Showing posts with label Education Minnesota. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education Minnesota. Show all posts

Whatever Happened To Local Control?
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At my recent Education Minnesota Lobby Day there was a bill that caught my eye:

SF372/HF0586: Instituting a freeze on salaries and wage rates for government employees

Essentially, the bill would freeze pay for ALL government employees, including teachers, for a period of 2 years. Once this time period has expired, the bill even makes it illegal to retroactively make up for any lost wages incurred by the freeze.

While I am not necessarily opposed to a pay freeze as a method of saving money and more importantly saving jobs within school districts, it seems somewhat hypocritical for a party which touts local control as its mantra to begin dictating salary to local units of government across the state.

There are districts throughout the state with extremely healthy fund balances. For them there is no reason to institute a salary freeze. There are other districts in dire trouble. For them there will most likely be no other option than a salary freeze. If we are so often told to institute a business model, then we must recognize that businesses across the state are not a monolithic group. There are businesses hiring and there are businesses increasing employee salaries. There are also businesses cutting back and freezing pay. Why should school districts be treated any differently?

Shouldn't these decisions be negotiated in good faith between local school districts and their local union? Does the Republican Party have so little respect for school boards and their union counterparts that they would try to circumvent them and abandon their local control principles?
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Do Teacher Unions Deserve The Bashing?
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That is the question posed by educator Clay Burell at Change.org...


My answer as Co-President of my local is obviously a resounding no but my realistic nature requires me to say, well of course they do from time to time. No organization or group of people is wholly perfect and above a bashing from time to time. Unfortunately, the bashing is usually in the form of wholesale blame for all the problems within the education system.

Take, for example, this relatively innocent article from the St. Cloud Times about proposals to suspend or do away with state laws that require schools to start AFTER Labor Day. There is no indication in the article that Education Minnesota opposes the measures to change start dates and I can tell you that they DO NOT. Does that matter? Apparently not given that the comments are devoted to blaming unions for this provision:

This is such bull! This is about faculty, staff and administrators wanting to get to their cabins early!! Don't these people have ENOUGH time off!!! So, we should cut our summer short and the kids (in some schools) suffer without air conditioning so they can "get out early" in Spring.

GOOD!!!! 1. The teachers would have to work a full year for their pay! (However, no raises should be given)
2. We need year round school, maybe our stupid kids could catch up to the rest of the world. Too many are falling behind. One of the main problems is that parents are basically on dates with their kids, they don't parent, they don't discipline or set high enough expectations for their kids.

YEAH, year-round school.
i blame the school system for caving to the union so they get a 3 month vacation on top of all their breaks.

The teachers and the union become a convenient scapegoat for an issue which they do not oppose and which is generally speaking, out of their control. At no point have I ever heard the union to which I am a proud member proclaim opposition to changing the school calendar or creating a year round school system. I only wish that these people making these comments would realize that the summer vacation is not a byproduct of unions but rather a historical construct left over from our agrarian society.

Another example comes from an editorial in the St. Cloud Times bashing Education Minnesota for commercials that ask the state to spare education funding as they look to make deep cuts in government spending.

Are they asking for more money for their union members or for the school districts in general? Every time we turn around, our public school systems are begging for more of our money. When is enough ever enough?

I have yet to see the commercial in question but it seems somewhat combative to immediately use words such as begging. Any increases in funding would be used to keep crucial programs running and fund initiatives that help children learn. Would some of the money pay teachers? Certainly, but one would hope that teachers have as much right to earn a decent living as the next person. Also, this question of when is enough ever enough consistently comes up and I always wonder if they could define what it truly should cost to educate a child in a world where we are consistently being asked to take on more responsibility. So, what should be the perfect amount of money be to educate a child?

Yes, education is important. But where is the accountability for how that money is spent? For example, do the unions base teacher salaries on performance or merely on how long a teacher has been working?

Interestingly, this leads to a speech given by President Obama today in which he touted the need for merit pay. While I have no problem with the basic concepts of merit pay in which teachers are paid more based on a set of accountability standards, there needs to be a long discussion of what we mean by accountability and performance. Reading the above editorial you might think that the evil union would have screamed bloody murder at the initiative laid out by Obama today. Yet, what you got was a measured response that makes me proud of my union:

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a union with more than a million members, said in a statement that "teachers want to make a difference in kids' lives, and they appreciate a president who shares that goal and will spend his political capital to provide the resources to make it happen."

"As with any public policy, the devil is in the details," Weingarten said. "And it is important that teachers' voices are heard as we implement the president's vision."

There are many times when the union must look inside itself and make sure it is being reasonable but the same must be asked of those people who automatically attack the union. It is difficult to take a measured position when those opposing you stake out such a virulent and mean spirited stance against you.

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Tweeting Lobby Day...
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5:01 PM | Posted in , ,
Tomorrow is lobby day at the Capitol for various Education Minnesota members. I will be in attendance and 'tweeting' my various meetings with local legislators. We will see which of our local legislators are willing to support the goals of teachers in the state and which ones have decided to oppose teachers. You can follow me here on Liberal in the Land of Conservative or directly from my home on Twitter.

Sadly, this year will be my first Mark Olson free lobby day...

Here's to you Mark:

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Education Minnesota Gets A Youtube
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11:16 PM | Posted in
Congratulations to Education Minnesota for getting itself a Youtube page! On this page you can find videos from the recent Representative Convention (although I would like to point out that my videos were up FIRST). However, they do have the address made by President Tom Dooher.







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Jim Ramstad at Education Minnesota
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7:19 PM | Posted in ,
Congressman Jim Ramstad addressed the Education Minnesota Representative Convention this weekend and gave an excellent speech about partisan politics and the need to support education. In the second part of the speech, Mr. Ramstad discusses the work he has been doing on mental health parity and his memories of Paul Wellstone.

We need more Republicans like Mr. Ramstad:





Unfortunately, they are being driven from the party and punished for voting their conscience. There is a significant lesson here for Democrats. We cannot be a party that kicks out its moderates. We must embrace them and encourage them as they show that we are a party of inclusion and not a party of exclusion. They show that we are a party that encourages dissent and independent thought in its membership. If we do that, the larger population will see our message of inclusion and the Republican Party will be increasingly relegated to the fringe of society.
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Education Minnesota Representative Convention
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6:28 PM | Posted in
This past weekend I had the honor of representing my local teachers for the third year in a row at the Education Minnesota Representative Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. As always, a fun time to connect with those people I don't normally see on a daily basis and to begin developing new friendships.

On Saturday, we had the pleasure of hearing two of our national leaders speak. Both Reg Weaver from the National Education Association and Ed McElroy from the American Federation of Teachers addressed the crowd.

Reg Weaver gave a stirring speech about the spurious "Center for Union Facts" and its new campaign to bring down the education unions. Check out his discussion of the triangle in which he points out that while accountability is necessary, it can only come with the adequate resources that make up the base of the triangle.

The money quote from Mohammad Ali used by Mr. Weaver:

"If you dream that you can beat me, you better wake up and apologize!"




Ed McElroy gave a speech about political activism and the need to continually engage teachers in the union.

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Political Muse "The Lobbyist"
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7:10 PM | Posted in
Once again this year I will donning my lobbyist hat (that's right, I am a lobbyist albeit not a "registered" lobbyist) for Education Minnesota down at the legislature.

Some of the issues we are working on:

Statewide Health Insurance

We have been working on this one for quite some time and were so close last year only to be disappointed by our obstructionist-in-chief.

Another veto dashed the hopes of educators who had worked for years to create a statewide health insurance pool for 200,000 school employees. After winning passage in both houses – and with no negative signals from the governor's office – advocates were shocked by the veto.

"If the governor or any other person or group had, at any time before or during the session, engaged the proponents of statewide health insurance in an effort to find workable effective alternatives to this proposal, the proponents would have worked with them to try to reach agreement," said Education Minnesota President Schaubach.

"This did not happen. It is a shame that school employees in Minnesota will remain locked into a failed system of purchasing health care coverage if there were alternatives that would have worked that were never brought to the table for discussion."


All Day/Every Day Kindergarten

Studies have shown that kids in all day kindergarten have a significant head start over their half day counterparts. For this reason alone, it just makes sense to get all of our students on that head start track rather than having a two tier system in which those that can afford are given a head start while those who cannot are at an additional disadvantage.

Increased School Funding

With the move back to funding education on the back of local property taxes we have created a system of haves and have nots. We need to go back to the Minnesota Miracle that made us great. Education funding has not kept up with inflationary costs of gasoline and health insurance while the demands put upon education and educators continues to rise.

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Education Minnesota Endorses Tinklenberg
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I received this email today:

Dear CD 6 Screening team,

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to participate in the screening process for the sixth congressional district. Education Minnesota's recommendation of Elwyn Tinklenberg has been approved by the Education Minnesota Executive Committee, the AFT, and the NEA.

All candidates have been notified by a phone call and a letter. You can now make this recommendation public.


I will have a more detailed analysis of this process and my feelings on the choice made by this committee. However, today is my son's birthday so I have to make this a quick post.
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Education Minnesota 6th District Endorsement
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Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the 6th District Education Minnesota candidate interview representing my school district. While there was one glaring absence as Michele Bachmann chose to not even respond to the requests of the interviewing committee, there were three candidates (Elwyn Tinklenberg, Bob Olson, and John Brockberg) gracious enough to come and speak with us. In my conversation with the Education Minnesota higher ups it was interesting to note that even John Kline had been willing to meet with them and discuss issues. Its nice to see that Kline is brave enough and has class enough to sit down with those he disagrees. Unfortunately, we in the 6th District have representation that is only willing to speak with those constituents that agree with her every word.

The end result of the evening was an endorsement. That endorsement must now be ratified by the Education Minnesota Executive Committee before it becomes public knowledge. While I was prepared to release the results of this meeting and a thorough analysis of the interviewing candidates, we were asked to remain silent until things have been finalized. I am going to respect the wishes of this committee and withhold discussing the endorsement until either the endorsement has been announced or someone else leaks the information.
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Bachmann A No Show For Endorsement
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On Wednesday, January 9th, I will be attending the Education Minnesota Congressional District 6 candidate screening. Challengers Elwyn Tinklenberg, Bob Olson, and John Brockberg have scheduled times with which to interview for the endorsement.

From my email:

The following candidates will be screening:



Elwyn Tinklenberg (D) 5:00 pm



Bob Olson (D) 5:45 pm



John Brockberg (I) 6:30 pm



Michele Bachmann did not reply to Education Minnesota's invitation to screen.



Each candidate will be given 30 minutes. A set of standard questions will be used for each candidate. Copies of the AFT & NEA questionnaires, along with a biography for each candidate, will be printed for all volunteers.


Interestingly, Michele Bachmann has decided that even appearing is too much to ask. Conservative educators (many of whom teach in my district) throughout the district should take this as a sign that Bachmann does not particularly care whether she gets their support. While it is easy to say that Bachmann would not have gotten the endorsement in the first place, it is the sign of a leader for someone to go to the very people that disagree with you and try to convince them of your standpoint. Far too often in politics today we stick with only those whom we agree and are therefore never challenged in our perceptions of given issues. I recall another occasion on which I sat on an endorsement committee. While I disagreed with her on many things, Betsy Wergin gained my ultimate respect simply by showing up and discussing with us what she believed and even opened her mind to try understand what we believed. It caused me in that instance to vote for a non-endorsement for either candidate in the race. Even easier than saying Bachmann couldn't get the endorsement anyway, is not even making the attempt.

Cross Posted on Dump Bachmann
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School is right around the corner...
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As a new school year draws ever closer and work begins to pile up on my desk I notice that the AYP results are out for my school. While some tout these scores as a key indicator of success in various schools around the state and around the country, I see them as a means to stifle true acquisition of knowledge. They evaluate the lowest level of human understanding (rote memorization) and almost entirely ignore evaluation skills and higher order thinking. Students are being taught the art of the bubble test rather than Art. Certainly there is a place for accountability and assessment but I wonder when memorization became the definition of intelligence. I wonder a lot of things...

*I wonder how many other professions are judged upon the results of other people on one day in a particular year.

*I wonder when we will understand that money may not directly improve student performance but the lack of it certainly doesn't improve it either.

*I wonder when society will tackle the inequities of poverty which is the root of the problem.

*I wonder when parents will begin to realize that they have the power to influence MOST of their child's success.

*I wonder when people will realize that a 1% increase in funding of education is not an increase when the inflation rate is at roughly 2%.

*I wonder how many connections I will make with students this year. Something crucial in the education of kids but unmeasurable on an AYP scale.

See the results at the Department of Education website

Education Minnesota has a nice response to the roll out of AYP:

State educators explain what AYP designation really means for local schools

The president of Education Minnesota, the state educators’ union, cautioned today against judging the quality of a school using the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report issued Thursday by the Minnesota Department of Education.

“Many parents are shocked when they see their school on the failing list because it just doesn’t reflect their personal experience,” said Tom Dooher, president of Education Minnesota. “In fact, some of the schools listed as failing to make AYP this year are on the 2006 Newsweek list of the top schools in the country.”

Education Minnesota wants parents to understand what the results mean for the local schools where they are sending their kids in just a few days. “It is important to understand that Adequate Yearly Progress is a misnomer because it actually is based on proficiency and not progress,” said Dooher. Under No Child Left Behind, AYP status does not reflect the tremendous growth most students make during the school year, but instead provides a snapshot of their proficiency.

“This way of labeling schools is too simplistic. School accountability cannot be reduced to a simple rating like a movie or dining review. Schools and students are much more complex and cannot be evaluated by a one-time snapshot. Consider your driver’s license photo. That is a representation of you at one moment in time but in no way accurately represents who you are. The same is true of the AYP results,” Dooher stated.

Education Minnesota and its national affiliates, the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association, are seeking significant change in this area as the No Child Left Behind law is reauthorized. “We are not against accountability,” said Dooher. “But we want accountability that makes sense, accurately represents our schools and gives parents and teachers the information they need to improve student performance.” Priorities include:

· Using growth models to measure changes in each student’s performance

· Shifting AYP from a system that labels and penalizes schools to one
that rewards growth

· Providing a fair and equitable system for assessing and counting test
scores for students with disabilities and English Language Learners

· Reducing class sizes to improve learning and allow for more individual
 instructional time

· Ensure teachers have appropriate professional development to enhance
 instructional skills and tailor lessons to help students grow.

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