Hmm.... Could it be that the union is not confident in the outcome of the no-confidence vote?

Hmm.... Could it be that the someone in the mailroom has decided to disrupt the no-confidence vote? Or is this all just your opinion?

Strange comment. Clearly, it's all not the reporter's opinion.

As a teacher with a lot of disgust with both sides of the issue (though moreso with my own union, unfortunately), I was very impressed with the even-handedness of today's article.

I have yet to speak to a teacher who agrees with the call for a vote of no confidence. Marietta has surely jumped the gun. It appears that she has an agenda that is not representative of the rank and file. I do think there is support for the efforts to preserve planning time, though.

While I wish the issue of contract contention between my union and North Ave. was one of greater significance to the classroom experience, such as limiting class size, I do believe that reducing the number of planning periods that a teacher has personal control over, particularly for elementary teachers, should not be underestimated in how it affects teacher morale. But I have no confidence in our union leadership taking the necessary steps to inform and mobilize teachers in order to win this or any other issue.

While I have been deeply heartened by many of the statements made by Dr. Alonso in terms of the radical changes that need to take place in schools and the way principals deal with teachers, my confidence in his judgement was severely shaken when he decided to disrupt his inaugural school year with a fight over an issue that simply won't move classroom reform forward with any significance.
And his choice of words. On a number of occasions, I've heard him state that, "What we do", in reference to standing firm on the issue planning time," is because we care about the kids". For someone who has been in a Baltimore City School classroom for fifteen years, for him to insinuate that after three months on the job, his actions are based on a greater consideration of the students than the teachers of this city, is nothing but the ugly arrogance we've seen from North Ave. for years.

Peter, I absolutely agree with your perception of the "because we care about kids" statement from Dr. Alonso. We've had many discussions about that at my school and we are all offended by the insinuation that we are self-serving individuals who do not care about kids. Perhaps he thinks we're here for the glamour, acclaim and lucrative salaries.

Are we hearing and seeing the same thing? I thought the CEO's request is that at least 45 minutes of planning each week must be done "in collaboration" with other teachers. If I heard it correctly I don't see what the fuss is, yet. I know of several teachers who want and need the support of their fellow teachers to help plan. Surely there must be more to the issue than this. The expectation to work as a team with other teachers makes perfect sense to me. There are many who do it anyway. But there are lots who will not unless it is required.

Many teachers are already collaborating with their colleagues. Many more would like to, but do not have common planning periods in which to do so - or are in single person departments with no one to collaborate with (Art, Phys. Ed., Music, etc.)

Sadly, collaboration can fall by the wayside with so many other things that must be done during planning time. This is especially true of elementary teachers who have the least amount of planning time available to them.

The other concern is that the CEO wants the time to be spent planning collaboratively OR in "professional development". Considering the fact that I have rarely seen effective, relevant professional development provided in our schools, this concerns me. Let me illustrate - I had a principal some years ago who insisted that all teachers give up their planning time to attend a workshop on behavior management. I was not having difficulties in this area, but had to attend. I learned nothing and lost the opportunity to spend the time planning a lesson/correcting papers/making parent contacts/etc.

Teachers need more time to plan - collaboratively or not. The proposal that they add 45 minutes to one day a week - and pay us for it - is a decent one. It would allow ALL teachers to have that time to meet collaboratively.