Hiring victory, a step in the right direction at SED

By DEBORAH A. MILES
Members at the state Education Department (SED) may have won a battle in their quest for filling some job titles, but they haven’t won the war against contracting-out.

In March and April, SED hired 10 content specialists and one exam editor, according to Susan Kent, Division 194 council leader and Executive Board representative for members at SED.
“We were successful in that endeavor,” Kent said. “We diverted SED from doing more contracting-out by putting on the pressure both internally and in the state Legislature.”

SED has been under a hiring freeze since late 2001. Kent said the union used a three-prong approach to obtain waivers to fill the positions — the media, advocacy and labor-management
“We advocated very strongly in the labor-management meetings for the need to fill these positions, especially since we had federal funding,” she said. “We lobbied our lawmakers. And the newspaper articles about SED helped to sway the department in making the right decision to ask for hiring waivers and for the state Department of Budget to free-up the funds.”

Low grades raised concerns
Last spring, SED fell under public scrutiny through newspaper articles when only 37 percent of the students taking the Regents A Math Exam scored 55 or better, the grade requirement to earn a diploma. 

That high failure rate prompted PEF members at SED to urge officials to examine how the test is put together, and investigate the use of outside contractors for creating the tests. Over the past three years, SED has paid more than $26 million to consultants for work related to exam development. 

The recent hiring of content specialists is a step in the right direction. But the other half of the coin is the hiring of assessment staff to design, construct, scale and equate the exams. 
“The department won’t fight to get those positions filled,” Kent said.

Challenging a new title
SED still wants outside contractors to do that work, according to Kent. To make matters worse, SED has petitioned the state Civil Service Department to create a new title — psychometrician — a non-competitive position to oversee the work of the contractors and justify it to the public.
“This position should provide technical expertise in psychometrics and not provide political cover for SED management. There’s no reason for this position to be non-competitive,” Kent said. “It will not fill the gaps that occurred in that office because of the hiring freeze.”

Communicator Home June 04

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Law could reduce contracting-out
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Vote: privatization buster for ’04
Step in the right direction at SED
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