Council of Local Presidents

UEA will be working on providing information about SB 64: Education Employment Reform to members.  Are you aware of the new teacher and leader standards?  Do you know what changes will be coming to evaluations in 2014-2015?  These are the questions we will be providing answers to over the next few months.

Vote in the UEA Elections!  Go to myUEA to see information about each candidate.  Vote here!  You need your member number, which was sent to you in an email and is on your membership card.  Click "Select Election".  Click "I want to Vote".  Vote for President, Vice President, Delegate-at-Large (Tina Susuico teaches in Jordan at Majestic), and Successor Delegate-at-Large.  Click "Vote".  Click "Confirm".  Click "Logout".

NEA Directors appreciate stories from classrooms that support issues they are addressing.  I will share those issues and ask for stories through Facebook and Twitter when I learn about them.

Some bills to watch (see the UEA tracking sheet):
HB49:  Voted and Board Levy Programs Amendment - would provide one time money of $8.3 million that should have been distributed and has not.
HB55:  Amendments Related to Education Funding - freezes property tax rates so they don't go down when property values go up to keep districts revenue neutral, so there would be new revenue.
HB59:  School Board Elections Provisions - would have direct elections for state school board members instead of being selected by a committee.
HB63:  Severance Tax Amendments - credits taxes on natural resources like oil and natural gas to a permanent state trust fund.
HB64:  Felon's Right to Hold Office - prohibits convicted sex offenders from running for state or local school boards.
HB76:  Concealed Weapon Carry Amendments - changes rules on concealed weapons.
HB255:  Classified School Employee Amendments - increases number of hours required to receive state retirement for classified employees from 20+ hours to 30+ hours.
HB264:  Property Tax Notice Amendments - requires disclosure of amount of property taxes going to charter schools on property tax notice.
HB267:  State Board of Education Elections - returns to old way of selecting state school board candidates, which is local districts submitting names of candidates.
HB269:  Training of School Nurses - looks at scope of duty for approving activities for students with head injuries.
HB271:  Funding for Public Education - 25% of future growth in profits from alcohol sales to be set aside for teacher salary, benefits, and professional development.
HJR3:  Property Tax Exemption for Public Schools - exempts charter schools from paying property taxes or the company holding the lease from passing property taxes on to charter schools.
SB1:  Public Education Base Budget - base budget is same as this year.  Still expect to add money for growth.  May have to amend after sequestration in D.C. is complete.
SB110:  School-based Budgeting Amendments - "backpack" bill where money follows a student.
SB133:  School Performance Report Amendments - this would require a report of performance by teacher.
SB134:  Utah Performance Assessment Systems for Students (U-PASS) Amendments - eliminates UBSCT, and adds EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT tests.  Changes U-PASS to U-CAS.
SJR5:  Joint Resolution on State Superintendent of Public Instruction - requires governor's approval of state superintendent appointment.

UEA Election Candidates

JEA members will be voting for the four statewide offices of President, Vice President, NEA-RA Delegate-At-Large, and NEA-RA Successor Delegate-At-Large.  I hope you will all support Majestic Elementary teacher Tina Susuico for NEA-RA Delegate-At-Large.

2013 Utah Education Association Candidates (in ballot order)

STATEWIDE


President(Three-year term) Schipper Clawson, Provo

Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh, Salt Lake

Vice President
(Three-year term) Heidi Matthews, Park City

Tom Nedreberg, Tintic

NEA-RA Delegate-At-Large
(Three-year term) Brian Ferguson, Davis

Noelle Willard Jones, Salt Lake

Tina Susuico, Jordan

NEA-RA Successor Delegate-At-Large
(Three-year term) Brian Ferguson, Davis

Rebecca Bissegger, Salt Lake

UNISERV

Davis Director
(Three-year term) Jennifer Tanner, Davis

Rosalind Van Vleet, Davis
Davis NEA-RA Successor Delegate
(Three-year term) Rosalind Van Vleet, Davis

Northern Director
(Three-year term) Steven Seamons, Cache

Northern NEA-RA Successor Delegate
(Three-year term) No Declaration of Candidacy

Ogden-Weber Director
(Three-year term) Debbie Green, Weber

Ogden-Weber NEA-RA Successor Delegate
(Three-year term) No Declaration of Candidacy

Woodland Peaks Director
(Three-year term) Jim Griffin, Nebo

Woodland Peaks NEA-RA Successor Delegate
(Three-year term) Caroline Barrington, Carbon

JEA Election Results

President, Jennifer Boehme - Elk Meadows

Vice President, Mallory Meyer - Sunset Ridge

Elementary, Kara Goodwin - Bluffdale

Middle, James Maughan - West Hills

Special Certification, Renee Sass - Oquirrh Hills

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.

JEA Elections Final Candidates

After receiving Nomination Acceptance Forms and Nominations Petitions, the following are the final candidates for JEA Offices:

President: Jennifer Boehme - Elk Meadows

Vice President: Kevin Ball - Rosamond, Jack Duffy - West Jordan High, Mallory Meyer - Sunset Ridge
Middle School: James Maughan - West Hills
Elementary: Kara Goodwin - Bluffdale
Special Certification: Renee Sass - Oquirrh Hills

Legislative Council (AR) Meeting

The AR meeting last night went well.  We talked about the EFT flip process and the progress that is being made.  It is slow but steady and hope to keep the momentum going.  If you have not had a meeting about the EFT flip, contact your building AR. 

Kyle Hansen from Human Resources came to talk about a few things with the coming of the transfer season.  He stated that the Intent to Return will not be going out, because the information was not useful.  Instead, there is an Early Notification Incentive of $200 to be paid on the final paycheck to licensed personnel who submit the Resignation Form to their principal and HR by March 1.  The intent is to help principals know of open positions and to be able to avoid a Reduction In Staff (RIS).  There will then be two Teacher Transfer Fairs:  Elementary on Friday, March 23 from 3:00 to 7:00 at South Jordan Middle and Secondary on Monday, March 26 from 10:00 to 2:00 at Riverton High.  This will give teachers the opportunity to meet with principals and have more choice in where they wish to transfer.  This process is also happening early to avoid a RIS.  Once the known RIS are identified by their principal through meetings with the Administrator of Schools to determine "school need", they will be placed into positions for which they are qualified.  Then the regular transfer window will open up.  If you are considering a transfer, attending the Teacher Transfer Fair is a great chance to determine where you would like to teach next year.

Nominations for JEA Leadership took place.  The following were nominated:

President – 2 years:  Jennifer Boehme

Vice President – 2 years:  Jack Duffy, Kevin Ball, Mallory Meyer

Middle school – 3 years:  Mallory Meyer

Elementary school – 3 years:  Kara Goodwin

Special certification – 1 year:  Renee Sass

Any active JEA member may file a petition with 25 signatures of JEA members to become a candidate for any open position.  If you are interested, please contact me at jennifer.boehme@utea.org to receive a petition.  Petitions are due to the JEA Office by 5:00 on Wednesday, February 15.

We discussed the legislature and bills that are being run this session. You can go to Utah Public Education to see a summary of Senator Osmond's SB64:  Public Education Employment Reform Act.

We also talked about the importance of caucus attendance to become a delegate or to elect public education friendly delegates.  You should have the opportunity to watch the video on becoming a delegate that is linked on the Utahn's for Public Schools website.  It is 17 minutes long and a bit boring, but it does contain good information on the process and importance of caucus attendance.

Caucuses are scheduled for Tuesday, March 13 for Democrats and Thursday, March 15 for Republicans.  Any JEA member who attends their caucus will be entered into a drawing for a restaurant gift card.  We will collect this information on Friday, March 16.  Please take the time to attend and become involved.  Most decisions about education are political decisions.

NCUEA Conference Day 2

This morning I attended the NEA budget hearing. We discussed the importance of the UniServ program, training for local leaders, and membership grants.

I had a chance to talk to Lily about how she and her family are doing. She said Jared is out of prison and working as an assistant diesel mechanic in North Dakota. She said her whole family was together for Thanksgiving. Lily believes the letters Jared received when Ruel died gave him the opportunity to evaluate and change his outlook on life. She is pleased with Jared's progress.

NEA President Dennis VanRoekel is the opening speaker today. He talked about success in New Hampshire and Ohio. We need to take away from our opponents what the are using to hurt us. Strategy must be flexible enough to change with what is happening right now. Mission and vision do not change. Advocating for education professionals is still part of the mission, we just may have to go about it differently. We need to get members to believe in our mission enough to buy in and support us.

Becky Pringle, NEA Secretary-Treasurer, is running for re-election. She quoted a teacher from Kansas who said, "When the work changes, unions die." NEA needs to change as the work of teaching and organizing changes. Let's have some fun re-envisioning NEA.

Greg Johnson is running for re-election to the NEA Executive Committee. He was in awe of his opportunity to meet President Obama and be there when he introduced Race to the Top. His wife is a local president who teaches elementary music. We stand for our students and for our members who do things that can't be measured on a standardized test.  Joyce Powell is running for re-election to the NEA Executive Committee. Has been local and state president in New Jersey. She helped organize rallies in Wisconsin. The reason we do this work is to make a difference.

NCUEA mission statement was adopted. "NCUEA shall promote and advance high-quality Public Education in urban schools by empowering and supporting Local Associations, Leaders, and Members."

Teacher evaluation and accountability presentation. NEA will lead the charge for quality in education professionals. UEA President Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh and Susan McFarland, Salt Lake Teachers Association, were on the committee that developed these concepts.  Urgency is due to legislative attacks. Need to share and leverage collective resources within NEA.  The committee report is being released on December 8.  Tests results should only be used if they are valid, reliable and developmentally appropriate, and adopted cooperatively. Should become a career teacher if meeting expectations on their final evaluation.  Looked at Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) around country. Developing an electronic book including fair dismissal, evaluation, and PAR along with research about why we should consider these ideas.  Teachers need to be trained on new components of evaluation systems. Collaborate with District. Take advantage of poorly written laws. Principals need to be trained in how to administer Evaluations. Principals should also be evaluated. Some growth models are good, but must be determined in different areas (elementary special education versus high school AP English) where growth looks different in each area.

I attended a meeting for local presidents with NEA President Dennis VanRoekel. These notes are a little disjointed, but follow how the conversation went.  He is discussing the Common Core. Communications is currently designed around distribution of information. He is trying to tap into ways to learn about what locals are doing. Find a way to share what other locals are doing. 

Dennis talked about Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and President Obama. CHIP now covers more children. More people with pre-existing conditions are covered with new health care law. Harder to track where republican money comes from. There are a lot of messages out there that are negative.  Colleagues need to share with each other why they support Obama. We need to reverse the negative impressions of health care law. We can use VAN to target certain groups. Question on how to know which groups to target. More decisions need to be made at local level. We need tools to help newer leaders learn how find answers.  Problem with transition plan to Common Core. New tests will not be available until 2013-14 school year, so do you teach the Core or to the old test? That is what the NCLB waivers are for. 

What can we do to improve teachers' professional, daily lives? Why go to college when District tells them what time to be on what page and what script to read?   Republican attacks are not about education, they're about privatization and profit.  Communication is important. Younger teachers expect immediate and timely information. It is our profession, we are the ones who know, and we need to take it back. We need to use stories and "I" messages, because the press can't be refute them. We need to work with state leaders to share info with local leaders. Every training should be focused on organizing. Locals need research help.  Local leaders need to be ready for decisions. We need to actively participate at District level so they hear teacher concerns.

Powerful when the association, district, and parents work together to improve schools. Education is not a partisan issue.  It is difficult to bring groups together, but it is a better way to collaborate. Sometimes the best spokesperson is not the local president but a classroom teacher or a parent. We need to share our story about public education being the promise of the future of America. Share why you are a member of JEA one-on-one with non-JEA members. 

We know how to help students succeed. We just need to do it. How policies impact us varies by location. We need to send a single message, not mixed messages, about standardized test scores. We believe in multiple measures of student growth, and teachers should be defining student learning at local level.  It is important to look at training, recruitment, induction and retention of new teachers. Mentors need to meet with new teachers weekly. These are things that Teach For America is doing well. It has been an interesting discussion of local presidents from across the country and Dennis.

The afternoon session I attended is on creating a local website to maximize communications. What was presented is much larger than what I was anticipating. There is a complete document management system where historical documents can be scanned and key word, name, school, or date retrievable.  Secure website is good for member only items. Some will still get back to administration or school board. Maintain a public site as well. Have advertising on website to eventually fund all technology. Have member information come up when member logs in for them to verify and edit as needed.

Legislative Council (AR) Meeting

We had a great meeting last night!  Your building AR should be going through a PowerPoint on Who Decides?  This talks about the many decisions made by people other than you, often with less knowledge than you, which impact you and what you do in your classroom.  This lesson goes along with the information in the TEF video produced by UEA.

I would also like to encourage you to vote in the UEA Election.  The ARs voted to support Robin Frodge for the NEA State Director position.

An issue came up about supplies from the District and the 12% surcharge.  I spoke to Richard Field, Central Warehouse Manager.  He said the 12% is not a delivery charge; it is a charge to pay for the running of the warehouse.  Also, what I understood and stated was incorrect.  The prices listed DO NOT include the 12% charge.  Secretaries may charge your grade level or department account the 12% at the time of the order or at the end of the month when the school is charged by the warehouse. 

I also asked Mr. Field about substitutions.  He said that there shouldn't be substitutions, that items are usually backordered.  He also said that you are allowed to return unused items within a month of the order.

If you know a JEA member who is retiring, we will be honoring them in May.  Please contact me with their name and school.

Legislative Council (AR) Meeting

We had a great meeting last night!  We reviewed what happened at the legislature, see UEA Under the Dome for a summary.  We heard speeches from candidates for JEA and UEA offices. 

NEA State Director:  Sue Dickey, Robin Frodge (recommended by AR's)
Jordan UniServ Representative to UEA Board of Directors:  Kevin Ball, Melissa Brown
Middle School Representative to JEA Executive Board:  Lauren Flygare
High School representative to JEA Executive Board:  Debbie Brown, Jack Duffy

JEA ballots are due Thursday, March 24 at 5:00.  UEA Elections will open April 8.

Legislative Council (AR Meeting)

We had a good meeting this evening.  Everyone in attendance wrote a postcard to one of their legislators.  Your AR will be asking at least one other person in the building to write a postcard too.  The postcards are pre-addressed and paid for.  All you do is add the name of your legislator, your return addres, and your message about public education.  Please take the time to do this if you are asked.  We need our stories to be heard on the hill.  Tell your legislators how cuts will hurt your classroom.  Tell how cuts this year already have hurt.

The AR's moved to recommend Robin Frodge as NEA State Director in the current UEA primary election.  You will receive your voting card from your AR.  Please vote!  This is a statewide election, and we are supporting Robin.  Go to myuea.org/vote to vote today.

Candidates for JEA High School Representative on the Executive Board include Debbie Brown, Bingham and Jack Duffy, West Jordan High.  Lauren Flygare is the candidate for Middle School Representative on the Executive Board.  JEA elections will begin mid-March.

UEA Elections

The candidates for UEA positions are announced.  Robin Frodge will be in a primary for the NEA State Director.  The primary election will be in February.

Melissa Brown and Kevin Ball are both running for the Jordan UniServ Director on the UEA Board of Directors.  Election dates to be announced later.

Association Elections

I know we just finished statewide elections, but the deadlines to declare candidacy for UEA and JEA positions are coming shortly. 

UEA Board of Director Positions


Any member is able to run for the following UEA Board of Director Positions. All positions start July 15, 2011. The date by which you must declare your candidacy is January 10, 2011 to Mark Mickelsen by completing the Declaration of Candidacy form found at myUEA.org.
 
NEA State Director on the UEA Board of Directors (3-year term)
NEA State Director on the UEA Board of Directors (1-year term to finish a retiring member’s term)

Ethnic Minority Director on the UEA Board of Directors (3-year term)

These three positions are statewide elections. The two NEA State Director positions involve going to Washington D.C. four times a year to meet with NEA leaders and Utah Members of Congress to lobby for education. All three positions attend the NEA Representative Assembly annually and the UEA Board of Directors meetings held monthly, usually on Friday evenings.

Jordan Director on the UEA Board of Directors (3-year term)

Jordan NEA-RA successor Delegate (3-year term)

These two positions are Jordan UniServ (Jordan and Canyons) elections. Both attend the NEA Representative Assembly, and the first also attends UEA Board of Directors meetings held monthly, usually on Friday evenings.

JEA Executive Board Position


The JEA High School Representative on the Executive Board will be the only JEA position for election this year. Candidacy is declared in February, usually during the Legislative Council (AR) Meeting. Inform your building AR of your interest in running for the Executive Board.