Strategic Review of the EDUCO Program - EQUIP123.net

Strategic Review of the EDUCO ProgramJuly 2010that the contracts would ensure the possibility of receiving accumulated severance payments every threeor five years, a year-end bonus, and access to loans. New teachers would be hired for five years as atrial period, which would involve renewable one-year contracts that would include annual severancepayments and year-end bonuses. At the end of the five years, appropriate performance reviews wouldbe done and the contract would be renewed. In this case, teachers would have the option of attaininggreater job stability, but without severance payments, or remaining on a system of 3-5 year contractswith severance payments. In any of these scenarios, teachers would be paid through MINED.Another type of contracting, for some teachers who might prefer it, or if there are no other optionsbecause of a lack of positions, would involve the teacher being an employee of the community, which isalready the case in some CDE middle schools. In contrast to the ACEs, however, entering into this typeof contract would occur by mutual expediency, and would not be an essential part of the new governancesystem, as it is with the ACEs.A fundamental point in the option proposal is the establishment of performance standards for teachersand principals. These performance standards would be shared by the overhauled community participationstructure, which would use them for evaluations. There would be periodic reviews. MINED wouldclarify its labor relationship with teachers and would absorb the hiring and payment of teachers (exceptif it were decided to permit the option of the community directly employing some teachers, as currentlyoccurs in some cases), unify its relationship to community participation, and would make its internalstructure much more effective and efficient.General Considerations on Option DStrengthening the education system by unifying its school administration entities is a large-scale proposition.It would signify an enormous change in policy and in the system, which would require beingimplemented carefully over an extended period of time. The implementation of this option assumes anenormous administrative, financial, organizational, and legal commitment, together with the politicalwill of the stakeholders in the education system.The policy change and transition process could be confusing for all schools, independent of their currenttype of school organization. Parents, principals, teachers, and students, together with public opinion ingeneral, would be looking for and expecting specific information about what the unification of the systemmeans for each of them, based on their roles. For the purpose of reducing problems, a substantialinvestment would be needed in a plan for consultations, public relations, and communications.This change in system would affect over 4,000 public schools, their teachers, students, families, principals,citizens in general, and MINED itself. Because of its magnitude, and because of the importanceof education to the country, and as a democratic and transparent practice, it is necessary to consult thoseinvolved in the changes. When there is certainty that what has been consulted on has the support of thecitizens, because it was done in a representative way with the citizenry itself, and if this is spelled out in50