Quincy Citywide Parent’s Council

Minutes from December 11, 2006

Broad Meadows Middle School

 Meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm, with Sandy Arabian presiding.

Sandy introduced Paul Phillips, the President of the Quincy Education Association, who was the guest speaker for the night. 

Mr. Phillips started out by mentioning that he has been involved with the QPS for 32 years and has taught at many of the city’s schools.  He said that he meets regularly with his counterparts at similarly sized cities and that QPS has much to be proud of.  Full-day K is a “feather in our cap”, class sizes are small, and most schools are meeting AYP goals.  He explained that AYP is “Annual Yearly Progress” towards federal requirements regarding test scores.  In general, QPS is a good school system and teachers are proud to be here.  There were approximately 120 new teachers this year.

One issue he is concerned about is that the Board of Education has raised the passing MCAS score from 220 to 240.  He projects that QPS will have a 40-50% failure rate.  10^th grade students who have a score between 220 and 240 will be required to take specific courses in order to graduate.  As a result they won’t be able to take courses of their own choosing such as foreign language, some sciences, art, and music.  He believes that students at the “vo-tech” may be most affected and won’t be able to take the technical courses they need to get jobs after high school.

Mr. Phillips was asked to address several issues raised by parents at the last meeting:

Mr. Phillips said that teachers are unhappy with the substitute policy.  There are no subs available for some subjects (such as art, music, and gym) until the 3^rd day of the regular teacher’s absence.  Teachers of these subjects are very upset because they feel like “second class citizens” and it is a morale issue.

Sandy Arabian described a problem she had with getting occupational therapy for her son and wanted parents to know that they can file a claim with the EQA.

Some parents asked how they can protest the change in the passing test score.  Mr. Phillips suggested going to legislators.  The Board of Education got regulatory authority as a result of ed reform.

Mr. Phillips announced that teachers have gone 102 days without a contract.  The contract expired August 30^th.  Contracts for many other unions for City of Quincy employees have also expired (police, fire, city hall employees).  He noted that he is limited in what he can say regarding ongoing negotiations—he can not comment on a specific offer on the table.  He did say that health insurance is an issue being discussed, that “a pay cut is on the table”, and that teachers “would bring home less than last year”.  He noted that 2 years ago the city had a surplus of $4m, $10m last year, and $11.3 this year.  He acknowledged that health insurance is a “very valuable benefit” currently, but that teachers have made various accommodations over the years to save the city money.  In 1988, they agreed to go to a single insurance carrier.  Retirees must go on Medicare if they are eligible.  They have a 3 tier prescription rate and a limited amount of Medicare reimbursement. 

He said that Mayor Phelan has demanded a health insurance concession from every employee group and that negotiations “don’t seem to be going anywhere”.  Thus far, he has prevented a “work to rule” but the bargaining team has refused to say that that will never happen.  He will fight it off as long as he can since he believes it drives a wedge between teachers and parents.

Bargaining is conducted with a subcommittee of the School Committee consisting of Chairwoman Elaine Dwyer, Kevin Mulvy, and David McCarthy.  The Mayor can not participate since his brother is a teacher.

Mr. Phillips questioned why a pay cut is on the table when the city’s bond rating has been raised, selected city hall employees received a 14% pay increase, and there is a million dollar surplus.  He noted that there is a history of not settling on time in Quincy.  In 1985 teachers went 1 ½ years without a contract.  Last time (4 years ago) they only went 3 years and got “a good deal”.  There is no legal maximum for time without a contract.

Susan Bill asked about the size of QEA in comparison other city unions.  Mr. Phillips said that QEA is by far the largest with 900 members.  The police patrolman’s union has 150, the police supervisor’s union has about 80, and fire fighters have about 150.

Sandy Arabian asked about the components of the contract and whether it could address issues such as foreign language.  Mr. Phillips said that the School Committee controls curriculum content.

Fiona Canavan asked about the after school activity stipends and whether there were any restrictions on the types of activities they could be used for.  Mr. Phillips said that the ASA—after school activity accounts—were instituted 3 contracts ago as a way to pay teachers for after school enrichment.  Over the years, this has been transformed into MCAS prep.  The contract does not specify what type of enrichment.  Principals control the accounts.

Barbara Isola asked Mr. Phillips to comment on parent impact and noted that in the past parents have rallied for the settling of the negotiations.  She feels it is important to let people know that parents are watching, even if they don’t take a stand on specific features of the contract.  Mr. Phillips said he prefers that parents do not take a position on specific issues because “negotiations are about give and take”.  He said he does encourage parents to speak up about settling on a contract.

Sue Sheridan pointed out that retaining new teachers will be aided by a contract.  Mr. Phillips agreed and said that the benefit package is an important recruitment tool.

Hank Brawley asked if there was any “turnaround” over the course of the contract (future salary increases or other benefits to offset any cuts).  He noted that his own union has taken a pay cut.  Mr. Phillips said that the current offer includes pay cuts for the next 3 years.

Fiona thanked Mr. Phillips for coming and asked him how parents might contact him.  His email is paulunion@aol.com and his phone number is 617-479-2283.

 The minutes from the November 13^th meeting were accepted without changes.

 Treasurer’s Report:

Treasurer MaryBeth Dooling passed out her report and noted that there is a balance of $1,118.81 in the Citywide checking account.  Sandy reminded representatives to have their PTOs send in their $25 dues.  The Treasurer’s Report was accepted.  There was a discussion of how to reach out to PTOs who currently do not have any representatives to Citywide—Snug Harbor and Parker.  Attempts have already been made to contact the PTO Presidents with no response thus far.  It was decided that the minutes from the meetings should be sent to them in hopes of prompting participation.

Report from School Committee Meetings:

Hank Brawley, Citywide representative to the School Committee, said there was a presentation of MCAS scores to the School Committee. Of note was a particularly low passing rate among special education students, especially in 8^th grade math.  He also reported that a traffic study of the area around NQHS was presented to the Safety Subcommittee.  The recommendations included putting “no drop off” signs on Hancock Street and channeling cars onto Hunt Street and around to E. Squantum Street where there would be a drop off zone.  A discussion of the study recommendations followed with many ideas presented.  There was consensus that the study did not adequately respond to the concerns of parents.  It was decided that Hank would speak about Citywide’s disappointment with the study at the Open Forum of the next School Committee meeting.  Other parents were encouraged to attend to speak about traffic problems at individual schools.

 Old Business:

Fiona said that she requested suggestions from all parents on her email list and received many ideas.  The subcommittee met and discussed the ideas and developed a summary of the main concerns.  The summary was given to Dr. DeCristofaro (also passed out at the meeting).  Dr. DeCristofaro told Fiona that he will go over the concerns with Janet Powell and that he will make a presentation to the School Committee in February regarding a suggested transition policy.

Mr. Sylvia, acting Principal of Central, spoke with Fiona about the changes to the foreign language schedule at Central.  He told her that he just doesn’t know where to fit in more foreign language.  Fiona expressed concern to him that the current schedule leaves too much time in between class sessions and that students will not retain the material well.  High school foreign language teachers have told her that the current schedule is the worst possible approach and that one year of more intensive instruction would be better than two years of sporadic instruction.  She noted that part of the problem with addressing the issue is that each middle school has its own schedule cycle.  Roseanne Russell said that the larger middle schools need longer cycles in order to fit in specialist classes.  Barbara Isola pointed out that the number of specialists should be based on the number of students in a school—which is not currently the case.  Fiona noted that some PTOs have written letters about the situation and encouraged others to do so as well.  She will send out a sample letter.

New Business: