- Examiner
- EDUCATION & SCHOOLS
- APRIL 28, 2010
- BY: TAB UNO
According to Rosemary Emery, a Salt Lake School Board candidate, the voices of teachers are being “eradicated” in the school district. She says that, “In the last 10 years, teachers’ input into the decision making process on schedules has been totally eradicated.” Mrs. Emery stated that, “The district wants the teachers to vote on the new schedule to show shared governance is being followed, the catch is they will not let us look at other schedules or even allow a vote to stay on the current block schedule. In other words they want a vote with no choice.” As a result, “the teachers at all three high schools have chosen to not take a vote.” Elaine Tzourtzouklis, the Executive Director of the Teachers Association representing Salt Lake, Murray, and Tooele School Districts, agrees that the current Salt Lake School administration has “eroded” shared governance in the District and that the top-down decision-making process on high school scheduling is just the biggest example of other District and principal decisions that have not allowed for the opinions of teachers and parents. Ms. Tzourtzouklis said this past Monday that only a few District officials and the three District high school principals were involved in drafting and developing the new District’s high school schedules which then went to the School Board for their approval. The scheduling issue is now under arbritation as requested by the teachers under the District’s shared governance policy.
Shared governance that requires teacher and parent participation in policy matters impacting the District and individual schools was the brainchild of former Superintendent Donald M. Thomaswhen he was superintendent in between 1973-84. Active cooperation of the major stakeholders instead of an authoritarian, hierarchical adminstration of past traditional school district administrations was incorporated into District policy and later regarded as a legally binding policy on the District and future Salt Lake superintendents and school boards. While the actual implementation of shared governance has seen a rough history under various subsequent superintendents and school boards, Ms. Tzourtzouklis feels that the present administration has greatly eroded the ability of teachers and parents in the District more than any she has experienced in the past 35 years. Mrs. Emery is very concerned stating that, “Until the teachers and parents have a voice and their voices are heard, the problems such as drop out rates will only increase.”
Jason Olsen, the Communications Officer of the Salt Lake School District, in a timely response on Monday suggested reviewing the available responses already on-line and that a further statement would be forthcoming. The District’s posted high school scheduling information reveals the disagreement between the District and its Teachers Association on Shared Governance as it pertains in how the school schedule was put together. The pertinent information on-line defends the authority of the School Board to make a final decision on school schedules. Nevertheless, the current District position does not address the more fundamental issue of the role teacher and parent participation under Shared Governance. [A forthcoming article will discuss how the District and School Board candidates feel about Shared Governance].