November 9, 2016
On the morning of November 9, 2016 we all entered our schools very bewildered and disappointed in the outcome of the previous night. Our community voted against the same district they had helped save one year prior. We were scared, worried, defeated, angry and confused all at once.
How could this have happened?
What if I had just walked one more day? Would that have made a difference?
Where do we go from here?
What will happen to the crumbling infrastructure?
How can we continue to serve and provide the best and highest quality education that our students deserve?
Are we doomed to becoming a "Farm District" for the rest of the Denver area because we can't be
competitive in teacher compensation?
All of these questions, thoughts and concerns, among others, were rolling around in our minds that morning. I remember it well. The depression was palatable and the concern hung on us like a wet blanket.
A Win
Our thoughts quickly turned to negotiations. We were told, no promised, that if the Mill and Bond failed not to expect a raise of any type. Steps and Levels were the best we could hope for, and even that was tenuous. The district offered a measly, insulting one time stipend of a couple hundred dollars stating that was the best they could do if they were going to honor steps and levels. The negotiations team persisted until the district found enough money to give everyone a 2% raise. A victory to be sure. Perhaps this would turn out alright after all.
The Glass Award
Our attention then turned to Dan McMinimee. Would his contract be renewed? He certainly had not done a bad job as our superintendent, but it hadn't been all that great either. And the process surrounding his hire seemed a little grimy and unseemly. The BOE decided that it would not renew his contract and the search for another Superintendent began anew. We waited with baited breath to see who the new Superintendent would be. We were assured that this would be a much more transparent process than the last time we traveled this path. Suddenly, one name emerged: Dr. Jason Glass, Superintendent of Eagle County School District. Many of us, myself included, were ecstatic! Can this be true? Was this really happening? The answer to both was yes. I had often read his articles in the Vail newspaper and thought 'Why can't we get a leader like that?' Well, now we had one. The very same one whose opinions I had long valued and been inspired by.
The detractors were quick to point out that there was a lot of consternation surrounding the hire of Dan McMinimee and the hiring of Dr. Glass was very similar. On the surface, yes, both were similar. Both were not known until the very end and in both instances, there was only one lone candidate as opposed to several from which to choose. However, this is where the similarities ended. Dr. Glass was the director of Education for the ENTIRE state of Iowa. He had been the head of the Human Resources department in Eagle County. He had been a successful Superintendent. He had been appointed by the President of the United States (Barrack Obama) to serve on a national education board. Dr. Glass had earned his Doctorate. Now I am not one impressed by degrees, nor do I believe that degrees automatically make you more capable than someone without a degree. However, Dr. Glass had the degree AND the success to earn him the right to be called "Dr. Glass". Dan McMinimee served as a principal and was the Assistant Superintendent in Douglas County and his greatest claim to fame was breaking the teachers union as well as being part of the team that began the great demise of the once mighty Douglas County School District. Mr. McMinimee's credentials pale in comparison.
However, I do want to pump the breaks on the excitement over the hiring of Dr. Glass. Teachers should not believe that he will be our best friend. That we will get everything we want because we now have someone like Dr. Glass in the Superintendent's office. He was not hired to be the teacher's best friend, he was not chosen to be uber-teacher friendly. He is not our lap dog and we should not expect him to be so. That expectation would be unfair to Dr. Glass and unfair to our district. He was hired to do what's right and what he believes is in the best interest for the 86,000 students in our district. He was hired to be our students best friend. Granted, often times what is in the students best interest is often in our best interest as well, but not always. We have to understand that there will be times that we, as teachers, will be disappointed in Dr. Glass. There will be times that we will be frustrated by his decisions. Indeed, Dr. Cindy Stevenson and teachers were often at odds on a number of issues. But at the end of the day, we understood, as did Dr. Stevenson, that we both wanted the best for this district and its students. I believe it is a fair statement to say that the same cannot be said for the decisions coming out of the Administration Building the past several years. Dr. Glass, I wholeheartedly believe, will remedy that problem. We may not always like the decisions, but we will believe that he has the students best interests at heart. I cannot wait to see what he can do for our district.
November 7, 2017
This is why I am sitting by my self in a hotel room in Breckenridge tonight. I am here training for the upcoming elections this November. This November is a monumental election for the future of the Jefferson County School District. Remember that Recall we won in 2015? Well, those same seats are up for election this November. All three of them. To say that AFP, the Koch brothers and the Independence Institute were upset with that loss would be a monstrous understatement. It was devastating for them. And what's more is that they have been planning, scheming, and plotting for the past two years to reclaim those seats. I am here to learn all I can about keeping that from happening. In fact there are several teachers in JCEA who have been working since February to keep that horror from taking place. In American politics if you want until August/September to work on elections, you've already lost before one ballot has been cast. Interestingly enough, in England campaigns may ONLY take place in the 42 days BEFORE the election. Perhaps we would be wise to learn a few things from the Brits???? We will be working throughout this summer planning how to win this November.
This is my ask to you. If, you are as excited as am I to see what Dr. Glass can do for this district, then we must first do something for Dr. Glass. We must ensure that a pro-public education board majority is returned to the school board. Thankfully, Ron Mitchell, Brad Rupert and Susan Harmon are running for re-election. But in order to get them re-elected you must help. Sure yard signs are satisfying and make you feel like you've done your part, but sadly, if that's all you do you have not done anything. We need you walk, knock and talk to the community about why it's important to the future of JeffCo schools and the community it serves for Mitchell, Rupert and Harmon to be returned to the board room. If we lose the board majority, than any work the Dr. Glass could have done for this district and its students will be severely hamstrung. Dr. Glass needs us to help him so he can help us.
The "Other Side" is ready and rarin' to go. They want to win and have the district lose. I'm ready to go and win, are you? Dr. Glass needs you. Your colleagues need you. Your students need you. Don't let them down.
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