The Medical Lake School District is the 59th Largest Employer in Spokane County

This, according to the December 23rd edition of the Spokane Journal of Business.

It sorts of puts in perspective jost how important teachers are to the local economy.

The Governor's Education Budget

MLEA Members,

The big news last week was that the Governor released her supplemental budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. I mentioned in October that the picture wasn't very bright, but now we have a guide for how things could be. The cuts to the MLSD in her budget include:

• $1,085,361 in levy equalization funds, which helps to bridge the gap between property-rich and property-poor school districts in Washington.
  
• $199,137 in I-728 money, which we use for class size reduction.
  
• $268,799 from what is known as "K-4 Enhancement" funds, provided by the state to allow lower class size in the primary grades.
  
• $31,667 when the last state-funded Learning Improvement Day goes away.

There are also some other cuts to categorical programs and gifted education funding; when you put it all together, the potential deficit that we're looking at for Medical Lake next year is in excess of $1.5 million dollars.

To say that things are going to be tight would be an understatement on a magnitude of 10. The Governor is talking about a "revenue increase" that would allow us to avoid some of the worst cuts, but it remains an open question whether we'll be able to get that done for the 2010-2011 school year or not.

What can you do about it? Quite a bit, actually.

1. Contact your legislator to let them know how much these cuts will hurt. Losing teachers will hurt. Losing funding for gifted education will hurt. Losing the levy equalization that allows a district like ours to stay in the black will hurt. I think they know this, but they also need to hear it loud and clear from us as often as we possibly can.
   
2. If you're not already a member, please consider joining the WEA's Political Action Committee. It's an easy way to make a difference for $2.25 a month.
   
3. Stay together. We're all in this handbasket, wherever it may be taking us.

I'll be coming around in January doing building meetings at each of the schools; a schedule will come out next month. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or call on my cell phone.

We live in interesting times.

--Ryan--

WEA Republican Educators Caucus

Hi MLEA Members,

There's a new group starting up within the WEA called the WEA Republican Educators Caucus. The intent is to give Republican and Conservative educators more of an active voice within the organization and make sure that their viewpoint is heard; it's an effort being put together by Ken Mortland, a retired member and former high school teacher who I've had the pleasure of meeting through my WEAPAC work and some who I think very highly of.

If you're interested in being a part of the effort you can get more information off of the the Facebook page that has been set up, here. You can also email me and I'll happily send you an information packet, or you can email Ken directly at wearec1130@aol.com.

Thanks!

--Ryan--

MLEA Budget Approved

Thank you to everyone who voted!

Weingarten Rights

A little bit of labor law for a Wednesday morning!

One of the ways that collective bargaining benefits us is through the codification of what are known as "Weingarten Rights" from a 1975 Supreme Court case of the same name. Fundamentally, what Weingarten means for you:

*You have the right to Union representation at a meeting with a principal, superintendent, or direct supervisor if you "reasonably believe that discipline" could result from the meeting. That's a tricky phrase, though, because "reasonable" has everything to do with your thoughts and feelings at the time, and "discipline" could be anything from a verbal reprimand to a loss of status to termination.

Bottom line: if you're requested to attend a meeting and you're not comfortable going on your own, you can request representation. If you're in a meeting and it takes a turn against you, you can request representation. If after a meeting you need to talk about what it could mean, you can call your Association Rep and debrief.

If you have any questions about Weingarten Rights, or any other aspect of the Association, please feel free to ask!

Network for Excellence in Washington Schools Lawsuit

Over in King County recently they've been hearing the big school funding lawsuit; it has the potential to heavily impact both how schools are funded by the state, as well as the overall level of school funding. You can read more about it here.

President's Newsletter for October 26th

Hello MLEA Members,

I hope that you've all had a great first two months of the school year! I wanted to share some of the thing that I've come across recently to keep you informed as to what is going on both here and Medical Lake and beyond. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me!

State Budget Blues: Last year's legislative session was a bloodbath. The School Reform Act passed, which is a conversation for another day, but what impacted us the most locally were the $1.5 billion dollars in cuts made to the education budget. During collaborative budgeting with the administrators and the PSE we made more than $700,000 in cuts, which cost us good people (Joe Benzo, Nathan Geyer) and forced others to change buildings or work in multiple buildings.

This year could be worse. Actually, let's not equivocate: this year will be worse.

Problem number one is that we're still experiencing the declining enrollment trend that we've been living with for better than 5 years now. During budgeting we built around a projection of 1,980 FTE (full time enrollment), which was about 20 kids below where we ended last year. Usually we come really, really close to that projected number.

This year, we missed it by more than 50. Our September count came in at ~1,924 kids. If you estimate about $5,000 per kid in state funding, that means a $250,000 hole that we weren't planning for.

Why did that happen? I've heard a couple of different theories. #1 has to do with the housing on base still being in such a state of flux that families avoid living there, which means we lose them from Medical Lake as they go to Cheney, Spokane, and other surrounding districts. Theory #2 is that we have many, many more kids participating in Running Start this year, potentially because families that are being pinched by the economy are looking at the possibility of free college credits and taking that option far more seriously than they did in the past.

There is some good news--the District received a back impact aid payment that came in over the summer, which covers the current shortfall and keeps us at even keel. Without it, things could be a lot worse.

So there's the past and the present--what's the future going to hold? Right now the number being tossed around Olympia is that we're looking at a billion dollar plus deficit that will have to be rectified come January when the legislature goes back in session; the chatter coming out of some of the professional school organizations is that the deficit very well could grow to $2 billion dollars before it's all said and done. An advantage that we have is something called "Maintenance of Effort", which was language in the stimulus bill that says that education can't be cut to anything less than the level it was at in 2006. What's chilling is what they can cut, which is shown in this slide from the Senate Ways and Means Committee (go to page 5):

• They're looking at cutting what is paid in levy equalization, which would save the state $250 million dollars. This year, Medical Lake is receiving $1.4 million dollars in levy equalization funds.
  
• The "K-4 enhancement" is money provided by the state to lower class size in kindergarten through 4th grade. Last year the Senate proposed that cut as well, but it didn't go through--if it had, it would have meant a $275,000 hit.
  
• What's left of I-728 is worth $266,000 to us this year; it's also known as the "Student Achievement Fund" money.

That's $1,941,000 in cuts that are very likely to happen. Put another way, that's 10% of the district budget. Put yet another way (and take this with a grain of salt, because it would never happen like this, but still) if you consider the average teacher's salary plus benefits to cost about $75,000, that would be almost 26 teaching positions.

This is why I worry. Throw the proposed cuts to Lakeland Village and last year's scare about Pine Lodge, each facilities that employ many MLSD residents, and the local economy starts to look pretty intimidating as well.

I'm sharing this with all of you because I want you to know that the Association is fully on top of things as best we can be, given the uncertainty of the numbers and just what the legislature will do. This Thursday afternoon Carol Tyson and I are attending a workshop on how to better understand the RIF language in the contract. In two weeks the WEA is holding their annual collective bargaining conference in Federal Way, and we'll get a representative sent over to that as well to make sure we get all the information we can.

These are going to be challenging times. If you have any suggestions please talk with me, a member of the exec board, or your building rep--this is your Association, and any input is greatly appreciated.

With thanks,

--Ryan--

No on 1033

Hi friends,

MLEA Vice President Kate Mills took a quick break from her maternity leave last week to appear at a press conference for WEA-Eastern to express opposition to I-1033, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights Initiative being sponsored by Tim Eyman. You can find more information about it on the WEA Our Voice website, here.

--Ryan--

This Week's News

Hello again,

A couple of pieces of news to share with you as we go into our first full week of school:

• Just to reiterate what was covered in the emails last Friday, we will all get paid for the missing LID day that the state did not fund. The procedure that we're looking at is to have a sign-in sheet for the October LID day; if you're out that day, we'll make adjustments accordingly. If you have any questions, please ask!
  
  
• A note about that restored day of pay. Seattle had to bargain all summer to get that for their employees; it was also a big issue in Sedro-Wooley, another district that was on the verge of strike this fall. Many local districts aren't getting the money at all.
  
  My point? In Medical Lake we've had this resolved since May, and I'd like to thank this opportunity to thank Dr. Veltri and the rest of the administrative team for coming up with the funds to protect teacher salaries.
  
  
• If you have been subjected to an involuntary transfer, an overload, or have had your class schedule changed since school began, please let a member of the exec board or your building rep know ASAP. We'll be having our first Labor/Management meeting with the District soon, and all of these things need to be brought up.
  
  
• I'll be putting out information later this week about our fall WEA-PAC drive. WEA-PAC is an organization that I believe in absolutely, and if you'd give it your thoughtful consideration I'd be grateful.
  
  
• Finally, with my switch to a 5th/6th grade combo, my extension at Anderson has changed from x3625 to x3648. If you need me, that's where I'll be!

With thanks,

--Ryan--

Pat Hailey in the 9th Legislative District

Hello again,

One of the things I do for WEA-PAC locally is to take part in the candidate interviews for local legislative races, and this summer the big project was to interview all of the candidates running in the upcoming special election in the 9th LD. The 9th includes Medical Lake, Cheney, and all points south to Pullman and the Tri-Cities. There were several good candidates, so the WEA didn't make an official recommendation in the primary, but now that we're on to the general election I can share with you that the Washington Education Association has endorsed Republican Pat Hailey in the 9th Legislative District.

Ms. Hailey is a former high school secretary in the North Franklin School District (Connell) and has served on the school board there. She lost her job after they experienced a double levy failure that crippled the district, so she has an understanding of just how important school finance can be. When we interviewed her we were very impressed with her knowledge of the state testing regimen, levy equalization, and other issues that impact us right here in Medical Lake. She's a former member of the Public School Employees union, so she has an understanding of labor as well.

We may not agree on every issue--her stance on health care reform, for example, is the opposite of the party line from the NEA--but our visceral reaction was that even if she didn't agree with us she'd be willing to listen to us and offer a fair hearing, and given the economic issues of the times that's all we ask for.

That's the WEA position. I'll also speak for her on the personal level from my standpoint as the husband of a dairy farmer--Ms. Hailey is very well versed on agriculture issues and would be a great spokesman for our farm families. You can read about her ag background on her website; she runs cows and raises crops in Mesa, just north of Pasco.

If you're undecided on who to vote for come November, please consider Pat Hailey--she's the kind of pro-education candidate we need more of!

With thanks,

--Ryan--

Class Size: We Have It Pretty Good

There are a number of labor hotspots around the state, and Kent might be the hottest. They've gone to impasse, which means that the state has entered the negotiations to try and reach an agreement, and there is a chance that they could go out on strike at the end of the month.

Something that's worth looking at is the contract proposals that the Kent EA has made, particularly class size on page 2:

• They top out at 26 per class in grades K-3; we're 22 in kindergarten, 22 in 1st, 23 in 2nd, and 24 in 3rd.
  
• Their limit is 29 in grades 4-6; we top out at 26.
  
• Their limit is 29 in middle school and 31 in high-school, which is comparable to where we're at.

There's always room to improve, and here in year 2 of our three-year contract we've already got a couple of areas (CTE stipends and special ed case loads among them) that we're thinking about, but overall our skinny agreement stands very well side-by-side with the 100+ page contracts that some of the bigger districts have, and that's good for us.

We hope you had a great summer, and we'll see you soon!

With thanks,

--Ryan for the MLEA Exec Board--

From the Most Recent NEA Education Insider Newsletter

SPOTLIGHT: WHAT IS CONGRESS DOING FOR EDUCATORS?
(The first in a new periodic feature highlighting Members of Congress who are supporting public education and educators)

Lawmakers on the Hill want to see educators recoup more of the money they spend “out-of-pocket” for classroom expenses. Several of them—including Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV) and Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL)—are sponsoring legislation that would make positive changes to the educator tax deduction.

Currently, K-12 teachers can deduct up to $250 on their taxes for out-of-pocket classroom expenses. Both Titus and Kosmas have introduced bills that would double the deduction amount and make it a permanent part of the federal tax code. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL) has also introduced legislation to double the deduction.

Meanwhile, Representative Larry Kissell (D-NC) has introduced a bill that would extend the deduction in its current form through 2011, while Representative Zach Space (D-OH) has introduced legislation to make the deduction permanent.

According to the National School Supply and Equipment Association, educators’ out-of-pocket expenses for the 2005-2006 school year, on average, totaled nearly $2,000.

Open Thread: Pro-Cert

Hello again, and I hope you're all having a good summer!

I attended a workshop in Spokane at the end of last month on the changes that are coming down the pipe regarding Professional Certification; frankly, it didn't seem very encouraging. In 2011 there will be more big changes, including a move to a sort of on-line model, and instead of being scored at the University level (the way it was when I did ProCert) or at the state level (the way I understand it is now), OSPI will instead be contracting with an outside agency to score the portfolios.

If you have to do ProCert, then, it could be a good time to get started now before the standards change again.

IF YOU HAVE DONE PROCERT, OR ARE IN THE PROCESS NOW, could you share some of your thoughts in the response section below? What program were you in? Did it work for you? What would you have done differently going in, given the benefit of hindsight? You can leave your posts anonymously, if that's your preference--my main goal is for this to be a resource that members can access when they have to make ProCert decisions.

Thanks!

--Ryan--

WEA Leadership Academy

Hello again, and welcome to June!

From August 3rd to August 6th the WEA will be holding their annual summer Leadership Academy in Yakima. There are a variety of classes being offered on all range of topics, from retirement to advocacy to budgeting, and it's always a good time.

You can find the complete class list here.

If you'd be interested in attending please let me know by the end of this week so I can figure out the finances.

Thanks!

--Ryan--

Where Are We At With Budgeting?

Hello again MLEA Members,

We wanted to share with you some thoughts about the impending school district budget.

As part of their budget cuts the state reduced the number of Learning Improvement Days by one, which means that next year your contract will have 181 days instead of the past 182. The District has committed to come up with enough money to pay for the lost day on a supplemental contract, meaning that you'll still receive 182 days of pay. That means no loss of salary next year.

We've also come through the process with per diem completely intact. The state didn't "freeze" the salary schedule, meaning that you'll also still receive your usual step-and-lane increases if you haven't topped out on the schedule yet.

The practical effect, then: no teacher should lose salary. Many teachers will receive a raise.

But what about jobs?

There are several provisional employees in the district who have received non-renewal notices, and we're working hard to make sure that as many of them as possible are brought back. We've had a couple of resignations that help in this regard. It's still an on-going process, and while the impact is felt mainly in two buildings it affects every single one of us through class size and services that we provide the kids.

Since our most recent collaborative budgeting there's been quite a bit of change. An anticipated hit to levy equalization didn't happen, and we've had some more retirements announced. There's also a bussing/schedule change coming through that has the potential to save the district money.

Our view, then, is that the collaborative budgeting process isn't finished. We feel very strongly that the numbers we built the budget around are no longer the numbers that reflect what next year could be, and we look forward to engaging the district more on what next year's program will look like.

Please contact a member of the exec board with any questions.

Thanks,

--Ryan, for the MLEA Exec Board--

Why Political Action Matters

Hi MLEA Members,

It really is true--that government which governs best is that government which governs least!

Let me set the stage, though--when the legislature adjourned two weeks back they didn't get all of the bills passed that they needed. One of those left begging was HB1776, which dealt specifically with education spending in this year's budget. It's the bill which would have raised the levy lid for many districts (not ours, but about 70 statewide); it also would have been devastating to Levy Equalization, a key source of funding for small and property-poor school districts like our own.

So that last Sunday was buzzing along, and then 1776 comes up for a vote in the House, and everything grinds to a halt, and it's all about the cut to levy equalization. Many of our local legislators (Rep. Shelly Short and Rep. Joel Kretz out of the 7th; Rep. Joe Schmick and Rep. Don Cox out of the 9th; Rep. Larry Crouse of the 4th; all of them, not for nothin', Republicans) made beautiful, impassioned floor speeches on why Levy Equalization mattered; Rep. Schmick actually mentioned the MLSD on the floor.

For almost 2 hours they went on, and then the bill was inexplicably tabled. The House GOP broke out in applause. Looked good.

The concern, though, was that if a special session was called that HB1776 could get pulled back onto the floor and passed. Now that the special session has been taken off the table the state will have to find the money for levy equalization out of the state reserves. For us, that's a $180,000 difference.

Your phone calls, emails, and contact made the difference. Levy Equalization would have been very, very easy for legislators from Seattle to cut, but teacher's voices persuaded them not to. Thank You to everyone who contacted their legislators--your voice made a tangible, definite difference for us right here at home.

I'll have more to come about the district budgeting process soon, as well as the WEA Representative Assembly this week.

Thank you, and enjoy these last days of spring!

--Ryan--

Regarding Budgeting

Hi friends,

You may have read the email that Dr. Veltri sent early Friday evening, where it is suggested that you were instructed not to fill out the administration survey.

To be clear, we believe that generating as many ideas and as much input as possible is to everyone's benefit as we go through budgeting. We also believe that how you offer feedback is up to you, as is the mechanism that you use to deliver that feedback. Short answer: do the survey if that's what your conscience tells you to do. If you'd rather not, that's also a legitimate choice.

The piece that I'd like you all to remember is that during the whole budgeting process we all have a role to play. The role of the MLEA is to save jobs and keep working conditions as positive and productive as they can be, and when we are asked to consider things like eliminating music, eliminating art, raising class size, and altering your health insurance, then of course our role is to push back and passionately advocate for your interests. The administration's role is up to them to define.

My great hope as we develop the budget for next year is that all of us--the 12 administrators, the 128 members of the Medical Lake Education Association, and the many members of the PSE, the coaches, along with all the non-represented staff--can get to the other side of this budget crisis with minimal impact on the kids and employees. I truly believe that we have the potential to not only survive this crisis but thrive during it by demonstrating to the community at large that we have the moral courage to make responsible choices about how we spend their tax dollars.

That's my goal, and that's the role that the Medical Lake EA will play during
budgeting.

I hope that all the other parties at budgeting will also choose to play their role
in a positive manner.

In solidarity,

--Ryan and the MLEA Exec Board--

What's the Expiration Date on Your Certificate?

Hi friends, it's a rare bit of non-budget related news! :-)

There's a bulletin that was just put out by OSPI....

You can access it here

....that has a tidbit we should all keep in mind:

Our certification office appreciates school districts past efforts to encourage early certification renewal of their employees. Due to the volume of certificates to process and our current operating system, we maintain nearly an eight- to twelve-week processing time for issuance of certificates. With current fiscal restraints and budget shortcomings, this peak season will burden our certification office to its limits. We are asking school districts to continue promoting the early renewal process of certificates by communicating to their employees the importance of submitting applications as early in May as possible.

You'd be well advised to take a few minutes to double-check your certificate and make sure that your credit/clock-hour requirements are met. For those of you who are National Board Certified I know that the re-certification process is a bit different, so if you've gone through the process and could educate me I'd appreciate it.

Thanks, and Happy Easter!

--Ryan--

The Proposed Budgets are a Disaster for Medical Lake

Hi friends,

I was really hoping that I'd have good news for you here after spring break. Sadly, that's not the case.

During the holiday the state House and Senate released their general operating budgets, where they lay out the school funding for the year. The theme in Olympia has been "Cut, cut, cut!", but I don't think anyone expected it to be this drastic.

The House budget would be a hit to the district of about $1.2 million dollars.

The Senate budget--which is much, much worse--would mean a $1.9 million dollar reduction in money coming in from the state.

There's a sub-section of the OSPI website, here, where you can read the numbers for yourself.

Now more than ever it is critical that we communicate with Olympia and tell them to do whatever it takes to protect education funding in Washington schools. I'll be getting some materials out to you this week that I ask you to take a look at--please, make your voice be heard.

Also a reminder about the "How could we save money?" survey that was emailed out to you before spring break. If you have any ideas that we can take forward to the budgeting meetings we need to hear them; you can find the survey at the link below:

Medical Lake Budget Survey

Classified staff, the survey is for you as well--we'll share the responses we get with your PSE leadership!

If you have any questions please call or email. It's going to be a challenging couple of weeks, but please know that your Association is working hard on solutions, and we deeply and sincerely appreciate any suggestions that you have.

With thanks,

--Ryan, for the MLEA Exec Board--

Help Understanding the State Budget Deficit

Schmudget is a good read; the post I just linked to has an embedded PowerPoint that makes understanding the projected deficit quite easy. It's well worth your time!

Great Levy Results!

Hi friends,

Just going over the levy results, and a couple of pieces that I think we can all be quite proud of:

1) We had the highest passing percentage of any district in Spokane County, the only one to get over 70%.
2) The lowest precinct was Deep Creek, but even there it passed with 55% positive.
3) The highest precinct was Fairchild AFB, with an 85% passing rate.
4) Deer Park, Reardan, and Riverside would all have failed their M&O levies if it hadn't been for the Simple Majority. On the flip side, the City of Spokane barely "passed" their bond issue to renovate public facilities, but city bonds are still supermajority issues, so it fails despite getting 51% of the vote.

It's a happy day. I'd go frolic in a meadow, but it's too damned cold.

Thanks to all of you for the work you did on the levy--this makes the coming months much easier than they would have been otherwise!

--Ryan--

Now That the Levy Has Passed, I Can Tell Jokes and Be Happy Again!

A large company, feeling it was time for a shakeup, hired a new CEO.

The new boss was determined to rid the company of all slackers.

On a tour of the facilities, the CEO noticed a guy leaning on a wall.

The room was full of workers and he wanted to let them know that he meant business.

He walked up to the guy leaning against the wall and asked, “How much money do you make a week?”

A little surprised, the young man looked at him and replied, “I make $400 a week. Why?”

The CEO then handed the guy $1,600 in cash and screamed, “Here’s four weeks’ pay, now GET OUT and don’t come back.”

Feeling pretty good about himself, the CEO looked around the room and asked, “Does anyone want to tell me what that goof-ball did here?”

From across the room came a voice, “Pizza delivery guy from Domino’s.”

Recent Events

Hi again MLEA members,

A few items of interest that I wanted to make you aware of:

*Two weeks ago we sent a team to the Budget Analysis Training that the WEA-Eastern office puts on every year. Representing Medical Lake were Tina Francis of the high school, Melissa Madsen and Kate Gandolf from Anderson, Jeremy Clark from Hallett, and Stephanie Lundberg from Medical Lake Elementary. The information that comes out of a good budget training is incredible, and I look forward to sharing more of it with you in the coming weeks!

*I'm receiving word that provisional employees are being notified of their provisional status. I will be coming around to every building at least once before the spring break; for anyone in that boat, I'd like to talk with you and go over some of the options we have.

*The most recent word trickling out of Olympia is that the House and Senate will be unveiling pieces of the budget in the coming weeks; as soon as the Education budget comes out there will be a tidal wave of information for all of us to process. Please know that I'm watching all the different pieces of the pie very closely, and that we're going to work like hell to get through this in a way that's fair to everybody.

*On April 20th your MLEA exec board, along with past president Wendy Stewart, is attending an evening workshop on how RIF and non-renewal work. It's knowledge that I'm hoping we won't need, but it's knowledge we need to have.

*If you have any questions, please ask--that's what we're here for!

With thanks,

--Ryan, for the MLEA Exec Board--

HB1410 and SB5444: Victory!

Really good news this week as HB1410 and SB5444, the two bills to completely gut education that I've been worrying about, have been killed in the legislature. There are varying degrees of dead in Olympia, certainly, but it would be a very, very large shock to me to see the old bills come back in any form.

The two bills two watch now are SB6048 and HB2261. These are "intent only" bills that will codify where the legislature wants to go and have real potential to change what we do here on the local level; they're also being built from the ground up (we've gone from a 111 page long bill to 3 pages!) which gives us a chance to talk about the pieces that should go into the bill instead of needing to fight to have things taken out.

To everyone who called or emailed their legislators, thank you! We had more than 20,000 emails sent to Olympia via the Our Voice WEA website, and any time that we can make ourselves heard to that scale it's a powerful sign to our elected officials. Collective action--catch the fever! ;-)

I'll be keeping an eye on the bills, and as always please feel free to ask if you have any questions!

With thanks,

--Ryan--

The Stimulus Will Help Me Sleep Tonight

Speaking to the Association of Washington Businesses the other day Governor Gregoire indicated that most of Washington's share of the education money in the stimulus bill would be used to replace the cuts that she had proposed to levy equalization and I-728 money, which could have been a $1,000,000 blow to our district budget.

More recently an analysis by Schmudget puts additional credence into this theory, and gets into how the money can be spent.

This is still a very fluid situation, even with Obama's signature expected to come within the next couple of days. There's an early budget report presentation being made to the state Senate this Thursday at 4:30, and that'll be a pretty powerful signal as to where the money situation might go.

I'll keep on top of it!

--Ryan--

More on HB1410 and SB5444

Here is a .pdf file from the WEA that succinctly gives the Association objections to the two bills.

Please, keep emailing and keep making those contacts with our legislators--it makes a difference!

--Ryan--

The Big Legislative Project: HB1410 and SB5444

One of the many hats that I wear is as a part of the Member Lobby Team (MLT) and WEA-PAC Chair for WEA-Eastern. What they do in the legislature today is what you're going to end up doing in the classroom tomorrow, and I think that with the state budget situation being what it is it's more important than ever that we communicate with out elected representatives to let them know the reality of the classroom today.

That's why I'm very, very concerned about two pieces of legislation moving through Olympia right now: House Bill 1410 and Senate Bill 5444. They're companion bills, meaning that if you've read one you've read them both, and there are things to like about them. To wit:

*They'd mandate a class size of 15 in grades K through 3!
*Mentoring for teachers!
*Librarians defined as being basic education--no more cuts to library!
*A prototype schools model that would mean BILLIONS more dollars in education spending!

The devil, though, is in the details. I've started maintaining a second blog dedicated only to school politics where I've been running down reasons why I'm deeply troubled by these two bills; a couple that I'll share with you here:

• 1410 and 5444 would eliminate two funding sources, levy equalization and I-728, that together mean hundreds of millions of dollars for schools state wide, and more than 10% of our budget here in Medical Lake. The theory is that the state would kick in more money from somewhere, but the bills don't define where.
  
• Similarly, the certification system would be overhauled--again--into a more "performance based" system to be defined by the Professional Educators Standards Board. As someone who had to do ProCert I'll personally attest to the pain that we went through when the state was trying to figure out how to make it work; here we go again with yet another wholesale change.
  
• The salary schedule would be overhauled. Eventually the extra money for getting a Masters degree would be phased out; instead, to get to the top of the salary schedule, you'd have to get National Board certified. Right now teachers get a hefty additional stipend if they get the certification, and that's as it should be IMO--it was their choice, and now they get to reap the rewards. Making it a mandate, though, is troubling.

Please, go to the Eastern WEAPAC site that I linked to above and read some of the other troubles with the bill. I think this has the very real potential to be a white elephant--it will pass on the promise of additional funding and a glorious new tomorrow, but when the money doesn't come through we'll still be stuck with a new certification system, less rights than we have now, and a weakened profession.

THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIVE IN THE 9TH LD--Rep. Don Cox of the 9th is on the House Education Committee. Please email him and share your thoughts on the bill. For those of you in the 3rd LD--Lisa Brown's district--let her know, too; as Senate Majority Leader she has a lot of sway on where these bills go. For everybody, if you would take the time to send 1 email to a legislator, it will help make a difference.

I'll keep you informed on these bills and the other legislative business as the session goes on.

As always, please call or email if you have any questions.

With thanks,

--Ryan--

For Those Interested in National Board Certification

The first round of NBPTS scholarship applications is being accepted on the OSPI website, here. Applications are due this Friday, February 13th, but there is a second round of scholarships available in March that I'll be able to give you a bit more of a heads-up on.

This subsection of the OSPI website has more information. Also know that you'll need to work with an organizer through one of the local universities (either EWU, Gonzaga, or WSU-Spokane); our guest speaker in November was from Gonzaga's program and is thought well of, but go where your instincts tell you to go.

Please call or email if you have any questions!

--Ryan--

On the Federal Bailout Money

Hi friends,

You may have seen the article in the Spokesman-Review over the weekend on what the Federal Stimulus Package could mean for school districts here in the area; the figure cited for Medical Lake was almost $931,000, which would be stimulating indeed. There are a couple of things to remember, though:

1. That figure above is spread out over two years, weighted more towards year 1 ($574k) than year 2 ($356k).
   
   
2. Right now it's only theoretical money. Some would argue that even after they write the check it's still only theoretical money, but that's an economics argument for another day.
   
   
3. Given the vicissitudes of federal funding, any money coming out of the bailout could still be a long ways off from trickling down to us here in Medical Lake. Consider the Impact Aide money that we're already supposed to get; it's been known to run two years behind schedule.
   
   
4. The stimulus bill passed the House, but it still has to wend its way through the Senate, and then a conference committee, before it can find itself on President Obama's desk.
   
   
5. It's not a blank check. You can read here the allocations that are made to various programs; the first year, for example, provides money for construction, while both years have additional alotments for Title and IDEA spending. That narrows the scope of where the money can go.

There are currently a ton of moving parts to our monetary situation that I'm keeping an eye on right now: the discussion over Governor Gregoire's proposed budget, the next revenue forecast for the state (due out in three weeks), the state Senate budget proposal (by the end of the month), this pot of Federal money, the other pot of money from DC going towards construction projects, along with a couple of different bills in the Legislature that would impact us here at home. If you have any questions about any of it, please feel free to call me--being up-to-date on these issues is what I'm here for!

With thanks,

--Ryan--

Lobbying in Olympia

Hi MLEA Friends,

Last Tuesday the 27th I went over to Olympia with the WEA-Eastern Members Lobby Team (MLT) to meet with the legislators from the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th legislative districts, which essentially covers Spokane and all points north.

It was an ugly day on the hill in more ways than one. This picture that I put up on my Facebook profile was the view from the hotel room that morning; the sort of skiff of snow that we would all shrug off but had districts over there opening two hours late. Later in the day the snow turned into that familiar western Washington rain/mist combination that is absolutely miserable for someone like me who wears glasses. Fun times! :-P

The meetings with the legislators were very rewarding. The day opened with Rep. Joel Kretz, a Republican out of Okanogan County who is also the deputy leader of the House Republicans. He was very interested in hearing our thoughts on levy equalization, which is a funding source that means an awful lot to districts here in Eastern Washington. Rep. Kevin Parker (R, Spokane) is new to the house and listened very intently to what we had to say about class size, why HB1410 deserves to fail, and the importance of de-linking the WASL from graduation.

Towards the end of the day we went to visit with Sen. Bob McCaslin (R, Spokane Valley), where we found that his Chief of Staff has a local connection to us here in Medical Lake. Senator McCaslin has been working to pass SB5212 for a couple of years now, which would help military parents who have to make changes to parenting plans while overseas. He's highly interested in military families, and I thank him for his commitment!

I also was in on the meetings with Rep. Shelly Short and Sen. Bob Morton (both of the 7th LD), Rep. Timm Ormbsby (3rd), and Rep. John Driscoll (6th); Matt Shea (4th), Alex Wood (3rd), and Lisa Brown (3rd) were all covered by other members of the MLT. The only local legislator we weren't able to meet with was Rep. Larry Crouse out of the 4th, so we'll redouble our efforts to meet with him the next time around.

It's an interesting time, with the state budget deficit getting that much worse but with potential for federal money on the horizong that could help a big piece of the situation. I'll keep you up-to-date as things evolve!

With thanks,

--Ryan--

The Levy Committee is Meeting Wednesday, January 21st at the Lutheran Church in Medical Lake

Hello MLEA Members,

The levy committee will be meeting at 4:00 this Wednesday, January 21st at St. John's Lutheran Church in Medical Lake. If you have the ability to come to the meeting it would be appreciated; the levy election is under 2 months away, and there's a lot of work yet to be done.

Thanks!

--Ryan--

Snow Days and Other Issues Upcoming

MLEA Members,

We hope that you enjoyed your extended Christmas vacation; it's funny how often these once-in-a-lifetime storms come any more, isn't it? :-)

With regards to how the days will be made up, your Exec Board will be meeting with Dr. Veltri next week to talk about the calendar and where we want to go. Ryan will be meeting with the Uniserv office and the other local presidents beforehand to make sure we all have the WACs and RCWs straight, and then we'll most likely do an on-line survey to get your opinions. We're waiting for a week to see what the Governor does regarding a state of emergency, as well as to get some direction from OSPI.

The executive board met over the weekend to discuss the current state of issues regarding the association and potential cost-cutting measures as well as our working conditions. More information is coming.

If your building had leaking/flooding issues, please remember that page 25 of the contract provides for reimbursement of personal property damaged in a "disturbance". We haven't had to use that language in a while, but if you did have anything damaged beyond repair we're here to advocate for you if you need it.

If you have any questions please feel free to email your building rep, an exec board member, or call Ryan on his cell phone.

Thank you for all you do, and here's to hoping for good weather from here on out!

--Cheryl, Carol, Kate, and Ryan--

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2008: A Look Back

Locally, we had the worst snow in 40 years last January, and then we had the worst snow in 40-something weeks this December. We negotiated a new three year contract with the district, raised our WEAPAC membership to the highest level it's ever been, and used our money wisely to keep our local dues among the lowest in the region. If there's something more that you'd like to see out of the MLEA, just ask and we'll do what we can!

For a national perspective check out this article from USA Today; it's a well-written overview of the big stories of the last year, and it gives some good indicators of where we could go in 2009.

I hope to see you all again soon, and here's to a great 2009!

--Ryan--