Teachers endure 'trial' in order to justify their jobs
For 20 minutes Friday, Sheri Hamblin was on trial for a job she could possibly lose.
Far away from her second- and third-grade students, she felt compelled to raise her right hand and explain to an administrative law judge why she shouldn't lose her job in June.
The Chino Valley Unified School District teacher joined thousands of others in California this month in these peculiar hearings to determine who should be laid off due to budget cuts.
Hamblin was watched by hundreds in the Chino Community Building on Friday as she was quizzed about her job and everything that had to do with being a teacher.
Far away from her second- and third-grade students, she felt compelled to raise her right hand and explain to an administrative law judge why she shouldn't lose her job in June.
The Chino Valley Unified School District teacher joined thousands of others in California this month in these peculiar hearings to determine who should be laid off due to budget cuts.
Hamblin was watched by hundreds in the Chino Community Building on Friday as she was quizzed about her job and everything that had to do with being a teacher.
"It was intense," Hamblin said. "You really have to do some extreme thinking under pressure."
Hamblin -- who teaches at Chaparral Elementary School -- is one of 171 in the Chino Valley district who received preliminary layoff notices, officially known as Reduction In Force notices.
State laws required school districts to notify teachers, counselors, school nurses and others by March 15 that they could be released from their jobs at the end of the current school year.
The hearings are conducted to determine if the district has properly followed the Education Code procedure and accurately notified employees.
Hamblin and fellow teacher Carol Somerville job-share, when two teachers split the number of hours they teach in a classroom, to allow for flexibility.
On Friday, the two came equipped with Education Code ammunition for the questions likely to be asked by attorneys from the district and their own teachers' union.
In Hamblin's hand was a 1-inch thick blue folder with three Post-it notes on the outside. In tiny handwriting each yellow sheet of paper detailed sections of the Education Code.
Inside the folder was supporting information regarding the state code, union agreements and any other material the two women who have worked for the district for 11 years could find and use when asked questions.
"It was nerve-wracking being up there, but worth it so we can be heard," Somerville said. "Everyone needs to know what's going on when it comes to job-shared teachers."
Those who participated were asked questions pertaining to their date of hire, position, understanding of what a layoff notice is, if they understood what seniority meant and who could do their job if they were laid off, among others.
While the hearings are standard and procedural, they may cause teachers to feel unappreciated.
"These proceedings become very impersonal and teachers feel like they're on trial because they did something wrong," said Justine Cunningham, president of Associated Chino Teachers. "They're up there having to justify their position as a teacher and that's unfortunate."
Cunningham said some teachers have told her they felt "devalued" after coming off the stand.
"Even though it was said before the hearings that the hearings have nothing to do with their job performance, but because they're having to justify their job they feel unappreciated," she said.
Teachers are not required to attend the trials, but if they are not there and their name is called on to defend their position they may lose their chance to be heard, Cunningham said.
After the hearings, the judge is required to make proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law which is sent to the school board for possible adoption.
But districts are not required to adopt the proposed decision.
Trials can take a couple hours, a full day or two, or longer.
In Chino Valley's case it was a two-day process, Thursday and Friday. Those who attended brought a sack lunch, read papers or books, sipped on coffee or soda and even texted other teachers in the room.
So if they're all there, who's in the classroom?
"Subs, and a lot of them," said Cunningham.
She said on Thursday the district was able to provide 171 substitutes, equal to the number of teachers who attended.
But, that was not the case on Friday when teachers were informed there were not enough substitutes available, Cunningham said.
A little more than 100 teachers attended Friday's hearings.
"Because there aren't enough substitutes other teachers at the school sites are responsible for teaching their peers' classrooms," Cunningham said. "Again it has become a responsibility of the other teachers to teach the children of these teachers who are at these hearings."
On average, a substitute could cost a district $100-$120 a day.
What is happening in the Chino Valley district is not uncommon.
Chaffey Joint Union and Fontana Unified school districts held their hearings earlier this month.
In Fontana's district, 380 permanent teachers and 200 temporary ones received layoff notices.
Their hearings were held April 2 and 3.
Claremont Unified School District has doled out 28 layoff notices. Their hearings will be held Thursday.
"I'm hoping that something will change between now and Thursday," said Suzanne Miller, president of Claremont Faculty Association. "The way the district has painted it, (the situation) is very bleak. The teachers are wondering if they should even bother with paperwork and Reduction In Force hearings."
That said, Pomona Unified was able to cancel its hearings and rescind its 645 layoff notices after receiving $10.3 million in federal stimulus funds.
Steve Ball was among the crowd at the Chino Community Building. The sixth-grade teacher at E.J. Marshall Elementary School said after the hearings on Thursday, which let out after 8 p.m., many teachers went back to this classroom to create lesson plans for their substitutes for Friday, "to make sure their class runs right."
"I don't think there is a bad guy here rather I think everyone is trying to work out a bad situation," he said.
canan.tasci@inlandnewspapers.com
<USDEFAULT>mediha.dimartino@<QA0>
inlandnewspapers.com
(909) 483-9329.
Hamblin -- who teaches at Chaparral Elementary School -- is one of 171 in the Chino Valley district who received preliminary layoff notices, officially known as Reduction In Force notices.
State laws required school districts to notify teachers, counselors, school nurses and others by March 15 that they could be released from their jobs at the end of the current school year.
The hearings are conducted to determine if the district has properly followed the Education Code procedure and accurately notified employees.
Hamblin and fellow teacher Carol Somerville job-share, when two teachers split the number of hours they teach in a classroom, to allow for flexibility.
On Friday, the two came equipped with Education Code ammunition for the questions likely to be asked by attorneys from the district and their own teachers' union.
In Hamblin's hand was a 1-inch thick blue folder with three Post-it notes on the outside. In tiny handwriting each yellow sheet of paper detailed sections of the Education Code.
Inside the folder was supporting information regarding the state code, union agreements and any other material the two women who have worked for the district for 11 years could find and use when asked questions.
"It was nerve-wracking being up there, but worth it so we can be heard," Somerville said. "Everyone needs to know what's going on when it comes to job-shared teachers."
Those who participated were asked questions pertaining to their date of hire, position, understanding of what a layoff notice is, if they understood what seniority meant and who could do their job if they were laid off, among others.
While the hearings are standard and procedural, they may cause teachers to feel unappreciated.
"These proceedings become very impersonal and teachers feel like they're on trial because they did something wrong," said Justine Cunningham, president of Associated Chino Teachers. "They're up there having to justify their position as a teacher and that's unfortunate."
Cunningham said some teachers have told her they felt "devalued" after coming off the stand.
"Even though it was said before the hearings that the hearings have nothing to do with their job performance, but because they're having to justify their job they feel unappreciated," she said.
Teachers are not required to attend the trials, but if they are not there and their name is called on to defend their position they may lose their chance to be heard, Cunningham said.
After the hearings, the judge is required to make proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law which is sent to the school board for possible adoption.
But districts are not required to adopt the proposed decision.
Trials can take a couple hours, a full day or two, or longer.
In Chino Valley's case it was a two-day process, Thursday and Friday. Those who attended brought a sack lunch, read papers or books, sipped on coffee or soda and even texted other teachers in the room.
So if they're all there, who's in the classroom?
"Subs, and a lot of them," said Cunningham.
She said on Thursday the district was able to provide 171 substitutes, equal to the number of teachers who attended.
But, that was not the case on Friday when teachers were informed there were not enough substitutes available, Cunningham said.
A little more than 100 teachers attended Friday's hearings.
"Because there aren't enough substitutes other teachers at the school sites are responsible for teaching their peers' classrooms," Cunningham said. "Again it has become a responsibility of the other teachers to teach the children of these teachers who are at these hearings."
On average, a substitute could cost a district $100-$120 a day.
What is happening in the Chino Valley district is not uncommon.
Chaffey Joint Union and Fontana Unified school districts held their hearings earlier this month.
In Fontana's district, 380 permanent teachers and 200 temporary ones received layoff notices.
Their hearings were held April 2 and 3.
Claremont Unified School District has doled out 28 layoff notices. Their hearings will be held Thursday.
"I'm hoping that something will change between now and Thursday," said Suzanne Miller, president of Claremont Faculty Association. "The way the district has painted it, (the situation) is very bleak. The teachers are wondering if they should even bother with paperwork and Reduction In Force hearings."
That said, Pomona Unified was able to cancel its hearings and rescind its 645 layoff notices after receiving $10.3 million in federal stimulus funds.
Steve Ball was among the crowd at the Chino Community Building. The sixth-grade teacher at E.J. Marshall Elementary School said after the hearings on Thursday, which let out after 8 p.m., many teachers went back to this classroom to create lesson plans for their substitutes for Friday, "to make sure their class runs right."
"I don't think there is a bad guy here rather I think everyone is trying to work out a bad situation," he said.
canan.tasci@inlandnewspapers.com
<USDEFAULT>mediha.dimartino@<QA0>
inlandnewspapers.com
(909) 483-9329.
These administrative hearings, not trials, were the result of teachers requesting them, not because it was something forced upon them.
The question is, given the condition of the finances of the Chino Valley school district, what did the teachers' union hope to gain by forcing the district to go through administrative hearings for everyone of the teachers slated for lay-off? Publicity or additional financial burden to the district?
And who else receives an administrative hearing after receiving a lay-off notice?
This article was either written by an incompetent or someone closely aligned with the teachers' point of view.
Dear Chino Parent,
The hearings are part of due process and required by Ed code. Don't blame the teachers. Blame the illegal aliens that have cost this state billions and billions of dollars every year. Your child is being cheated out of a quality education because it is costing taxpayers/California so much money to provide illegal aliens free healthcare, free housing, welfare, Section 8 housing, and jails.
Here we go again...........Dear Bill. illegals are not the only ones receiving free healthcare, free housing, welfare, & section 8. there are plenty of lazy welfare recipients that are born in the good old USA. White, black and yes even mexicans that are historic welfare babies that have been raised and now are collecting aid for their own offspring. Welfare is unfortunatly a way of life for many of these lazy ass drugged out lowlife people, and that is just a fact of life.