Boston gets go-ahead to lengthen day at underperforming schools
Negotiators for the Boston Public Schools and the Boston Teachers Union today reached agreement on a plan to add an hour to the school day at 12 "turnaround" schools.
Teachers will get paid for the extra classroom time, but not as much as they had originally demanded. The agreement was reached by a "joint resolution committee," consisting of one school official, one union representative and a neutral party.
According to a BPS statement:
Among the changes sought by BPS and approved by the joint resolution committee is an additional hour per day for teachers and students in the turnaround schools. BPS plans to dedicate approximately half of that time to classroom instruction, and the other half will be set aside for teacher development, class preparation time and student tutoring. The change will give teachers time to work with each other to develop instructional plans designed to help each individual student succeed. The resolution compensates teachers with a $4,100 stipend for 190 additional hours of service, of which 90 hours will be used to extend class time throughout the 180-day school year. The money will come from federal school improvement grants aimed at improving student achievement in turnaround schools. A recent study by the National Center for Teacher Quality found students in Boston Public Schools have a school day that is among the shortest of any large district in the nation.
The 12 schools are: Louis Agassiz Elementary School; William Blackstone Elementary School; Jeremiah E. Burke High School; Henry Dearborn Middle School; Paul Dever Elementary School; English High School; Elihu Greenwood Elementary School; Harbor Middle School; John Holland Elementary School; John F. Kennedy Elementary; Orchard Gardens K-8 School; William Trotter Elementary School.
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Interesting Statistic
A recent federal survey quoted in the Boston Herald indicates that the Boston metro area had the highest compensation (wages PLUS benefits) of 15 major metro areas in the country at just shy of $40 per hour. The city often states that employment related expenses are 70% of the city's budget (wages AND benefits). If you take 70% of the $2.5 billion budget, then divide by 16,250 for the number of employees and 1800 for the number of hours worked on average in a year - the hourly wage for city workers with benefits comes out to $60 per hour - or a 50% premium over the region average. That being the case - are teachers really THAT undercompensated when you calculate their compensation with benefits included?