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--