[Editor’s Note: A letter that the President of the Teachers Union dispatched last night to the School Board.]
Board Members:
Just a quick note to follow up my remarks from Tuesday night's meeting.
So far you've voted to cut 19.2 teaching positions and 0 administrative positions.
With the latest bad news from Sacramento — that the cuts may be the equivalent off cutting 6 to 8 weeks from next year's school year — it seems clear to me that the Board must send layoff notices to many, if not all, administrators.
If you don't do this by next week — March 15 — all those administrators are returning. In a crisis, don't you need maximum flexibility in terms of staffing?
Some of the adminstrative cuts that you may wish to consider are:
1. Streamlining maintenance administration. Do we need both a “Director” and a “Foreman”?
2. Replacing Assistant Principals with less expensive “academic deans.”
3. Reorganizing the Security Dept. with security officers reporting to site principals instead of to a security supervisor.
4. Reclassifying Assistant Superintendents as less expensive “Directors.”
5. Streamlining the administration of our Adult School and our continuation high school, Culver Park. Can we afford fulltime principals at each site?
6. Reducing 12-month employees to 11-month employees, and 11-month employees to 10-month status.
7. Reduce administrative pay so that no employee earns more than the highest-paid teacher.
The fact that one Board member expressed his opposition to one of these suggestions is fine! That's the discussion we should be having. But if no action is taken to “notice” these employees by March 15, those discussions will have no meaning.
My suggestion: Give yourselves maximum flexibility. Notice your administrators now, engage the community in a discussion of cuts, and then make informed decisions later this spring.
dave mielke, president
Mr. Mielke may be contacted at davidmielke@ccusd.org
