No question. Blake hit the nail on the head. When is the next BTU election?

I will be voting for Blake next time.

If we wait until all the unknowns are "revealed," we will never have a contract. There are always unknowns, the contract should put protections in place so there is a way to address the unknowns when they are revealed. There is no way that every future "what if" can be addressed since we cannot see the future. My question is this - are the appropriate safeguards in place in the contract so unknowns can be appropriately addressed. We cannot wait until all the unknowns are revealed to deal with this.

"The most that Blake offered that would indicate how she would have presented the contract was to say that teachers needed to be involved in all conversations concerning how to raise student achievement, and that leaders should take as long as necessary to ensure that the details are clearly laid out."

That's it in a nutshell for me. Both offices need to stop creating a contract with minimal teacher input. Both offices need to stop selling us an untested product that affects us exclusively and leaves every other party in the game of education off the hook. Both offices need to recognize that teachers voted 'no' because the contract wasn't good enough, not because we are spiteful, vindictive, or (the worst assumption) didn't understand the contract. And finally newspapers like this one need to stop attaching positive adjectives to the name 'contract' in articles that are meant to be informative. The contract was not progressive, it was not innovative, and it was not revolutionary. It was vague, incomplete, and in need of massive additions and editing.

AS LONG AS YOU HAVE UNIONS, YOU HAVE UNKNOWNS. SAVE FOR THE FACT THAT THE UNIONS WILL ALWAYS TRY TO SCREW THE MANAGEMENT OVER OR SCREW THE WORKERS OVER IN SOME FORM OR ANOTHER.

I hope Blake runs again so we can vote her back in.

I disagree with both.

This contract is about an opportunity. It's got plenty of problems, but it's unrealistic for our questions to be about when the perfect contract will come along. It's rare for leaders on both sides to come together like this. If we wait for MSDE to do their job, will we get another chance? Most of the teachers I know aren't here for the pay or the vacations, they're here to help kids succeed. Could the contract we have now be any less related to kids succeeding?

Brandon: I have to say that I believe there was real teacher input on this. Maybe not enough of it, but it was there, from real teachers. But someone suggested in future we televise negotiations like Montgomery County does, and I think that's a great idea that would serve the need your post points out.

There's a bigger-picture issue about Blake's response. The contract isn't going to have anything to do with the "home" or the "community.' Contracts don't have purview over either. In fact, generations of broken schools have worsened problems at home at least as much as home has affected schools.

Empowering students through education is, admittedly, very hard when the lights are off at home and the last meal came yesterday. But it can be done. If we teachers don't do it, then who will?

Brandon:

It wasn't until I heard from an actual, full-time, veteran teacher on the negotiating team about the details of the contract until I was sold on it. I do believe/know there was real teacher input. '

Why is it the "worst assumption" that teachers didn't understand the contract? I don't understand exactly how AUs will be calculated/administered/counted. I don't understand what exactly constitutes a "model teacher". Those are my two main beefs with it. i see no shame in that and hope they present a clearer contract next time around because, I think, it is largely a strong one.

Oh it's going to get interesting. Look for North ave to pull out all the stops to influence the vote. Tracking teachers and sending system folks out to schools too move votes. Wait for all the letters you'll get selling the contract and buying your votes. The BTU has sold its membership down the river and labor rules are out the window. AAA is going to run this next vote and it will be done like a political campaign.

I think Brandon makes some excellent points. Teachers did not understand the contract completely, but not because they were not able to understand what they read. The information was not in writing in the tentative agreement, therefore it was not to be understood. We have been presented with a very vague document and been told to "trust" the union on this and sign onto something that includes so many unknowns. There is much that is understood and one would be foolish to accept this agreement without all of the details in writing. The details are yet to be determined and/or they don't want the teachers to completely understand. Teachers are receiving different information from different BTU representatives. This contract can not and should not be ratified until the union itself understands it and can present it in writing in its entirety to its members.

I think details like how we will be evaluated hide the bigger issue: where is the money coming from? If there is lots of money magically in this system already, than there has been serious mismanagement and we should all be angry. At the same time, that money lying around gives this contract has a lot of potential.

If there is the same money we have now, that means a few will get what we all currently share, and the evaluation system is a mechanism for playing that out so that most believe it is simply their teaching ability to blame for their lower salaries, and not the fact they've just been hoodwinked.

If the money is funded by Walmart, as it is in DC, then teachers may get paid more, but teachers, families, students and communities will have little say over what has been traditionally public domain.

I am surprised that so few seem interested in this key issue as it drives the other issues on the table.

In Denver, the ProComp system, which sounds similar to the one proposed in this contract, was instituted only after an extremely public discussion, a city-wide vote and a mill-levy referendum. Now teachers in Denver can opt into the merit pay system they have, and there is no shim-sham: Denver citizens pay more taxes, but they also retain power over their schools. In many cities, the schools are being sold off to private corporations. See Detroit, D.C., Los Angeles, New Orleans for examples.

I think it's time to revive "Teachers for a New Direction". We need some viable alternatives to the current and former BTU presidents. Teachers need a voice. If the BTU isn't providing it, we need a groundswell of teachers to get together and make some changes. It happened before, it can happen again. Anyone interested?

"Sold off to corporations" is what it means when companies realize their interest in supporting quality education and provide funds? What happened to all the anger that everyone needs to be held accountable for educational outcomes? How exactly do you expect corporate America to become part of the solution if not by contributing funds?

When a school looks to fund the band by asking local businesses to pitch in, to keep kids busy and off the streets, are they selling the band to private corporations? And all the little league teams with auto repair shops on their T-shirts are immoral?

The whole conspiracy theory thing makes me tired.

@parent: 'sold off to corporations' means parents and families and communities will no longer have a say in how their children are educated. This has happened in Washington DC, where Walmart and the Broad Family get to pick the next superintendant of schools. See this post: http://dev.www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Private-funding-for-teacher-deal-depends-on-Rhee-keeping-job-92266444.html

While we parents may not go to school board meetings, vote for our school board members, or care what happens with this institution, it is (or was) the process by which we make decisions about the education of our children. Charter schools, heavily pushed by these corporate donors, are not governed by an elected school board, and have no obligation to uphold values of the communities they serve.

The move towards outside operators also is a move towards outsourcing our education and a less transparent transfer of public money. If this trend continues, the public will pay huge monies to outside operators, often with little basis in research, and often with little access to where and how this money is being spent.

It is too bad that our schools are in such a sad state-- we all have already heard plenty of stories about the public misappropriation of tax dollars. But at least this money is legally traceable. When money transfers into the hands of private companies, we have no legal access to how it is being spent.

You are right that private companies have a real stake in a quality education for our children, and that their contributions (both fiscal and in terms of shaping curriculum) are absolutely important to the survival of public education. But please don't dismiss my fears as conspiracy theories. Instead, read today's post on the Answer Sheet, in The Washington Post:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/school-turnaroundsreform/how-billionaire-donors-are-har.html

My own fears are more ethical. How can we allow a company like Walmart to donate to public schools, and get credit for 'reforming' education while refusing to pay workers enough to provide an even half-way decent life for their children? How can we take money from a company that turns a blind eye to child labor in its factories? In my opinion, that's blood money.

@-AP again....

The corporate money is coming with strings as to which program or management style the school must adhere to in order to accept the money. Much like RTT funding and the current transformation funding that pushes outside operators or charter schools. The Gates and Broad money is coming for having done or for doing certain specific acts or policy changes.

To use you band analogy. If the donor tells the band director that the band can only play certain songs, at certain times, then that is selling out.