Strategic Review of the EDUCO Program - EQUIP123.net

Strategic Review of the EDUCO ProgramJuly 2010the dismissal of a teacher if there were sufficient proof of inappropriate conduct or substandard performance,in a way that would be more expeditious than the convoluted system in the CDEs at present.For teachers, this option presents the possibility of offering two or three types of contracts, somethingthat would have to be decided at the stage of developing a specific design for this option. One optionwould be for teachers to have total job stability and be employees of MINED (but evaluated in amore rigorous fashion and with community participation, and with the possibility of more expeditiousdismissal than at present). Another option would be the use of renewable, three or five year contracts;this would mean that the contracts would ensure the possibility of receiving an accumulated severancepayment every three or five years, a year-end bonus, and enable access to loans. New teachers would behired for five years as a trial period. The trial period would be administered by using one-year renewablecontracts, which would include the severance payment and year-end bonus. At the end of fiveyears, appropriate performance reviews would be done and the contract would be renewed. In this case,teachers would have the option of gaining greater job stability, but without receiving the severance payment,or to remain on a contractual basis with three to five year contracts and the payment of severance.In any of these scenarios, teachers would be paid through MINED. However, another option, for someteachers who might prefer it, or if there are no other options because of a lack of positions, the teachercould be employed by the community, as in fact already occurs in some CDE middle schools. In contrastto ACE schools, however, entering into this type of contract would have to be by mutual expediency,and would not be an essential part of the new governance system, as it is in the current ACE system.This option involves the development of performance standards for teachers and principals. Suchstandards would be shared by the overhauled community participation structure, which would use themfor evaluations. There would be periodic reviews. MINED would clarify its labor relationship withteachers and would absorb the hiring and payment of teachers (except if it were decided to permit theoption of the community directly employing some teachers, as currently occurs in some cases), unify itsrelationship to community participation, and would make its internal structure much more effective andefficient. The advantages and disadvantages of this option are as follows:40