Legislative Council (AR) Meeting

We had a good AR Meeting last night.  We heard from Dan Bseiso of Western Governor's University about discounts, scholarships, and fee waivers for NEA members.  Please contact Dan at dbseiso@wgu.edu for more information.

Congratulations to the following schools for being on track to have 100% EFT flips by the end of May:  JATC (100%), Southland (100%), Jordan Ridge, West Jordan Elementary, Rosamond, Oakcrest, Eastlake, West Jordan Middle, Majestic, Copper Canyon, Elk Meadows, Elk Ridge, Valley, Butterfield Canyon, Westvale, Hayden Peak, and Terra Linda!

We heard speeches from the candidates for JEA Offices.  See this blog post for more information.  Primary voting for vice president is taking place now through Thursday, March 22.  Ballots are due by 5:00 to the JEA Office or the mailroom at the ASB.  Finalists will be announced on Friday.  Once general election ballots are printed, they will be sent out.

We also discussed the legislative session that just concluded.  Many items that UEA was worried about including limits to collective bargaining, loss of payroll deduction for dues collection, vouchers/tuition tax credits, and eliminating orderly termination died this year.  The budget funds new student growth, a 1.16% on the WPU, which will cover the increased costs of Social Security and retirement, and teacher supply money.  Computer adaptive testing was funded as well.  If you are a parent and wish to be on the School Community Council at the school your child attends, you may now do that.  There is a pilot program for Peer Assistance and Review, a program developed by NEA over 20 years ago.  We will wait to see if Jordan applies to be part of that pilot.

SB64 - Public Education Employment Reform was discussed at length.  Please visit UEA Under the Dome for all the details.  If you have any questions about this bill, please let me know.  UEA, Utah School Boards Association, and other education groups were involved in writing this bill.  It raises accountability, emphasizes instructional improvement, ties salary to satisfactory performance, expedites the dismissal process, and provides guidelines for administrator evaluations.