Wichita Teachers Union Refuses Agreement Including Lesson-Plan Requirements

Representatives of United Teachers of Wichita reached a tentative one-year contract agreement on Friday, following a heated dispute in which the union balked at a proposed clause that would require teachers to keep well-crafted daily lessons plans. The Wichita Eagle reports that the agreement was reached late Friday, and it is not yet clear which side prevailed in the lesson-plan fight.

A deal proposed by the district would require teachers to prepare lesson plans containing various mandatory details such as learning objectives and pacing references, according to the Eagle.

The current labor contract requires teachers to make lesson plans “only in sufficient detail to provide guidance to the teacher,” which leaves room for a range of different planning methods. Teachers must also provide their lesson plans and other teaching materials to school principals if asked.

Leaders of United Teachers of Wichita, which represents some 4,000 currently vacationing teachers, call compulsory daily lesson plans “busy work.”

“That’s going to take away the art of teaching, and it almost becomes like they’re doing cookie-cutter lessons,” Randy Mousley, president of the teachers union, told the Eagle.

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