ICEA NEWSLETTER
October, 2014
Letter From The President by Ben Mosher
Dear Colleagues,
In this month’s newsletter, in addition to focusing on the upcoming elections and their great importance to our profession, I would like to highlight issues that the ICEA is working on that we hope will make substantive improvements to conditions in our schools for both students and staff.
In October’s newsletter, I wrote about school climate. On November 4th, building administrators and ICEA building representatives and Executive Board members will meet with Superintendent Murley to focus on school climate issues and increasing collaboration between teachers and administrators. We all recognize that successful schools operate with a high degree of trust, openness, and collaboration. The Teacher Leadership Grant, whether we get it beginning the 2014-15 or 2015-16 school year, will only be successful if we increase the level of collaboration and trust in all buildings. To continue this effort, after reviewing expectations in buildings, we will be focusing on how leadership teams will operate in the coming years.
This brings me to the Teacher Leadership Grant and next steps. The grant application is close to its final form and will be submitted October 31st. We will learn whether the district will receive the grant in early January. In the meantime, our working group, consisting of ICEA and Administrative team members, will meet twice more with grant writer Ron Mirr to create and communicate a timeline for addressing many of the issues that teachers brought up in the survey and that need to be dealt with in order for the program to roll out effectively.
Our negotiations team has also been reviewing survey data, contract language, and contracts from other district and is finalizing its initial proposal. The proposal will likely be put forth in early November. Details on the date will be forthcoming in an email, and next month's newsletter will include further details from our Negotiations Co-Chair Mitch Gross.
We have ICEA representation of a committee exploring magnet schools in our district. We also have great representation on a committee that is exploring scheduling from a comprehensive viewpoint. Among the issues this group will look at are:
Start/end of school year
Start/end of school day
Specials scheduling at the elementary level
Trimesters/semesters
Finally, we have received a lot of positive feedback from members on two issues from last year:
Many teachers reported to us that the October 20th work day was very welcome and allowed them to take the next steps forward on many things that they wanted to do with their students but had not had time to address. We can thank the calendar committee for this date which they worked for last year after many teachers noted the long stretch between Labor Day and the Thanksgiving holiday without a break.
Many teachers have also reported to us that they find the new elementary conference reports much more efficient and easy to use. This is something that the ICEA, and particularly our past Co-President Andy Gahan, advocated for throughout last year.
We are very pleased that the district heard these concerns and worked with us to make these changes. We will continue to work for positive changes in the future.
Election Help Needed
Coy Marquardt, our UniServe Director, recently sent this information along. It is a great way to be involved In making sure candidates who support public education are elected.
YOUR PROFESSION NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!!! There are 2 weeks to go until Election Day 2014! This is the most important election public educators have faced (all right we say that every election – but we mean it nowJ) in our lifetime. There are several races that will be decided by less than 100 votes. Getting our members to vote WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE! Basic school funding, the ability to bargain and the future of IPERS are all at stake.
We have about 800 ISEA members in our area who have a history of not voting in non-presidential elections. All of these members need a call to remind them to vote. These types of calls are easy and quick. So…please join us for important phone calling of members next week!
ISEA Cedar Rapids Office Phone Bank
WHEN:
Monday October 27 from 4:30-7:00pm
&
Tuesday October 28 from 4:30-7:00pm
WHERE:
ISEA Cedar Rapids Office
240 Classic Car Ct SW Suite B
BONUS:
Light dinner will be served!
RSVP:
Email Connie at connie.esser@isea.org or Amy at amy.like@isea.org
Upcoming Election Information by AnneMarie Kraus
ICEA Newsletter, Governmental Affairs, Oct 17 2014
The upcoming election has a critical effect on education, at both the state and national level. It is essential that you, and anyone you know who cares about education, votes. While we may be sick of the ads and phone calls, we owe it to ourselves and our kids to know the issues and candidates, and make sure our vote is counted.
The best strategy to do your part is to VOTE EARLY. If you wait till November 4, something could happen that day to prevent you from voting. Car trouble, unexpected needs of your children, extra duties with your job that make you late to the polls. Early voting also stops the phone calls and door-knocks. If you have not yet used the absentee ballot request form you received from ISEA in the mail, print one off here. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct 31, and the postmark deadline to send in the ballot is Nov. 3; you need time to receive the ballot in the mail, so do it quickly.
Now, on to the candidates. ISEA has posted its recommended candidates and incumbents here. One very important race is for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Tom Harkin. Most of us have seen plenty of ads for Bruce Braley (D) vs. Joni Ernst (R), and this race is very close. ISEA has reported many sharp contrasts between the two candidates’ records. Joni Ernst has voted against state supplemental aid 100% of the time, causing Iowa teacher pay to fall $1,657 below the national average; while Braley at the national level defended education funding, resulting in $97.9 million for Iowa schools. Braley has voted against school vouchers, which erode public school funds by diverting them to private schools; meanwhile Ernst co-sponsored a bill for vouchers in Iowa. Braley advocated for federal student loans, while Ernst wants to abolish the Department of Education and turn student loans over to the IRS. Helping our neighbors and family members understand these facts could help clarify the needs of education in this election. For more about ISEA’s brief report on Braley and Ernst, click here.
Remember we also have a governor’s race (Hatch vs. Branstad, and others), keeping mind the recent record of Gov. Branstad. There is also a U.S. Congressional Representative race (Loebsack vs. Miller-Meeks). All of these, as well as our state representatives and senators, will affect education issues. Keep in mind that many of the draconian bills in the state legislature the past four years were stopped by a one-person majority in the state Senate. The House had many members who voted against the needs of education, and they were in the majority.
For your own personal voter information, Google your County Auditor (Johnson, Linn, Cedar, etc.). Your County Auditor’s website will show sample ballots and help you find your precinct; also you can find out about local early voting sites if you want to vote early in person. Your ballot looks different depending on where you live.
Please be as active as you can, by voting early, talking to neighbors and friends, and volunteering if you can.