Modesto teachers protest Common Core launch at board meeting

About 125 teachers dressed in black packed the Modesto City Schools board meeting Monday to stand in solidarity, complaining of a disorganized and punitive start to Common Core instruction.

The problems are primarily in elementary, where math materials have arrived late and tests have come full of mistakes, said Dana Filippi, Modesto Teachers Association executive director.

“(Reading and writing) teaching strategies that have been tried and true for years are being squashed,” Filippi said, adding that students are being checked for reading progress too often, at least twice every six to eight weeks.

“All the teachers are out here to say we’ve got a problem,” he said.

Beard Elementary teacher Jennifer McGrath-Oller said she was told to exclusively use a “one-size-fits-all” interactive instructional strategy for which teachers received only one day of training to use. Teachers are being given poor evaluations if they deviate, she said. “An unsatisfactory (rating) is now routinely given for things that used to be conversations with principals,” she said.

Several teachers said many more unsatisfactory evaluations have been given over the past two years.

“There is a problem with morale in the district,” elementary teacher Paul Rigmaiden told the board. “We need encouragement, not condemnation and distrust.”

The teachers spoke during the public comment period and there was no board discussion of their complaints.

Before the meeting, Associate Superintendent Virginia Johnson said she did not know the number of unsatisfactory evaluations this year. The process has not changed, she said via email. “The only change that occurred is in our new contract language that bases one goal upon student performance,” Johnson wrote. The district is not using state test scores for that measure.

The board heard a presentation on how the district shifts students among schools to even out class sizes and manage overcrowding in specific schools. About 250 students were shifted after school started this year.

“Sixteen of our 22 schools are overloaded, so as we look at facilities, we need to be thinking about this,” said incoming board President Amy Neumann. “We probably need to develop a policy for how parents are notified. The goal for me would be to notify the parent before we notify the student (of being moved).”

Technology purchases were also on the agenda, with a $1million bulk purchase of small laptops for elementary schools. The district wants to replace its hodgepodge of old devices in classrooms with uniform and updated devices, said Cindy Minter, senior director of information and technology services.

Though new types of devices are being rolled out this week, Minter said she wanted “rock solid” hardware and needed to place the purchase order soon to have the computers in place in time to be familiar to students by spring testing.

Martone Elementary teacher Rick Wilcox told the board he has concerns. “I just hear the presentation and I say wait a minute. Brand new everything this year and we’re getting new computers? I’m not a tech person at all, but what’s happening or not happening in technology this year is disabling what we’re trying to do,” he said.

The proposal passed with a 6-1 vote. Neumann cast the dissenting vote, saying she had concerns the 10-inch devices might not provide the keyboarding and mouse skills students will need.

Trustees unanimously approved hiring consultants to create a master plan for facilities, for $190,000, and to create a grant proposal for energy upgrades using state funds set aside for this. The cost on the second bid was not disclosed, but will be paid by the state Proposition 39 funds.

The board also voted unanimously for its updated wellness policies and a resolution urging Sacramento to repeal a limit on district savings.

“If this cap had been place during the recession, Modesto city would most likely have been in the same situation as Denair,” said Superintendent Pam Able, referring to the near bankruptcy of Denair Unified two years ago.

This story was originally published November 17, 2014 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Modesto teachers protest Common Core launch at board meeting."