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Strategic Review of the EDUCO ProgramJuly 2010limit, and contributes to burial expenses and recreation (Ley Bienestar Magisterial, 2007). MINED paysan additional $3.06 for the family group benefit to ISSS. At present, the Teachers’ Welfare Law is beingput into effect, which includes the gradual absorption of EDUCO teachers starting in 2010.Employment StabilityContradictory opinions were found regarding employment stability and the annual contract. Inthe interviews, at least half the interviewees belonging to the ACE system acknowledged fears about theexistence of teachers who, upon attaining job stability, would then use that to “relax” or to “take it easy,”and that without the “pressure” exercised by parents, this situation could worsen. Other principals interviewed(4 out of every 10) said that by having worked for years in a context that demands complyingwith contracted schedules and responsibilities, being continuously under observation, doing communitywork, etc., they internalize a culture that they surely would not abandon when moving to a new form ofadministration and contract. They also mention professionalism and ethics as guarantees of this.It was found that a large number of ACE teachers remain in their positions on average over sixyears beyond the annual contract. One of the issues that cause controversy in EDUCO is the lack ofemployment stability and the ability to dismiss ACE-school teachers. On employment stability, accordingto the information obtained by this research team, in visits to schools and in the individual and groupinterviews, teachers were found who have been working in EDUCO schools for more than 17 years.Most of them have been in the schools from six to 17 years. Thus, the fear of job instability is, althoughreal, the fear of a possibility, or an infrequent reality, rather than a regular reality. (However, the lackof contractual tenure for ACE-school teachers does make it difficult for them to obtain loans that usejob stability as the equivalent of collateral.) As this review was performed, the President of El Salvadorsigned a decree providing employment stability for EDUCO teachers in 2009 and 2010 (Diario Oficial,Decreto 62, 2009). This means that teachers cannot be dismissed and that the same teachers will continuein 2010.Abuses and the Grievance SystemNo hard evidence was found of an unusual trend in dismissals of ACE-school teachers. Withregard to perceptions about dismissals, in some cases interviewees said there had been 300 to 400 casesof annual dismissals in ACE schools. However, most interviewees said that no more than 50 cases wereaddressed by the Ministry of Labor. Several interviewees said that the dismissals did not go through,because the Ministry of Labor uses judges who are only located in San Salvador, which delays theprocess. The research team did not find empirical evidence to support (or refute) these statements. Ingeneral, a tendency was noted among teachers to say that yes, it is true that there are dismissals andabuses, but, ironically, “not in my school.” Or, that if there had been dismissals in their schools they hadbeen justified, and only in “other” schools had there been unjustified dismissals.28
Strategic Review of the EDUCO ProgramJuly 2010ACEs do not have a systematic grievance filing mechanism, and therefore grievances are not documented.There appears to be little information about where teachers and parents from ACE schools canturn with a complaint or legal action. This creates confusion and reduces the possibility of finding a reliableinterlocutor in the system.Many CDE schools have problems with abuses of power, poor procedures, and poor relationsbetween principals and teachers. Although the research team visited the Court of the Teaching Professionand one of the Boards of the Teaching Profession in San Salvador to understand the movements ofteaching personnel and how the disciplinary system and sanctions are handled, it did not find empiricaldata applicable to the entire system that could provide a picture of the school environment and therelationships among teachers, principals, and school administration entities. However, the interviewsheld in these institutions seem to indicate that most of the complaints in the CDE schools (which are notexclusively public schools) are related, for the most part, to the removal of teachers from their positionswithout following procedures and poor relations between principals and teachers. A small number involvedchallenges over job positions and prior suspensions. For example, the Court received 117 grievancesfrom 2008 to 2010 (data provided by the Court, 2010). Most interviewees shared their perceptionsand agreed that many cases involving abuse of authority, physical and sexual abuse, and other problems,are not reported for fear of reprisals. There is no systematic grievance filing mechanism in ACE schoolsthat would enable their documentation and validation.To gain a general idea of the types of requests and grievances submitted to MINED, the research teamlooked at the statistics for 2010 from MINED’s public services office, which had records of 363 cases,most related to improper charges, retention of documents, refusal of enrollment, conflicts, and abuse.These involve a small percentage of teachers; however, once again, it is possible there has been underreportingfor fear of reprisals. As the data is not broken down by School Administration Entity, it is notpossible to identify cases particular to ACE schools. However, it does appear to be true that in CDEschools there is an unproductive labor and human relations environment that to a certain extent errsby creating anxiety and resentment that is the mirror image of what appears (at times) to occur in ACEschools.The research team tried to analyze the rate of teaching personnel movements in CDE schools to comparethem to ACE schools. No data was found that enabled comparing the number of new positions createdeach year, the number of teachers retiring each year, or the total number of transfers, exchanges, interimteachers, or data disaggregated by rural or urban area, etc.AccountabilityCDE school principals want tools to require improvements in teachers. On this issue, four out ofevery 10 CDE school principals said that in their schools there are some teachers whose recurrent “actingout,” noncompliance with job responsibilities, etc. are such that they would like to have the means29
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