The 10-year goal, put to the test

I'm friends with many of my former students on Facebook. Today, one of them posted this note, tagged with my name:

"I'm reading "The Help". Its an awesome read. I honestly am enjoying every second of it...and everytime i come across a word i don't know, i define it and write it down so I'll remember to use it later. Thank you for that Mr. (EpiphanyinBaltimore). Your lessons are still with me, even after all these years. That, is truly a gift. (:"

You have no idea how happy it made me.

It's been ten years or so since she was in my ninth grade class. I always teach books with the "ten year" goal in mind, asking myself what will this kid remember in ten years? I hope some of the themes -- all about injustice, doing the right thing and growing up -- are part of their blueprint. And I want them reading. I want to run into them on the street and be able to talk to them about what's on their bookshelves, and what they're sharing with their children, because this is what I want them to take from my class: some sort of passion for reading, and the strategies that go along with being a critical reader. This is what gives us an educated populace necessary for a democracy.

As cheesy as this all sounds, I'm sure, this is why I teach, and why I still am as excited now as I was a eleven years when I started this (if you don't believe me, check out the photos of my classroom library I tweet-pic'ed this week already... I've been in my classroom a week early every day this week, setting up).

End of Summer

I was offered a Summer School position this year, but declined, instead deciding to teach "Summer Enrichment" Reading and Writing at my school. It would give me a chance to hopefully work with higher-level skills than what is required by summer school, plus let me meet some of the kids in my classes.

I'm happy I made the choice, except that BCPSS has not paid me for it yet. It's been a month, and no word. It's so disheartening to work a summer school and not be paid for it in the summer, when teachers need the money. This summer, I budgeted with my Summer Enrichment pay in mind in order to get through August, which is the toughest month to endure.

I'm so thankful that BCPSS is finally offering 12-month pay starting next year, for the first time. I signed up for it the first day I could, and am looking forward to next summer very much for that reason.

The lack of money has made me revert to waiting tables a bit this past week or so. It's Baltimore Restaurant Week, so the restaurant was anticipating some big crowds -- which haven't come, so I haven't made much money at all. I'm feeling a bit bitter about it all, because, if I had my druthers, I'd be back in Michigan, helping out with the new nephew. But the lack of $$, as well as back pain that has vacillated from really acute pain that prevents me from doing much, to a dull achy pain that is just annoying, brought me back to Maryland. Here, I've been working mostly non-stop, or going to doctor appointments, as I struggle to find some respite from the pain before the school year starts. I'm seeing a chiropractor I really, really like, and I think it might be getting better. My social life is on hold while my funds are refilled and my back is hurting.

The new school year looms in the horizon. I'm vaguely excited because, as anyone who reads this blog knows, I genuinely love my job, but this is going to be a hard year. Most of my class sizes are near capacity and my class load is up near 160 -- both look to be the most in several years -- and seeing my stressed self three weeks from now is enough to make me happy it's still the summer even though I'm a bit broke and bitter now. I'm hoping for another trip to Michigan before the school year starts to assuage the guilt I'm feeling about leaving back for Baltimore earlier than I wanted to, and that will make me feel a bit better, I'm sure. So will more regular gym trips, which I've been unable to do for a bit because of the bad back.

The "Landmark" contract in practice

When the new contract was voted for by Baltimore City teachers, I was really wavering whether I should vote for it. On paper, the contract looks great, but, in practice, I had some reservations: North Avenue has never showed itself to be very efficient with paperwork or availability, so putting an office there in charge of AUs (Achievement Units, for going above-and-beyond or taking credits) was disconcerting.

I ended up voting for the contract, because (a) I thought the old system, that gave raises every year regardless, was broken; and (b) I liked the thought of being rewarded for doing good work that helped kids. However, the problem with certification of AUs is certainly occurring. Until June 30th, teachers were encouraged to submit necessary paperwork (online) for any credits attained previously that did not create any salary increase for yourself.

I submitted 18 credits:

3 MSDE credits for having a student teacher (I've received no $$ for this at all, and was scheduled to receive $85 from the college... it's never came to fruition)

6 credits from Coppin State University (Reading classes that renewed my certification, but didn't create any salary increase)

9 credits I purchased for doing National Board Certification (I was unsure if a stipend was a salary increase, but thought I would submit just in case)

Each of these submissions was rather involved, and required getting transcripts and paperwork and submitting online along with written descriptions. They were also all done separately, as was required. It was not a very easy or user-friendly process.

About 6 weeks after submitting all of these credits, last week, I received an e-mail last week that says simply this:

*******************************
From CPSC Team
To (My name)
Sent 01-Aug-2011 23:50:56
ID 3463092
Rejection Reason Credits are not eligible for AUs.
Last Approver CPSC Team
User Name PQH_ROLE:66
Copyright (c) 2006, Oracle. All rights reserved.
*******************************

That's it. No explanation, no description of which credits were reviewed, just that "credits not eligible for AUs" - don't even know which ones. Clearly, as described by the contract, at least 9 of the 18 should be eligible. When the Union (and the Union people that the Union brought in from NYC) was selling the contract to us teachers, this is how they sold it -- that the AU system would allow excellent teachers to move up the ladder quickly. One lady even gave her name and said to personally e-mail her if there were any problems with submissions, because, if so, she was selling something that wasn't valid. She really believed in the contract and kind of made me believe, too. I'm going to look up her name (she's a Spanish teacher at Western).

I replied to the e-mail from the system, and have yet to hear back (of course). North Avenue is such a difficult-to-navigate place, that I don't know what my next step should be.

So, I'm left with a contract that gives me a pay cut.

I was at Step 13 on the old contract, with a Master's Degree. The salary was $63,340 (Link).

With the new contract, I have been placed on the Professional Pathway, Interval 2. The salary is $60,881. Huh?

The dollar signs in my eyes when I signed the new contract have not materialized at all. Is there a screw up? What happened?

I'm still hopeful the process for becoming a Model Teacher can be fruitful for me, because that represents my real desire for the new contract. It seems like I should be in the running (National Board, mentoring new teachers, high test scores), but I'm not optimistic that it will work out, especially given how the rest of the contract has shaken out for me so far.