ESEA Brings Chaos to Sheboygan Falls

Editor’s note: Why should we worry about the so-called “No Child Left Behind Act?” Well, first, there are the obvious reasons: this new federal law places overemphasis on testing and adds many new unfunded demands on our already underfunded schools. And now, many unforeseen issues are beginning to arise. Over the summer, 22 of our colleagues in Sheboygan Falls found out the hard way about some of the hidden evils lurking in this law. Columnist Terry Lawler went there to try to sort out what happened.

By Terry Lawler

For the educational aides in the Sheboygan Falls School District, it has been a summer filled with confusion, frustration and anger. They’ve been riding a roller coaster of emotions, being told one day that they have jobs and the next day that they are terminated. This roller coaster is powered by a variety of fuels, the most powerful of which is the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
Last March, the district told the aides that five of their positions would be cut for the next school year.

Then on May 27, everything looked fine when all 22 aides received a letter from Superintendent C. Lee Riter thanking them for being a “caring support staff who put forth…extra effort” and assuring all 22 that the district was not expecting “any further personnel changes for the 2003-2004 school year.”

Clyde Clauson

"In other words,” said Clyde Clauson, director of the Kettle Moraine UniServ Council, “as of May 27, all 22 aides were hired back.”

Imagine the aides’ shock when they all received a letter dated July 1 that the district was “serving layoff notices on all instructional aides who do not have a minimum of two years of accredited college work or a recognized and approved associate degree.”

Citing the so-called “No Child Left Behind” legislation as the motivation for this action, Riter told all 22 that they were “placed on layoff” from their positions.

Confused? So are Clauson and the 22 affected aides. “This is an irrational chain of events,” Clauson said. “There’s no way to make sense of it all.”

Clauson found out that the School Board, in closed session, was given a staffing report last March calling for the reduction of aide positions from 22 to 12. As far as Clauson knows, no vote was taken by the board in regard to this report.

The board ostensibly knew in March it was going to cut 10 positions for next year but told the aides that five positions were being cut. Then, the May 27 letter assured the staff that no cuts were being made. Finally, all 22 aides were laid off in July, apparently with the intent of hiring back those who met the newly imposed and never disclosed training requirements.

The ESEA – sometimes called the No Child Left Behind law – does spell out new education and training requirements for some paraprofessionals. However, only Title I aides (only one of the Sheboygan Falls aides is Title I) are affected by this legislation. Furthermore, ESEA gives Title I aides until January 8, 2006, to meet those requirements, and the district's single Title I aide enrolled to get training this summer but was terminated anyway. Another six of the 22 Sheboygan Falls aides have two-year degrees, meaning they also have already met the new district requirements, which were created and imposed without the aides’ input or knowledge.

According to Clauson, the only place this new training requirement appeared in print was the advertisement the board put out for replacement workers.” No lead time was given to the aides to meet these new requirements.

Of course, the district can’t do that, Clauson said. “Changes in requirements for positions have to be bargained, not capriciously applied,” he said. “The aides’ contract requires that the district demonstrate just cause for terminating an employee. It did not make an effort to do so in this case.” The elimination of a position is a layoff, but not all these positions were eliminated. Making an important distinction, Clauson said, “The aides were arbitrarily terminated, not laid off.”

Michelle Arthur

One of the aides, Michelle Arthur, questions the district’s sincerity. “There were seven in-service training sessions scheduled for aides last school year. Five were cancelled. Further training didn’t seem to be a high priority to the district just a few months ago. We’ve taken every workshop offered and used our own money for further education. You try to teach your own kids to be truthful, but people in administration don’t model that behavior.”

Beyond the termination issues are questions about the wisdom of the board’s actions.

Nancy Wisse

Nancy Wisse, another aide, questions whether the district understands the importance of the experience and commitment of the staff. “I work as a high school ED aide. I see CD aides tube-feeding one student while helping another student to eat. That devotion does not come with a college degree.”

“I love my job,” added Arthur. “I have a heart for these kids. I want the opportunity to prove myself. Are the new people they hire willing to work for $10 to $11 an hour, or is this just a stepping stone for them?”

Alice Samse

As of this writing, six of the original 22 aides have been hired back because the district eventually realized they meet the new education requirements. But Alice Samse, another of the aides who remain terminated said, “Consistency is important to these kids, and I question the board’s decision to bring in new aides.”

Wisse, Samse and Arthur can only speculate as to why all this has happened.

“We just finished bargaining our contract, and many of us were very aggressive in trying to bargain a good contract. Does the district now want to hire a bunch of people who will not make waves?” Samse asked.

WEAC was so concerned about the Sheboygan Falls School District’s misinterpretation of the letter and intent of the ESEA law that it issued a news release over the summer warning other school districts not to follow Sheboygan Falls’ example.

“We will vigorously pursue any district or administrator who tries to harm our members through this kind of gross misinterpretation of the law,” said WEAC President Stan Johnson.

Several parents have stepped forth to support the aides. Dana Buschke was quoted in the local newspaper as saying her daughter is enrolled in Sheboygan Falls “because of the aides here; they’re wonderful.” Another parent, Joan Hoffman, said, “I’ve told people that I was very proud of the schools here. I won’t be saying that again. This is very unfair.”

The board held a grievance hearing August 18, and denied the union’s claim. “It is on to arbitration,” Clauson said.

Sheboygan Falls Education Support Staff Association President Tim Sass said the hiring back of six of the aides “is a start. But we will not rest until all 22 have their jobs back.”