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Therehasalsobeentheclaimthatthesechangesweredoneunderacloudofsecrecy.Infact,thevastmajorityof the individual changesmade in thebilldid receive apublichearingandopportunity forpublic testimony

duringthelegislativeprocess.Whatsmore,thesechangescametothesurpriseofnooneincludingtheAEA

that had followed the legislative process and publicly contemplated by the Legislature for more than five

months.

Forallthesereasons,itiscriticalthatyoufamiliarizeyourselfwiththesechangesandunderstandhowtheywillimprove

bothstudentsuccessandthefinancialwellbeingofyourdistrict.

TENURE/SENIORITYRETENTION&RECALLCHANGE:Tenure(orseniority)cannotbeusedasadeterminingfactorforreductioninforceorretention.CHANGE: Inthecaseofarecallafterareduction in force,tenure(orseniority)doesnotneedtobeconsideredwhenchoosingwhichteacherstorecall.

MYTH:Thisenablesschooldistrictstohaphazardlyfireteacherswhoareatthetopofthepayscalewithmanyyearsoexperience.Thisalsoviolatestheprincipleoflocalcontrol.

FACT:Its

in

no

ones

best

interest

to

let

go

effective

teachers

even

if

they

are

at

the

top

of

the

pay

scale.

Highlyeffectiveteachersbenefitfromthesechanges.

Thisisasteptowardsmorecomprehensiveandfairevaluationofteachers,whichwillfocusonteacherperformanceand

effectiveness.Notonlydoesthisfurtherprofessionalizeteaching,itenablesgoverningboardstomakeprudentfinancia

decisions thatputacademicachievementand theneedsof students first.Sensitivity isneeded indealingwith these

issues; change of any kind is difficult, and this diminished role of tenure represents a significant cultural shift fo

teachers.

WhileASBAdidnot initiate theprohibition to senioritybeing taken intoaccount in retentionpolicies,ASBAactively

supportedtheabilityofdistrictstoputstudentsfirstbygainingthisflexibilityinwhichdistrictscanstilltakeintoaccount

overall teachingexperienceandexperience in teachingaparticular subjectwhenmakingdecisions thatbest suit the

needsof

their

students.

Further,

these

changes

put

Arizona

at

the

forefront

of

the

national

reform

movement

and

in

a

strongerpositiontoreceiveoneoftheRacestotheTopgrants.

TENURE/SENIORITYSALARIESCHANGE:Ifsalaryreductionsarenecessary,districtscanchoosetoreducesalariesofsometenuredemployeesandnotothers;senioritycannotbeconsideredwhenmakingthischoice.

MYTH:Thoseteachersatthetopofthepayscalewillhavetheirsalariesreducedfirstsodistrictscansavemoney.FACT:Districtsdonotwanttocutsalaries.Yet,Arizonaisfacingoneoftheworsteconomicrecessionsinhistory.Atthesame

time,

many

districts

are

experiencing

ashortage

of

quality

teachers

in

math,

science

and

special

education,

and

theyneed the flexibility tomakeany reductions toensuredistrictsareable tokeep these teachers that specialize in

highneed areas rather than be forced to impose a blanket salary reduction, regardless of teacher effectiveness o

subjectareaexpertise.

CONTRACTSCHANGE:Schooldistrictsmaydetermine thedate that theywilloffer teacherscontracts for thecomingyear. (IthadbeensetatApril15.)

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CHANGE:Schooldistrictsnowmayissueteachercontractsatanytime.(PreviouslyitwasrequiredtobedonebetweenMarch15andMay15.)

MYTH:Teachershavelostjobsecurity.FACT: Teaching isaprofession,notjustajob.With theprofessionalization and respect teachersdeserve, there isaresponsibility indoingwhat it takes tohelp studentsachieve.Statemandatesarebeing replacedwith theabilityof

locallyelectedgoverningboardstocreatedeadlinesfortheirowndistrictsandtomakeprudentfinancialdecisionsthat

putacademic

achievement

and

the

needs

of

students

first.

TEACHERPERFORMANCECHANGE:Thetimeallowedforteacherswithinadequateperformancetomakeimprovementhasbeenshortenedfrom85workingdays(17instructionalweeks,almostonehalfyearoftheacademicyear)to60workingdays(12instructiona

weeks,stillmorethananacademicquarter).

CHANGE:Thetimeallowedforteacherswhohavebeendismissed forcausetorequestahearinghasbeenshortenedfrom30daysto10days.

MYTH:Arizona

doesnt

care

about

teachers.

FACT:Arizonacaresverymuchaboutourstudentsandwants todoeverythingpossible toensure themosteffectiveteachersare inour classrooms.Once again, this is a step forward inprofessionalizing teachers.A teacher that isnt

performingmustbegiven thenoticeand time to improve;however, it isnotacceptable toallowanadultwho isnt

performingtosacrificeastudentsfuture.

ARIZONASCHOOLBOARDSASSOCIATIONQualityleadershipandadvocacyforchildreninpublicschools

www.azsba.org