State 1, Local 0: The MEAP and Three Star Holidays

A few days ago I was contacted by someone from the Arab American Parent Support Group, who was concerned that the MEAP was scheduled to be given on one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar, Eid. Eid is a three-star holiday in the Ann Arbor Public Schools religious calendar, and I was contacted because I recently wrote this blog post about three-star holidays.

You may recall that the guidelines state that:

RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS GUIDELINES  I. Holiday observances of major significance to a religious group are indicated on the calendar by three stars (***). The following apply:School district employees may not schedule any of the following during these (three star) holidays.   1. Major exams   2. Reviews for major exams   3. Standardized tests...

And clearly the MEAP is a standardized test. So why was it being given on Eid?

A member of the AAPSG did some poking around, asking the state if the test had to be given on Eid or if a change could be made. She got an email back from the state saying that a deviation could be possible for Eid. But when the Ann Arbor schools administrative staff asked, they got a different answer from the state: No. So they told AAPSG that the answer was no. AAPSG did not like that answer, especially since they thought the answer from the state had already been yes.

At the behest of the person who contacted me, I contacted the school board and administration, and they did a little bit more poking around, and went back to the state Department of Education, and confirmed that the answer was, in fact: No.

However, the district did not formally request a "deviation" and I was a bit confused about that. The MEAP administrator at the state level offered to talk to me about it, and I took her up on it, learning a bit about the MEAP in the process.

1. MEAP testing is given in a time window, with certain dates for certain tests. Then there are make-up days.

2. A "deviation" would only be given by the state if a school is actually closed. (For instance, for Eid I think the Dearborn schools are closed.) But then again, if a school is closed, there are no staff to give a test or kids to take it, so that's rather circular logic there. (In fact, it's not even clear to me why, if a school is closed, you need to request a deviation.)

So basically, Ann Arbor was told that since they weren't closing any schools, they couldn't get a deviation, even though it contradicts their local policy about giving standardized tests on three-star holidays. Thus I say, State 1, Local 0.

(Side note: the schools I grew up in were, and are, closed for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, even though only about 5% of the kids were, and are, Jewish.)

3. I asked the state administrator why the tests have to be given on certain days, especially given that there are makeup days. Why couldn't the district just substitute a makeup day for a specific test day? The answer: Security.  I said, "but you have makeup days," and was basically told that they have to make accommodations for kids who miss school (because they are high stakes tests), but it would be a "nightmare" in terms of security if, for example, different schools gave the math test on different days. (Think: cheating.)

This is where we see what is meant by "high stakes" testing. If the MEAP wasn't "high stakes," nobody would worry about the implications of swapping days. And unfortunately, the district doesn't have any control over this. And the stakes are high for the district because if fewer than 95% of the kids in any school take the test, then the school won't make adequate yearly progress. And penalties ensue. To the district.

As far as the district goes, this is what I learned:

1. The district did respond to the initial request of the AAPSG, which is good. I think the communication channels still need a little bit of working out, because it appears that the district staff didn't adequately explain the situation (which is how I got pulled into this). Over the past few years I have found several times that even when the district staff are doing the right thing, the communication back to families from central administration is very weak and leaves people confused and upset.  But, I'm hopeful that this is about to change, because...

2. I was very pleasantly surprised by the communication from the top AAPS staff. It was a HUGE improvement over the past administration's practices. I actually got an email from the superintendent (and a couple of board members too--thank you board)! Fingers crossed for more great communication back to parents.

And to the district staff I say: Thank you very much for trying to follow the religious calendar guidelines. Even though you weren't able to do so this time, I truly appreciate the effort.

Read more about the state MEAP policies, if you want...and remember, next year there will probably be a different assessment...and probably even more assessments (go to the same place as the MEAP link in this paragraph, and look at the Smarter Balanced information). Ugh. High stakes testing. There is lots to organize around in the coming year.

Ypsilanti Community Schools: Meditations on Employment

Ypsilanti Public Schools and Willow Run Schools have had their last days of school. While teachers, administrators, and custodians finish up their end-of-year projects, the districts are literally winding down until, on June 30th, 2013, at midnight, they cease to exist. And magically (no, not really--it's a lot of hard work), a new district is born. 

[The magical thinking language kind of reminds me of a funny family story. My daughter and I were visiting my sister's family when baby #2 decided to grace the scene. The baby was born in the middle of the night, and my daughter, age 4 at the time, said "And in the morning Aunt Liz was really surprised that the baby had been born!" As if it took no effort at all...]

So here are a couple of thoughts. The Ypsilanti Courier reported on Saturday that the new school district will have a 190-day calendar. Most school districts in Michigan have a 180-day calendar. According to the article,

School days at the new district will be half-an-hour longer. The school year will be 14 days longer for students and 27 days longer for teachers. (Emphasis added.)

The district is going to explore a year-round school calendar (a.k.a. a "balanced calendar"), although for this year they will have a standard academic calendar, and Scott Menzel, WISD Superintendent, is quoted as saying,

"In order to raise the level of achievement for our students in Ypsilanti, we need more days," said Scott Menzel, superintendent of Washtenaw Intermediate School District, which has helped the districts with the consolidation process. 

I'm not convinced that this is what will raise the level of achievement for students. I'm not convinced that it won't, either.

But in this post, at least, I'm mostly interested in something else: employee compensation. The article says,

These changes will increase the district's expenses, due mostly to increased costs from hourly employees.  But Menzel said the joint board of education has budgeted for this.

Earlier in May, teacher and principal salaries were set by the board. According to a May 3, 2013 Ypsilanti Courier article, new teachers in the new district would be hired at $40,000 (at the lowest), as compared to starting salaries of $32,000-$33,000 in the current Ypsilanti and Willow Run districts.

In the future, teachers' salaries will be assessed through a combination of experience and performance/skills evaluation. It doesn't look like seniority will play a role. Remember, the YCS (officially, the "joint") board meetings, minutes, and information can be found here. The discussion of teacher compensation can be found in this board packet.

I really encourage you to go look at the teacher compensation discussion, but I thought I'd share this little snippet:

Teachers currently employed by Willow Run Community Schools and the Ypsilanti Public School District will start their employment with Ypsilanti Community Schools at the base salary they made during the 2012‐13 year. . . Their salary for 2013‐14 will be their salary for 2012‐13. . . If a teacher is placed in a classification and their current salary is less than the lowest salary of that classification, they will be placed at that lowest level of that classification and will earn that salary during 2012‐13.  If a teacher is placed in a classification and their salary is more than the highest salary of that classification, they will be placed at a sub‐level of the highest level in that classification but will earn their 2012‐13 salary.

And that sounds great, especially for teachers at the bottom of the pay scale. . . right? Until you realize that teachers who are getting $45,000 this year will get the same salary next year, AND they get to work 27 days longer. Hmmm. By my count, that's a significant pay cut.

Teachers at the new YCS do not have a union (yet). In fact, many of the union leaders were not hired back. I can't say if that's connected or not. I also don't think anyone knows what will happen if/when the teachers at YCS do form a union--at that point, they and the district will have to agree to terms and conditions. I don't know how much they will look like the terms and conditions under which YCS will begin operating.

As it happens, Krista Boyer, the head of the Ypsilanti Public Schools teachers' union, wrote a lovely piece on her (occasional) blog about the end of the Ypsilanti Public Schools, and she's given me permission to use it.

Krista writes,

This school year has kept me jumping.  Through hoops, through flames, through trials and tribulations that I never had imagined would come to pass, and now it's coming to an end.Normally at this time of year I am excited to see the end of the school year in sight, but this year every day that ticks off the calendar marks a "last event" for me, and it's earth shattering, poignant, and heart breaking all at the same time.My school district has merged with another, and I have found myself on the "maybe" list for being rehired.  While I had mentally prepared myself for the fall out of being union president, I wasn't prepared emotionally.  Even a little bit.  I am pretty sure my heart, and quite possibly my spirit is irreparably broken.I had been warned that the being laid off process is similar to the stages of grief, and in fact I have found that if is not just LIKE grief... it IS grief.

Read the rest of Krista's post here.