Know Your Contract #2: The Per Diem Comparison

I received a handout at one of the WEA-EW Council Meetings last year, and I thought it was a fascinating look at how TRI time works in different districts. TRI is sometimes better known as per diem; it's the money you receive above and beyond your base salary for the work that we do outside the classroom.

In the chart below TRI Minimum indicates how much per diem money a first year teacher at the lowest end of the salary schedule makes; TRI Maximum is what a teacher with a Masters + 90 could earn. The other two columns compare those amounts to us here in Medical Lake, and as you can see it's a pretty good picture:

District	TRI Minimum	Difference from ML	TRI Maximum	Difference from ML
Almira	$345	-$1,724	$650	-$3,250
Central Valley	$1,552	-$517	$4,726	$826
Cheney	$1,952	-$117	$5,375	$1,475
Chewelah	$259	-$1,810	$488	-$3,412
Clarkston	$862	-$1,207	$1,625	-$2,275
Colville	$86	-$1,983	$163	-$3,737
Colfax	$710	-$1,359	$1,244	-$2,656
Coulee-Hartline	$345	-$1,724	$650	-$3,250
Davenport	$690	-$1,379	$1,660	-$2,240
Deer Park	$1,862	-$207	$4,577	$677
East Valley	$1,768	-$301	$3,332	-$568
Ellensburg	$1,102	-$967	$1,865	-$2,035
Freeman	$690	-$1,379	$2,064	-$1,836
Liberty	$1,035	-$1,034	$1,950	-$1,950
Mead	$2,663	$594	$9,538	$5,638
Medical Lake	$2,069	$0	$3,900	$0
Moses Lake	$1,811	-$258	$3,413	-$487
Newport	$862	-$1,207	$1,625	-$2,275
Nine Mile	$1,638	-$431	$3,088	-$812
Othello	$1,380	-$689	$2,600	-$1,300
Quincy	$1,035	-$1,034	$1,950	-$1,950
Ritzville	$872	-$1,197	$1,643	-$2,257
Riverside	$1,380	-$689	$3,189	-$711
Spokane	$2,808	$739	$8,049	$4,149
Walla Walla	$1,552	-$517	$2,925	-$975
West Valley	$2,547	$478	$8,741	$4,841

Some notes to consider:

*I couldn't find numbers for Orchard Prarie, Wilbur, Great Northern, Pullman, Reardan, Springdale, or Republic. Pullman especially interested me, since they're in our league--I'll keep searching!

*There are only three districts that beat us on TRI for beginning teachers (Mead, Spokane, and West Valley), and 6 for the veteran teachers (the aforementioned three, plus Central Valley, Cheney, and Deer Park).

*Consider, too, the advantages that Mead and Spokane have in property taxes. West Valley is grandfathered in at a higher levy lid rate than we are, too, which gives them a leg up in the amount of money they can bring in.

*We might not have beaten Colville in football, but we've got it all over them in this ranking.

*Finally, remember all the hard work that has gone into getting us into this position. Special thanks goes out to Carol and all that have served on the bargaining team over the years, either with her or before her.

If you have any questions about this chart, please contact Ryan at the address in the sidebar!

What's Important from the October Issue of NEA Today Magazine

There are three articles that we'd like to highlight this month, for different reasons:

1) "In Your Corner" is all about how careers can be ruined by false allegations, and why it's important to have support if it ever happens to you. Like we've talked about before here at the MLEA Report, you have the right to representation if you think that a meeting could have an unfavorable outcome. We're here to help, and if there's ever something your Association can do for you, please let us know!

2) One of the big initiatives that the WEA is working on is the Living Wage Campaign to shine a light on the low salaries that many of our parapros are earning. To that end they've put together a wonderfully thoughtful video on the issue, which you can watch here.

3) Finally, the National Education Association has thousands of dollars in grants available for members interested in the chance to do research, attend conferences, or pursue professional development. There's a deadline coming soon, so if you're interested check here.

Have a wonderful month of October!

**Your MLEA Exec Board**

Notes from the September School Board Meeting

Perhaps the shortest meeting ever, not that anyone's complaining!

First, the monthly What's Right Report:

Julie--There have been excellent turnouts at the open houses she's seen. It's neat to see so many parents involved.
Kelly--She recently attended a legislative assembly and had a good time.
Rod--He recently attended an away volleyball game and was impressed at how Medical Lake's athletic facilities compared to this league rival.
Peggy--She attended PIE (Parent Information Evening) at the Elementary School. An excellent event, and there was pie!
Ron--The football games have been going well; it's a testament to the good coaching the kids are getting. The new pressbox will also be a great thing for the school.

Pam--We have an excellent, supportive school board. She also praised the partnership we have with Fairchild and the access the district has been able to get.
Ralph--When Colville's team bus broke down, our transportation department stepped up to help them get home.
Don--The September payroll got done, which is always something of a minor miracle because of all the changes that have to be entered into the system and tracked.


The other highlight of the night was a report on fall athletics presented by Dr. Veltri. There are 236 kids turned out this season, broken down as follows:

Cheerleading--11
Dance Team--12
Volleyball--48 players on 3 different teams
Soccer--36 players
Cross County--49 runners
Football--80 players

The meeting adjourned shortly before 7:30.

The October Rep Council Meeting is Coming Soon!

The next meeting of the WEA-Eastern Representative Council is Wednesday, October 10th at 5:30. The special guest will be State Senator Chris Marr, who is also holding a special listening session prior to the council meeting, at 4:00, where he'd like a chance to talk with teachers and hear their concerns prior to the beginning of the next legislative session in January.

If you're interested in attending either or both of the meetings, please let Ryan or Wendy know as soon as possible so we can reserve your spot!

Shoreline Teachers to Stage 1 Day Strike this Thursday

The situation isn't as settled as I thought, it seems.

This Thursday the Shoreline Education Association is staging a 1-day strike to protest class size shenanigans at the elementary level. They're also declared a vote of no confidence in their superintendent, reports the Seattle Times, and there's more here from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Dr. Homeslice is a proud union blogger who covers the nationwide strike scene, and you can also always check Washington Teachers for information from around the state.

We send our best wishes to Shoreline for a fair and just resolution to the problem!

Why WEA-PAC Matters and our Local WEA-PAC Drive

In the next few days one of your building reps will be coming around to speak to you about WEA-PAC and asking you to join. This year we have payroll deduction available for $2.25 a month; fill out a form, and you're good to go forever! You can also sign up the traditional way and write a one-time check; either works and is greatly appreciated.

It's been two good years for WEA-PAC. If you remember the bad old days of getting 0%-0%-4%-0%-3%-0% for our cost-of-living raises in a six year period, then you know just how great getting 3.5% last year and 4.2% this year really is. The battle over gainsharing didn't go the way we wanted it to, but getting the retirement age lowered to 62 and allowing new teachers to choose between TRS2 and TRS3 were gains when we could have lost gainsharing and gotten nothing in return.

This year it's a short 60-day legislative session, but with the next gubernatorial election on the horizon and a host of initiatives going on statewide it's also a critical time to make sure the teacher's voice is heard.

The work we do in Olympia is important, and it's your WEA-PAC dues that make that possible. When asked if you'd be willing to join, please give it your thoughtful consideration.

If you have any questions you can contact Ryan, Wendy, or your building rep. Thank you!

The Simple Majority

Wendy and I talked with you a bit at the opening day meeting about the Simple Majority campaign. It's maybe the most important piece of school legislation that we've ever had a chance to vote on. It only cover school levies--school bond issues will still require a 60% supermajority, for better or worse--but 50% + 1 is a far fairer standard that what we have now.

The link above will take you to the home page for the Simple Majority 2007 campaign, where you can find all the information that you'd ever want to share with friends and family. Simply Better Schools also has a great website (with video!), and the Washington State School Directors Association has a great information resource here.

Sally McNair, our Uniserv rep, is the prime local contact for the simple majority in Eastern Washington, and she'd be more than happy to talk with you about what it all means. Ryan also has tons of information from the Council; if you have any questions, either can help you out!

COP Grants Forms are Now Available!

The COP grants are the regional council's way of helping local councils pay for innovative projects that would otherwise go wanting; we've been fortunate enough here in Medical Lake to be awarded several of them over the years. Monica Houston at the Elementary used hers to fund a technology purchase for her classroom; Cheryl Spilker at Hallett used it for the school fitness activities; and Ryan Grant at Michael Anderson is using his to pay for field trips for the kids who participate in the Before School Intervention Program.

If you're interested in applying for one of the grants, please speak with a member of the exec board or your local building rep and we'll get you the information ASAP. It's one of the easiest grant applications you'll ever fill out, and it's always nice to bring our dues money back to Medical Lake.

Teacher Strikes

5/17 is a blog by a fellow Washington teacher, over in Olympia, and he's done some good reporting on the labor situation in Shoreline and Bethel. The job actions are over, thank goodness, and every district in Washington is now back to work.

The local connection is that our office rep from WEA-EW, Sally McNair, was part of the crisis team that went over to help the teachers during the strike. I'm sure she'll have stories to tell at the first rep council meeting this Wednesday, September 12th at 6:00; if you're interested in attending, let Wendy or Ryan know!

We're back!

Hello MLEA friends,

First, we apologize for the lack of updates on the website the last few months. Last year was the year 1, let's get it worked out phase, but we have a ton of good ideas for year 2. We'll also send out updates to let you know when there's new content, so check back often!

To catch up, though, here's the links to the past few month's worth of articles in the Cheney Free Press regarding our Medical Lake school board meetings. We always have an association representative in attendance, and if you ever have questions about the meetings or clarification from the article you can email me here and I'll try my best to give you what you need!

Cheney Free Press articles: August July June May April March

Other projects that the MLEA will be working on this year include supporting the Simple Majority campaign, our WEA PAC membership drive, and working on the next renegotiation of the contract this coming June.

As always, please feel free to contact your building rep or a member of the exec board if you have any questions!