Teachers contract a landmark for D.C. public education
District public schoolteachers spoke loudly and clearly with their approval of a new contract [front page, June 3]. They deserve the impressive package of salary and benefits and the unparalleled professional development that this contract offers. We're excited about the changes that the agreement will bring to schools, classrooms and especially students. Our high-achieving, well-supported and accountable teachers will make the D.C. public schools the highest-performing district in the country.
We're equally hopeful about the cooperation that allowed the contract to come to a vote. Disagreements were sometimes fierce, but in the end the Washington Teachers' Union, the school system, the American Federation of Teachers and the District's chief financial officer were able to come together and put student achievement first. Candor, transparency and mutual sacrifice resulted in a tremendous contract.
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 7, 2010
An ugly budget picture prompts a cut in Montgomery magnet art program
PHOTOS
In an art room filled with students' works and props used in drawing exercises, ninth-grader Marcus Hinds works at a drawing table. Students in the visual arts magnet program at Einstein High School spend much as 2-and-a-quarter hours in it. (Sarah L. Voisin - Washington Post)
Monday, June 7, 2010
In a year in which school systems across the country are contending with deep cuts to programs, ballooning class sizes and layoffs, a blip in the nearly $100 million in cuts to the Montgomery County schools budget has drawn surprising outrage: one teacher being eliminated from one program at one high school.
The cuts, which are to be finalized at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday, include halving the staff at an arts magnet program at Einstein High School in Kensington -- from two teachers to one. The move, which will save about $65,000, has spawned angst, petitions and heated debate.
Parents and students, some of whom credit the award-winning program started in the 1970s with saving them academically, say that the change, although small in dollar amount, will have an outsize impact on the program's future. Hundreds of people have signed a Facebook petition asking that the decision be reversed.
"It's a hidden jewel of the school system," said Susan Katz Miller, who has spearheaded efforts to save the teaching slot. Her daughter is a sophomore in the program. "This will be a blow that is very hard to sustain long-term," she said.
Parents and students, some of whom credit the award-winning program started in the 1970s with saving them academically, say that the change, although small in dollar amount, will have an outsize impact on the program's future. Hundreds of people have signed a Facebook petition asking that the decision be reversed.
"It's a hidden jewel of the school system," said Susan Katz Miller, who has spearheaded efforts to save the teaching slot. Her daughter is a sophomore in the program. "This will be a blow that is very hard to sustain long-term," she said.