According to Christa Erolin, who is tasked with making deployment decisions,

Being fiscally responsible is a good thing. Being fiscally responsible also includes fully funding programs to ensure EQUITABLE ACCESS to QUALITY INSTRUCTION so that Whole Children can be served by Whole Educators. We are not asking for extra, just for what is necessary to do our jobs well.

There is no staffing formula. There is no equity. There are not reliable projected class counts for next year. There is no consideration given to cohesive, quality instruction. Instruction should not be piecemeal. Students should have one instructor, or the co-teaching model, as set out in the CBA, should be followed.

We need to continue educating administration on what can be done to improve student learning within a fiscally responsible framework and how to use their human resources wisely.

Use the assignment preference process to clearly communicate with Christa. Communicate with principals, directors, Teaching and Learning administration, parents, union and school board.

Suggestions for filling out your assignment preference form and accompanying correspondence, as well as supporting advocacy materials for PE and Music can be found below. You might also add thoughts on being asked to sign a contract before knowing what your job encompasses.

Visit tacomaspecialists.org for advocacy materials, who to address, and example letters to help organize your thoughts and promote a productive dialog.

Steve Johnson, PE Specialist at Lowell and Fawcett makes the case for

in an open letter to TPS administration. Click below for the full transcript.

...The research has made a direct connection between academic achievement and physical activity, thus bolstering the importance of physical education. Nationally, physical education classes are being reduced or eliminated across the country. The number 1 argument given by administrators and educators is that physical education takes away from important classroom instruction. Studies have found the exact opposite. A review of large-scale studies found that academic performance is maintained or enhanced by an increase in a student’s level of physical activity, despite a reduction in the time for the study of academic material18,19. On the other hand, adding time to “academic” or “curricular” subjects by taking time from physical education programs does not enhance grades in these subjects and may be detrimental to health20.

...I believe each elementary school should have a full time PE teacher. If a school is less than a 1.0 FTE, then the principal should decide how that PE teacher should be used. An example would be providing additional PE times on a rotating basis to all classrooms as a way to move the amount of PE time closer to the state mandate of 100 minutes per week, which would allow for more health content and/or moderate to vigorous physical activity, to support the academic success, and/or the social emotional learning of the students.

Pizza and PE

Dr. Adrian Talley, Superintendent of the Indian Prairie School District 204 in Chicago, Illinois discusses the importance of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child approach in education. Dr. Talley explains why physical education is an integral part of student learning and how he gets teacher and principal buy-in. As a first year superintendent of Indian Prairie School District 204, he shares some of the challenges he has faced during the pandemic.

Superintendent Santorno and the Teaching and Learning Team intend to take a resolution to the board. Add your voice to the list of Arts Supporters by contacting your school board and encouraging parents to support arts in our schools.