Tier 3 School
Our school is going into priority status (tier 3) this year. I’ve heard pretty bad experiences from schools with experience as tier 3 schools. Lots of visitors, lots of micromanagement, lots of pressure to put the pacing plan above everything, lots of getting in trouble for not doing what ETO wants.
Today, UTLA sent out an email talking about being Tier 3.
Here’s what they said:
“The Priority Schools (ETO) label does not override our contractual rights. Nowhere in the UTLA-LAUSD contract are Priority Schools recognized. They are an internal LAUSD program that should not be conflated as agreed-upon language. The labeling of a school via a district’s initiatives shall not circumvent our contract.
This means there should be:
No micromanaging of instruction and curriculum: The Educational Transformation Office (ETO) does not prescribe implementation of instructional approaches. Working with ETO should not feel like working with the “gotcha police.”
No intrusive or disruptive classroom visits: Classroom visits should be related to impact reviews and should last no more than 5-7 minutes. Interrupting ongoing instruction is not allowed and should be reported.
No co-opting of professional development: Our contract guarantees that 50 percent of PD is designated by the LSLC (more at Community Schools) and any attempt to use the label of Priority Schools to circumvent this contract language should not be allowed and should be addressed immediately.
No punitive or disciplinary feedback: ETO resources are provided as supports and should not be prescribed, required, or mandated.”
How well does ETO and LAUSD follow these expectations? Did I just get a small sample size of school teachers that have been in tier 3 that left me feeling confused?