USEP/District Agree on Teacher Evaluations

 Last evening (Tuesday), the USEP and District bargaining teams reached agreement on the teacher evaluation process as mandated by SB-736.

The District did not pass an economic counter to USEP’s initial economic proposal. District negotiators indicated that the Superintendent had heard from a number of employees endorsing USEP’s “shares” proposal and wanted to discuss with the School Board on Tuesday. Thank you to all who are emailing the Superintendent and School Board members!

Click here to view the memorandum of understanding outlining the terms of the evaluative process for the 2013-2014 school year. The changes are listed below.

Informal observations: Principals  will visit classrooms during the school year to perform informal observations and provide  feedback through iObservation to help ensure a successful formal evaluation. These informal observations will not be scored or counted towards a teacher’s annual evaluation.

Additional Domains: this year teachers will begin practicing Marzano’s Domains 2-3-4 (Planning, Reflection and Collegiality) on a trial basis. These Domains will not be scored or counted towards  a teacher’s annual evaluation but will provide insight into how these Domains will be incorporated in future years in the evaluative process.

“Highly Effective” Rating: The Memorandum changes the criteria so more teachers can achieve this rating in the instructional Practices component.

 Pre-Conference forms:  Teachers will be required to complete the forms to be prepared for their pre-observation meeting but cannot be required to submit to Administration. Post-Conference forms are recommended to be completed but not required.

Student Growth Measure Score: Board  and Union will continue to meet to discuss how to implement student growth measures since the legislature eliminated the use of district-wide and school-wide student growth data.

Union/District Oversight Sub-Committee:  The District and USEP representatives will meet to monitor the informal observation process to ensure its intended purpose is being realized. Problems or abuses of this process will be identified and addressed though this monitoring body.

Keep communicating whether you think raises should be distributed equally  regardless of an employee’s Pasco service, or prorated in “shares” that  take into account the years an employee has worked and sacrificed during the economic downturn.

Let the Superintendent and school board members know by sending them an email from your personal email account. So forward this to your home address, so you’ll have the email addresses you need. Don’t forget to send a copy to USEP: usep@useponline.org

Superintendent Kurt S. Browning: ksbsos@pasco.k12.fl.us

School Board Members
Allen Altman: alaltman@pasco.k12.fl.us
Cynthia Armstrong: carmstro@pasco.k12.fl.us
Allison Crumbley: acrumble@pasco.k12.fl.us
Joanne Hurley: jhurley@pasco.k12.fl.us
J. Steve Luikart: jluikart@pasco.k12.fl.us