...And It Begins

Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia officially released his proposed budget amendments today. The details on how his budget amendment proposal would impact our beloved county is still to be understood, but it's impossible to cut money out of a budget without there being an impact. Brace ourselves, we must. (I don't know why I just wrote in Yoda-talk.)

According to Rob Jones of VEA, there are supportable details found within the Governor's amendments. Tackling an announced $2.9 Billion deficit will not be easy. Rob passed along the following notes this afternoon.

He cut education less than any other area.

He looked at both sides of the ledger, and raised the cigarette tax, tweaked the land-preservation tax credit and eliminated the “dealer discount” (paid to merchants for collecting the sales tax) to reduce the harm to essential state programs.

We have grave concerns regarding the fact that:

He made $400 million of the cuts to education permanent cuts that will be with us even when the recession is over ($400 million in SOQ funding reductions partially offset by $60 million in loss mitigation for the 2009-2010 school year). The impact on next year is $340 million. The impact into the future is $400 million per year. This eliminates the state share of funding for 13,000 positions including custodians, finance officers, HR directors, assistant superintendents and central office personnel).

What we know about the cuts for the next school year?

$340 million SOQ cuts to support and administrative components of the formula
$78 million in teacher salary
$82.5 in school construction

Total = $500.5 million, or slightly over ½ billion

No doubt many of you will want to know what can be done faced with the reality of the budget shortfall (could end up being larger than $2.9 Billion). I can almost say with complete certainty that the budget will be amended. What we must do is help direct the amendments in a positive direction for public school education.

On January 9, I plan to join our education coalition partners in Lynchburg at a state budget hearing. At that hearing, I will no doubt push for examination of different revenue generating plans that would soften the blow. Re-instituting the estate tax, along with the cigarette tax increase, is one idea that is being considered (tax on estates valued over $2 million).

Most importantly, we must fight hard and strong to keep any cuts that happen from becoming permanent. This is paramount! Any cuts made in the remainder of the biennial budget must remain temporary. Virginia is already ranked 37th in support for public schools in America. That dubious ranking would slide further if these cuts were to become permanent.

President Boitnott will present a petition at the budget hearing in Richmond on January 19 that all members, friends of members, relatives, parents, and citizens are invited to sign. The petition clearly speaks to the issues we care deeply about. Please sign this on-line petition and urge your colleagues, family and friends to sign on as well. Our battle is to prevent permanent cuts to education funding.

The petition can be found at:

http://www.fundqualityschools.org/

Penny Hodge, Assistant Superintendent of RCPS, is working on getting a clear picture of how the proposed amendments may affect Roanoke County. Right now, this early in the budget process, it's really too early to tell. However, brace ourselves, we must.

On a side note, I'm experimenting with a new service on this blog. I realized that from time to time, I want all of you to be able to see documents that relate directly to a specific topic. Meg Swecker, master of all things technology, pointed me to a site called, Drop.io. With Drop.io, I can upload all kinds of documents, sound, and pictures and have you access them at your leisure. You can view and download the files as you wish. So far, I've added all of the back-issues of the RCEA News from this year, Governor Kaine's press release from today, and a few other documents that will be related to future blog entries. You can test out the service by clicking on the link in this article for proposed budget amendments or you can visit the whole RCEADistrict4 site.


Thom Ryder
RCEA President

Most Likely To Succeed

The New Yorker has published a piece by Malcolm Gladwell that delves into the murky world of determining who is and who isn't effective as a teacher called "Most Likely to Succeed." Gladwell compares predicting who will be an excellent teacher with determining who will succeed as an NFL quarterback. He notes that NFL scouts have failed more often than not when trying project NFL success onto a college quarterback (Jim Druckenmiller anyone?). So it is with projecting the success of teachers.

Gladwell also looks at some pioneering research being done at UVA's Curry School that is trying to identify what is excellent teaching. He takes that research a step further and suggests that what we sorely need is an open enrollment of teachers, credentials aren't important. Enrollees would need to complete a rigorous apprenticeship where they must prove themselves effective by raising test scores by a significant amount or be released. Those who make it through the apprenticeship successfully would be richly compensated.

Currently, the salary structure of the teaching profession is highly rigid, and that would also have to change in a world where we want to rate teachers on their actual performance. An apprentice should get apprentice wages. But if we find eighty-fifth-percentile teachers who can teach a year and a half’s material in one year, we’re going to have to pay them a lot—both because we want them to stay and because the only way to get people to try out for what will suddenly be a high-risk profession is to offer those who survive the winnowing a healthy reward.

I remember when I was teaching in Albemarle County back in the late 1980's, the school board decided to do something about "bad" teachers, so they imposed a merit pay scheme. Turns out that so many teachers proved themselves meritorious that the school board was forced to pay out rewards to a whole lot more people than they anticipated. After a couple of years of providing a "healthy reward" to so many teachers, the school board abandoned the whole plan and went back to a more traditional teacher pay scale.

Merit pay schemes have always seemed like empty ideas to me. While the research going on at UVA is intriguing, do experts really know enough about what makes a great teacher to confidently identify it so that those teachers can be rewarded? What's with this idea of teaching a year and a half's material in one year? Doesn't the author realize that we teach rigidly prescribed amounts of material every year...no more, no less. Are we really going to base a reward system on what are arguably flawed tests. It's already sad enough that we place so much emphasis on them; is more emphasis a good thing?

These are all questions that came to my mind as I read Gladwell's piece. I would certainly reccommend you read the piece and form your own opinions. Feel free to deposit your comments here.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=7

Bail Out

Robert Reich, most famous for his time spent as a cabinet secretary in the Clinton administration, opined recently that, regarding public school education in our country, we're all out of whack. We bail out corporations, while we are starving and throttling our educational system.

Our preoccupation with the immediate crisis of financial capital is causing us to overlook the bigger crisis in America's human capital. While we commit hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to Wall Street, we're slashing our outlays for public education.

Education is largely funded by state and local governments whose revenues are plummeting. As consumers cut back, state sales and income taxes are shrinking; three quarters of the states are already facing budget crises. State revenues account for about half of public school budgets and most funding of public colleges and universities. In addition, as home values drop, local property taxes take a hit. Local property taxes account for 40 percent of local school budgets, on average.

The result, across the nation: Teachers are being laid off and new hiring frozen, after-school programs cut, so called "noncritical" subjects like history eliminated, schools closed, and tuitions hiked at state colleges and universities.

It's absurd. We're bailing out every major bank to get financial capital flowing again. But we're squeezing the main sources of our nation's human capital. Yet America's future competitiveness and the standard of living of our people depend largely our peoples' skills, and our capacities to communicate and solve problems and innovate ­ not on our ability to borrow money.

Reich continued,

It's our human capital that's in short supply. And without adequate public funding, the supply will shrink further. Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying funding is everything when it comes to education. Obviously, accountability is critical. But without adequate funding we can't attract talented people into teaching, or keep class sizes small enough to give kids a real chance to learn, or provide them with a well-rounded curriculum, and ensure that every qualified young person can go to college.

So why are we bailing out Wall Street and not our nation's public schools and colleges? Partly because the crisis in financial capital is immediate while our human capital crisis is unfolding gradually. Headlines scream what's happening to our money but not to our kids.

As our state stares a $3.5 billion budget deficit in the face and as our school division considers what and whom will be axed, Reich's words ring with a sense of authenticity. When will people wake up and start investing in the foundation of education in our country?

Some will say that the educational system has all the money it needs and that there is tons of waste embedded within the system. As a teacher, I've learned that there is some merit to those arguments. Waste does exist in the educational structures, but that waste generally is does not filter down and enrich anyone at the teacher/student/classroom level.

The greatest waste both financially and instructionally is the propagation of the ridiculous national and state accountability systems. These mandates, which are easily recognized by their acronyms- SOL, NCLB, and AYP, strike fear into the hearts of communities, administrators, teachers, and students. The tacit threats attached to them have encouraged the development of a seemingly slimy accountability business resplendent with guides, formative assessments, data-driven analyzation tools, and testing materials all peddled to frightened school divisions by data sharks.

The ultimate result of this destructive movement, is that the real art and process of teaching has become hopelessly caged and filtered. The intentions may have originally been good, but the results have been destructive.

So I'm with Reich. We do need to bail out the public education system in America. We need to bail out of the myopic accountability mandates. Accountibility is important. Teachers must be accountable for what they teach, but parents and students must be held accountable for their end of the bargain as well. We need to bail out of inferior funding formulas for our schools. State and local governments must be held accountable for providing funding that is more than basic. The nonsensical SOQ game our state plays with public school funding as it seeks to further and further reduce and shirk its responsibility for fully funding its share of the budgets for our public schools needs to stop. We need to improve the physical infrastructure of our schools, reduce class size, fully fund preschool initiatives, and attract highly qualified professionals with highly attractive wages and benefits. Education needs to be the priority.

If you don't bail out a canoe as it charges head-long down a turbulent stream, it will eventually sink.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/12/03/of_financial_capital_and_human/

Calendar Perks

The School calendar for 2009-2010 is currently in a draft state. Over the course of the past month or so, we've received three potential calendar plans for next year. One plan would have schools starting much the same as our current calendar. Another would have us beginning school after Labor Day while the third choice would have us beginning school much earlier with semester exams hitting before the Winter Break in December. Each option would have school ending in early June, and each option would offer the most basic winter break with school dismissing on December 23.

While there was support for each option, the traditional calendar far and away received the most support from teachers in our organization with the caveat that the winter break be extended for a full two weeks as it is this year.

Teachers felt strongly that such a break could be attained in the calendar with minimal adjustments and its effect would be morale boosting. The RCEA modified the traditional draft and forwarded our thoughts to Central and the issue was discussed at the recent EAC meeting.

Our modified traditional draft proposal was accepted by Allen Journell, and he will present it to the school board for approval at the December 11 meeting. Approval is not guaranteed since at least one board member was promoting the early exam calendar.

Hard Times

Hard Times honors one of my personal heroes, Studs Terkel, who passed away earlier in the month.

Robley Jones sent out another Budget-gram today...For those who follow the budget, the news is rather ominous. Folks, the budget shortfall in Virginia keeps growing. Back in the summer, it was predicted to be $1 billion. Then it eeked-up to $2.5 billion. Now..$3.2 billion. I've even heard whispers of more earth-shattering deficits. Times remain serious and uneasy.

Here's the full text of Rob's letter today:

The two day Senate Finance Committee Annual Retreat immediately followed the House retreat. This time the setting is the Fredericksburg Hospitality House Conference Center.

Four straight days of reports of doom and gloom have me paring my Christmas list.

Chairman Colgan’s opening remarks were shocking and courteous. Shocking in that the size of the budget hole has grown to $3.2256 billion. The Chairman was courteous in his emphasis on a desire for a bipartisan approach to the crisis. In my time as your lobbyist, exceptional individuals have chaired this most powerful committee in the Virginia General Assembly. Colgan maintains the high standard set by Andrews and Chichester.

Staff analyst, Becky Covey, said we have been in a “slow motion recession – probably since the beginning of 2008.” She asserted that, “A deeper recession lasting several quarters in now the likely scenario.”

When the discussion shifted to education, Education Committee Chairman Edd Houck pointed out that, “There really has not been a percentage change for K-12 since 1998. It has remained basically constant.”

What was most interesting is that staff presented the Compound Annual Average Growth from FY1998 to FY2010. Listed were the state programs that increased more than the 5.85% annual growth in revenue. What follows in a list of the programs and their growth:

Car Tax 14.7%
Child Support Enforcement 13.9%
Debt Service 11.0%
Comprehensive Services Act 10.2%
Aid to Localities – Police Dept. 9.8%
Indigent Defense 9.2%
Medicaid 7.5%
MHMR Grants to Localities 7.0%
Student Financial Aid 6.6%
Total General Fund Budget 6.0%

Why isn’t education on the list? The compound annual average growth of public education’s share of the budget was less than that of the growth of the budget – despite enrollment growth, expansion of pre-school programs, and new burdens on public schools such as NCLB. The growth for public education was slightly less than 5.85%. This refutes the claims of our enemies that education spending is out of control.

Given the size of the budget hole, there appeared to be consensus among those present to cut public school funding. VEA will fight cuts, but if they must be made, we will fight to make them temporary rather than permanent, with an eye on restoration of funding as we come out of the recession. We will also work to ensure attention to pupil equity.

Cuts presented to the committee included increasing class size, decreasing state support for school employee health care insurance costs and reducing the state share of SOQ funding from the current 55%.

In contrast with the House, the Senate seems willing to look at the revenue side, possibly revisiting recent tax cuts, to lessen the severity of the cuts to public education. While support for permanently reducing state support for public education seems broad in the House, the Senate leadership is resistant to that method of addressing the current budget shortfall. Hopefully, the Governor will align himself with the Senate in this regard.

Please encourage any non-members at your school join us. it's not too late. While we can't guarantee a future job, we can guarantee support and strength during these difficult times.

Thom

More Than A Bubble

More Than a Bubble

Well, here we are approaching another American Education Week, the annual week devoted to our profession where honors are bestowed, expressions of appreciation are extended, and reflection is encouraged. Such reflection, as you might expect, is inevitable. How do we feel about the state of our professional lives? In the current environment in which we are asked to do increasingly more with less and for less as inflation eats away at our modest compensation and as funding for our retirement seems vulnerable to negative economic realities, it is often hard to focus on the realities of what we are charged to do. The pressures that we sometimes feel to perform tasks often at odds with our professional experience and personal philosophies can be depressing and demoralizing.

I say take a few moments to ponder the real good that we do in spite of the shifting currents in which we are caught. We are, happily and reverently, in the position of shaping the future of the world. Our responsibility for influencing the lives, personalities and values of future generations is peerless. Think of each time you have witnessed a light bulb suddenly illuminating above a child’s head, each time a child has confided something deeply moving- filling you with the knowledge of your influence, and the ponderous sense of responsibility that you share with your peers in the world of education. How often have parents expressed their gratitude for what you have done with your life? These are the benefits of our profession. Yes, it’s great to have health benefits and, potentially, a pension waiting for us as well as a steady paycheck and a restful summer layoff. But we all know, those of us who remain in education, that we’re not in it for the money. There is no compensation like the feeling of proudly being called teacher. It isn’t just the teachers who wield influence and express a caring function in the lives of young people. Support personnel, administrators, kitchen staff, bus drivers, custodians, and all other school employees alike have equal opportunities to make a difference in the lives of children, thereby shaping the future.

Sometimes when you least expect it and are most in need of it, something will happen that brings you back to life; gives you an opportunity for a kind of mini-apostasy. Something will remind you that what you do has meant something to the life experience of some other person. Recently, I had such an experience. I was contacted by a student whom I taught many years ago near the beginning of my career. The student had been particularly challenging. I feel comfortable in saying this because the student admitted as much in their letter to me. In fact, it was in the form of an apology for engaging in difficult behavior in my classroom. Without going into detail, I learned that I had had a positive influence on this student. There have been other such experiences over the course of my career. Each time I feel a little taken aback as I had not really taken notice of making any significant impact in the day-to-day ordinariness of things.

So, while it is tempting to dwell in the darkness of what makes teaching among the most stressful of jobs, it may be worthwhile to take time to experience the things which make this the most joyful of professions. While these are difficult times, they are also profoundly hopeful times. We are powerful in our ability to make things better. The future will reflect the way in which we weather the storms of our time. Wishing you all well. Happy American Education Week.

~Tim Summers
RCEA Vice President

JLARC Report on VRS

Rob Jones from VEA heard a recent JLARC presentation on VRS and its future. I'm copying the exact email Rob sent out in the hopes that you will have accurate, concise information. Keep in mind that JLARC is an audit and review committee. They do NOT create policy. However, they are listened to and respected in the General Assembly.

October 14, 2008

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission presented their report entitled "Options for Total Compensation" on October 14th. The commission staff was doing what was asked of them, and we should not kill the messengers, but it is what we feared.

Before I summarize the implications of the report for school board employees, let me first expose a major flaw in the report when it is viewed from the public education perspective. For the state employees, the options were developed in the context of their total compensation package (salary, leave policies and health benefits). This was not true for school board employees. I thank Senator Edd Houck for pointing this fact out to his fellow commissioners.

The options contain new target salary goals for state workers, and leave purchase plans. In short, for state workers, there is sugar with the medicine. School board employees only get the medicine.

I'll try to summarize the options which will affect school board employees/VEA members.

First, it is important to understand that none of these options will affect folks who are already retired. The recommendations related to VRS are labeled "R" for retirement.

R1 - Impose an additional 2% employee contribution. This would be in addition to the 5% employee contribution now paid by your employee who also pays the employer contribution. This 2% might be phased-in .5% at a time in years when raises are granted.

R2 - Change the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) on retirement benefits by capping the increase at 4% a year rather than the current 5%. FYI - if, for purposes of illustration, you retroactively applied this change in the COLA to one who retired in 1978, the reduction in benefit would be 6% over the first 10 years and 12% after 30 years in retirement.

R3 - Increase the minimum retirement age for non-vested and new hires from 50 to age 60. Note: One becomes vested in VRS after five years of service.

R4 - For new and non-vested employees replace the Retiree Health Insurance Credit with Integral Part Trust (IPT) Accounts.

R5 - For new hires and non-vested employees combine a defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) plans. The DB plan would have a lesser benefit than the current VRS benefit. Employees would contribute to both. The COLA would only be included in the DB plan. This plan would provide 85% of the benefit in the current plan.

R6 - Require a Cash Balance Retirement Plan for new hires and non-vested employees. This is like a traditional defined contribution plan, except for the fact that a 5% return is guaranteed. Employees contribute with an employee match that increases with years of experience. There is no COLA on benefits. Entire balance can be withdrawn when separating from service.

R7 - Require a Defined Contribution Plan for new hires and non-vested employees. The matching contribution from the employer would increase with years of service. No COLA would be provided and the entire balance could be withdrawn when separating from service. Only two states now have this. The plan would provide 52% of the benefit value of the current VRS plan.

These options are not consistent with VEA's positions. As we await specific legislative proposals we will need your help with educating your colleagues regarding what looks like a battle ahead.

I have done my best to offer a concise and factual summary of the options that will affect school board employees. Additional information will follow.

Thank you,

Robley Jones

VEA GR

Carnival of the Blue

I received an email on September 26 from my friend Doris Boitnott* at VEA. Doris, who used to be a Uniserv Director here in Roanoke and a high school teacher in Roanoke County before that, has taken some flack over that email.

The email was in regard to an OBAMA BLUE DAY which was scheduled for September 30.

When I read this email, I chose not to pass it along to anyone in our organization. Very simply put, I do not believe that the RCEA should have a direct hand in organizing for or against any one political candidate. That is not to say that I believe teachers should surrender their political rights just because they are teachers either.

There has been local, statewide, and national attention given to the contents of the email, which I think is unfortunate. It's obvious to me that there are people and organizations with specific agendas who are trying to twist the meaning of the email content and capitalize on it for their personal gain. I find that deplorable.

Isn't it a bit ironic that with our educational system under stress in an election year, practically the first thing we hear about regarding education is this inflated story? I find that deplorable as well.

To each faithful member of our organization, I encourage you to exercise your right as a citizen of our country to wear whatever color shirt you desire.

Thom Ryder
RCEA President

* In an earlier version of their story, The Washington Times erroneously called Doris, "Debbie". In the current version, they misspell her name. "Dorris Boitnott, a VEA member and author of the e-mail, said that in hindsight she should not have paired the idea of supporting Mr. Obama with that of registering young voters. Mrs. Boitnott, who said she is not related to Kitty Boitnott, also said she had no intention of encouraging teachers to recruit students into a political campaign."

Electronics electronics Electronics

There is little doubt that the 2008-2009 school year in Roanoke County is filled with new technology and new initiatives. ActivBoards have been placed in each regular elementary school classroom by utilizing a significant monetary investment. Northside High School also received new ActivBoards in every classroom as well. In addition, teachers at the majority of the elementary schools received NEW laptop computers for teacher use. In an ordinary year, that electronic shift alone would be enough. But this year, there's even more to electronic news. New email. New benchmark assessments. And new electronic gradebooks for elementary school teachers.

As you might expect with so much new technology rolling out at the same time, there were bound to be some bugs, despite the technology crews working hard to roll out systems and products. Over the past week or so, members of the RCEA have contacted our office with concerns about the electronic gradebook system. The concerns center around two issues. First, with four weeks past in the school year and the gradebook program only now coming online, teachers were concerned about how it would be possible to get caught up on the system. In fact, several suggested that perhaps the program should be scrapped for this year. The other main issue brought up was that assuming the program does successfully launch, teachers will not be able to access the system from home, forcing teachers to enter all grades at school. This becomes an especially important issue at elementary schools where a teacher may, if lucky, have 30 minutes of unencumbered time during the contract school day. Thus, the data entry aspect of the job will be shifted to after school/after contract hours. Most teachers currently enjoy the flexibility to stay at school to finish grading/planning or taking the work home to work the unofficial day in a more relaxed setting.

These concerns were shared with Dr. Lange, and she was very understanding and responsive. Elementary principals have been given several options for the electronic gradebook. The most basic option is either have the entire faculty use it or have the entire school wait until next year to launch it. If the gradebook is launched this year, there are several options on how to handle the opening of the school year. Perhaps the most attractive option is to continue assigning grades in the usual manner, average the grades as usual, and then just enter the letter grade for this nine weeks on the electronic report card. Then ,beginning next nine weeks, the entire process can be accomplished on the electronic system.

Regarding the ability to work on grades at home with the system. Dr. Lange reported to us that at this time, it is not possible due to system security. to access the system from home in real time. She said that the technology staff is working on that issue.

If you are an elementary teacher, you may wish to work with your building principal to help make the best decision for your school. Please let the RCEA know if you have any further concerns. (ThomRyder:Newt999@gmail.com)

Field Trip

For the past three or four years now, I've had the pleasure of serving on VEA's Fitz Turner Commission for Human Relations and Civil Rights. Our commission, most notably, is the group that sponsors the Fitz Turner Award, The Mary Futrell Award, and the Youth Award for VEA. In my estimation, however, our primary responsibility is to monitor human relations and civil rights issues in our state and nation.

At our fall meeting over the weekend, we had the opportunity to hear from Lacy Ward, Jr. of the Robert Russa Moton Museum in Farmville, VA. Mr. Ward spoke to our commission along with our guest, VEA President Kitty Boitnott, for about a half hour. Rarely have I been so engaged in a subject. Mr. Ward's presentation was passionate and insightful.

So what's the big deal with the Moton Museum? Well I suspect that many Virginians do not know exactly how pivotal a role one small high school in Central Virginia was in to the civil rights movement. From the website, here's a taste.

The Moton High School is a nationally significant site in the history of the civil rights movement. Here a student-organized strike in April 1951 led to a federal court case on the essential issue of equal education for all Americans. It was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States as part of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education suit.

The Brown decision stands today as one of the Court’s most important actions, ruling that separate educational systems are inherently unequal and that all jurisdictions must cease to permit segregation within their schools.

Mr. Ward is hoping to get support for a new exhibit in the museum that celebrates the "Freedom Schools" that sprang up in response to "Massive Resistance" with the complete shut down of the school system in Prince Edward County.

After our meeting on Saturday, members of the commission took a field trip to the new Civil Rights Memorial at capital Square in Richmond. Below are a series of photographs from the memorial.

New Teacher Day

On August 12, the the crackerjack RCEA membership team met all of the new Roanoke County teachers on the cleverly named "New Teacher Day" at Hidden Valley High School.

Uniserv Director pat wood and RCEA Secretary Tammy Wood discuss last names.

heather Blevins and RCEA Elementary School representative Kenya Huffman talk third grade shop. Heather and Kenya both teach third grade at Herman L. Horn Elementary.

Making contact with a new member, Theresa McGuire, Bud McWhorter, and Kim Bibbs work the table.

It was time to lay back while the new teachers were in meetings.

Welcome to a New Beginning

Welcome to a New Beginning

Hope

For those of you who have been through the start of a school year, you know very well that the first day, while filled with some degree of the unknown, is also filled with optimism.

Challenges

There will be plenty. Buildings under construction. Students needing your guidance. Challenging learners. Navigating difficult economic times. Our job demands that we sift through the challenges to focus on our primary goal, providing the best possible education for our children. It’s not easy. It’s our job.

The RCEA stands behind you and beside you. We are more than an insurance policy; we are your professional organization and support. With nearly 1000 members, we are one of the largest employee organizations in Roanoke. We will continue to engage the school board and central office administrative staff positively, striving for improved salary and benefits, better working conditions, as well as reasonable professional policies.

Should you ever need us, our Uniserv staff, lead by Pat Wood, are conveniently located here in Roanoke. You can reach Pat or her office assistant, Sue Harris, at 540-362-3825.

May you experience hope and optimism the whole year!

Thom Ryder

RCEA President

Oak Grove Elementary

3^rd Grade

ReStoring Order

ReStoring Order

Each year at the NEA Convention for long time now, NEA delegates have gathered to complete a Habitat for Humanity project in the convention city. For most or all of those years, Bud McWhorter has represented the RCEA and VEA.

The Habitat for Humanity project this year was held on Wednesday, July 2. This year the group, organized by Karen McInnis of Minnesota, was sent to work at the Habitat Restore in South Alexandria. Bud McWhorter and Thom Ryder were two of the three Virginians on the crew. By far, most of the volunteers were from Delaware with a few volunteers from other states.

At the ReStore, a place that sells donated home materials at greatly reduced cost, the band of NEA volunteers were sent out into the store to straighten the place up. Sounds easy…but it was anything but simple.

One crew set about organizing miscellaneous nuts and bolts. Another crew rearranged cabinets. Still another crew straightened rows of furniture. One guy even set fixing up an electrical light fixture display.

Most challenging was the incredible tile aisle. Before the crew was unleashed upon it, ceramic tile was strewn haphazardly all over the place up and down the aisle. Different sizes and styles were all mixed up. The intrepid team of plucky volunteers knelt and began sorting and organizing. In a couple of hours, the aisle was a beautiful testament to organization. When the store manager inspected the work, he was most impressed…so impressed in fact, that he immediately ordered several pallets stacked high with mixed and mismatched ceramic tiles to be fork lifted out to the aisle. When those were done being dealt with, more were brought…it almost didn’t seem to end. Eventually for the Team NEA, the job was done, and they were returned to the comfort of the Convention Center.

In this fast-paced world, taking time to serve those in need is both rewarding and the right thing to do.

{Click Photos to enlarge}

Group leader, Karen McInnis talks with Convention Staff

Plumbing

Bulbs

Toilets and Sinks

Doing what he does

Tile...the first wave

All done...Not

Tile redux

Tile Redux II

Really finally done

Electric Lights

Delaware

Another look at Delaware

NEA Convention Report

NEA Convention Report

by Thom Ryder

The NEA Convention was held this year from June 30 through July 6 in Washington D.C. The RCEA was represented by a trio of members; Bud McWhorter, Linda Hogan, and me.

It’s hard to describe how amazing this convention is. The Washington D.C. Convention Center takes up about three square city blocks. The NEA set up shop inside virtually the whole complex. It was like a miniature city. Delegates from around the United States and territories all came, along with education dignitaries from across the world. Ex-NEA and VEA President, Mary Futrell, sat with our delegation during one stretch.

All told there were about 10,000 delegates in attendance plus another 4,000-6,000 visitors. Each convention session was filled with debate over education issues brought forth from members in every state. The debate was frequently spirited, but in the end democratic principles reigned supreme and discussion gave way to decisions.

You may have been told that NEA is a liberal organization or perhaps you remember when the former Secretary of Education Bell referred to the NEA as a terrorist organization. Well, I can give testament to the fact that the NEA was most concerned about the education of our country’s children and the working conditions of our educators and support staff. Much of our discussion centered on dealing with the constraints of NCLB. I left feeling assured that NEA will work diligently to revamp the in such a way that the act accomplishes its challenging mandate.

One of the highlights of the convention for me was the address by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley. Governor Easley was the recipient of the first “America's Greatest Education Governor” award from the NEA. Governor Easley understands it. He gets it. He knows what needs to be done, and he has a plan. It was delight to hear him speak. If you have a few minutes, watch the video (you may need to register on the NEA member site) of his presentation, you will be invigorated. Senator Obama also spoke to the convention delegates after the delegates voted (electronically) to endorse his candidacy, and there was a lot of dancing in the aisles.

There was dancing in the aisles after Obama spoke.

Each morning of the convention, the Virginia delegation would meet in the ballroom of our Marriott Wardman Park (across from the National Zoo) and hash out our state positions on the issues of the day. We even had entertainment by our own Virginia Delegate choir (Bud of course sang in that). They were incredible.

The highlight for our delegation was the election of ex-VEA President, princess Moss to the NEA Executive Board. Her election was no small feat. We campaigned hard for her at all public functions. I personally held a sign and screamed “Vote for Princess for several hours as delegates entered the convention hall on Election Day. Princess was the top vote getter and was one of two members elected to that prestigious position. As a person who has known Princess Moss for over twenty years dating back to when we were both presidents of tiny locals in Central Virginia, I can honestly say that the NEA delegates made a sound choice.

There was fun to be had in D.C. I was fortunate to pull some family strings and get access to a July 4^th celebration on the roof of the Willard Hotel and Office complex right beside The White House. The Willard Hotel is a Washington landmark. In fact the term “Lobby” is said to originate there. According to local lore, U.S. Grant would step across the street to the lobby of the Willard for beverages and cigars with his high-powered Washington friends. These encounters soon became known as “lobbying.” Anyway, the fireworks were awesome, and I enjoyed meeting people I would have never dreamed of meeting.

By far the most important thing I did at the NEA Convention was to join Bud in the annual Habitat for Humanity project. I will share that story in a separate article.

If you ever get a chance, you should really consider attending an NEA Convention. You will leave on fire for your profession.

Extinction of a Species

A friend of mine, Joe, chided me today for not adding new content to this blog for quite some time. I took his ribbing in stride and agreed with him that new additions are long overdue. So beginning today (at 12:25 am) after taking the summer off, I'm going on a new content blitz. Beware!
~Thom

Another friend of mine, ex-RCEA President Bud McWhorter, presented me with a most amazing gift. At an estate sale over the summer, his wife uncovered a treasure-trove of papers from the 1960's. At first glance the papers didn't look all that unique, but upon closer examination, the McWhorter's were in possession of the October 1963 edition of the R.C.E.A News. Bud has entrusted me with that newsletter along with two NEA newspapers from the 1963-64 school year as well as an NEA Journal from 1960. I plan to feature the two NEA newsletters a little later on in my content blitz, but I thought I'd focus a bit on the RCEA News.

The times were different. John F. Kennedy was the U.S. President, a sad thought knowing how soon his life would end. Segregation was the practice and the law in Virginia. Already in Virginia, students were being denied public school education (Prince Edward County)with rankle and dissent bubbling to the surface. The RCEA was a strong professional organization back then, but it faced the challenge of unification. Back then, membership in VEA and NEA was optional. However, out of the 603 RCEA members, 594 also chose to belong to VEA and 445 joined NEA. The feeling of the RCEA Executive Board was that..."only by participation in NEA could teachers hope to change policies that they are not in accord with."

The newsletter was professionally published with content collected by local association building reps. The newsletter was packaged and edited by a man I respect immensely, Dr. Fred R. Eichelman. Dr. Eichelman was a career teacher at Northside High. He taught government and ran the school newspaper. Dr. Fred is also the father of our very own RCEA member, Carol Webster-the dramatic English teacher at William Byrd High School.

In that newsletter, Dr. Eichelman opined a passionate defense of our profession. I transcribe it here for you, today's professional. I believe that what Dr. Fred wrote of 45 years ago, is just as relevant today.

Extinction of a Species

It has been said that the world would not end "with a bang; but rather with a sigh." Teaching as a profession could also well end this way.

A profession is defined as "a calling or vocation; especially one that requires mental learning and dedication" - dedication to become a successful teacher, the feeling of being called to duty.

We are now playing witness to those who wish to "debunk" this as trite sentimentality and those who may be someday responsible for the "death of our profession."

We tend to ignore those who will not join our professional organizations, those who will not pitch in to help our association leaders to set high goals; and reach them. We ignore those who will not go the "extra mile" to help in programs designed to improve instruction or to better community relations, just as we ignore those too intellectual (so they say) to take an interest in School-Community affairs and the building of citizenship by showing an interest in local as well as national government.

By ignoring this minority group we are most guilty of all. Dedicated people will spread their dedication and loyalty to others. Professional people want their colleagues to share ideas of loyalty in service and high standards in work.

The critics of education associations are vocal as are the critics of education in general. If we honestly feel we are members of the most important profession open to man, then we owe it to our community, our children, and to ourselves not only to be participating members of all three associations; but willing to speak out in answer to our critics.

The "Teacher's Union" in New York City* has caused its members to be classed as "non-professional" in the eyes of the public with a leadership status in the community that now may be considered "nil."

If we are indifferent to the job ahead of us, then teaching will slowly become extinct as a profession- just as extinct as the DoDo, the brontosaurus, and the round kitchen table.

F. R. Eichelman
October 1963

* {Editor's Note: Dr. Eichelman may have been referring to the one day teacher's strike in New York City called by rival teacher organization, American Federation of Teachers. The AFT was the sole bargaining agent for teachers in NYC back then, and they were being squeezed by both the education board and the state. The strike was a one day affair but led to chaos as students were left unattended in their classrooms all day. For the record, the NEA-the largest national education association- opposed strikes as being a counter-productive tool.}

{Click for large image}

In addition to that article by Dr. Eichelman, the R.C.E.A. News also provided a historical look back at public and private school education in Roanoke. I'll bring that article to you in its entirety soon, but I thought I'd leave you with a historical glance back at public schools and and teacher salaries. Again click on the picture for a larger image.

You may want to check out a couple of things. First, a Roanoke County teacher was paid $27.18 a month back in 1871. Those teachers worked on average of 4.5 months out of the year. By 1945, the salary had crept up to $1350 a year. By 1960, that had more than tripled to $4354.91 (Editor's Note: my first salary back in 1982 was $10,500 in Greene County, VA).

The chart had a perplexing notation. It took me several minutes to figure out what "W" and "C" stand for in the chart. Soon, it dawned on me. The early 1960's in Virginia were especially racially charged; however, segregation was still taken as a matter of fact. That would change soon. In this chart, the "W" stands for "White" and the "C" stands for "Colored." In 1960, there were 28 "White" schools and 4 "Colored" schools.

One other thing that interested me is how many schools there were in the county back in 1895 for example. If the figures are correct, there were 77 schools (57 White/20 Colored) in the county back then serving 3419 pupils. That's an average of 44 pupils per school. I suspect that most were one room schools. Those one room schools must have remained open until around 1925 when consolidation must have occurred.

So that's my look back at the RCEA in 1963. It's amazing how much times have changed, but how some things remain the same. I'll leave you with a little filler that Dr. Fred put on the last page of that issue.

The emphasis on good grades has become even more intense this year. Now the problem is not only to provide more schools and teachers, but to graduate 90 percent of the students in the top 10% of the class. :)

~Thom Ryder

RCEA Retirement Reception 2008

The RCEA held its annual retirement reception on May 19, 2008 at Hidden Valley Middle School. The organization honored the member retirees, recognized employees with 25 years of service to the profession, and announced winners of our 2008 RCEA Memorial Scholarships.

Our gathering was a special time for retirees to share a few moments with the audience in an intimate setting. Without a doubt, the audience felt the power and emotion of the day leaving memories that will last.

The RCEA Memorial Scholarships were awarded to three Roanoke County high school seniors who plan to pursue a career in education. Ali Broyles and Erika Troia from Hidden Valley High School , as well as Meredith Buckley from Glenvar High School were this year's recipients of our awards. These students were most impressive, and it is our genuine hope that they consider returning to Roanoke County when they've finished their college degree programs.

Betty Mosier (retired from Mountain View Elementary) serenaded the gathering with lovely piano.

Johnny Simpson took charge of distributing flowers.

Ali Broyles was one of three recipients of our scholarships.