Involuntary transfer: The tentative agreement only has to do with adding another step into the progressive discipline process, to encourage administration to consider transferring a unit member before moving to termination. It does not affect the protections of unit member who is not being formally disciplined.

The tentative agreement is that unit members must communicate with parents using one or more of the forms listed. It does not require that anybody use e-mail.

Teachers have one prep period. In our 8 hour day, we must prepare our lessons, grade tests, grade papers, perform various adminstrative duties (curriculum mapping etc…) and respond to other requests from office and administrative staff.

We have a telephone recorder and must return parent phone calls when we have time.

Theoretically, we could arrive at work on a Monday morning or any morning, and have 180 or more e-mails waiting for us to respond to. And once we read the e-mail, the clock begins ticking. The sender can see the time we read the e-mail. When exactly are we supposed to address all of these e-mails?

In the business world, a person sits in front of a computer all day, and sends e-mails. In fact, most parents who send e-mails to teachers, do so on their company’s time, when they are supposed to be working on company, not personal business. Teachers don’t have this kind of time.

Are we to respond to the e-mails while we are having dinner with our family at the dinner table at night? Are we to respond while we are at the Dodger or Angel Game? Are we supposed to work “for free” late at night to answer e-mails?

Some teachers will receive few e-mails. Others will receive boatloads. Many parent complaints or requests are legitimate. Many are a waste of time.

The other issue is an e-mail creates a “written legal record” of a discussion. I’m not sure it is the vehicle for honest discussion of issues. I will limit my responses to very vague and generic answers, on the advice of my attorney. Anything you write can and will be used against you. This is why administrators put so few directives in writing, isn’t it?

Teachers (I can only speak for myself) are busy every minute of class…bell to bell as they say, interacting with and teaching our students. And we still don’t have enough time each day to cover everything in our lessons that we need to. Where is all this “extra time” going to come from?

From our “unpaid” free time. In the business world it is called “uncompensated overtime.” I thought the whole idea of working a job was to be compensated. I love teaching.

When you listen to a phone message, you can tell a lot about the countenance of the parent. You can tell that they are angry or simply seeking information.

You can’t do this with an e-mail.

Teachers who don’t do it will be disciplined.

Union Leaders, we need you to reduce our burdens, not agree with administration to increase them.

It is no wonder so many teachers are now talking about becoming administrators. Teaching is becoming too burdensome and is fast becoming the most thankless and most unappreciated profession in the country. It is our union’s responsibility to fight off these intrusions.

Determined by who(m)? One of the greatest protections our union has afforded us is the protection to speak our minds in staff meetings openly and engage in dissent with administrators WITHOUT fear of retribution. Administration has been limited in what they can do to “quality teachers” who simply “are not well liked” by administrators. INVOLUNTARY TRANSFER will give administration leverage over every bargaining unit member. Threat of being transferred to a low performing school will be enough to get all unit members to walk “lock step” and will crush dissent. Many union members are starting to believe that union protection serves only as a tool to gain medical benefits and financial compensation benefits, and are willing to sacrifice fundamental protections that our union worked hard to obtain, such as protecting “good” teachers from being fired and /or from treating union members like “salaried” employees, who can be fired for any or no reason at all. The Transfer Protections and Due Process in Termination Proceedings are the greates protections our union has afforded us. Yes financial and medical benefits are appreciated and are important, but should not ever be considered to trump these other protections. We should not compromise or ever give back some of our hard fought gains. Transfer protection and Due Process in termination proceedings should not ever be compromised or negotiated away, even for promised financial rewards, which can be taken away from us in “lean” economic times (which will come one day.) or will be eaten away by inflation anyway. This proposed change has me greatly concerned. Teachers will be forced to play politics and “brown nose” administrators in the hope of getting a good evaluation and hope that they will not be transferred “involuntarily.” Several union members have suffered retribution from administration when administrators learned the member had filed a grievance or otherwise complained to union leadership about them. Involuntary Transfer would give those administrators a tool to punish union members they are angry with in these situations. Please tread lightly in this area.