Current assignments are unsustainable in a post-COVID scenario. Class loads vary widely among specialists, as do the amount and quality of instruction each child can access. If we are to return to compliance with the CBA, return to the not-quite-up-to-WAC-compliance amount of instructional time with students, or have any semblance of equitable workload and teaching conditions, change is necessary.

Moving forward, these issues must be addressed to ensure equitable access to quality instruction for students and reasonable, equitable workloads to allow specialists to be effective educators. The number of lessons that can be squeezed into a day is finite.

Change is coming. Be proactive.

Please take the time to share your ideas for reforming the deployment process. Share with colleagues, union reps, and administration. We have had our rights bargained away, and being a minority, we cannot, with our votes alone, rectify the problem. Now is the time to speak up if we would like to see changes made in coming agreements. Working together we can come up with a solution that makes TPS a better place to learn and work.

*based on self-reported data, official data not being available. Check here to see Music and PE assignments and workloads. Please send any corrections to tacomaspecialists@gmail.com

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

There is so much to discourage us as students go back to classrooms. The lack of autonomy as we have to rely on/impose upon/be observed by other people to even interact with our students is pretty stressful.

Back in the mists of time my SO was stationed on a Coast Guard icebreaker. They would deploy for six months at a time, transporting scientists and supplies to various bases in Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, breaking ice to open shipping lanes for other vessels.

This was before cell phones. It would be weeks between ports. We'd exchange letters, and when the ship made land there might be a splurge for an international phone call. Once or twice, in the middle of an Antarctica trip, I was woken up at 3 in the morning by a man from MARS, claiming to have a call from my loved one. MARS was(is?) a network of volunteer radio hobbyists who helped armed service members communicate when other methods were impossible. A stranger would call me and explain that he was holding up the phone to his radio to connect me to my beau. When one of us said "over" he would flip a switch so the other one of us could talk. This meant that I'd get to finally hear his voice, but so would a total stranger. It was awkward for both technical and social reasons. We had limited time, a sketchy signal, and though they tried to be unobtrusive and helpful, someone listening to our conversation.

I was grateful to these volunteers, but it was not comfortable. I was not in charge of the situation.

Fast forward 30 years. See any parallels?

Having this situation as an every-day-all-day default is wearing(understatement alert!).

When I rolled my eyes every time someone mentioned how full or empty their bucket was, I didn't know this was coming, but though I might still roll an eye, I totally get it. My bucket might actually have a hole in it.

BUT, every time a kid shows a spark of enthusiasm or curiosity, I hear a ping hit the bottom of the pail. That gives me enough hope to think that I might be hearing splashes soon.

Take care of yourself and listen hard for pings and splashes. Blah blah blah hope blah blah something April showers blah blah. Vent your frustrations, but share your triumphs. And don't be afraid to drip on other people. If we can spread germs, we can spread encouragement.

-Megan Oberfield

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Here is my 2nd grade class - they are ALL in the gym and so far the ONLY sound they have is from the laptop. In the FRONT of the gym.  The teacher has to put her ear right up against the laptop and then relay to the class what I am saying! They haven’t yet been able to hear me during our live lessons. Paula Greuling

If you are being asked to work outside of your contract, please contact Shannon Ergun at TEA.

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