Internet Exclusive - Editorial from the Professional Educators of Tennessee:

The Rutherford County Education Association (REA) filed a complaint against the Rutherford County Board of Education in regards to the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (PECCA).  REA has included ALL teachers in their complaint, that information according to information they submitted to WGNS on Tuesday (5/14/13).

The Professional Educators of Tennessee told WGNS via email...

We believe the complaint is flawed. More importantly, it may possibly misrepresent the best interest of Rutherford County teachers---particularly the members of Professional Educators of Tennessee in Rutherford County that did not choose REA to represent them in collaborative conferencing. When government entities are sued, taxpayers end up paying the bill.  A protracted legal battle will rigorously test the support of all teachers and the teachers’ union. Conversely, the potential damage and the harm to the teaching profession and students cannot be denied or easily reversed.

Professional Educators of Tennessee conducted a survey to gauge our membership in Rutherford County on the possibility that this complaint escalates by REA in the filing of a lawsuit against the Rutherford County Board of Education and citizens of Rutherford County. Our survey showed that 73.5% of our members did not support the complaint and would oppose a lawsuit.

Does that mean there are not legitimate complaints or that management is always right?  Of course not.  Our organization has been critical of the overuse of test scores in evaluating teachers.  In 2010, it was the teachers’ union in Tennessee that readily jumped on the Race to the Top bandwagon that expanded evaluations. 

We must repair relationships in public education and rebuild low teacher morale. Educators are looking for respect and a degree of autonomy in addressing major education issues. Our organization supports a more collaborative style of leadership. We believe strong leaders make connections and can bring an educator’s voice back to the debate. A lawsuit will not serve public education at this critical time with so many key concerns facing public education. We must all work to address issues such as increased collaboration, improved parental involvement, more reasonable evaluations, class size or how to improve the quality of education and student achievement.    

Of the 2700 educators eligible to vote under the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (PECCA) in Rutherford County, only 1490 voted, nearly 15% of these voted for our organization to represent them.  Therefore we cannot understand why ALL educators should be compelled into a complaint or possible lawsuit against the citizens of Rutherford County or the Rutherford County Board of Education.

The two questions many educators would like to get addressed: 1) Can our members and other non-union educators opt out of this complaint and possible lawsuit if they desire? 2) When can teachers legally request another election to determine representatives under the Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (PECCA)? 

What is this ACT known as the PECCA?

Efforts by the Professional Educators of Tennessee may be too little, too late, considering the act was officially released in 2011 (Click here for a link - these are frequently asked questions about PECCA as submitted by the City of Knoxville, TN). You can read the actual bill HERE. 

Source and Disclosure Information:

JC Bowman is the executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee.  Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author and the association are properly cited, according to what they submitted to WGNS Radio.   

City of Knoxville (links above)
TN General Assembly (links above)