Legislature Appropriations Sets Cuts in Budget

The Executive Appropriations Committee met Friday and came up with a cut of 5.2% from the 2010 Budget (next year). Now we have the hard job of finding places to cut that much out of the budget.

RayLynne Phillips, Midland Elementary, was awarded the "I Love Teaching" award and Joel Robbins and Anneke Petersen were awarded the "E+ Team" award at Weber School Board last week. Congratulations.

Thanks for reading. Rick

Another day in paradise...

Hi, back from the "hill" where we met with legislators and teachers from Weber County. Janalyn Duersch, Stephanie McGaughey, Elizabeth Carlin, Marlene Irons, and Glen Larsen met with and lobbied our legislators representating our UEA positions. Check the www.utea.org site for information on sending emails to our legislators this last few days of the session (ends March 12).

Future Educators and members of FCCLA at OHS sponsored a fun assembly for Polk Elementary and Dee Elementary. Sammy the Saver Rabbit taught the kids songs that will help them save their pennies. Our NEA SOAR grant helped pay for the assembly.

Have a great weekend. Rick

Professionalism Presentation at Freedom

It was my pleasure to attend Freedom Elementary's faculty meeting and talk about professionalism, ethical behavior and the contract. I enjoyed spending about 20 minutes talking about some of the responsibilities and protections our contract provides. I also talked about areas of concern that we need to be aware of that could harm your job status or your license to teach. I have presented to about 10 schools and still have a few more scheduled. Let me know if you would like me to schedule something at your school.

Thanks again for everything you do for students in Ogden and Weber School Districts.
Rick

Budget Proposal Nears Final Draft

The good news is that public ed might only see a 6% cut next year and the bad news is that public ed might see a 6% cut next year. The legislature and governor are in discussion to finalize a 6% cut for public ed's 2010 budget. In approximate terms that means somewhere around $8 million in cuts in Weber and around $3 million in Ogden. To put that in literal terms, it costs about $500,000 per school day to run Weber District. Weber's salary steps and lanes usually run over $1 million each year. Insurance costs are trending at a double digit increase again. Bus purchases, textbook adoptions, and sabbatical requests are all possible areas of cuts. The construction projects will continue because those bonds have been sold and capital funds are used. We are entering negotiations in both districts. As we see the direction the districts want to go we will represent our members in mitigating cuts to salary and benefits.

Thanks again for reading. Rick

WSU College of Ed Intro to Education Class

Weber State now offers incoming freshman a class ED 1010 Into to Education to introduce potential teacher ed students to the career. Weber, Davis, and Ogden also offer concurrent enrollment classes to high school students. Davis and Ogden also have organized (along with WSU College of Ed) Future Education Association chapters that have been very active. Several of the professors have invited me to teach a unit of school law. It is a great opportunity to talk to possible teacher ed students and introduce them to many of the professional and ethical standards that we all deal with each day. Encourgage your students to search out and register for the concurrent classes and if they show interest in becoming a teacher, they should look to get involved at WSU.

Congrats to the OEA members who won $25 Subway gift cards for entering the blog contest.
Jill Detamore, Heritage Elementary and Lisa Vipperman, Highland Jr. High were the big winners.

Look for elections in OEA this week and WEA next month.

Thanks for reading the blog. Tell a friend. Rick

Bad Bills Continued

When do we get good news?

• HB 66 (Newbold) We oppose because it takes money from districts (equalization) and Charter Schools get an additional $ 8 Million.
• HB 150 and HB 293 Direct election of State School Board members (probably dead for this session)
• HB 230 (Fowlke) Teacher Service Credit - Sounds great but the down side will cause districts to not hire teachers with experience because of the cost.
• HB 260 (Wimmer) Do away with the due process rights of Orderly Termination...bad bad bad (dead for now)
• HB 264 (Menlove) Evaluation (not bad, could have been better with some UEA amendments)
• HB 315 (Sumsion) Crazy bill to allow community councils the power to hire and fire teachers and principals. (need to kill this quick)
• HJR 13 (Poulson) Only a resolution but we agree with it.
• SB 48 (Buttars) comptency test to teach...need I say more?

As you can see it is important that you visit www.utea.org and check out the ways you can contact your legislators.

Thanks Rick

Go to Under the Dome at www.utea.org

Go to www.utea.org and click on the "More" directly beneath "Under the Dome". Click on the "ACT NOW/BILLS TO WATCH" link and send a message to your legislator. It is an easy process and it takes just a few seconds of your busy time. Just remember to do it at home not at your school computer. Things are hitting the floor quickly and we need your support. Two of the latest bombs are the possibility of the Republican Caucus supporting taking away the 1.5% 401 K contribution that all employees get and the possibility of cutting all of your Quality Teaching days. This is benefits and salary. Again the Republican caucus is trying to balance the budget on the back of the public school employees and students. Contact your legislators now to tell them to use the Rainy Day Fund, do more bonding, raise revenues, and include the benefits of the Federal Stimulus money. Act now or we will lose big.

Thanks Rick