Our Legislators Take Aim . . . At Us!

Paycheck Protection (Deception) Bill Passes House, Sent to Governor

Yes, our stellar state legislature has once again demonstrated who they truly represent, and it ain't us.

SB 29 is an obstructive bill aimed at making it more difficult for association members to pay their dues through voluntary payroll deductions. The bill was manufactured out-of-state and was pushed hard all session despite having zero support from school districts, administrators and education associations.

In its original form, the legislation would have blocked school districts and other employers from deducting voluntary association member dues from employees’ paychecks. But after an eight-hour filibuster on the paycheck deduction legislation in March, the GOP-controlled Senate passed a version (SB 29) that scaled back the proposal to requiring the completion of yearly consent forms.

That's right, a fabricated new form for all public school districts and association members - brought to you by the same folks who constantly complain about intrusive government.

Short of a governor's veto, SNEA members will have to fill out a form for payroll deduction of dues next year . . . and each and every year thereafter. The intent is obvious. Not only does this bill seek to obstruct our association's ability to collect voluntary dues, it also creates a boat load of new paperwork for the district to handle each year . . . and it effectively destroys a time-tested process that has worked flawlessly for 30 years.

Nice work General Assembly! High fives all around for promoting a worthless bill that nobody wanted!

Area legislators voting in favor of the bill:

Eric Burlison (sponsor of a similar bill in House as well as repeal teacher tenure bill)
Lincoln Hough
Kevin Elmer
Elijah Hahrr
Bob Dixon (Senate)

Those who voted against SB 29:

Charlie Norr (thank you, Charlie, for being the lone voice of reason from our area)

For more info, here's an article from St. Louis Today:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elizabeth-crisp/missouri-legislation-could-weaken-public-labor-unions/article_8499e734-cda2-5df3-97a1-d090ed17623d.html

Contract for 2013-14 Ratified by Teachers, Counselors, Librarians

The 2013-14 Tentative Agreement between Springfield NEA and the School District of Springfield R-12 was ratified yesterday evening. With the successful ratification vote from SNEA teachers, counselors and librarians, the tentative agreement will next be presented by administration to the school board as a recommendation for their approval. The date for that meeting has not been determined, and there it is a probability that the administration will wait until all bargaining units (nurses, secretaries, custodial/maintenance/supply and bus drivers) have reached tentative agreements - possibly as late as June.

Teachers, Counselors and Librarians from all across the district did cast their votes at the SNEA/MNEA offices, and the result was a unanimous vote for ratification.

Key Financial Provision in Tentative Agreement (2013-14)

• One salary schedule step for all bargaining unit employees
• An additional salary schedule step for all bargaining unit employees who were actively employed by the district on July 1, 2009
• 1% Across-the-Board Salary Increase
• Stipend step advancement
• Lateral Movement on Salary Schedule for Advanced Degrees
• National Board Certification Stipend
• Additional Load Compensation, ad hoc assignments and additional class assignments
• Health Benefit Trust, up to $2 million district contribution to employee insurance fund

Key Non-Financial Provision in Tentative Agreement (2013-15)

• New Teacher Induction Meeting - The District will present information to new hires about the purpose of collective bargaining, how the process works to establish compensation and working conditions for the unit of teachers, counselors and librarians, and provide representative contact information to new hires.
• Student Behavior & Discipline - Incorporates district guidelines on student behavior and discipline into the Agreement, including a provision that administrators will make the referring teacher aware of their response to the student disciplinary referral.
• Association President Leave of Absence - Provides for the exclusivity of leave for the president of the recognized representative association. Nothing in this section prohibits any association from requesting and being granted excused absences to engage in activities of their respective association.
• Reassignments and Transfers - This provision simplifies the old system of limited multiple posting periods by creating one exclusive internal posting period in February followed by an open posting period for both internal and external applicants that extends through June 30. This provision also underscores an existing electronic notification system, where employees can sign up to receive immediate electronic updates of posted openings. This Article also provides that no transfer applicant will be subject to additional risk of involuntary transfer. Also, teachers who have not met summative requirement (improvement plan) were previously ineligible for transfer for three years. That ineligibility period would be reduced to one year.

If you have any questions about the tentative agreement, please send an email to snea@aol.com or call the office, 869-5090.

President's Report 2006-2013

"Reflection Log"  2006-13

Wow, I'm sitting here thinking about what to say as outgoing President of Springfield NEA, looking back through the archives, and I realize that I could never have predicted what has happened over the past seven years. There simply is no way to summarize succinctly, but I'll do my best.

First, let me say that this has been the most excruciatingly wonderful job I've ever had - representing the amazing education professionals in our district. If anybody has the time (ha, that's a good one) to go back through the archives of this blog - all the way back to 2006 - when I was putting up all the nice pictures and graphics - you could see for yourself the myriad of issues and topics that we've covered along with some historic "firsts" for Springfield educators . . . and that doesn't even count the thousands of emails and calls that were sent and received.

Thank You!

I can only offer what seems like an inadequate Thank You to all our members who responded with words of encouragement and who stepped up to circulate petitions, keep me abreast of issues, and disseminate information to colleagues. It may not seem like it, but we've actually developed quite a network for the exchange of information since 2006. This blog, alone, has tallied 35,000 hits from teachers, community leaders, board members, administrators and education professionals across the district and state - but the vast majority of hits and comments were from you and your colleagues.

Political Misrepresentation and Accountability

I've had the great pleasure to meet literally hundreds of individual teachers in our district. Sometimes the circumstances were very difficult - hotline calls, student discipline, reprimands, formatives, disagreements with administrators - but I'm more convinced than ever that the professional educators in our district are among the finest anywhere.

We happen to be in the profession at a time that is rife with politically-charged attacks on teachers and public education - a time when our own state representatives have sold out to larger political interests and routinely push prefabricated "reform" bills at their behest. And they do this while blithely ignoring the effects of poverty on the lives of children - something we see every day in our classrooms.

Teachers, meanwhile, are held to the highest standards of accountability, while being undermined by those whose only accountability seems to be toward the entities who fund their campaigns. Until our own elected officials are held accountable by us, and the parents whose children we serve, it will only get worse. So, yes, we have unapologetically been involved in exposing bad legislation and supporting candidates who would actually represent the human beings they are elected to serve.

And there's not enough space here to talk about the continuing folly of gauging the effectiveness of teachers by analyzing standardized test scores. Education theorists gush over the inherent wonderfulness of Common Core - the next wave of standardized assessments coming in 2014 - but there is still a gaping disconnect when it comes to recognizing and rewarding effective teaching. Relationship building and the fostering of creativity and trust are still the cornerstone of effective teaching, and  those traits will never be adequately measured with standardized tests, not even the new and improved Common Core variety.

Sticky Dots and Flip Charts

By far the most significant change in our district over the past seven years has been the establishment of collective bargaining for teachers, counselors, librarians, school nurses and school secretaries. Yes, some people have a real aversion to the concept, but I would submit that those folks are frozen in a mindset that ignores the huge differences between big private sector union bargaining in 50's and 60's and the good faith bargaining that is going on in our district in 2013.

Teachers recognized a few years ago that holding a compensation meeting once a year to affix sticky dots to flip charts just wasn't getting it done. In those days, the administration chose representatives for a short meeting or two, and everything was pre-determined, bordering on insulting. There simply was no avenue for discussing improvements to working conditions beyond random complaints. With the support of our members, SNEA sought a more effective exchange of ideas and proposals to replace the old top-down model - and, in the end, the district was receptive to the idea.

The underlying question at the core of the collective bargaining process between SNEA and the district has been . . . What can we do together to make things better for teachers and students? And the process, even for those who don't want to admit it or are too busy to acknowledge, is working rather well. For all our disagreements with the district when these changes were first being discussed, the board and administration actually deserve a great deal of credit for wading through those tough beginning arguments and working to establish Springfield as a model for the rest of the state.

Our Association, Our Community

So, I'm just about out the door, wrapping up seven years as President of one of the most active and responsive local associations in Missouri. And beyond the serious office cleaning in my near future, maybe I'll have the time to further reflect on all the work we've done together. I will forever treasure the friendships that came with this job. Thanks to all of you for supporting me and our association's work. I hope you have felt that the support has been mutual in every way possible.

Kittilu Maxson, who is teaching her students at Wilder today, will take over as SNEA President by the end of this month. She will be a terrific president . . . fresh from the classroom, where she has faced many of the same rewards, issues and travails that we all know and love. Kittilu has been heavily involved in decision-making for our association over the past seven years and beyond, so I have no doubt SNEA will keep moving forward without a hitch.

Thanks again for helping me along as a leader and for all the amazing work you do for the kids. Our schools are the glue that holds our community together, and nobody knows our community better than those of us who work with the children . . . and I mean all the children. That knowledge, in and of itself, is empowerment - and Springfield NEA is our collective voice. I believed that when I started this job, and what I've seen as president over the past seven years has provided affirmation.

Keep up the great work.

Ray