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.