WORK YEAR, PLANNING, AND JOB DEFINITION. Section 7.1 - Introduction The purpose of the District is to create educational experiences for all students that will result in continual improvement in their achievement, meet the goals and standards of the state and local community, and prepare all students for the challenges of the 21st century. All resources should focus on that purpose. The job of an educator has traditionally been viewed as a simple, time-defined job, existing in a regulatory world that required schedules and time counting. Internal and external forces present challenges and create stresses to that traditional view. This has generated the need for change, adaptation, and creation of new responses to identified needs. We need, therefore, to take advantage of the opportunities that now exist to define the job in terms more associated with professional responsibility rather than time. The site decisions regarding how to provide the core and support content of the job will be made through the shared decision-making process found in the Shared Decision-Making in the Building section of this Agreement. The Board and Association encourage and support sites to explore and seek waivers of state requirements as necessary to implement shared decisions for the purpose of this section. The Board has the legal obligation to determine if a waiver request should be approved. The parties recognize that the following five (5) key concepts need to be embraced if we are to deal effectively with the demands of the job:
