See proposed DODEA organizational chart
ARLINGTON, Va. — The teachers union for Defense Department schools is at odds with administration over plans to change the Department Defense Education Activity’s chain of command.
DODEA is looking to hire area superintendents for both Europe and the Pacific who will focus on educational issues, which traditionally have been under the purview of area directors, said DODEA spokeswoman Elaine Kanellis.
Beginning in September, the area superintendents will report directly to DODEA headquarters, while the area directors will focus on administrative matters, such as budget, logistics and military construction, Kanellis said.
One reason for refocusing area directors’ attention on issues other than education is they were so busy with other things that, "They really didn’t focus in as much as they needed to on the curriculum piece," said DODEA Director Shirley Miles, who has led the reorganization.
"Anyone can go to our Web site and see that DODEA scores, while very good and way above the national average, have been stagnant for the last 10 years," Miles said.
Under the reorganized chain of command, neither the teachers union nor the military commands have a direct relationship with area superintendents, said Michael Priser, president of the Federal Education Association. That will create a "disconnect" between military commands and educational policy makers, Priser wrote in an e-mail to DODEA.
"Preventing direct contact by the military with the educational policy decision makers, we feel, is not in the best interest of education or proper communication with the stakeholders," Priser wrote.
Representatives from military commands had little to say about the effects of the reorganization plan, but Priser said in an interview that DODEA would have to change its contract with the teachers union to allow the union to deal directly with area superintendents. Both the union and military commands have been told to continue to take problems to area directors, not area superintendents.
"What we don’t understand is, why are we dealing with the area director and not the area superintendent when that’s the person who deals directly with the schools and the educational policy?" Priser said. "Not only should we be dealing with that person, but we believe the military should, as well."
Kanellis said the area directors have the responsibility for making sure the union’s concerns are handled by the appropriate people, such as area superintendents.
"As there has always been and will be, there is a direct line of communication between FEA area directors and DODEA area directors," she said in an e-mail. "This arrangement was negotiated between DODEA and the FEA and DODEA will adhere to the lines of communication negotiated in the agreement."
Miles dismissed Priser’s concerns.
When handed a copy of Priser’s letter, she declined to read it, saying, "I don’t know and I don’t care."
Miles said she is focused on the way forward.
"The old we/them role of the union vs. administration is past — it’s past and passe," she said.
The union’s concern that the reorganization would exclude the military commands from decisions on curriculum is unfounded, Miles said.
"The commands don’t have input over curriculum," she said. "They expect us to do our job, and our job is to focus in on student achievement."
Diana J. Ohman is area director for Europe, but she will become the area director for the Pacific in time for the next school year.
Ohman said she also expects to continue to be "a player at the table on educational issues," because she will still provide input in superintendent meetings and other venues, such as the component command advisory councils.
"I’m not gonna let go of education," Ohman said. "I believe that it is still my duty to understand educational issues and be able to deliver information about that to those councils."
Ohman said the reorganization deserves a fair chance and time to see if it works.
"Now the proof is always in the pudding; now if we do this a couple of years and we don’t see the things we want to see come to fruition with scores ... then I think we need to re-look at it," she said.
