A couple of things that I'd like to share here as we go into the new year:
- A belated but enthusiastic congratulations to Courtney Strozyk and Linda Sexton, who received their National Board Certification when the scores were announced earlier this month. I'm glad that the hard work paid off for them!
- There were about 30 teachers who attended the informational session about the National Boards last month at the High School. I'm getting some blog posts ready to go about that process; you can look for them to roll out in early January.
- I know one of the concerns expresed at the meeting, and it's a legitimate one, is that the $5,000 bonus for achieving the Certification could go away given our state budget crisis. When Governor Gregoire released her draft budget last week there was no mention of touching the program, which I think is a pretty good signal. Things could still happen in the legislative session, but right now I'm feeling pretty optimistic about that piece.
- The weather prevented a lot of us from attending his retirement party, but all of us in the MLEA give our best regards to Bruce Ottmar as he begins this next chapter in his life. Thank you for all your years of service to the Medical Lake School District, Bruce!
- There will be another WEAPAC drive coming your way soon, because even though the Governor's budget protects the NBPTS bonus it goes after the I-728 money for class size reduction and (even more importantly) the levy equalization money (LEA), which for us is several hundred thousand dollars a year.
Dr. Veltri and I are planning some joint communications to talk about what the proposed cuts could mean for the MLSD, which I'll post here on the blog. It's a critical time for our schools, and I'll pass on any information as soon as it comes my way.
Thank you for visiting, and here's to a great 2009!
--Ryan, for the MLEA Exec Board--
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