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Consolidation
directly effects morale of educators
Vicki
Kopecky, on of nearly 200 consolidated teachers and 94 consolidated
paraprofessionals, prepares her new room at Longfellow Elementary.
Even though she's taught for more than 13 years, starting
at a new site, she has many of the same worries she had as
a new teacher. |
By the beginning
of August, SFUSD reported that all but five of nearly 200 consolidated
teachers and three of 94 consolidated paraprofessionals were placed
in positions for the 2003-4 school year. What District reports
do not account for are the many stresses and pains which afflict
the consolidated and have had, and will have a direct effect on
their morale.
Neither teachers nor paras know the procedures used by the Human
Resources Department and are demoralized and perplexed by the
continual flow of vacancies that occur.
The Educator spoke with a few of the consolidated to get
an idea of what they were going through.
Under the best of circumstances, the end of any school year is
difficult with testing, grading, cleaning up, and end-of-year
activities. For Benjamin Wayne, a Social Studies and English Core
teacher at Hoover Middle School for the last two years, the end
of last year was “absolutely horrible.” On top of the
usual end-of-year tasks, he had to work on the eighth grade graduation.
Pressured by District
Having received a consolidation notice, he was pressured (by the
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District) into having to quickly select a work situation for this
school year. He said that he “felt as though he couldn’t
be there totally for the kids.”
Wayne said that though he considers himself a Social Studies and
English Core teacher, no jobs in his field of expertise seemed
available. When he called about vacancies on the District’s
list, he was told that those listed jobs were taken. He said he
had heard about other jobs that weren’t on the lists, so
he couldn’t apply. He suspected that many jobs were hidden
and on the district choice forms, he and many others wasted their
first choices.
He is starting at Marina Middle School as an ESL Science and Reading
Program teacher. “I spent the past two years creating curriculum
for myself. Now I must start all over; I’m a brand new teacher
again.”
Lost investments
Connie Hendrix invested thousands of dollars and many years for
a specialized education that enabled her to work in technology
for the District for fifteen years. She was a Technology Resource
Teacher at Carver Elementary, a Curriculum and Technology Integration
Specialist (CTIS) at James Lick Middle School, and most recently
a Technology Coordinator at O’Connell High School. On the
consolidation placement request form, she stated there were no
suitable positions at that time. The District moved her to Davis
Middle School where she is a Math and Science teacher.
About to receive her masters in Instructional Technology, Hendrix
said, “The consolidation process has been very painful. Nobody
recognizes the human angle in all this… I feel like just
a warm body moved to fill a slot.”
Usually stressful, the beginning of a school year brings even
more stresses to the consolidated. Though Valerie Kuki, an English
Core and Social Studies teacher from Presidio Middle School, was
assigned to Luther Burbank Middle School where she will teach
the same subjects, she worries about how she will adjust to a
new work site and new student population.
Having taught for three years, she was feeling confident in her
teaching and curriculum. Now she worries that she has to learn
her job from scratch. She has a whole string of questions including:
“Will my curriculum be applicable to the kids at Burbank?
Will I fit into the school culture and philosophy? Where’s
the bathroom? What are the copy room procedures?”
“I’m not opposed to changing schools,” said Kuki,
“but I wish the District would have considered my commute
which will now be much more difficult, before placing me at Burbank.
The consolidation process felt dehumanizing.” She added that
when she first called the District with placement concerns, she
was told she should be happy she still had a job. “I felt
reprimanded for trying to stand up for myself… for wanting
to be respected as a professional.”
Inconsistent placement procedures
Sandi Chin-Mar, consolidated from Sheridan Elementary to McCoppin
Elementary described inconsistencies regarding consolidated placement
procedures. As a Building Rep at Sheridan and UESF Executive Board
member, she heard from many consolidated teachers who underwent
“full-blown panel interviews” at schools even though
consolidated teachers were not required to undergo such interviews.
She worries that consolidated teachers will have more pressure
at their new schools because of widespread misunderstanding of
district procedures within the school communities. “I’ve
heard from many parents that they don’t want consolidated
teachers at their schools. They want to hand pick the staff rather
than have them imposed upon them."
 See
Consolidation – a family affair
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