A recent survey of nearly 90 Covington Independent Schools employees found strong opinions and concerns about the district’s “Schools of Innovation” pilot, sparking conversation with the district’s board of education last Thursday.
The Covington Education Association, a local affiliate of the Kentucky Education Association, created a survey last month and presented results to the district’s board of education during an Oct. 8 meeting.
The survey focused on hot-button items including salaries, merit pay and an almost unanimous objection to charter schools — rumors of which board members forcefully dispelled Thursday. It also found respondents unlikely to trust the board of education to listen to educators’ input on the pilot initiative.
The survey follows the Kentucky Board of Education approval in August to pilot the state’s “Schools of Innovation” initiative in Covington. The designation provides the district waivers from certain state regulations and a combined $5 million to pursue innovative educational measures. It’s still unclear what those waivers and funding will mean as the district continues to gather community input. The board has yet to discuss or approve a multi-party agreement necessary to receive funding.
Click here for more LINK nky Schools of Innovation stories
Survey questions, findings
Stacy Recker, an officer for the Covington Education Association, which represents teachers but does not function as a recognized union, presented the results Thursday.
Recker said there is ongoing confusion and rumors about whether the Schools of Innovation initiative is a way to create charter schools, which are unconstitutional in Kentucky. The survey found 97.7% of respondents oppose charter schools.
“When you look at the original proposal that was put out last year, it has things that are associated with charter schools, and so there is that perception that is there,” Recker said. Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of the Schools of Innovation funding bill also cited that same concern.
Recker also specifically pointed to the leadership of EducateNKY, the organization which will be providing the $2.5 million private match for the district’s initiative.
“The president of EducateNKY has almost entirely a 100% background in charter schools. So … he’s going to bring that look with him,” Recker said.
The survey also asked about merit pay, or salaries based on performance, finding 89.5% of respondents in opposition.
Recker said merit pay emerged as a talking point during conversations among the task force assembled to apply for the waivers. The district applied to waive the state’s salary structure in hopes of allowing merit pay, but was denied that waiver.
“This is definitely something that you know we as CEA, and we as teachers, are not supportive of, and we don’t want to see that happen because it is not good for our students,” Recker said.
The survey also found most respondents don’t think the school board is likely to listen to teachers about the district’s participation in the Schools of Innovation initiative.
“That tells me that we have some relationship building to do between you and our teachers, because this says they don’t really trust you,” Recker said.
Recker said distrust likely emerged from the board’s decision to apply for seven rule waivers in August, rather than the five or six she said the task force agreed to.
Lastly, Recker focused on respondents’ opinions about funding priorities. Of all respondents, 92% identified increasing salaries to retain teachers as one of their priorities.
The survey was open from Sept. 8 to Oct. 2 and was distributed through emails, flyers hung in mailrooms and brought to school meetings, according to Recker’s presentation.
Of 86 responses, 44.2% came from the district’s preschool and five elementary schools and 41.9% of responses came from Holmes High School. Only 8.1% came from Holmes Middle School and 7% came from the district’s alternative K-12 Transformational Learning Center. She said the survey link was texted to school buildings with low participation, she said.
Concerns about survey design
Recker also addressed questions from Board Member Hannah Edelen about why and how the survey was conducted.
Edelen, who said she wanted to work with the district’s educators, voiced concerns about the survey’s small sample size of 86 respondents, only 13% of the district’s employees, and the phrasing of some of its questions.
“I felt like some of the questions were a little leading in that they led respondents to use a particular answer, which to me introduces a little bit of that response bias,” Edelen said during the meeting Thursday.
Recker said it aimed to gather data on employees’ feelings toward the initiative, saying the task force assembled earlier this year to apply for the Schools of Innovation designation lacked that input. She also said the Kentucky Education Association was interested in that data.
“There will never be a charter school in Covington”
Board Chair Tom Haggard and Edelen focused their response to survey results on dispelling concerns about charter schools.
“As long as I am chair of this board, there will never be a charter school in Covington. Full stop. Will not happen. I don’t think my colleagues want that. I don’t think this community wants that. I’ve lived here my entire life, I know these folks. Nobody wants that, and it’s not going to happen. No one’s going to impose it upon us. We’re not going to let it happen,” Haggard said. Haggard is EducateNKY’s vice president of community engagement and advocacy
But Haggard said the district does need to take steps to change outcomes.
“I’m tired of people in Frankfort and out in the community rolling their eyes at me when I say we are going to build the best school district in America,” he said.
Edelen reiterated his sentiment.
“I’m not a proponent of charter schools. I’m a public educator … I don’t think once this board has said anything about creating a charter school or this district becoming a charter school. So I will say it again: that I am not a proponent of charter schools. I will not advocate for a plan that creates one, nor do I think that this board is a proponent of turning this district into one,” Edelen said.
Edelen also said she felt discussions about merit pay lacked context, saying the board was looking for opportunities to bring in industry professionals like a field biologist, rather than create a merit system for traditional educators.
Edelen also said it “hurt” her to see educators’ lack of trust in the board.
“The board wants to listen. This is a teacher-centered board,” she said.
Another Board Member, Stephen Gastright, echoed Edelen’s comments and asked for guidance from Superintendent Cortnei Flucas on how to authentically engage with educators while following governance rules, which place limitations on interactions with district personnel.
“We’re always looking for ways, I think, to engage educators more authentically. But we also understand that sometimes their presence creates maybe some anxiety, and so we are open to feedback on how to engage,” Gastright said.
Flucas attended the meeting but did not comment on the survey results. A spokesperson for the district said she is continuing to gather feedback from district personnel as part of her first 100 days in the role, which she assumed in July.
Find the Covington Education Association’s Oct. 8 presentation on survey results below.
