QS4K Message to Teachers from Sara Lampe

Dear Teachers,

The Quality Schools for Kids campaign is at a critical juncture. In just six weeks a vote will be taking place that will be very important to the future of Springfield Public Schools. I will be honest, right now we are in desperate need of funds and assistance. That is why I am contacting you today. By this Friday, February 22 we will need a contact name at each building that will agree to work on the campaign. Our hope is to have a parent and a teacher at each site to carry out the site-based campaign. If you can't serve as your building's teacher representative, please make sure someone at your site steps up to do so. We will be sending this same request to the PTA and the principals as well.

Please let me be frank, the survey conducted in January showed the levy to be very close. If teachers and parents don't step up to assist and vote in big numbers it will be very difficult to pass this levy! 

If you would like to volunteer as site leader at your building send your name, school name, email and phone number to qualityschoolsforkids@gmail.com as soon as possible.

We will then send you an email on February 25 with the parent contact name and information on where to pick up your campaign instructions and packet. 

The last thing I will ask everybody that receives this email to do as soon as they can is to join our Quality Schools for Kids team and have as many of your contacts do the same. Emails are vital to an effective campaign and we would ask that those are included in your signup. Here is the critical link: http://qualityschoolsforkids.nationbuilder.com/join

Thank you so much for what you do day in and day out for kids,

Sara Lampe

SNEA Support for April 2 Levy/Bond

Springfield NEA is eager to offer whatever support we can to help pass the school Bond/Levy that will go to Springfield voters on April 2, 2013. In that effort, we enthusiastially support the QS4K Campaign (Quality School for Kids).

What About Compensation?

Several members have expressed their concern that teacher salaries were not at the forefront of the campaign in recent district emails and news pieces. I'd like to remind everybody that salaries are no longer unilaterally set by the school board and are now determined through a negotiations process between Springfield NEA and the district. So, the district cannot actually speak specifically about proposed raises. SNEA bargaining teams of teachers, school nurses and clerical employees will be taking a hard look at district budget/revenues and will be proposing the best possible compensation packages. However, one thing is certain: without the passage of a levy in our growing district, any increases in compenstaion will remain minumal for some years to come, barring a unexpected boom in the economy.

Levy, Compensation and Election Realities

Springfield is currently the largest accredited school district in Missouri. Of the 22 largest school districts in Missouri, Springfield ranks 21st in teacher salaries - only St. Joseph is lower. An even more glaring discrepancy shows Springfield ranking 364th in size of tax levy. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the correlation.

The fact that the average voter in school bond/levy elections is aged 65 may also shed a little light on why it's not a "slam dunk" when the districts asks voters for a levy increase - and perhaps why touting higher salaries doesn't exactly resonate in our low-wage town. Many of these older voters live on a fixed income and do not have kids in school. That's a major reason why it is especially important - for this bond/levy election - that teachers and parents show up in significant numbers on April 2.

Will You Step Up?

SNEA is asking for school representatives in each building to help spread the word among staff and their school community about the importance of this levy/bond election. The future of our schools - class sizes, compensation, technological advancements, facilities - depends on the success of this campaign.

Will you help spread the word? Please contact the SNEA office at snea@aol.com or 869-5090 to find out how you can help. Our teachers and staff work very hard to serve the students of our community,
and these elections don't come around that often. We can help you with material and message in supporting this very worthy campaign. Check out Quality School for Kids for more information.