Most Schoolkids Make Gains in Reading, Math

An AP story out of Washington, D.C. printed in the SL Tribune (www.sltrib.com) says that kids are making strides in reading and math. Math seems stalled among high school students according to the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) data. Reading score for high school kids improved since 2004. In fact every group (9,13,17) made gains. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, "It's a step in the right direction". Go to the trib site to read the entire article. Thanks for blogging with me this year. Rick

New North Ogden Elementary

I had not stopped by to see North Ogden Elementary for a few months, so today I visited and was rewarded with a guided tour by Principal Aaradema. It is going to be a beautiful school to replace a fine school. The district did a nice job of placing the two-story building on a 3.5 acre parcel of land. They have been very efficient in using the space. The views are magnificent toward the mountain peaks to the north. I am sure the students and staff will greatly appreciate it when it opens next fall. Rick

House of Delegates Report

Several OEA and WEA members traveled to Alta High on Saturday to attend to the business of the Utah Education Association. Hundreds of members from around the state deliberated and voted on new business items, changes to the bylaws, approved the legislative platform and okayed the budget for next fiscal year. The hottest debate came over a bill that Ogden/Weber UniServ brought to freeze UEA dues for next school year. Without the freeze the dues will increase $13 based on a formula of last year's increases in average teacher salaries in Utah. Our leaders spoke to the fact that many teachers will be losing pay and in some cases their jobs because of the economic downturn. The vote was close but the bill to freeze failed by about 30 votes out of over 450 votes. The House of Delegates is an annual event and allows our members the opportunity to debate the issues and see the association up close and personal.
Thanks Rick

Grant Writing Workshop a Success

We would like to thank Kate Bideaux for the great information on writing grants. Twenty teachers from Ogden and Weber enjoyed hearing tips on writing grants and receiving lists of the many grants available. We would also like to thank Lynette Kirkpatrick and Stephanie Smith at the Two Rivers Media Office for setting up the computer lab and accomodating us so well. If you want more information on grant writing please email Kate at bideauxk@ogdensd.org

Thanks Rick

U.S. Supreme Court Debates Strip Search of Student

Tuesday the nine justices of the Supreme Court talked about places middle school students might hide drugs. In 2003 Savana Redding of Safford, Arizona was brought down to the office of her middle school and searched for Ibuprofen. The female nurse and administrative assistant asked her to pull back her undergarments looking for the contraband pills. Attorneys used terms such as the "ick" factor to describe why students would not put pills in certain private places. Justice Breyer thought it was logical to do that. The question the justices will decide is whether the school officials went beyond "reasonable and prudent" behaviorin preforming the search. These type of cases will resonate down to each of our schools as educators work to make sure our schools are safe from weapons and drugs while preserving students constitutional rights. Stay tuned for more. Thanks Rick

Negotiations Update

Both OEA and WEA Negotiation Teams have met with their district counterparts. The first meeting in each case was to trade packages and list of items to be discussed. The next meetings start the process of discussion and receiving information on contract language and programs. As we receive more information on insurance costs we will enter into discussions of salary and benefits. We have tough decisions to make to make up for the cut in funding from the state legislature. Our goal is to make sure the decisions are made in an equitable manner. We do not believe that budgets should balanced on the shoulders of teachers. We must all do our part.
Rick

Transformation Continued

Second day at UEA Transformation Team Meeting will put us to work matching up our theme clusters (don't ask) into our UEA Strategic Goals. Finally, some product from the hours of data analysis and defining terms. Yesterday we worked on clustering the themes and writing summaries of the new clusters for our work today. The UEA's four strategic goals that move the agenda for our organization will be the center of attention today. We will also create some questions for House of Delegates this Saturday. My hope is that our final product will reflect real change (that you can believe in) not just a cursory cosmetic redo of the status quo. Thanks for reading. Rick