The district, under the direction of
Dr. Bechler, appears to be up to its old tricks. Just about the time
the WVEA leadership thought we had an administration who cared and
understood, now we see that it is business as usual. Dr. Bechler is
playing fast and loose with the spirit and intent of the contract.
Specifically, he is trying to place staff development within the 30
hours set aside for faculty meetings. This infringement must be met
head on and challenged.
The
issue is the Professional Learning Communities Seminar that the
district sent about 50 people to this summer, Dr Belchler and his team
would like to institute parts of this program, but let’s be very
clear-this is staff development. We are already mandated to do 12
hours (district led) and 6 hours of teacher choice (18 hours total).
Yes, there are other options for
implementation, i.e. late start days, early out days, staff
development reorganization and even paid time! What Dr. B is trying to
do is an end run around the contract by utilizing faculty meetings to
conduct this business. This concept is adding
time to your already busy schedule.
If we do not take a stance, that is both firm and
resolute, the district administration will continue to run our
contractual rights into the ground. Remember what they did with the
2002 COLA. We had to file an unfair labor practice, before we could
get them to the table for a settlement and that took two years. Check
with your WVEA rep after the January 19th meeting for information on
our direction. We will also be meeting with the affected staffs.
Dr. B perceives our organization as weak
and if we falter in halting this scurrilous encroachment on our time,
we will leave the door open for them to continue the mass
misinterpretation of our contract.
Remember an injury to one school is an injury to all.
Please go to
www.wvea.info/survey.htm and
take the online survey. It will help us proceed and give the Executive
Board direction.
