By Katherine Sather
Hiring a new teacher in the Mercer Island School District is rarely a contentious issue.
But more than 60 people attended a PTA meeting last week at West Mercer Elementary for an emotional debate about hiring an instructor with PTA money. By the end of the meeting, the West Mercer PTA voted to go through with a donation of roughly $50,000 for a teacher to help its struggling third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students who aren’t meeting district and state standards.
The district has taken donated money to buy playground equipment and even hire teaching assistants, but school officials say this is the first time private money has been used to hire a full-time teacher. The PTA’s decision was met with some opposition by those who thought it wasn’t appropriate.
At the meeting, the group decided not to financially support the position beyond this school year. PTA members will help administrators find other sources of funding if the instructor is to stay at West Mercer, said Betsy Seaton, PTA president.
“In the longer term, we didn’t see that this was the right funding model, having the PTA funding this position in a public school,” she said.
The teacher, to be called an “educational consultant,” will be hired by the Mercer Island School District in collaboration with the Puget Sound Educational Services District (ESD), an inter-district agency that supports schools in Pierce and King County. Spokesperson Joan Tritchler said the agency has been a part of similar partnerships where schools hired teachers with grants and donations.
West Mercer gets Title 1 money to help first and second graders who aren’t meeting standards, but students in other grades don’t have that extra help. The new teacher will work with a group of 15 to 25 students in the third, fourth and fifth grade who aren’t performing at grade level in reading and math. The teacher’s work day will be from 8 to 5 p.m., so at least some students won’t have to be pulled out of regular class time to get help.
“Basically they’ll be working with kids before and after school for kids who need a double dose of a subject,” said principal Jean Anthony.
The teacher will be supervised by Anthony on a daily basis, and will send weekly e-mails to both Anthony and the executive director of the Puget Sound ESD, Gordon Linse, with updates. Anthony hopes to hire by Nov. 7.
While most everyone at the meeting agreed that there was a need for a teacher to help struggling students, many people voiced concern about using PTA dollars for the position.
“The concerns are the source of the funding for this program,” said Christine Oakes, a member of the PTA executive committee. “And the ability to sustain a program like this over a long period of time.”
The donation will drain a reserve the group has had for about five years, she said, and the PTA won’t be left with enough money to help pay for the position after this year without more fundraising. Most people were against additional fundraising.
“People thought that in agreeing to fund this at all, we were letting the district and state government off the hook and relieving them of obligations they have,” she said.
Both the School Board and the Mercer Island Education Association (MIEA), the local teacher’s union, approved the proposal earlier this year. At the Washington Education Association, which serves as the state teacher’s union, spokesperson Rich Wood said that hiring a teacher with PTA funds is a unique situation, and it points out a need for more state funding.
“There’s a concern when you start relying on donations to fund schools,” he said. “You can’t necessarily count on that money to be there down the road.”
He said Washington ranks sixth among states with the largest teacher to student ratios in public schools, with an average of 19 students per teacher in 2004-2005.
“Our state has increased academic standards but not provided funding and resources that schools need to ensure all students have opportunities to meet those high standards,” he said.
