OEA Tentative Agreement on the Web Page at www.ogdenweber.org

Hooray...hooray...we have the tentative agreement on the web page. Go to http://www.ogdenweber.org/ to look at the proposal.

Wednesday, August 12, at 3:30, we will meet at the UniServ office to present the agreement to the OEA membership for a vote. The OEA Negotiations Team will be there to answer your questions.

Busy week for OEA as we will present to the New Teachers Wednesday. I met many of the 79 (last count) new members of Ogden's staff Saturday at a "get to know you" BBQ held at Ginny Wimmer's farm. I met several teachers from Michigan who look energized to start the year.
Weber has hired over 92 at this time

Principals and Instructional Coaches are receiving training this week at Shadow Valley in preparation for the ARRA days next week.

Word from UEA is that Grand County (Moab) and Cache are at stalemates in negotiation. Other districts where contract steps are frozen are Davis, Jordan, and possibly Provo. Signs that the recession is over are positive. Now, we need to get people back to work in Utah and increasing those income tax revenues that fund our schools.

OEA and WEA's Executive Boards spent some of their summer preparing new teacher packets for the new teachers' workshops this week. WEA will be providing a breakfast Thursday at Orion for new hires.

See you Wednesday. Thanks to Mike Fazzio for getting the summary up on the web page. Rick

Email me for a copy of the negotiations summary

Sorry about the webpage. Our webmaster (directly flown in by owl mail from hogwarts) is working day and night (at least that is what his green sheeted overtime pay sheets say) and yet... you are stuck with me the blog master. (or is blog meister)

The Standard- Examiner seemed to imply that Quality Teaching Days were not optional. If you did not attend you did not get paid. The ARRA days are similar in that they are optional (the OEA encourages you to attend). You must attend an entire day to get paid. Also the idea that teachers only work at school when they are paid is ludicrous (second word I had to look in the dictionary to spell) Okay, all together...count up the days you have been at school, in your classroom, out of contract time...okay...got that number? Now multiply that times by $200.00 and woo la (sic) you are rich. I was glad that a principal was quoted in saying that a "majority" of her teachers are dedicated. Wow...to imply that our teachers can't get ready for "back to school" nights unless they are paid to do so is (checking thesaurus for synonym of ludicrous)_______.

Ok, my rant is over.
At least they announced our ratification meeting. Wed., August 12, 3:30 at the UniServ office

See you there...no...sorry no pay...totally on your time...we do have soda and snacks though.
Rick

Questions on OEA Negotiations

Questions:

• Can I attend only a half-day of the ARRA days? No, you must attend a full day to be paid.
• Are the ARRA days optional? Yes, many of you have received letters from the district explaining the purpose of these days. The OEA supports the goals of these professional development days and encourages you to attend.
• Where can I receive a summary of the contract changes? Email me at rick@ogdenweber.org or attend our ratification meeting Wed., 3:30, at the UniServ office.
• Will I receive my step this year? No, steps are frozen for this year. If the state funding rises back to the 2007 level (we would need an increase of about 3 million) the district will fund the steps retroactively.
• How much will I receive in Dec? That amount is yet to exactly be determined (it is based on the cost of the steps) but should be around 400.00.
• When will I receive the payment for the four ARRA days before school? In September.
• When will I receive the payment for the Nov. and March ARRA days? In the next supplemental payroll after that day.
• Please call with any other questions. 801-390-6365 Rick

OEA Ratification Meeting Wed. August 12, 3:30 PM, UniServ Office, 939 25th St. Ogden

The OEA Bylaws call for a ratification meeting of the membership to vote to ratify the Tentative Negotiations Agreement. If it is ratified by the members and the OCSD Board ratifies it, then it becomes the contract for the 2009-10 school year. Our webmaster is still trying to get the summary up on the page. For a summary of the agreement email me, rick@ogdenweber.org or call 801-390-6365 with questions. Thanks. Rick

OEA Negotiations Update: Continued

Email me at rick@ogdenweber.org for a summary of the OEA negotiations. Our website is still on the fritz...We will vote to ratify the tentative agreement, Wed., August 12 @ 3:30 @ the UniServ office at 939 25th ST. Ogden. Call 399-3746 with questions or email me.



One of the positive memos of understanding that we signed is one to form a committee with the district to study our Ogden Corrective Action (teacher discipline) policy. It will be worthwhile to discuss some of the things we deal with when administrators use corrective action with our teachers.



Many of the other changes in contract language were editorial (his/her) to statutory language necessary to comply with new laws dealing with Family Medical Leave for example.



We will go over the specific language at our meeting Wednesday.



One of the most often asked questions is: Did the administrators and classified employees share in the cuts? Both of those employee groups will not receive step increases this year. They did not receive the "one time" money that teachers will receive in December. All employee groups benefitted from the infusion of money to mitigate the insurance premium increases.



We feel that the mediation process was valuable. At least $420,000 was added to the financial package through the mediation process. We thank Lavonne Ritter, Federal Mediator, for her long hours working with both teams.



Stay tuned. Rick

OEA Negotiations Update Ratification WED AUG 12 3:30 UniServ Office, 939 25th St. Ogden

Looks like the website is still not cooperating. To receive a more detailed summary of the tentative agreement, email me at rick@ogdenweber.org and I will attach the summary in the reply.

The six ARRA professional development days will be paid at 75% of your contract daily rate. That is figured by dividing 181.5 into your salary. The legislature did not fund Quality Teaching Days this year. Some districts lost all or most of their days. (Jordan lost nine days). Our district was able to fund the six days from a combination of Federal stimulus money (Title One funds that our district can use to help us get out of corrective action) and district funds left over from the previous Quality Teaching budget. These days (optional) are to be used for professional development (mornings) and implementation (afternoons) in your classrooms. The OEA and the district will meet throughout the year to monitor and communicate ways for our district to move out of "district improvement".

Doug Stephens (new OEA president) and Lisa Vipperman (new OEA VP) are optimistic that we can work to strengthen the capacity of our members and improve the communication with the district. We will need your help.

They look forward to hearing from you on Wednesday, August 12 @ 3:30 for our ratification meeting. Please call us at 399 3746 or email us with your questions. rick@ogdenweber.org

Rick