The nature of our roles as union and management is that we may disagree on issues, but never on focus. Our mutual focus is to provide the best learning environment for all of our students, at every school, in every neighborhood across the district. We jointly, with all of our resources, commit to transform the Detroit Public Schools through this historic and evolutionary contract. This contract will include:
· Peer Assistance and Review
· Meaningful jointly-determined professional staff development
· Best practices at Priority Schools
· Shared decision-making
· School-based performance bonuses
· Comprehensive teacher evaluation system
We understand that to achieve what we set out to do we must eliminate bureaucratic impediments to allow flexibility, creativity, entrepreneurship, trust and risk-taking to become the new reality in our schools.
We mutually agree to transform our schools. We challenge ourselves each day to improve student learning, based on academic rigor, newfound flexibility, meaningful assessments, and true accountability of administrators, teachers and staff, parents and students. The standards we hold for our students must never be lower than those we hold for our own children. To accomplish this, we must focus on each instructional and each operational change to support the children and adults in schools, whom we expect to meet these rigorous challenges.
The academic reforms and increased level of accountability for all those responsible for instruction and instructional support of our students are meaningless unless we simultaneously ensure a comprehensive education with adequate books, supplies and technology for students and staff.
We must also guarantee a safe and secure learning environment for students and staff.
Change must be service-oriented, supportive and sufficiently flexible so that each school’s educational vision becomes a reality. Change must be practical, possible, efficient and timely. Respect for each other and for each student must be unconditional.
Together we will transform DPS. Our students deserve no less!