Public education stakeholders including principals and teachers from more than 20 Arizona school districts came together to discuss results from Arizona’s first Teacher Working Conditions Survey. Results from the survey were released in July of this year with data collected from 32,000 certified classroom teachers, school counselors, and site administrators.

“This is just the first meeting of many that are necessary to address working conditions in Arizona’s schools. The next step is to understand how working conditions affect student learning conditions,” said Andrew Morrill, Vice President of the Arizona Education Association.

Morrill continued, “Working conditions matter in every business and organization and that is no different for Arizona’s students and educators. In reality we know that teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions.”

The majority of Arizona educators (72%) say their school is a good place to work and learn and agree that leadership is critical to retaining quality teachers.

Morrill said, “Effective leadership is more than managing a school, it involves a fully engaged teaching faculty and community. Students, parents, and the community can only become fully engaged when there are clear expectations.”

Survey results indicate that a large majority of respondents (69%) receive insufficient time to plan and collaborate with colleagues. Additionally, more than half (56%) say they cannot focus on teaching their kids without interruptions.

When asked which working condition matters most in promoting student learning, more educators identified empowerment and time than any other factors. The data suggests that teachers want to play a role in classroom and school decisions to ensure they can be effective with their students. According to the data, however, 64% of educators say they are not playing a significant role in the decisions that ultimately impact student learning.

“Decisions about our schools and education must be made by those closest to our students. Teachers are natural problem-solvers and can be trusted to make sound professional decisions,” Rhonda Ball, teacher and president of the Amphitheater Education Association, said.

Morrill said, “The State of Arizona must consider its current investment in public education and deliver on the promise of a quality public education for every Arizona child. This investment must ensure that our most important educational resource, teachers, have the time and resources they need to deliver on our promise.”

With more than 34,000 members, AEA is the largest professional organization in Arizona. Founded in 1892, AEA’s mission is Keeping the Promise of Quality Public Education.

by Janie Hydrick

Thank you, AEA members! We’ve been bombarding you in October with requests to call, e-mail, and write letters to tell Congress to slow down on reauthorization of NCLB and get it right this time. At times, it seemed to us that the train had left the station, and that kids and public schools would be left behind yet again. But you did it! You did it! Never doubt the power of a vocal constituency! Your phone calls, e-mails, and letters derailed the train, giving us another opportunity to impact the futures of our students and the crafting of our jobs.

On November 7, Chairman Miller issued a statement on education funding and reauthorization of No Child Left Behind that sounds to me like a tribute to the power of our members’ voices: “All across the country, teachers, school administrators, school board members, and parents are voicing their concerns with the law. They don’t think it makes sense to stay the course. They don’t think it makes sense to preserve the status quo.” It wasn’t just Miller’s Californians voicing their opinions!

Miller’s statement continues, “It is difficult to see how we get a reauthorization bill done in this Congress as long as the President continues to oppose both common-sense improvements to the law and additional education funding.”

The fight has just begun, but at least we’re in the ring! We’ll continue our work on the national and state levels, but remember: although we have the best - the most dedicated, tireless government relations staff - to represent us collectively, it is your individual voices that count the most. It is your voice back home in the Congressional district that ultimately sways politicians and policy. Chairman Miller’s statement is testimony to that!

Thanks again for every call, every e-mail, every letter. Each word from you helped to make the difference. Each word from you brought us closer to leaving a flawed law behind and reauthorizing one that could really hold the promise of great public schools for every child.

Janie Hydrick

Arizona's voters may be asked to consider sweeping changes to school districts on the ballot in November 2008. A group commissioned by the Arizona State Legislature, the School District Redistricting Commission, is addressing school district unification.

The potential ballot referendum would ask voters to approve the unification of elementary and high school districts, creating new, sometimes-larger districts to serve students from kindergarten through high school. This would, in fact, eliminate many school districts while forming new ones under reconstituted lines defined by the ballot measure.

The Arizona Education Association believes that there is great promise in delivering seamless instructional curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade. The deliberations of the School District Redistricting Commission offer a valuable public forum to describe the best possible configuration of schools in order to best meet students' needs. Unfortunately, the commission appears ready to move forward on redistricting recommendations without completing the needed deliberations. It has left too many questions unanswered.

Voters must have all possible information when making decisions that will affect their children's school and the communities our public schools serve. School district unification will significantly impact the lives of students, parents, and school employees in every affected community. Commissioners themselves have posed some important questions that remain unaddressed. They are exactly the kinds of questions tax-paying parents will want to consider before voting:

• I have been very pleased with the quality of my child's education. How can I be sure that continues?

• The districts in question have different property tax rates. What will happen to my taxes?

• The districts in question have different salaries. How do I know what employees will be paid?

• One of the districts has a Career Ladder performance pay plan. Can the new district keep that plan?

• Unification might cost money in the short term. How will additional costs be absorbed without hurting education?

• What happens if the new unified school district does not have a high school facility?

• One of the districts receives desegregation funding. Will the new district?

This is just a sample of the questions that still need to be answered. The commission has identified some of these concerns on its public Web site and offered possible responses. But the response "the new board will determine that" is too often the answer. Voters deserve some more certainty. Some of the commissioners themselves are asking for more certainty, also. Let's not have such important proposals advance on a split vote of the commission.

A decision on a referral at this point is premature and will be vulnerable at the polls. We can answer these questions - even if it means taking legislative action to get those answers. It is irresponsible to ask the voters to make an uninformed decision when such haste is unnecessary. Let deliberations continue, and let's not have unnecessary division and uncertainty.

John Wright, a classroom teacher, is president of the Arizona Education Association.