Summer Office Hours-Ogden/Weber UniServ

Hi everyone. Hope you have a groovy summer. Our summer office hours will be 9-3. I am always available at 801-390-6365. Thanks Rick

OEA Negotiations Meeting has been rescheduled for June 8. Please check here for updates throughout the summer.

Ogden School Board to help with insurance costs

Our Insurance committee reports that the Ogden City School Board has offered to pay approximately $1.188 million (total annual amount for all employees) towards our insurance premiums. This would be a big help for our employees during this difficult budget time. Our OEA Negotiations Team will meet with the district team Monday to continue negotiations on other salary and non-salary issues. Keep posted for updates daily. Thanks Rick

OEA Insurance Info

The Ogden District Insurance Committee met Tuesday night and agreed to send a proposal to the three employee groups for negotiations. The School Board will help pay for the increases in insurance this year. The district will pay 86% and the employees will pay 14% of the premium. Singles will see an increase of 6.64, Couples- 15.02, and Families - 21.50 (before flexing the premium which gives up to a 20% savings) The committee was able to maintain coverage without changes. This is much different than the possible huge increases that we were facing with 15% increases in premiums. The committee did a great job in keeping increases low and maintaining coverage. The base dental program will increase by .54 per month-single, 1.12 per couple, and 1.94 for family coverage.

The OEA Negotiations team will meet with the district June 1 to continue talks.

Stay tuned to this station for negotiations news. Rick

WEA Ratifies Negotiations Proposal

WEA leaders met to ratify the 2009-2010 contract negotiations Thursday, June 21. Here is a summary:

• Steps and Lanes funded
• Increases of around 3% on Insurance premium participation
• Salary schedule remains the same with only 182 days of work
• Six quality teaching days at daily rate
• Exchange 2 days of sick leave for one day of personal leave (must participate in health assessment or annual physical exam)
• Committee to study technology and reporting student progress.
• Recommended 30 minute (average) duty free lunch
• Seniority starts on day you sign contract.
• Junior High Teachers will work with administrators on track meet assignments
• Prep time committees at each Elementary School.
• CTE teachers able to convert credit hours to semester hours when determining industrial experience.
• Separation papers signed by April 15th to receive early retirement incentives.
• Last day of contract defined at June 30.

WEA ARs Meet to Ratify Negotiations/OEA Negotiations Continue

WEA Building Reps met Thursday afternoon to listen to the proposals and vote to ratify. There were a few questions that the team will resolve. Details to follow.

OEA's Negotiation Team met with the District's team and heard more about salary and benefit issues. We asked for more information and details to be brought to our next meeting June 1. The insurance committee will meet Tuesday to work on finalizing the insurance program for next year.

Rick

Weber Ratification Meeting Today at 4:30

WEA ratification of negotiations will be held today at 4:30 at the UniServ Office, 939 25th St. Ogden. The WEA Negotiations team will be going over the proposal including changes in the insurance coverage. Hope you can make it.

OEA Negotiations resumes meeting today and we hope we have some financial proposals to look at. Eugene Hart, Business Administrator, has been very ill and we are glad to see him back to work.

Rick

Voucher Debate Continues in USA Today

Hi go to www.usatoday.com to read the editorial debate on the validity and success of vouchers in Washington, D.C. schools. Both sides say the data proves their points. The oposition point of view is written by Sen. Dick Durbin, (Illinois). Interesting reading. The editorial even gives a "shout out" to the Utah teachers' union (us) that defeated vouchers here. Yeah us>>> rick

GOP is Wild about Gary

Go to www.deseretnews.com and read the results of a Deseret News/KSL poll that shows that only 33% of those survey though Herbert should run in 2010 while 36% thought someone else should run. Surprisingly 47% thought a Democrat would have a legitimate chance to win in 2010. 43% of Republicans like Herbert right now, even before any other candidates have come forth. At least this will liven up a normally drab off year election year next year.
Rick

Gary Herbert, New Utah Governor

Governor Huntsman was announced as the new ambassador to China. Lt. Governor, Gary Herbert, will replace Huntsman until a special election in November of 2010. The winner of that race will then have to run in the regular election in 2012.

What a perfect time to tell my one Governor Huntsman story:

In 1971-73 I lived near Chevy Chase, MD, (mission) home of Jon Huntsman( he and his wife couldn't be nicer people) . Jon Huntsman was working for President Richard Nixon at the time. They had a nanny from Peru who attended our church in Washington, D.C. We spent time at the house eating dinner and playing with the kids. Governor Huntsman was one of the kids. When Governor Huntsman first ran for office I was on the committee that interviewed him for UEA PAC. After the meeting I asked him if he remembered the nanny. He said, "oh yeah you mean Lucy". Well that is my Huntsman story. Rick

Weber District negotiations proceeding

The WEA Negotiations team met with the district last night to hammer out the final details of our contract for next year. The next step will be notification of a ratification meeting for our side and the district will take the proposal to the board for ratification. The insurance committee will be meeting next week to finalize the insurance part of the contract. Details to follow.
WEA thanks Kirk Ottley, Brent Ludlow, Lee Claycomb, Shari Combe, Teri Maxfield, and Marlene Irons for their tireless work to get the best agreement possible in this tough budget year.
Thanks to all of our WEA members for their support. We could not do it without the help of our members. Rick

Jordan and Canyons School District See Cuts

The newly split Jordan and Canyons School District are facing some budget challenges because of decreased state funding and the cost of the split. The cost of the split was around 8 million dollars on top of the other cuts already coming from the legislature. www.deseretnews.com Wednesday May 13 article "Jordan District won't lay off any Teachers"

The new Canyons School District (Eastside) is considering opting out of social security payments. You can read the entire article at www.sltrib.com May 14

Thanks Rick

Equitable Cuts Across the Districts

As we face budget cuts of historical nature, both Ogden and Weber Districts must make tough decisions of where the cuts will come. Weber School District has proposed (we have not finished negotiations yet) a cut of 1.5 quality teaching days, cuts in district administration (moved an administrator from the district office to a Jr. High), and other classified cuts. In Weber, insurance decisions are close to being finalized that will share the increases (made smaller by decisions of the committee) in premium across all employee groups. Steps and Lanes for teachers in Weber have been preserved. Yes, teachers will fill the pain, but the pain has been lessened by financial decisions the district has made over the past few years (mill levy increases and conservative budgets) . You don't have to look very far to see districts losing many or all of their quality teaching days, freezing steps and lanes, raising class sizes and cuttting staff. Your WEA negotiations team is meeting Thursday to look at policy changes and work to finalize negotiations. Both the legislature and our State Supt. have counseled the districts to make the cuts as equitable as possible. At least in Weber, we have seen the effort to do just that. Rick

Jazz Bear to visit Valley Elementary

Valley Elementary School in Huntsville will have a special treat today as the Jazz Bear will visit as a result of the UEA Celebration award that three of our teachers received.

Again, I hope everyone enjoyed their "Great Harvest Coupon" to show you our appreciation for your hard work and dedication. You can use them at any Great Harvest store. Teri Maxfield even used her in Michigan. Let us know if you have any trouble using them.

Thanks Rick

Walter Williams Column in Deseret News 5/8/09

Walter Williams (not one of my favorite conservative economist writers) makes his case that colleges are inflating grade points. You can read the entire article on http://www.deseret.news.com/ (May 8 Opinion). He quotes data showing that average grades have increased. He also takes a shot at our history teachers with a survey of Americans that showed a lack of historical and government knowledge. His bottom line: "to approach truth in grading parents and employers should lower the average student's grade by one letter, and interpret a C grade as and F." That is an example of the criticism public and higher ed receive on a daily basis. I am not saying that there are shreds of truth in these attacks, but there is an anti public ed sentiment that shines through in Williams's words. Thanks for reading. Rick

Matthew Patterson, Weber Teacher of the Year

Congrats to Matthew Patterson, Earth Science teacher at Orion Jr. High, for his Weber Teacher of the Year award. Matt is an energetic teacher who makes learning fun for his students. Linda Carver, Asst. Supt., even dressed up for his presentation. Matt is representative of the teachers in Weber district.

New Administrative Assignments in Weber District

At Weber School Board last night the Matt Patterson, Orion Jr. High, was honored as Weber's Teacher of the Year. Congrats!!!

The following admin assignments were also made:'

• Bill Grilz Two Rivers
• Don Tanner South Ogden
• Kevin Sederholm Bates
• Lori Rassmussen Pioneer
• Shelly Roberts Midland
• Dave Gerstheimer Hooper
• Marilyn Runolfson Green Acres
• Quinn Karlinsey Uintah
• Darlene Bell Marlon Hills
• Rick Proffer Freedom
• Brent Wayment Intern
• Shirley Passey Intern
• Linda Smith Intern

Congrats to the Ross Moore, Susan England, Elaine Jensen, and Randy Rounds on their retirements.

Rick

USA Today (Yesterday) "To Deal with Sexting"

Tuesday, May 5, USA Today's editorial talked about the growing problem of teenagers using cellphone texting to send explicit photos, often of themselves. To read the entire editorial go to www.usatoday.com . One national survey showed that 22% of teenage girls had sexted their own picture and 29% of teens have received such pictures third-hand. Utah is one of a few states that has legislated a punishment of juvenile-law misdemeanor for the offense rather than a felony conviction. This is just another problem that we face in an every changing world.

Sorry no blog contest this month. Thanks for reading. Rick

Sorry no Blog contest this Month

I am sorry to say that we won't have a blog contest this month as reported in our Link newsletter. That is my fault. We appreciate everyone who has followed our blog and I hope the bits of info have helped keep you somewhat informed.

The Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission is looking for members. Three positions of three year terms are now open until May 22. Contact jean.hill@school.utah.gov if you are interested. Our own Christine Heslop, OHS teacher, is a member of the commission. This group rules on licensure issues and hears complaints. They recommend to the State School Board revocations or suspensions of teaching licenses.

Thanks for reading. Rick

Big Board Meeting

Members of both OEA and WEA's Executive Board met last Friday to talk about their goals for next year and welcome the newly elected leaders. They spent the time planning and setting meeting schedules for 2009-10. Clay Kirkham was elected as the UniServ President with Paul Fawson serving as the Vice-President for the two year term. Clay went over the budget and commented on the continuing financial report. Lisa Vipperman was also introduced as the new OEA VP to serve with Doug Stephens next year.

The Principal and the Paddle

Find the May 4 edition of Newsweek and read the article "The Principal and the Paddle". A principal in a South Carolina Elementary School uses corporal punishment on kids. I was astonished that anyone in America still paddled kids. I received my one and only paddle as an 8th grader in Aberdeen Jr. High (Idaho). I administered my only paddling in 1976 in Hazelton, Idaho. I felt so bad afterwards that I retired that mean piece of wood. You old timers will remember the paddles with holes in them for swift air resistance proof stinging. Just the sight of the paddle hanging by the teachers desk was enough to deter my misbehaving. Utah did away with corporal punishment in the early 80's. Now, we tell teachers to not touch kids unless they are breaking up a fight or keeping a student from injuring himself or property. If you can't find a print edition go to www.newsweek.com to read this interesting, but disturbing article. Rick