The Conflict Between Teachers, AUSD Superintendent

A long-simmering conflict between the local teachers' union (the Alameda Education Association, or AEA) and Alameda Unified School District Superintendent Kirsten Vital has focused, in part, on how AUSD evaluates — or disciplines — its teaching staff.

AEA leaders say the evaluation process has changed substantially, and for the worse, since Vital took over the superintendent's post. They hope to include more protection for teachers in any new labor contract. Vital, meanwhile, says the district has increased its support for teachers' professional development under her leadership.

That conflict took a very public turn recently when the AUSD posted on its website a summary of grievances filed by the AEA this year, many of them on behalf of teachers protesting evaluations they had received. Although individual teachers' names have been removed from the document, it's relatively easy in some cases to identify the school or situation prompting the disciplinary action.

The grievances have received considerable attention on Lauren Do's Blogging Bayport Alameda website. Recent posts on the subject appeared on May 2, May 3 and May 7.

Michele Ellson provides a good summary of the situation today (Tuesday, May 15) on the Alameda Community News Project website.

Meanwhile, labor negotiations between the district and the AEA continue. A conference with labor negotiators is on the agenda for the closed session of tonight's Board of Education special meeting. The public session following will focus on a recommendation to revise the district's high school graduation requirements.

The board's public session begins at 6 p.m. in the Alameda High School cafeteria, at the corner of Central Avenue and Walnut Street. The agenda is attached as a PDF.