Madison-Champaign ESC Superintendent Kaffenbarger, you are so right!

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-news/a-perfect-storm-for-veteran-teachers-1125749.html

A perfect storm for veteran teachers

By Daniel Kaffenbarger, Contributing Writer
Springfield News-Sun, April 2, 2011

The upcoming budget, proposed changes in the retirement system and the passage of Senate Bill 5 create a perfect storm for veteran teachers.

It wasn’t too long ago in this state when the term “veteran teacher” was a distinctive title. It had an aura about it, one that indicated the teacher was an exceptional practitioner. They possessed a rich skill set that allowed them to engage the most challenging students and they could inform the practice of novice teachers. These were the teachers that were considered assets to school districts. They provided exceptional leadership in buildings and created stability in an educational landscape that was constantly shifting. Because of a variety of issues in the state — primarily driven by finances — being a “veteran teacher” in a district might become a liability. There is an old saying “when the water hole begins to dry up the animals standing around it start to look at each other in a completely different way.”

Think of the Ohio budget as the water hole ... drying up. As a result veteran teachers are looked at as expensive liabilities. Consider Senate Bill 5 as a starting point. While many things about collective bargaining needed retooled, this new law over-reaches what needed changed. “Seniority” is no longer a barrier that needs to be considered when considering a reduction in force. As a cost saving measure veteran teachers can be eliminated in favor of younger-less expensive teachers. Merit pay becomes the new “coin of the realm” versus years of service and education. Although there are few reliable models of merit pay in education in the entire nation, it has been adopted into law. The incentive for many competent (detractors please see that I used the term competent) veteran educators is that their years of experience and level of education enhanced their professional practice. That in turn was rewarded by periodic increases throughout their career.

Step increases will be replaced by an untested and unproven method of performance evaluation by 2013-2014. The determination of financial well-being will be left up to building principals or central office staff. With the tightening budget, superintendents and treasurers could consider saving more money by eliminating staff members at the top of the pay scale.

This unscrupulous practice has been used for years in business as a means of improving the bottom line. It devalues the contributions that veteran teachers have made to the system. It places monetary concerns over the positive impacts experienced teachers have on the lives of students.

It makes a terrible assumption that you if you are a veteran teacher you are no longer able to contribute anything meaningful to the educational experience of students.

If the SB 5 and the budget woes weren’t enough, consider the recent proposed changes in the teacher retirement system. These changes increase the number of years a teacher must work before retiring and it increases the minimum retirement age. Just at the time when getting rid of veteran teachers could become the new way for districts to save money, teachers will no longer be able to draw full retirement.

Despite this “Perfect Storm,” experienced teachers cannot be considered liabilities. Their skills, experience and dedication to the lives of children is something districts and communities should celebrate.

While most superintendents I know still value their “veterans,” I hope they don’t succumb to the economic pressure of “the here now” that they make staffing mistakes that will negatively impact the education of the children in their districts.

Daniel Kaffenbarger is the Madison-Champaign Educational Service Center superintendent.