Milwaukee's New Teacher Contract Changes the Hiring Process

Alan Borsuk & Sarah Carr:

A tentative teacher contract agreement announced Wednesday for Milwaukee Public Schools would mean the process of hiring teachers would start sooner each spring and operate with more of a welcome mat for people willing to work in high-needs schools or teach subjects in which there are shortages of teachers.

The agreement would change the date by which teachers give notice that they will be retiring or resigning for the next school year from April 1 to March 1 and would allow schools to begin interviewing for openings March 1 instead of May 1.

It also would allow about 40 schools with weak records to interview new applicants for MPS jobs from the start of the interviewing period. Now, only current MPS teachers can be considered in the first round of interviews. Low-performing schools and schools in less-popular neighborhoods say they have trouble attracting job candidates under the current system and are cut off from going outside the system until the summer.

The new contract also would allow any school to interview new applicants for jobs in subjects that are hard to fill - math, science, special education and bilingual instruction - from the start of the hiring process.

Tim Daly, president of The New Teacher Project, praised the changes in the contract, saying that more Milwaukee teachers could now have a say in who their colleagues are.

The Madison School District attempted to change the criteria used when teachers are surplused, transferred or laid off during the most recent negotations with Madison Teachers, Inc - without success:

FURTHER ISSUES: Matthews said another issue that is likely to cause consternation among MTI members during contract negotiations has to do with administration proposals to change the criteria used when teachers are surplused, transferred or laid off.

Matthews said the district is trying to shift the current seniority system to one that relies on the judgment of principals and administrators about where and how teachers should be assigned, and positions allocated.

"We've worked smoothly with the current system for years, and I simply don't understand why this kind of evil proposal is being brought forward," Matthews said. "It's just absurd."

More here.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 5, 2007 12:35 PM
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