teachers lose pay. This makes no sense. What is the attraction to this program-(fles and sams) I heard MANY people ask for it to go away. Yes, some people would have to be let go. But that cost compared to what we now lose? I am still in shock. Not to mention the kids in the western part of the county who get a private school education at the expense of the rest of us. Amazing....
ReplyDeleteI'll say it again, if you had the goals (Compensation, Recruitment, and Retention of Staff to name one that is relevant) informing your decisions this would not have happened.
ReplyDeleteApril 21, 2010 7:35 PM - to what are you referring in regarding to the private school education in the West?
ReplyDeleteAngie B.
Again, this is info for employees; no where is there info for parents and the public that informs us that school will be closed because all employees will furloughed on the same day. In other words, LCPS will totally shut down for what would have been two regular school days.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Sew Creative Mom. It was never made clear if the schools would be shut down for the furlough days or employees could choose their furlough days like they would personal leave days.
ReplyDeleteWho decides when the furlough days will be? It would make the most sense to schedule them after SOL testing. The last 2 days of the school year would be even better to extend the summer break.
The furlough days are going to be a time when everything in LCPS is shut down. In other words, there will be no teaching, working at home, buses, sports, etc. happening that day. There will be two days of vital academic instruction lost. The days for the furlough will most likely be before SOL testing, since review, remediation, preparation, testing, makeups, retesting, final exams all take place during the windows of May and June.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, summer school is gone. These students who need summer school will not have that opportunity (here or in Fairfax) and as a result there will be a higher drop out rate and/or failure rate in LCPS for this year.
Parents will be inconvenienced as well as they will need to provide supervision for the 60,000 students who will be out of school that day(s) and will not be allowed on school property. So, it is money out of pocket for parents to pay for this expense.
Everyone will be feel the effects of the furlough in pay, services, convenience, and most importantly academic instruction.
In hard times like these, I'm not sure how Hatrick can live with his decision to keep FLES and SAMS alive while cutting summer school and furloughing teachers for two days. Foreign language in grades K-6 is a "luxury" not a necessity. I'm pretty sure that all students in all grades are not reading on grade level and taking away an hour of real instruction for FLES and SAMS fluff is ridiculous. I commend Mr. Marshall and Mr. Geurin for voting to cut both Spanish programs. There is no real data that shows any benefit to these programs. My 9th grade students who have been through FLES and SAMS ever since they started school do no better in their high school Spanish class than those who never had FLES or SAMS. The majority do not know their colors, numbers, or clothing items.
ReplyDeleteProfe
As an educator, as much as I would have liked to place the furlough days to extend a holiday weekend or after SOL or AP exams, I hope they are in the middle of an instructional week. Why? Because the community needs to be aware that these are not just extra fun "vacation days" to make their Thanksgiving travel easier, or days after the SOLs that they may perceive to have no educational value, but these are days when employees are losing pay and their children and losing instructional time. Furlough days need to impact the community so that next year, when the budget is tight again, instead of thinking "that wasn't bad for my child, I'd rather furlough days than paying more for freshman sports", parents realize the imposition it is on their children and speak up as much for instuction and the teachers as they did for sports this year.
ReplyDeleteHatricks at it again. He's now pitting the teachers against the community. There were SO MANY OTHER WAYS that money could be saved but he's going to make it the most painful for our teachers. What a way to "run" a school system.
ReplyDeleteOh, and no matter what the official vote is from the people who are actually affected, we probably WILL end up with two random Wednesdays as furlough days because that is the perceived most inconvenient for the community...
Anon at 2:42: There are schools full of teachers who voted to have the furlough days on Wednesdays. Teachers want to impose the inconvenience on parents. Apparently you can cut reading specialists, teaching assistants, TRTs, and guidance counselors, but just don't cut freshman sports. Teachers heard the community loud and clear and are rightfully angry.
ReplyDeleteParents would be shocked if the furloughs were on any day other than a Wednesday! You see, they have become accustomed to such tactics and they are no longer effective. Your anger is misdirected. There would have never been any furlough days if the school board had of weeded out worthless programs like FLES and SAMS. Blame them, not the parents and BOS.
ReplyDeleteI love our teachers. They do a wonderful job. I DON'T love that our Superintendant pits the teachers against the taxpayers in his efforts to squeeze every penny out of us. There are so many options aside from furlough that could be used to save money. Hatrick just chooses not to look at those because those won't upset people. His tactic is to inconvenience as many people as possible (teachers losing pay, parents having to find alternate child care) in an attempt to continues his reign of terror. It is a ploy, nothing more, nothing less. Hatrick has become totally ineffective and our elected School Board won't stand up to him. What to do? I guess we're stuck for the next four years. Have they every disclosed his salary? Bet THAT would piss the teachers off...
ReplyDeleteHow utterly ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAre you forgetting that Hatrick is also taking two furlough days as well as every single staff member of LCPS? There is not pitting here, and this is from a teacher who works part time for the county. As a whole, I think all of us in the educational community were trying to preserve educational opportunities and experiences as much as possible for our students. I do believe that the BOS set the tone in saying, " No one else in the county is getting a pay increase. " Sorry but COLA is hardly a pay increase. It is simply a way to allow us to keep up with inflation and it doesn't eveb come close. Step increases? Year three of no step increase...it's not like we will ever get those missed steps back. This is not about pitting or just about teacher pay. This is putting your money where your mouth is. If you care about education and your child's overall experience then it will cost money. So in January (I am saying this as a LC taxpayer and parent myself) speak out to the BOS and tell them that you value education and want to invest in education. One - extra cent on your tax rate would have gone a long way for the greater good.
ReplyDeletePlease also remember when you say that teachers are being pitted against taxpayers or the community that many teachers are taxpayers and Loudoun residents too!
ReplyDeleteFor those who are not clear, school will be closed on furlough days. (in Hawaii they lovingly call it furlough Friday- it is about once a month) But for those who say there will be "no working from home", I beg to differ, many teachers will still be grading papers, planning lessons and getting ready for the next day... so there will be working from home-just with no pay. I am not sure how the vote will turn out regarding which days will be chosen. It remains to be seen. But I can assure you it will NOT be at the end of the school year. That was not a choice. Can't wait till we can vote this board out.
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing how Loudoun parents came out in force for sports but not academics. It was very disappointing as an LCPS educator that the richest county in America can not set priorities when it comes to education. We have invested in buildings and things but not people. LCPS needs to turn this around.
ReplyDeleteSo much for the idle threat of taking the furlough days on Wednesdays. Leesburg Today reports the furlough days will be used to extend the Thanksgiving break. Only 28% of employees voted for the Wednesdays option.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why you think the Wednesday option is a 'threat'. Any 2 days lost due to furloughs will still have the same result. The real concern I have is with teacher indifference. Many teachers are just done with the extras. There will be a noticeable reduction in before and after school activities, club sponsors, extra time available for student help, and all the little things. The real shame is that it will be students who will feel the effects, while the teachers will be fine, and enjoying an extended break with no pay...but a break none the less.
ReplyDelete" The real shame is that it will be students who will feel the effects, while the teachers will be fine, and enjoying an extended break with no pay...but a break none the less."
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree it is a shame that the students feel the effects in the end, the school board and Hatrick wanted these furlough days. I'd rather work and be paid for those days! Also, who are you kidding? The kids won't like the extra long break? Many parents already pull their kids out for those two days anyway.
Can you blame teachers for their indifference? Year after year giving heart and soul to a thankless profession in a community that values them so little that they opt for sports over the compensation teachers deserve. I, too, would put in my hours and leave if I were in their shoes.
ReplyDeleteWednesdays would have been the way to go. Instead the furlough has become convenient and will likely become a mainstay. Here's to the deterioration of Loudoun's public education. So sad.
Anon @ 12:40 - I agree kids will love the entire week off and so will most parents. Schools started taking Wednesday off because so many families were pulling their kids from class and leaving town early. Then with only 2 days in the week, I heard many started blowing the entire week off!
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line is that LCPS will still meet the state minimum amount of instructional hours. Kids will still receive a good education.
Hatrick needs to go! I'm glad my kid is graduating this year. To those parents who still have children in LCPS- seriously consider moving out of Lo Co. It's only going to get worse.
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked, the community did not vote on the budget. The School Board did. The community did not put forth the reduction list, Dr. Hatrick did. The community did not come up with the budget. So, if the teachers want to get mad at someone, they should be mad at Dr. Hatrick and the School Board. THEY are the decision makers, not the community.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, to complain about freshman sports is ridiculous. The line item in the reduction list has freshman sports and JV lacrosse at an amount of $400k. FLES is $1.1M - almost 3 times as much. Yet, FLES was kept also.
I, for one, cannot believe that in a budget of over $700M, that someone cannot find enough savings so furlough days would be required. Someone just wasn't looking hard enough.
I also remember the School Board saved about $24M last year that they wanted to tuck away for this year's budget, but the BoS took it back to pay for other county services. Based on this fact, the School Board did not need all the money they were given last year. Why would I believe they need all the money they are asking for this year?