UEA Great Celebrations Award Winners

We would like to congratulate Carolyn Hogge, Suzanne Evans and Rebecca Warnes (Valley Elementary) for winning Jazz tickets, dinner and a visit from the Jazz Bear Mascot to their school. UEA Great Celebrations of Education winners were chosen because of their sixth grade Economy which gives their students a personal experience with financial planning, budgeting, banking, gaining employment and creating a mini-society at school. Carolyn , Suzanne and Rebecca are examples of the fine teachers in our districts.

Thanks Rick

2009 Budget Cuts Finalized

Congrats to Sherrie Dame (Polk) and David Joy (Highland), big winners of $25 Subway cards in the January Blog contest. Weber winners will be drawn at WEA's AR meeting Feb. 9.

The legislature quickly passed a package of bills Monday cutting public education by 1.5% for this year. Now they will concentrate on the really tough job of making a budget balance for the 2010 fiscal year. We hope that through more bonding and use of the rainy day fund the cuts will be closer to the Governor's budget (7.5%) than the Republican leadership's projected 15% cuts.

Be on the watch for a Sen. Buttars bill SB 48 which makes it easier for someone to become a teacher. According to his bill, to teach, a person would have to apply to the USOE, pass a criminal background check, have certain education or certification and demonstrate competency in their subject area by passing a test, completing coursework or demonstrating skills, talent and ability.

Thank your school counselor this week for all they do to help.
Thanks Rick

Legislature Briefs (Deseret News, Feb. 2)

Two bills revamping the election process of the State Board of Education received unanimous support of the state board. Rep. Menlove (Garland) and Rep. Moss ( SLC) are both pitching bills that change the nomination procedure from a committee to regular primaries and elections. Gov. Huntsman supports a change. Remember, we lost the incumbent Dr. Richard Sadler, WSU, and gained former Sen. Dave Thomas through the lack of good nominating process.

Parent's could be liable for their children's vandalism (gang related) through a bill sponsored by our own Sen. Jon Greiner. The legislation is primarily intended to target grafitti and other types of vandalism.

Stay tuned for more info. Rick

My Day on the Hill

I attended the legislature today. Every Friday during the session I attend a 7am (surprisingly little traffic at 6am) Chamber of Commerce Legislative caucus at the capitol. Most of our Weber County legislators attend and briefly talk about their legislation. We also have the chance to ask questions about specific bills. Usually both Supt. Jacobsen and Supt. Zabriskie attend. I then attended the House Education Committee where they discussed a bill on changing the date Kinder kids start school (failed on a 6-6 vote) and a bill forcing districts to count more years of service when a teacher is hired. (tabled) It is always interesting to listen to the testimony and debate. I also sat in on the House Republican Caucus (open to public this time) and they talked about another $15 Million that they had found to help soften the cuts in this years (2009) budget. Check the UEA website for more info and updates. www.utea.org
Have a great super bowl weekend. Go Cards.

Last Chance to enter the January Blog Contest

Last chance to enter the January Blog Gift Card Giveaway. To enter please email rick@ogdenweber.org with the word "Super Bowl" in the message.

Clay Kirkham is Ogden/Weber UniServ President. Clay teaches Special Education at Gramercy Elementary. He was born and raised in Lehi, Utah. Clay was a professional bareback rider on the rodeo circuit. He also coaches wrestling at Ogden High School. He is not a drugstore cowboy, but a real life rodeo cowboy. He has done a great job leading our UniServ (OEA and WEA make up the UniServ. He meets with our UniServ Council (made up of OEA's president and vice-president, WEA's presdent and vice-president, UEA Board member, and the UniServ Vice-President) monthly to look at the financial report and plan for our programs. I work closely with Clay in managing the UniServ office located at 939 25th Street in Ogden. Go Arizona Cardinals.

Gov. Huntsman's State of the State Speech

Gov. Huntsman asked legislators to be mindful of vulnerable people for whom government is their last safety net, for the state's public and higher education systems and children's programs.
He asked lawmakers not to lose sight of job losses that could materialize under current budget proposals. The UEA supports the governor's budget and hopes that the legislators will listen. We want to use the Rainy Day fund to help alleviate the deficits. The governor also urged civility and ethical conduct and urged Utahns to show just a bit more care and concern for one another.
Stay tuned as the process moves forward and we learn what we face for the next year.
Thanks Rick

UEA Legislative Page

Day two of the legislature begins today. The UEA has developed a website to keep you informed of what is happening at the legislature. You can access it at www.utea.org and click on the "Under the Dome" icon. The UEA Legislative Team (lobby is a dirty word now) will have summaries of the events on the hill and give you directions to contact legislators on specific bills. Most of what we will be doing is fighting to preserve funding in this time of budget cuts. I listened to Supt. Jacobsen and Supt. Zabriskie give the Chamber of Commerce Legislative Committee an articulate argument for preserving public ed funding. An educated society will be necessary in this recessionary period. Public school funding is a good investment.

To enter the BLOG CONTEST please email rick@ogdenweber.org with the word "legislature" in the message. We will draw at the OEA AR meeting and the WEA AR meeting in February.

Thanks Rick