OCEA Quest - January 2003

In this issue (click on the links below):

Negotiation Update

Legislature 2003

Pre-Retirement Seminar: Saturday, January 25

Membership Incentives

NEA National Agenda

NEA Foundation Grants

From “A Nation at Risk to a Profession at Risk”

Hourly Wage

Contest

Web Links

GIVE LIFE! GIVE BLOOD!

Negotiation Update

As you know, the collective bargaining agreement (aka the contract) for the 2002-2003 school year was ratified by us in December and formally approved by the School Board this month. Your 2.5% salary increase becomes effective with the January 31 paycheck. Also on that paycheck will be the 2.5% retroactive pay to the first pay period of the contract year. (Some members have expressed concern about the retroactive pay on the same check as the regular pay. They fear they will be over-taxed. The District’s Fiscal Services Department insists that if cut on a separate check, IRS regulations say that it must be taxed at the highest rate. In any event, OCEA leadership has passed on concerns but cannot force the District to cut the checks in any particular method.)

The bargaining team is to be commended for the progress made over the past two years. We received a 3.5% salary increase over a biennium for which the Legislature gave 2%; we prevented a cap to our insurance that may have had a deleterious effect to our benefits and our pocketbooks; and we blocked a roll-back to our salary schedule that would have put a Master’s barrier at column three for all newly hired teachers. Unfortunately, there is no time to rest on our laurels; bargaining for next year’s contract will soon begin. Finances are tight and becoming increasingly tighter. The soon-to-begin Legislative session will have a major effect on this bargain. (See Legislature 2003 in this issue of Quest.)

The bargaining team for FY 2004-2005 will have some new faces. Chris Whitcome, Ellie West, Ron Pickrell, and Steve Fargan have moved on for a variety of reasons. As most of you know, Steve was our Financial VP last year and is now working in Lyon County where he is a member of their bargaining team. Ron has served on the team for the past couple of years and is hoping next year will be his last teaching before retirement. Chris and Ellie have worked for many seasons on the team and have reached the saturation point for all the malarkey that goes with the process. Gaylea Manning and Jeff Greb will continue on the team with Gaylea as spokesperson. Former spokesperson Lenae Derrico will be rejoining the team, as will newcomers Corinne Callahan, Martha Samples, and Bill Barbie.

The first order of business for the new team will be to create, issue, collect, tabulate, and interpret a survey. Our bylaws require the team to survey the membership about negotiation issues. Please look for the survey and fill it out so that your voice will be heard.

Contact Quest: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us

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Legislature 2003

The 2003 Legislature is absolutely vital to maintaining quality public education in Nevada. Facing a daunting budget shortfall, the legislators have the opportunity to fix the revenue structural deficit that plagues this state and to fund education at more appropriate levels. Currently, the amount Nevada spends per pupil lags $1,400 behind the national average.

Yesterday was Governor Guinn’s “State of the State” speech, and today is a perfect time for your legislators to hear from you. Contact the legislators below and let them know how important it is for them to do the right thing for public education this session. Remember: when emailing from your work computer, do not contact legislators during your contract day.

In addition to contacting your legislators immediately, please be ready for calls to action during the session. As the local association in the capital city, OCEA can expect NSEA to call upon us throughout the session when the presence of teachers at the capitol is needed. Political action is in your personal and professional interest, and in the interest of your students.

More frequently we will be called upon to send emails to legislators. Last session NSEA found emailing the most effective tool for a quick, effective response to daily events. Please be ready to send messages when needed.

On Thursday, the School Board will be meeting with Senator Amodei and new Assemblypersons Grady and Knecht to communicate local needs. OCEA will be making contact with Amodei and Knecht to do the same. OCEA and CCSD will be teaming up at the Legislature when appropriate to present a united front.

Local Legislators:

Senator Mark Amodei mailto:Internet:mamodei.sen.nv.us

Assemblyperson Ron Knecht mailto:Internet:rknecht@asm.state.nv.us

Assemblyperson Tom Grady mailto:Internet:tgrady@asm.state.nv.us

Contact Quest: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us

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Pre-Retirement Seminar:

Saturday, January 25

NSEA-Retired is conducting a pre-retirement seminar this Saturday, January 25, at Gleason PDC. The seminar is free and will run from 10:00-12:00 noon. Refreshments will be provided.

Dani Kitts, President of NSEA-R, as well as the president of the rural retired group Paul Hines are presenting the seminar. Ann Smith from NEA-Member Benefits will also be there.

The purpose of the seminar is to help active teachers prepare for retirement. All can benefit from the information (it is never too early to begin planning), but those three or less years from retirement are particularly encouraged to attend.

A second seminar for retired teachers will run from 1:00-2:30, same location and date.

Contact Quest: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us

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Membership Incentives

You should have received your new NSEA Membership Access Discount Card in your school mailbox. Not only is this your NSEA Membership Card, but it also has your number to register for the discount program offered through the NSEA website (http://www.nsea-nv.org). This benefit is open to members only, and it offers local and national discounts on everything from meals to travel to recreation. Taking full advantage of this benefit can save you the amount of your dues annually.

Membership is everyone’s business. A strong membership is the life’s blood to our Association. Membership funds our activities. For example, the recent contract negotiation cost OCEA over $10,000. Your state dues will help fund the effort at the Legislature to fund education in Nevada at the national average. (See Legislature 2003 in this issue of Quest.) Your UCN dues are at work to establish a rural health insurance alliance to help contain the cost of insurance for rural districts, of which we are one. Your national dues are working to effect change on issues of particular importance to Nevada teachers. (See NEA National Agenda in this issue of Quest.) A healthy membership allows your leaders to speak with authority at the local, state, and national level.

With the importance of membership in mind, the OCEA Executive Board has established a program to bolster and maintain membership. Every current OCEA member who signs up a new member will be eligible for a monthly prize of $25 for that month. If you sign up multiple people, your name is entered multiple times. (See your Building Representative for information on how to address objections to joining.) In addition, schools that attain or maintain a membership level of 80% or more at their site will now receive $8 per member for Teacher Appreciation Week in May. (Sites with under 80% will still receive the previous $5 per member amount.) Lastly, the school with the highest membership percentage each year will get to keep a traveling trophy honoring that achievement for the year. The trophy will be presented at the Light of Education Banquet.

Contact Quest: JGREB@carson.k12.nv.us

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NEA National Agenda

Many of NEA’s priorities during the 108^th Congress will have a direct impact upon Nevada. Below is a list of some of them.

Resources:

� $2.5 billion increase for IDEA (6-year path to full funding);

� Fund Title Ii at authorized level of $16 billion;

� Restore cuts to Teacher Quality programs and provide a $1 billion increase;

� Restore funds for rural education and fund at $300 million.

IDEA Reauthorization:

� Total repeal of Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision

The status of GPO/WEP repeal is on NEA’s front burner. In the 107^th Congress, over 180 cosponsors (including Jim Gibbons) signed on the House bill (McKeon-Berman Bill) and 14 signed on the bill sponsored by Feinstein (including Reid). (Senator Ensign has opposed this reform.) These bills must be reintroduced this year. NEA is ready to push prior cosponsors, new members, and leadership in both houses for action in the 108^th Congress. Unfortunately, the issue is not a priority for the current Administration.

The NEA Foundation Innovation Grants and Learning & Leadership Grants are always available, offered on an ongoing, year-round basis. Over 300 grants of $1,000 to $3,000 are awarded each year to fund your BIG ideas. Applications may be submitted at any time, so why wait? All applications are peer reviewed, and notification of grants awarded is sent within seven months of submission. Grants fund activities for 12 months from date of the award. Remember, small grants lead to BIG change. The NEA Foundation grant application process has never been easier. Apply today! Visit http://www.nfie.org/program/howtoapply.htm for an application and details or call 202.822.7840.

On behalf of the National Education Association (NEA), The NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education (NFIE) now offers NEA Fine Arts grants to public elementary school art specialists through their local NEA affiliates. These grants allow fine arts educators to create and implement programs that promote learning among students at risk of school failure. Deadline: February 3, 2003. For more information, visit http://www.nfie.org/programs/finearts.htm.

The Arts@Work grants encourage public secondary school arts specialists to collaborate with technology savvy educators and the business community to develop examples of technology-integrated arts curricula that meet high standards for student achievement. This program is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Deadline: March 3, 2003. For more information on eligibility and guidelines, visit http://www.nfie.org/programs/artsatwork.htm.

Teachers are still fighting for professional recognition and respect. Despite all of the educational reform activity over the past two decades, the teaching profession currently faces daunting challenges.

These include the influx of underqualified teachers into classrooms, the potential dismantling of professional education for teachers, and the trend toward the regulation of teaching practice -- regulations that may deprive teachers of the ability to make professional judgments and exercise their professional knowledge. At a time when we have more evidence than ever that quality teaching matters enormously to children's futures, we are on the verge of forsaking the hard-won reforms that can lead to better prepared teachers for all students. According to Pam Grossman, the crossroad is clearly marked. We can continue to invest in the development of highly qualified and well-prepared teachers and create the incentives and working conditions to keep them in the profession. Or we can once again ease standards for entry into teaching and allow students, primarily those in high-poverty schools who are most in need of high-quality teaching, to be taught by less than qualified teachers.

To pursue the latter path would only increase the disparities in educational opportunity and achievement that already exist within our society.

So we face a paradox: in some areas teachers are better prepared than ever, while in schools that serve the greatest numbers of poor and minority children, more and more teachers are underqualified.

Due in part to the reforms enacted in response to A Nation at Risk, it is harder than ever to get into a teacher education program. But in many communities, individuals can bypass these requirements altogether and enter the classroom with an emergency credential. Beginning with the publication of A Nation at Risk, reports began to warn of impending teacher shortages.

Due to increases in both student enrollment and teacher retirements, widespread shortages were predicted, particularly in the areas of special education, English as a Second Language, math, and science.

At least partly in response to the increasing demand for teachers and fears of teacher shortages, states began to issue emergency credentials and create alternate routes into teaching. In 1996, the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future demonstrated the prevalence of the practice of staffing schools with teachers who did not hold full qualifications in their field.

The commission's study reported that as of 1996, "more than 50,000 people who lack the training required for their jobs have entered teaching annually on emergency or substandard license." These numbers have only increased since then. One recent study of California suggests that half of all first-year teachers do not have their credentials when they begin teaching.

Hourly Wage

I, for one, am sick of those high paid teachers. Their hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work nine or ten months a year! It’s time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do – baby-sit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage. That’s right: I would give them $3 an hour and only the hours they worked, not any of that silly planning time.

That would be $15 a day. Each parent should pay $15 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now, how many do they teach a day, maybe 25? Then that’s 15 x 25 = $375 a day. But remember: they only work 180 days a year! I’m not going to pay them for any vacations.

Let’s see: that’s $375 x 180 = $67,500.00. (Hold on, my calculator must need batteries!)

What about those special teachers or ones with Master’s degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage just to be fair. Let’s round it off to $6 an hour. That would be $6 x 5 hours x 25 children x 180 days = $135,000.00 a year.

Contest

The first person to e-mail Quest with the correct answer will win a $10 gift certificate. Also, if you’d like to submit a possible contest question, you could be eligible for the same prize.

� Answers must be submitted by e-mail to the address below. On the subject line type “Contest.”

� The winner will be the first e-mail received by the editor with the correct answer. (E-mails are automatically date and time stamped upon receipt by the computer.)

Approximately how much more money will the state legislature need to raise for the coming biennium (compared this year) for teachers to receive 5% salary increases for the next two years?

How much money are you eligible to win for each new member you sign up during any school year month?

Web Links

� NSEA – statewide information; legislative updates; member benefits http://www.nsea-nv.org

� NEA – national information; numerous links to many education sites http://www.nea.org

� NEA Member Benefits – lots of connections to other sites and free stuff http://www.neamb.com