Parkway teachers protest district’s abuse
of evaluation process

Parkway’s apple has worms. Respect the agreement. Value teachers.
We’ve earned respect.

These are some of the messages displayed on Parkway NEA members’ picket signs as they staged a protest in front of the Parkway School District Administrative Center Oct. 27-30. Parkway NEA, a Missouri NEA local affiliate in suburban St. Louis, organized the event in protest of the abuses of the teacher-performance evaluation process.

The local association’s goal is to stop and remedy the intolerable harassment of Elizabeth Lodholz, an experienced and well respected fifth-grade teacher in the district.

“We want everyone to know that Parkway NEA members are not going to tolerate abuses of the evaluation process and its use to intimidate, harass and coerce teachers,” Parkway NEA President Jane Shoup says. “Parkway NEA demands that every teacher be treated with respect, honor and dignity. Elizabeth is a teacher who works at Ross School and is as good a teacher as there may be anywhere in Parkway. She is a tenured Parkway teacher who is a Fulbright Master Teacher with 11 years of teaching experience and is one of the best.”

For the past five months, association representatives have worked to resolve this matter through formal and informal channels. These efforts have failed to produce a resolution.

“This experience has made me realize how important my Missouri NEA membership is,” Lodholz says. “I could not have endured this awful experience without the support of fellow PNEA members. This has been an incredible journey, but fortunately I have never been alone. All I want now is to get back to the business of teaching children.”

The chain of events began in June when Lodholz received a summative evaluation report rating her as “less than meeting expectations” in the area of interpersonal relationships with students, parents and staff.

“The evaluation was based on inaccurate allegations and had been prepared without warning and in the absence of a formative phase as required by the local association’s agreement with the Parkway School District,” explains UniServ Director Vito Maniaci.

Lodholz grieved the process violation, but the principal’s decision was upheld at each step of the grievance procedure.

“Unfortunately, grievances related to evaluations may not be submitted to arbitration as are other grievances,” Maniaci says. “Under the terms of the agreement, Elizabeth has the right to a fair and just evaluation. She received neither fairness nor justice.”

Parkway NEA and Lodholz protested the superintendent’s final decision but agreed to work through a professional improvement plan. Then Lodholz’s principal began conducting frequent classroom observations, sometimes two per week and often more than one in a day until the constant scrutiny began to interfere with Lodholz’s ability to teach.

Parkway NEA is now assisting Lodholz as she works through the professional improvement plan. Shoup and Maniaci, who attend every post-observation conference, are closely monitoring the plan’s implementation.