A Couple of Interesting Articles

One of the more interesting stories in teachers unions right now is that of the Rubber Rooms in New York City. In New York if you're accused of impropriety in the classroom you're sent to a holding facility where, for the duration of the investigation, you sit and wait for your case to be figured out.

Some teachers have been waiting for two years or more. They collect a salary the entire time. Hundreds of teachers are sitting in these rooms right now. You can read about it in the New York Village Voice, here.

Also from the east coast, at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland they've gone from "leaves of grass" to kicking ass over comments students are making about each other on Facebook. This month's NEA Today magazine has an article on cyberbullying that's full of resources; if this is something that you've had to address, it's a great read.

--Ryan--

Stopping Summer Learning Loss

There's an article on the subject in this month's NEA Today. It's full of the usual advice; I'm mainly passing it along because I love the accompanying graphic that came with the article. Remind you of any kids you've had?

Have a great week!

--The MLEA Exec Board--

Free Comic Book Day is Coming!

On Saturday, May 3rd area comic book shops will be opening their doors for Free Comic Book Day, a yearly celebration of graphic literature. The name is sincere; if you go to either of the stores listed you’ll be able to walk away a handful of free books, and in the past both have also had great sales in conjunction with the event. The area stores having events for Free Comic Book Day are:

• Merlyn's, at 19 W. Main Street in Spokane, one block west of the Globe Restaurant, 1 block east of Division.
  
• The Comic Book Shop, at 1401 N. Division (which is actually the part of Division that goes south, but OK), across the street from the Army Recruiting Station and Zip's Restaurant. They also have a place at Northtown Mall.

Enjoy!

Terry Bergeson/WASL Survey--Thank You!

There were 41 responses to the survey on the WASL and Terry Bergeson, and I'd like to thank everyone who responded. Your opinion matters to us, and I appreciate the time and guidance.

In the comments section there were some questions asked about the WASL fact sheet that was sent out to the buildings, mainly along the lines of "Where the hell did this come from?" It was created by the WEA as part of the larger OSPI/WASL project; we passed it along to you, but it was not developed locally. There wasn't proper attribution on the sheet, and I apologize for that oversight.

If you would like a copy of the survey results, or if you have any other questions about the survey, please let Ryan know.

Thanks!

Something To Keep An Eye On

States across the nation are passing a compact that would change the experience military kids have when they transfer from different schools reports the Associated Press:

The compact seeks to provide flexibility for the 1.5 million children of military families in the U.S. They attend an estimated six to nine school systems between kindergarten and graduation on average, and differing educational requirements in different states often add to their burden.

"Changing schools and making new friends can be hard on children whose parents are in the military," said Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, whose signature Wednesday made Kansas the first state to approve the compact. "This bill will help ease the transition between schools by seamlessly transferring records."

The compact, which would become operational with adoption by 10 states, is intended to prevent children of military families from needlessly repeating courses or being denied access to extracurricular activities. It would provide alternative coursework options for districts that do not waive graduation requirements for students. Compact members would work to create uniform standards of practice, including the transfer of records, course placement and graduation requirements.

One example out of San Diego is the mandatory state history classes that are often required; kids who transfer in before their senior year are sometimes being required to take these classes at the expense of the electives that would be of real help to them.

Here in Washington we didn't sign on to the compact proper, but they did establish a taskforce to study it. One of the prime sponsors of the bill is Senator Mark Schoesler of the 9th Legislative District, which covers parts of Cheney, Medical Lake, and areas south.

We Need to Know Your Opinion of Terry Bergeson and the WASL

Hello again,

A few weeks ago I mentioned an upcoming project that we were going to be taking part in, organized by the WEA, to gather opinions from the membership on Terry Bergeson's leadership as Superintendent of Public Instruction and particularly on the emphasis that's been placed on the WASL.

At this year's Representative Assembly there will likely be a vote of no confidence taken on Terry Bergeson, and to that end every local in the state is being asked to poll their members. I've developed an on-line survey here to gather your opinions on these vital subjects; please take a few minutes to fill it out. It will be a great help to the Association.

(Please note: The District has no access to these surveys, as I've set up a private MLEA account. Your answers will only be available to the Association, so please be as honest as you want to be! ;-)

Here are some other sources of information that demonstrate the statewide scope of the project:

• From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer a nice overview of the problems many see with the WASL, along with information about the No Confidence vote.
  
• Also from the PI, good letters to the editor and a look at the ever-increasing costs of the test. One estimate says that administering the WASL could cost $47,000,000 next year. For comparison's sake, that's our district budget for 3 years, or enough to offer full-day kindergarten to another 30% of the kids in the state.
  
• The NPR station out of Pacific Lutheran University has an MP3 on the vote situation in Edmonds. it's about a 1-minute listen.
  
• The Everett Herald on the no-confidence vote, as well as The Tacoma News-Tribune.
  
• A release from the WEA describing the project.
  
• The Lake Stevens EA communicating with their memebrs.

If you have any questions, please contact Ryan.

Upcoming Events

This is a copy of the email that was sent out to you the day before spring break; I'm posting it here for posterity's sake. There's still time to sign up for the dinner with Dr. Semler--we'd love to see you there!

--Ryan, MLEA VP--

------------
Hello again! Before you head out to begin enjoying spring break there are a few union business items we'd like to make you aware of:

1) On Wednesday, April 9th Dr. Richard Semler will be speaking at the WEA-Eastern office at 5:30. Dr. Semler is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and he's got some great ideas on how to bring more sanity to the testing process here in Washington. If you're interested in attending, please let Ryan or Wendy know and we'll get a spot reserved for you!

2) The annual WEA Representative Assembly is in Spokane this year on May 15th, 16th, and 17th at the convention center, and we're looking for volunteers to help make the event a success. There are a number of jobs to be done (information booth, door guard, floor runner, hospitality, and many more); if you're interested in volunteering, the WEA will pay for your sub, and it's a pretty neat experience to see the WEA's premiere event up close. Please contact Ryan Grant if you'd be willing to volunteer a day or half-day.

3) All of us on the MLEA Exec Board wish you a happy and relaxed spring break--you've earned it!

If you have any questions please feel free to ask one of us, or your building reps.

With thanks,

--The MLEA Exec Board--

Spring Break: Good for Skiers! Bad for Gardeners, Sunbathers, Bloomsday Trainers, Outdoors Enthusiasts......

That's the view off my back porch this Saturday morning. It's pretty much the same view I had Monday morning. A spring break bracketed by snowy days. This has been a bizarre year for weather.

Back to work on Monday. We hope you had a good week off!

A little something for the upcoming WASL season

Courtesy of David Horsey, editorial cartoonist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. There's going to be a big discussion about Dr. Bergeson and the WASL at this year's WEA Representative Assembly, and in preparation for that we'll be coming to you in the next few weeks asking for your impressions of both the WASL and our current Superintendent of Public Instruction. Look for information in your mailboxes soon!

Horsey also wrote a thoughtful column, with a good range of reader comments, here.

A Good Stat for Us All to Know

The Simple Majority helped 70% of the recent school levies pass. That’s a lot of districts that don’t have to worry about trying for a second run, because they were able to pass on the first try.

It was the work we all did on 4204, the Simple Majority initiative, that made it possible. There’s a lot of power in what we do, and it’s always nice to see it pay off!