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Ask The Teacher
What questions do you have for the teacher?
Ask the Teacher is a community service provided by the Natomas
Teachers' Association with the purpose to empower parents with a pathway of
influence into Natomas Schools. Parental input is invaluably necessary for the
betterment of our schools, and it is our hope that parents will take advantage
of this opportunity. Any and every question is welcomed. Just fill out the
information form, write your question, and then hit "Submit My Question"! We
will respond to each question asked.
Question #1: Is it true that the Natomas Unified School
District Office is purposely recruiting inexperienced teachers because they are
cheap and will help save the District money?
Answer: Yes. The
Natomas Unified School District has written into their budget proposal the
following statement: "Hire new teachers with less experience" to save
$126,000.00 (NUSD Deficit Reduction Options for 2005-2006,
052305). It is our understanding that the Natomas School Board has
approved this proposal.
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Comments to Question #1: The Natomas Teachers'
Association is very concerned about this move by the Natomas School Board to
support saving money at the expense of our students. Many of our Natomas
Schools continue to suffer from an incredibly high teacher turnover rate, and
this, unfortunately, brings instability (see question #2). It is our hope that
the Natomas School Board will empower the District Office to deal swiftly with
the teacher retention crisis, and in so doing, encourage quality teachers to
stay, as well as attract and hire quality teachers based on student need, not
because they're cheap. |
Question #2: I've heard that the Natomas Unified School
District has difficulty retaining teachers. Is this true?
Answer:
A focus study shows that nearly 100 teachers in Math, Science, and English have
departed the district since the opening of NHS at its current site. 80% of the
Science teachers at the newly opened Inderkum High School will not return for
the 2005-2006 school year. Nearly ½ of the teaching staff at Natomas
Middle School will not be returning to the middle school. Why? There are many
different reasons why teachers are leaving NUSD, but the one that stands out
most is that many Natomas teachers consider themselves undervalued by
the Natomas School Board and the District Office.
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Comments to Question #2: A new wave of administrators
has taken charge of many of our Natomas Schools. In fact, all of the
traditional secondary schools have principals who are either starting their
first or second year in NUSD. We know that some of these principals are doing a
commendable job improving our schools. For example, Natomas High School has
enjoyed the best first week of school in years. Unfortunately, the high teacher
turnover rate continues to have a negative impact on student learning. To
increase student learning, narrow the achievement gap, and improve test scores,
the Natomas School Board must give the District Office with resources to both
retain and attract quality teachers. Until the School Board acts to solve the
teacher retention crisis, improvements in our schools will be limited.
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Question #3: It was mentioned at the
Parent-Teacher-Community Forum held in May at Inderkum High School, that
many Natomas Schools started the school year with up to 12 substitute teachers.
Please elaborate.
Answer: All of our secondary schools (minus
Discovery H.S.) started off with a large number of substitute teachers. Some of
our students had more than one substitute teacher on their schedule. Moreover,
some of the substitute teachers were not replaced with qualified/credentialed
teachers until well after the first 15 to 20 weeks of school.
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Comments to Question #3: Early reports indicate that
the substitute situation has significantly improved since last year. It appears
that the dialogue on this topic between last year's NTA Negotiating Team and
the Assistant-Superintendent of Human Resources was fruitful! We will provide
more reports in the near future. |
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