Join the Conversation

Join the Conversation

We live in challenging changing times. During my teaching career, we’ve gone from no computers in the classroom to classroom technology that seems to be sent to us from outer space.

The buzz for several years now has been “social networks.” It’s all about having a conversation with each other and sharing information rapidly. Over the past three years, since it opened itself up to the general public, Facebook has exploded with users. These days, if you want to find out something, you most likely can find it out on Facebook.

This document is a collection of social networking sites both on Facebook and on the more “old-fashioned” blogs (weblogs).

Facebook Groups

Lots of education groups are jumping into Facebook, including RCEA. You should be able to monitor these groups without a Facebook account, but if you wish to join the conversation, you will need a free account. Beware of what personal information you share.

· Save Virginia Schools

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=81c9b84a79da42df0ad0fcfa4c52bf4a&#!/pages/Support-Virginia-Schools/160746811211?ref=mf

Sponsored by VEA, this group is focused on discussing today’s budget crisis.

· Virginia Citizens in Favor of Saving K-12 Education

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=81c9b84a79da42df0ad0fcfa4c52bf4a&#!/group.php?v=wall&ref=ts&gid=302761093322

Begun in response to the education budget crisis, this group is a true grass roots, public offering.

Hands Off VRS!

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=81c9b84a79da42df0ad0fcfa4c52bf4a&#!/group.php?gid=270187057292&ref=ts

Focused specifically on saving VRS, this group supports our brothers in fire-fighting, law enforcement, state employees, paramedics, and teachers in our battle to save our VRS.

Roanoke County Education Association

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=81c9b84a79da42df0ad0fcfa4c52bf4a&#!/group.php?gid=290992747503&ref=ts

Hey, it’s easy to update this group with happenings in the RCEA. We try to get the word out about simple legislative action requests through this venue. Be sure to JOIN us!

Virginia Education Association

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=81c9b84a79da42df0ad0fcfa4c52bf4a&#!/VirginiaEducationAssociation?ref=ts

Your professional organization. Loads of information and a connection to educators all across the state.

National Education Association

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=81c9b84a79da42df0ad0fcfa4c52bf4a&#!/NEA.ORG?ref=search&sid=832647855.3953585368..1

Connect with teachers and educators from all over the country. The world just grew smaller.

Roanoke County Schools

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=81c9b84a79da42df0ad0fcfa4c52bf4a&#!/RoanokeCoPublicSchools?ref=ts

You can keep abreast of the goings on in our school district.

Blogs

Blogs have been around since the mid-1990’s. They grew out of the old Listserv’s that were popular in the late 80’s and early 90’s. They are an excellent way to share specific content. The RCEA has used our blog instead of a newsletter this year.

Roanoke County Education Association

http://rcea4.blogspot.com/

We try to keep our site updated several times a month. Our beat is the local school board meetings as well as how state education issues our professional environment.

RCPS Budget Blog

http://www.rcs.k12.va.us/budget/default.shtml

Penny Hodge joined the blog bonanza last year with this excellent budget resource. This blog is true transparency at work.

VEA Daily Reports

http://www.veadailyreports.com/

Rob Jones and Doris Boitnott work hard for us in Richmond. During budget season, they update this blog daily. You can find all the sad and depressing news here, along with a sparkle of sunshine every now and then.

Kevin Myatt’s Weather Blog

http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/weatherjournal/

I leave you with a link to Kevin Myatt’s blog at Roanoke.com. Kevin is a true inspiration when it comes to weather. If more people would read Kevin’s blog, perhaps I’d get fewer questions about the weather.

Armed with your collection of social network sites, you can confidently join the conversation.

~Thom Ryder RCEA

Live Blogging From the 2/23 RCPS School Board Meeting

What follows are notes that I am taking as the 2/23 School Board meeting progresses. I'll try to be succinct. I will start my blogging after the normal celebratory honorific issues. Prayer. Pledge. Student Council report.



6. Hearing of the Citizens: (Mostly Clearbrook Elementary parents spoke)

• Chuck Lionberger-PTA: Short announcement.

• Chris Rhea- Clearbrook parent speaking on budget cuts. Encouraged all of us to contact legislators regarding budget cuts. Thanked the school board. Wants to partner with the board on cuts. Does not believe that school closings are the answer. Thinks closing of Fort Lewis and Clearbrook will cause a tsunami. Should not close a quality school.

• Randy Kingery: From Clearbrook Civic League. Spoke in favor of keeping Clearbrook open. People who go to Clearbrook...stay in Clearbrook and serve the community. "It would break my heart if were closed or went by the wayside at all."

• Mike Wray: "These are budget times that try people's souls...." He told the board that his group wants to help the school board to find a way to keep the school open. Mike said that the growth in the area will keep the school at capacity. This school should not be closed.

School Board Members reply...

• Fuzzy Minnix thanked the people from Clearbrook who came out to speak tonight. He's hopeful that there are ways to keep all our schools open. "Not just in my school district...anywhere in the county."

• Drew Barrineau: said that with the $7 million cut last year, people didn't feel it. If you want to help...write your delegates. Elections matter. This is important to us...the power of thousands. Exercise your God-given right to vote and share your thoughts.

• David Wymer: The Board is trying to make education workable. He appreciates citizen support. We are getting 66% support based on the composite index at the local level. The state people think it's easier to extract cuts at the local level than the state. "Now is the opportune time to contact legislators."

• Jerry Canada: "Went to Richmond last year and found that legislators are completely polarized. There are no moderates. If you go against the flow, the flow will get rid of you." He said that he had never been political from the pulpit, but he is willing to roll that dice now. No one knows how it will shake out next year. He doesn't want to close schools. He doesn't want to lay people off, yet people will probably be laid off.

• Mike Stovall: Talked about how polarized the climate is. The State Secretary of Education spoke to school board people last week and he talked about new initiatives and new programs that would take money away from public schools. He left after a cold reception.
  

7. Consent Agenda approved: (No major items)

8. Action Items:

• Change orders for current construction projects: WBHS, MPES, CSES, GVES. Approved. (Fort Lewis should be back w/cafe by early March.)

• Budget Reductions for 20010-2011: Penny Hodge$2.4 Million (contingency-$641K, Central Middle-495K, Reduce/eliminate Central office positions-317K, Bent Mtn-507K, Driver's ed/Health combine-178K, Close RE Cook-107K, Eliminate 50% subsidy of Nutrition fund-66K, Eliminate 4 bus routes-40K, Eliminate board funded field trips-24K, Eliminate Stanford 4th grade testing-17K, Eliminate 6th grade intramurals-9K)...no doubt more cuts will be forthcoming as the budget process continues.
  

No discussion

9. Information Agenda

• Approval of Evaluation Forms: Submitted-no comment

• Update of Charter School Regulations- Cecil Snead. Due to movement in Governor's office and the Federal executive office. Lawyer Pat Lacey, clean up language in advance of any future regulations.

1. Fuzzy Minnix: No problem with Governor wanting to experiment with Charter Schools...but he has a HUGE problem with this experimentation in these times! When this money takes away from public schools! "It does not make any sense to me."

1. David Wymer: Regarding Governor's proposal...will the new bill presented to the assembly require a change in local policy. Lawyer Lacey says that it will require some changes. Wymer said that if Charters come into being, it's the beginning of leading us down a slippery slope.

1. Mike Stovall: That's why the Secretary of Education didn't have a warm welcome. Charters will lead to resegregation of schools. (Comment: That's the second time I've heard similar language about charter schools. My other source for this said the Secretary of education's people used the term,"racially identifiable" schools.)
   

10. Superintendent's Report: None

11. Board Member's Reports: None


Meeting over around 8pm

Raise the Banner. Strike the Chord

Imagine that you are the average citizen of Virginia and you read the most recent article in The Roanoke Times. Would you understand what the heck is going on? $330 million this, $1.9 billion that. $731 million this, $240 million that. Freezing, unfreezing, making harmless, GIANT TSUNAMI's.

So what does it all mean? So what's real?


Here's what's real. State support for public school education is about to take a nose-dive. Historically, Virginia already under-funds schools. With this new effort, we may even take the gold medal over Mississippi in the under-funding championship.



This weekend, our friends in Orange County, Virginia are spear-heading a "Rally In Richmond." Educators and our friends will meet at the bell tower in front of the capital building between 11am and Noon. It's time to stand up...even louder than we stood up in 2004. We can't sit quietly by the wayside and let our school children be robbed. We need to MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD.


Check back on this blog for more information or join our Facebook group, "Roanoke County Education Association."

It's time to make time.


thom



PS A longer, more personal version of this commentary and call to action exists on my private blog. If you'd like to read it, visit Swimming Upstream.

Another $731,000,000 Taken

Are you having a hard time trying to grasp how large the proposed budget cuts are to public school education in Virginia? Are you getting a little angry. Watch this video from Support VA Schools.

Kaine Budget cut $1,200,000,000

McDonnell Suggests another $731,000,000 be cut as well.

$1,931,000,000 or More...

How many jobs is that? About 30,000 this year on top of the approximately 12,000 last year. If Norfolk and Southern laid-off that many people, politicians would be trumpeting job solutions.

On top of that, your VRS system is being changed. Thankfully, compassionate allowances are being made for vested members, but new VRS members (people who don't yet have five years contributing to the system), unfortunately and sadly, will have a less stable and weaker pension plan.


There is NOTHING good about this news, despite Governor McDonnell suggesting that localities will "... be innovative, ... be creative, and... find a way to manage better." If the Governor wanted localities to be creative, innovative, and manage better, he could have just asked instead of just axing.

Grim

It's hard to sugar coat what's going on behind the scenes as the 2010-2011 school budget is prepared. Thanks to an $8-12 million drop in state funding, Roanoke County is faced with some horrible choices. The numbers keep fluctuating...actually, they keep going up.

Penny Hodge, Assistant Superintendent for Budget and Finance, has laid out all the options discussed up to this point in her Budget Blog. One thing to keep in mind at this point is that unless the state makes an about face and decides to uphold its constitutional responsibility to fully fund its share of Virginia's public schools, drastic cuts will need to be made.

At the budget workshop on Wednesday, new ideas were presented to the school board that had not been publicly mentioned as possibilities before. None of these suggestions have been enacted...merely discussed.

• Close Clearbrook Elementary
• Close Fort Lewis Elementary
• Reduce employee salaries by 1%
• 1 day furloughs (unpaid)
• Eliminate middle and high school athletics
• Outsource selected services like custodial, nutrition, nursing, and transportation
• Tap the health insurance reserve to buffer the rising cost of premiums
• Increase class size by eliminating 37 teaching positions (presented Jan 28)
• Many more...
  

So what needs to happen? People, regular people, taxpaying people, non-educator people need to understand that our schools all across the state are facing (a word I dislike) "Draconian" cuts. People need to get fired up enough to send a message supportive of public school education to Richmond and our legislators. Unless that happens, public schools in Virginia will be fractured.

Keep up to date by reading VEA's Daily Reports. Rob and Doris are great advocates for public school education and educators. Their blog is timely.

Continually Maintained

Virginia’s Constitution says “The General Assembly shall provide for a system of free public elementary and secondary schools for all children of school age throughout the Commonwealth, and shall seek to ensure that an educational program of high quality is established and continually maintained.”


The Virginia Constitution has strong language related to public school education. Very directly put, the state has the legal OBLIGATION to ensure that public schools are adequately funded. Lately, we've heard that the state wants to cut ANOTHER $720 from the education budget. The impact would be devastating to public schools in our state. In Roanoke County, we're staring at over $9 million in cuts from the state. Such cuts would destroy what we've come to expect from public school education in our locality.


You can read more of VEA President Dr. Kitty Boitnott's (ex-RCEA member) comments to the press on February 8.



Read more at VEA Daily Reports blog.