Our statement on Race to the Top (RTTT)

On January 8th members of the WEA voted in a ratio of 8 to 1 against the Race to the Top "Memorandum of Understanding". Approximately 40% of Districts in the state did not approve the Race to the Top Memorandum. Here are the reasons regarding our vote against the Race to the Top:

The money that would have been allotted to out District was approximately $250,000, this equals about 1/2 of 1% of the present annual Westfield school budget. Half of this money would have gone to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Boston and would have had little effect on teachers and students at the ground level in our classrooms. That would leave $125,000 for use in our District, which brings the amount of money down to 1/4 of one percent of the annual budget, none of which could be used for teacher compensation for additional work or training.

The RTTT program will require additional standardized testing. Students are already being tested extensively at all grade levels using Dibels testing in lower grades and MCAS Testing starting in grade 3. According to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NEAP), Massachusetts already has the top performing schools in the nation. Additional testing does not appear necessary at this time and would take time away from classroom instruction.

One of the priorities of RTTT is to judge teacher performance solely on student performance on these tests - students must acquire a particular level of performance at a particular age. While at face value this statement may seem reasonable, study after study shows (and teachers know anecdotally) that this is a poor way to judge teacher performance simply because all students are different. Studies have shown that students entering kindergarten having been exposed to 2200 words per hour at home are far more prepared for school than those who only heard 1200 words per hour. And students who heard only 600 words per hour are at a distinct disadvantage. Test score based evaluation and compensation for teachers would provide a disincentive for excellent teachers to work with such high needs students, and provide yet another disadvantage for underperforming schools and Districts.

As you may know Union's provide collective bargaining rights. The WEA is a union and teachers and other staff are members. As you may not know, the United States has the shortest school year of all the industrialized nations in the world, and among the lowest paid teachers in the industrialized world. Here is a portion of The Race to the Top Memorandum regarding collective bargaining:

Collective bargaining: The commissioner may propose waivers to the contract. The contract is reopened and negotiated for 30 days. If there is no agreement, the commissioner can impose changes unilaterally.

This aspect of RTTT could essentially break Unions one at a time, District by District. And what would be the result? Quite possibly longer school days, longer school years, and in the long run under non-union contract negotiations in the future, an actual decrease in pay for teachers. Only time would tell if this happened what impact it would have on student learning, although longer school days and years with less pay for teachers might not attract or keep excellent teachers.

This train of events is already happening at a high school in Rhode Island. In Rhode Island just recently, in a District that was on board for the RTTT money, EVERY teacher at Central Falls High School was fired. Why? Because they are in a level 5 school, which has been underperforming and because the language in the Race to the Top Memorandum of Understanding says they can be fired, the superintendent and the school board voted to terminate all the teachers. Does this sound like bargaining "in good faith" as stated in the Race to the Top Memorandum of Understanding? Please read about the details concerning this event in the Providence Journal article.

We as teachers in Westfield could very well consider longer school days or longer schools years as long as we are treated with respect, reasonably compensated, and judged not by the performance of students as now on yearly high stakes testing by comparing this year's 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th or 10th grade students to last year's such students, but by tracking individual student performance and growth over time.

How important is education to you? As teachers we are devoted to providing the best quality education for our students as is possible. Massachusetts teachers are among the top performing in the country as shown by the NEAP. But there is always room for improvement, and we will continue to work hard on the job and with administration to improve student achievement for all students in Westfield.

John F. Kennedy has another powerful quote that we as teachers and Districts may want to keep in mind at this time, "United we stand, divided we fall."

Click here for a list of other school Districts in Massachusetts that did not sign the Memorandum of Understanding on Race to the Top.