Some good news! Senator Chris Buttars retires. We need to find a strong, education friendly candidate from the West Jordan/South Jordan/Herriman area to run for his Senate seat.
Enrollment Growth Funded was the highlight of the legislative session. The article also addresses the many policy bills that hurt teachers.
Lowest Bidder is a letter to the editor on SB 73 - Teacher Tenure. We need to encourage the governor to veto this bill.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Joint Negotiated Committee
One of the issues brought to the Joint Negotiated Committee was the lack of attendance at High School Parent Teacher Conferences. Working together, JEA and JSD Administration designed surveys for educators and parents about ideas for changing the format of High School Parent Teacher Conferences. If you teach in or have your own children attending a Jordan District High School, please go to the Jordan District website to take the survey.
Day Eight at the Legislature
Yesterday a bill was passed that will have long-term, unintended, and maybe some intended consequences. The legislature passed SB 73 Substitute - Public School Teacher Tenure Modifications (H. Stephenson). The bill says, "A school district may not utilize a last-hired, first-fired layoff policy when terminating school district employees. A school district may consider the following factors when terminating a school district employee: the results of an employee's performance evaluation; and a school's personnel needs." See Salt Lake Tribune article for more.
Representative Joel Briscoe tried to amend the bill to be less harsh, but his amendment failed. This bill is waiting for Governor Herbert's signature.
JEA will work with career employee members who are being laid off without the District considering evaluation or school need. The bill does not have an effective date, so it will most likely go into effect July 1, 2011.
I will post a summary of the legislature where you can find information about the bills that passed and the impact those bills will have on your daily work and career.
Representative Joel Briscoe tried to amend the bill to be less harsh, but his amendment failed. This bill is waiting for Governor Herbert's signature.
JEA will work with career employee members who are being laid off without the District considering evaluation or school need. The bill does not have an effective date, so it will most likely go into effect July 1, 2011.
I will post a summary of the legislature where you can find information about the bills that passed and the impact those bills will have on your daily work and career.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Day Seven at the Legislature - Educator Day on the Hill
We had a good turnout for Educator Day on the Hill with 10 teachers. In total, there were 45 teachers from around the state lobbying on your behalf. As a group we were able to talk with many legislators.
We started by talking to Representative Jim Bird, pictured with Robin Frodge of West Jordan High, and thanking him for being a great supporter of public education.
Then Representative Merlynn Newbold, pictured talking to Melinda Mansouri of Bingham High, spent quite a bit of time talking to several teachers. Melinda was well prepared to ask questions about specific bills. We asked many questions about Rep. Newbold's HB 313 - Charter School Funding. She does not see why we view the bill as bad for education. Go to my prior post about this bill to learn more.
Several of the teachers from Jordan live in Draper and Sandy and are represented by Representative Greg Hughes, seen with Karen Brown (left) of Bluffdale and Vivian Gubler of Rosamond. They asked him about HB 313 - Charter School Funding. His children attend charter schools, and he became defensive as the teachers asked more questions. He said, "You are demonizing parents and children who attend charter schools," then he walked away. It was a surprising interaction.
Ginny Raiser, a literacy coach, talked to her representative, Ken Ivory. He listened intently and asked her some questions. He is willing to meet with her after the session and have more dialogue. This is a positive step.
Another friendly legislator we were able to talk to is Representative Joel Briscoe, pictured with Linda White of Rosamond. He is a UniServ Director for Davis Education Association, so he does all he can to influence his colleagues on the hill to understand education issues and support UEA.
Congressman Jim Matheson was in town and spoke to us for a few minutes mid-morning. You can see Mallory Meyer of Sunset Ridge, Debbie Atwood of Falcon Ridge, and Karen Brown in the background. A question was asked about AYP and NCLB and how there are a lot of other factors besides the teacher. He gave an example of the same teacher having 18 students who all come from stable homes or having 34 students with issues at home and how the test results would be different despite the teacher being the same. He understands the variables we face in the classroom.
He said there is a positive relationship between teachers and the communities where they teach, and that relationship needs to be used at the legislature.
He was asked about the issues in Wisconsin. He said there are 140+ items in the huge bill their governor has proposed in addition to the collective bargaining that haven't even come to the attention of the public.
Rep. Matheson emphasized the importance of attending caucus meetings to become county and state delegates. He believes the majority of people in Utah are centrist in their views, but they don't participate. Usually the extremists on both sides are the ones involved in the process of caucuses, become delegates, and select the candidates to go on the ballot.
NCLB should have been reauthorized in 2007, but it hasn't been yet. He said that there is still a lack of clarity with new members of Congress. Until they get their feet on the ground, nothing happens. The budget is taking a lot of time right now.
His final thoughts were on curriculum. He doesn't think the legislature should be making currciulum. Parents may see the idea that students learn civics and character education as good, but if presented with the idea that the legislature is legislating curriculum, they would not like that.
We then went to the Senate to see if anyone would come talk to us. The Senators do not come out of the chamber as readily as House members. Since four in our group live in Senator Howard Stephenson's area, they put all of their names on the request, and we were summoned into the Senate office. Senator Stephenson was very cordial. He would like data on students being asked to leave charter schools. He admitted that some teachers in charter schools are not certified, a different story than what we heard from Rep. Newbold and Rep. Hughes. He admitted that some have higher test scores and some do not.
Sen. Stephenson made an interesting point. He said that when there is scarcity (lottery to enter a charter school), people tend to think it is better, because it is scare. He said that is not necessarily true. He still supports HB313 - Charter School Funding, but he was civil. He had to cut our conversation off to make an amendment on a bill coming to the Senate floor. It was to make the Association Leave bill harsher. The bill would have allowed up to 10 days per person to take days of leave for Association business and be paid. He amended the bill to 0 days, and it passed out of the Senate.
After lunch, we listened in on the House for a while, but no education related bills came up.
He said there is a positive relationship between teachers and the communities where they teach, and that relationship needs to be used at the legislature.
He was asked about the issues in Wisconsin. He said there are 140+ items in the huge bill their governor has proposed in addition to the collective bargaining that haven't even come to the attention of the public.
Rep. Matheson emphasized the importance of attending caucus meetings to become county and state delegates. He believes the majority of people in Utah are centrist in their views, but they don't participate. Usually the extremists on both sides are the ones involved in the process of caucuses, become delegates, and select the candidates to go on the ballot.
NCLB should have been reauthorized in 2007, but it hasn't been yet. He said that there is still a lack of clarity with new members of Congress. Until they get their feet on the ground, nothing happens. The budget is taking a lot of time right now.
His final thoughts were on curriculum. He doesn't think the legislature should be making currciulum. Parents may see the idea that students learn civics and character education as good, but if presented with the idea that the legislature is legislating curriculum, they would not like that.
Sen. Stephenson made an interesting point. He said that when there is scarcity (lottery to enter a charter school), people tend to think it is better, because it is scare. He said that is not necessarily true. He still supports HB313 - Charter School Funding, but he was civil. He had to cut our conversation off to make an amendment on a bill coming to the Senate floor. It was to make the Association Leave bill harsher. The bill would have allowed up to 10 days per person to take days of leave for Association business and be paid. He amended the bill to 0 days, and it passed out of the Senate.
After lunch, we listened in on the House for a while, but no education related bills came up.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Legislature Today
HB 301 - School District Property Tax Revisions by Representative Merlynn Newbold passed out of the House on a 39-31 vote with 5 absent. This bill appears to be a companion to HB 313 - Charter School Funding Amendments. See Utah Gravy Train blog for how the two are connected and how harmful they will be to public schools if passed.
Please visit UEA President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh's blog to see what is happening from her perspective. Also, Under the Dome gives an overview of many of the 110 education related bills that are being followed by UEA. Stay informed and active. We only have 5 days of the legislative session to go!
Please visit UEA President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh's blog to see what is happening from her perspective. Also, Under the Dome gives an overview of many of the 110 education related bills that are being followed by UEA. Stay informed and active. We only have 5 days of the legislative session to go!
Charter School Funding Bills
Please see the blog at UtahGravyTrain on Parents for Choice bills being run by Representative Merlynn Newbold. The blog looks at the long-term impact of the two bills, HB 301 and HB 313. Please contact your legislators and encourage them to vote against both of these bills.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Meeting with Interim Superintendent Stoddard
I had my monthly meeting with Dave Stoddard this morning. We talked about some policies to consider at our next joint negotiated meeting. I also brought up the problems with going from year-round to traditional and traditional to year-round, which we both expect to happen over the next few years. Currently, there are five candidates for the superintendent position. Dave said he expects more applications to come in during the last week before the due date. Dave also mentioned again that the School Board is making PLC's a priority.
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