To:  School Board Member [insert name]

From:  Karen Aronowitz, United Teachers of Dade

Date:  June 17, 2008

RE:  Agenda Item A-3 

I am providing you with additional information that you may not have known regarding the district’s presentation of agenda item A-3.  United Teachers of Dade stands in opposition to this agenda item. 

• The plan before you was designed entirely by MEP Administrators and one parent without the input of unions of impacted employees.   While MEP administrators receive furlough days, impacted employees, including teachers who have direct contact with our students, are subject to surplus, Reduction in Force or reduction in contract length while administrators face none of these conditions.  There is no reduction in contract length for MEP administrators even though most schools are not operating during the summer. 
   
• Reduction in contract length for psychologists, for example, puts the district out of compliance with federal regulations requiring testing and placement of students within specific time frames.  The same is true for our ESE staffing specialists.
   
• A serious safety issue for our teachers and students exists with the proposed changes to Physical Education Allocations.  Currently, PE teacher allocations are not done by student-teacher ratio, but by the number of classes assigned to them. For example, 13:1 means that the PE teacher is assigned 13 classes per day – 10 classes per day, 3 of which are double classes = approximately 325 students.  If you approve A-3, the ratio would be 16:1, 10 classes per day, 6 double class periods = 425 students daily. 

There are many examples of why we oppose item A-3 but most importantly, you are being asked to make decisions about the budget on a piecemeal basis without adequate detail about the repercussions to the students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.     

We find none of the efficiencies presented by any union or the public considered in reducing costs to the district.  Until such time as cost-saving measures offered by UTD and others in our community are part of a total plan, we oppose any Reduction in Force for the UTD bargaining unit.   

Last month, the Board approved E-14 allowing for certain changes to be made to the K-12 allocation.  The entire manual of these changes will not be available for your approval until sometime over the summer.  You are forced to make decisions without understanding the entire impact to our students and employees.