School's Stip-search of Teen to be heard by Supremes

I have been following the story of the Safford, AZ student(13 year-old girl) who was strip-searched by school admininistrator and a nurse in 2003 under suspicion of having prescription strenght Ibuprofen. Today's Deseret News has an opinion from Dan K. Thomasson that you can read at www.deseretnews.com .

Most of the school law cases that we talk about are usually based on court decisions. It will be interesting to see if the Supreme Court ways in on the rights of students (privacy) or will give schools more ability to search students for contraband.

Thanks Rick

UEA House of Delegates

Tonight delegates from OEA and WEA will meet at the UniServ office to discuss the new business that will be brought to the UEA House of Delegates, April 25 at Alta H.S. Each year delegates from all over the state meet to discuss the business of the UEA. Each delegate will have voting power and the meetings are run by President Kim Campbell using parliamentary procedure. This year there are several proposed bills dealing with membership dues. They include the following topics:

• Create a statewide retired group of members
• Freeze UEA dues at the current level for one year (Ogden/Weber is the sponsor)
• Freeze UEA dues at the current leverl for two years.
• Require a 2/3 vote of the house to change dues.
• Change dues structure for new teachers in first three years
• Change the meeting procedures for the UEA Board
• Combining Bargaining into the current Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee
• Change the nomination procedure.

We will discuss these issues and take positions tonight at our Pre-House meeting.

Thanks for reading the blog. Rick

Congrats to Karl Powell and Debbie Green

Winners of $25 Chili's gift cards are Karl Powell (Rocky Mountain) and Debbie Green (Sand Ridge).

I have a great opportunity to help teach a class (ED 1010) at the WSU-Davis Campus this afternoon with my colleague from Davis Education Association, Joel Briscoe. I show a version of the professionalism power point I have presented at faculty meetings plus I have taken a few court cases for discussion. It is a great class to talk about the career of teaching. It is the first class for these possible candidates for teacher education at WSU. I appreciate Mike Cena giving us the opportunity to talk to them about school law and the association.

Sara Israelsen-Hartley wrote today in the Deseret News about porn being downloaded by 11 year olds in American Fork. The boys evidently bypassed the district filters "using trial and error". Go to www.deseretnews.com to read the article.

Thanks again for reading. Rick (stop the snow)

Criminals in the Classroom

After reading several articles last week I was pretty much afraid to go into any of our schools. The articles made it sound like our halls are crawling with predator felons teaching the little chillins. Oh, then I looked at the stats and realized that out of the 1200 education employees audited in four districts, they found...wait for the drumroll... three licensed teachers who had convictions dating back to 1979, 1980, and 1988. Seems like overkill to paint the profession with such broad strokes. Headlines, sensational ones, like the Bountiful Jr. High sex with student case, only go to strengthen our already numerous detractors. Our profession is fighting for its life as we struggle with budget cuts, an unappreciative legislators and critics from all sides.

Oh, hope you had a good spring break...nice downer article Rick. Sorry.

US Today Article Forecasts "Retirement Tusnami"

"More than half the nation's teachers are Baby Boomers ages 50 and older and eligible for retirment over the next decade", Jeanette Der Bedrosian wrote in USA Today (April 7). Some numbers that show the upcoming crisis include: West Virginia has 68% of their teachers over 50 years of age. They are followed by Maine (56%), Vermont (55%), Montana (55%), and New Mexico (54%). Utah is in the mix also with a large number (possibly a third) to retire in the next 5-6 years. Will our teacher education programs be able to supply the number of teachers needed, or will more alternative routes to teaching be initiated. Just another thing to worry about.

Enjoy Spring Break. See you Tuesday. Rick

Hot of the Press

Congrats to Christine Heslop at Ogden High and Clay Kirkham at Gramercy for winning the $25 Subway gift cards this month. Look for April's contest coming your way. Rick

Good Luck on your Final Four Pairings

When Pitt lost, so did I. I have a friendly wager with a golfing buddy in St. George for a round of golf. I told him that if I win I want a round of golf at Pebble Beach (circa $500), but if he wins I will pay for 9 holes at Southgate ($30). Good luck with your picks.
Rick