RCEA News Online

No Money?

2012-01-23T20:13:00.005-05:00

While meeting with local legislators today, one greeted us in a cheerful, joking manner by saying, "I can't get you any money." First impressions.

There are ways to find revenue if legislators are brave and dedicated enough to take the difficult path of finding it for the children of Virginia. The Better Choices For Virginia coalition has come up with some places to find hidden revenue. Here's a snapshot:

Better Choices for Virginia Legislative Agenda 2012

The Better Choices for Virginia 2012 Legislative Agenda is a three-point plan that will close roughly half of the predicted shortfall in the upcoming 2012-2014 biennium through revenue enhancements.

I. Extending Previous Reforms - Virginia enacted some targeted tax policy reforms during the recession that helped address the state’s continuing budget shortfalls. . . could generate over $220 million in the 2012-2014 biennium.

a. Extension of Land Preservation Tax Credit Reform (Brink HB1268) - savings of between $50 and $75 million per year.
b. Scale Back the Domestic Production Deduction (Budget Amendment)- Commonwealth could save approximately $10 million per year.

II. Reforming Costly Loopholes - at least $286 million

a. Enact an “Amazon law” (Wagner SB597) -

a gain in revenue of around $17 million per year by requiring sales tax collection.

b. Enact Mandatory Combined Reporting (Scott HB1267) - By enacting mandatory combined reporting, Virginia could gain more than $100 million a year and also end a tax advantage that local businesses don’t share.

c. Yacht Owners’ Loophole (Englin HB145) - Virginia taxes the sale of watercraft at a reduced rate of 2 percent (instead of the 5 percent applied to other goods) and limits the total amount collected on any vessel to $2,000 even if 2 percent of the selling price exceeds that amount.

d. Adopt a Minimum Corporate Income Tax (Englin HB1030) - If Virginia were to implement a $250 minimum corporate tax payment, the state could realize approximately $11 million in new revenue per year.

e. Eliminate Wasteful Coal Tax Credits (Toscano HB446) –Virginia gives away more than $30 million in credits to the coal industry.

III. Increasing Transparency & Accountability – Each year, Virginia gives up about $2 billion in revenue in the form of various tax breaks.

All totaled up, that's at least $500 million just for the first two items before you even tackle the $2.0 billion of lost revenue from various tax breaks.

Save Our Schools March on Washington

2011-06-10T14:56:00.002-04:00

Join us in Washington, D.C. for a little bus ride to Washington, D.c. There on July 30, up to a million teacher and teach supporters will gather to voice their feelings about the state of education today. Diane Ravitch, author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System will be the keynote speaker. There will be music and other speakers. Your professional colleagues from all across the USA will be there. Join us! We'll leave early in the morning and return in the evening.

Click on the link to get our flyer.

Rally Bus

Regarding Teacher Evaluation

2011-06-02T20:47:00.003-04:00

Tim Summers, RCEA vice president, recently delivered important comments to the Roanoke County School Board during the public comment section of their regular meeting on May 26, 2011. Summers told the stark truth about the rush to implement nonsensical evaluation measures.

Regarding Teacher Evaluation

May 26, 2011

Roanoke County School Board Meeting

Tim Summers, RCEA Vice President

Good evening members of the school board, Dr. Lange. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. As Vice President of the RCEA, it falls to me to address you as our school year draws to a close.

This year has been a trying one by any measure. With so many obstacles before you, the RCEA wishes to congratulate both the board and administration on shepherding our school system through the most difficult times in the memory of most.

The RCEA would like to express our appreciation for being included as council and confidante in dealing with many of the issues faced by us all in the 2010 – 11 school year. Through our joint lobbying efforts and our several mutual showings of support for our schools and students at rallies, media events and in Richmond, many of the negative outcomes we faced as an educational system were averted.

However, we are speaking tonight to an issue which still needs work.

We have concerns that the decision to modify the evaluation process for teaching staff in Roanoke County was done hastily and failed to take into consideration a variety of factors which render the new policy unwieldy to administer and uneven in its application to the variety of staff involved.

It was decided that the new evaluation process should be implemented for this year’s teacher evaluations based upon incomplete advance information from the state department of education and finally a 200 page document which was released by the Virginia Board of Education on April 28. The rush to implement changes and to formulate new policy hardly seems necessary when you consider the state’s mandated implementation date of July 2012. In other words, the change in localities’ evaluation of teachers at this time remains optional as far as the state Board of Education is concerned. Alleghany and Washington Counties as well as Covington and others around the state have chosen to wait until a future date to consider making these changes. Incidentally, by all accounts, VA board of education officials have failed to be able to provide guidance or to answer questions posed by the VEA and by representatives of various localities regarding the requirements of the 200 page document itself. With the state board lacking sufficient understanding of its own document or, in our estimation, of the basic inner workings of a school setting, perhaps holding off on new evaluations would have been more prudent. In fact on page 68 of the aforementioned document the state board writes “it is critical that teachers understand the requirements before the evaluation cycle begins.” End quote.

Since I am limited in my time for making this presentation, I would like to briefly outline some of the more prescient concerns over this new policy.

First, how is the issue of those teachers who do not teach SOL related subjects to be handled since 40% of the evaluation is to be based on student progress with emphasis on SOL test scores. Yes, teacher evaluations should be reflective of student learning. SOL test scores, however, as often as not, do not equate to student learning. As any teacher knows, student progress is measured in many ways, often quite subjective, but no less valid by having not been given a quantitative assignation.

How will federal government action affect the evaluation process? With NCLB up for renewal and probable modification, will the state modify its stance on evaluations? Common sense indicates that the state of Virginia will be forced to adopt the National Core Curriculum. Will that not necessitate further changes to the evaluation process?

RCEA is particularly concerned with morale issues and teacher effectiveness. The new evaluation process, among other new initiatives, has already begun to stifle collegiality among staff and begun to pit teachers against each other. What incentive is there to teach challenged students when teacher effectiveness is judged by student performance on standardized tests and when teachers are judged against each other as grounds for increased compensation for some.

What we would suggest is that you please review the evaluation process, roll back the new plan and that a committee be formed including RCEA representatives so that together we can develop a more thoughtful system which will address the issues at hand and can still be implemented timely.

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak. RCEA would like to present each board member and ranking central office personnel members with a gift which we hope you will find useful in understanding the RCEA’s position regarding teacher evaluation and the general state of education today. [Each official received a copy of Diane Ravitch’s amazing book, “The Death and Life of the Great American School System.”]

We would like to announce the Million Teacher March in support of free public education and the nation’s teachers which is to be held July 30^th in Washington DC. We have chartered a bus for our members who plan to go. We hope you will attend with us in support of the teachers who work so hard and care so much for the children of this community.

[Please contact your school representative immediately if you plan to join us in Washington. We already have a bus reserved, but we'll get as many as we need. This IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY to make a difference.]

13 Reasons I'm Enraged

2011-04-21T19:01:00.004-04:00

This piece appeared in The Washington Post today. In it, Valerie Strauss speaks for the trees. I'm with Valerie...I've about had it. Here in Virginia, the onslaught began in 1994 when Governor Allen was elected. The first thing he did after being sworn in was to initiate the SOL assessment program. Before that time -1988-1994-the SOL's were developed and implemented in a rational, reasoned manner. After that, the SOL's became test-happy. "It's all about the test, baby." (as Kojak might say)

"Who loves ya, baby?"

thom

Public school teacher: 13 reasons I’m outraged

By Valerie Strauss

This was written by Kathie Marshall, a veteran public school teacher in California. She is a a member of the Teacher Leaders Network and the Accomplished California Teachers group.

By Kathie Marshall

In May 2005, I wrote an op-ed for one of our Los Angeles newspapers, in which I vented my frustrations about the state of education in my community. Here’s some of what I said:

“I’ve been an educator in the Los Angeles area for more than 30 years in grades two through eight, including general education, second-language learner, gifted, special-education and intervention students. I’ve taught some of the wealthiest families to some of the poorest, in both private and public schools. For the past four years I have been a literacy coach at a middle school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, working with teachers and students to improve instruction and learning. And I have to tell you, many things that have taken place in education over the last decade have me mad!”

Lately I’ve been feeling a powerful urge to vent again. Fellow teachers can probably relate. So here’s an updated version:

Nearly six years have passed, and I’m not just mad – I’m outraged. I’ve been an educator for nearly four decades now, and the current and continuing onslaught against public education is unprecedented.

I’m outraged that President Obama has so let down public educators by enabling the continuing rhetoric against bad teachers and failing schools, all the while neglecting to undo the worst aspects of No Child Left Behind. What happened to those campaign promises for meaningful reform?

I’m outraged that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan continues his laser-like focus on teacher evaluations and monetary rewards based on unreliable standardized test scores, without addressing ongoing problems of “teaching to the test” and the narrowing of curriculum—especially in low-performing schools. Where will Duncan position himself when the achievement gap widens even more?

I’m outraged that Michelle Rhee is still a media darling, appearing on CBS and Fox News to publicize her “Save Great Teachers” campaign and undo teacher seniority in layoffs, as though all or even most great teachers are among the recently hired. Why isn’t Rhee out there exposing the dire state of education financing and its impact on poor and minority children, campaigning for a return to budgetary sanity in public education?

I’m outraged that a handful of extremely wealthy individuals increasingly control the policy agenda and use their big bucks to force corporate solutions on schools where many students are suffering the consequences of poverty and Wall Street’s reckless raids on the economy. How can we continue to allow them to persist in their delusions that they know best what should happen in students’ lives?

I’m outraged that scores of media continue to exclude teacher experts and teacher leaders from substantive conversations about education reform. How do teachers morph themselves into media darlings?

I’m outraged that California politicians have so destroyed the eighth largest economy in the world that we are close to having a third-world educational system in place. Who’s going to want to educate my beloved grandchildren when they enter school?

I’m outraged that the workforce at my large high-needs middle school, where we accomplished the nearly unheard of goal of increasing the state Academic Performance Index score by 47 points last year, continues to be gutted. How are we to make do next year with two assistant principals instead of four? With four clerical workers instead of 12? With one custodian instead of five? No magnet school coordinator? No librarian? No literacy coach? No math coach? No nurse?

I’m outraged that 15 more of my school’s most talented, experienced teachers are going through the turmoil of Reduction in Force notices – informed that they may, in fact, be jobless after June. Who understands how valuable these teachers are to the future of public education?

I’m outraged that the tireless dedication of my principal is being rewarded with the continual spiraling down of paid days in which to perform her job well and the continual ratcheting up of pressures to demonstrate teacher effectiveness and student learning. How is she supposed to support us with so little support herself?

I’m outraged that my students, growing up in one of the poorest communities in Los Angeles, are expected to perform better than ever while being provided with fewer and fewer resources in and out of school during these dismal economic times. Who cares about students who’ve lost their homes? Lost a parent? Speak little English? Didn’t eat yesterday?

I’m outraged that after a decade of ill-informed rants against bad teachers and failing schools, now the pundits and politicians are coming after our pensions and health benefits. With the added insult that in 15 states, including my own, Social Security benefits will be reduced by approximately 40% because a partial teacher pension is considered “double dipping.” How is it that my 37 years in this important role now counts for so little as I near retirement?

I’m outraged that so few Americans attempt to understand the dedication and long hours that are required in the teaching profession and so easily accept media portrayals of teachers as being overpaid for their “cushy part time” jobs. Where, oh where is the public outcry against teacher-bashing and the decimation of school budgets?

Most of all, I’m outraged over the growing negative impact on teachers of all of the above. Across the country, teachers are feeling disrespected, unappreciated, threatened, demoralized, and defeated. Nonetheless, we appear daily before our treasured students with a smile and a new, important lesson for the day.

When will those in power and position finally understand that in order to have a strong, vibrant, economically sound future for America, we must give teachers respect, empower them to reform their profession, and support them with adequate finances to realize our dreams for all our students?

Extended School Day

2011-03-23T18:05:00.007-04:00

Live blogging: This is an unedited live document. Live the actual meeting in real time.

The meeting was called to discuss extending the elementary school day. As an information session, the meeting was called to discuss the ramifications of extending the elementary school day.

Jerry Canada called the meeting because he wanted to give the issue a fair hearing. He especially wanted to hear from the staff and principals and have a discussion before the budget season "got away from us" in case there any compensation issues.

Drew Barrineau wanted to discuss modified blocks in middle school. He heard from all of his principals in his area.

Mike Stovall say that there are a lot of unanswered questions. He wants to know if the board should act on it, leave it alone, or fight for it.

David Wymer lead the discussion by turning it over to Dr. Lange.

She walked the board through the basic schedule for each level.

Background:
Elementary : 7 hour contract 6 hour 10 minutes instruction

Option #1: Extend the elementary/middle school contract to 7 hours 20 minutes.

Option #2 : Extend Elementary and Secondary schedule within the day by utilizing the end of the day planning time.

Option #3: Keep the schedule as it is and study further.

Change of policy...not contract.

Rebecca Eastwood gave an insight into elementary schedules. She talked about parallel blocks, floating schedules, and traditional schedules as well as the new encore schedule.

She's hearing that the elementary principals want more instructional time.

Jerry Canada asked if teachers aren't receiving a 45 minute "break." Dr. Lange replied that all teachers receive a 45 minute planning time...which is not the same as a break.

Principals spoke: Herman L Horne: Susan Brown spoke. Transition time is an issue. There is none currently built into the schedule. She said that the vote at her school was about 50/50 with 3-5 and special education teachers in favor of altering the schedule. Mike Stovall asked what students do at 7:30. It was explained that breakfast is a big player in the students' time. Ms. Brown suggested that the day run from 7:50 to 2:20.

Drew Barrineau questioned about the 50/50. Did the people who were opposed to it come up with alternative solutions?

Jerry Canada does NOT want to add more without compensating teachers.

Other principals: Mason's Cove voted 50/50.

Dr. Lange and Mr. Barrineau compared the extended elementary day to a middle school teacher teaching an extra class. She replied that elementary school teachers spend less time with children.

Fuzzy Minnix asked how the time would be spent if added. Dr. Lange replied that each principal makes their own schedule. She suggested that Math would most likely be an important focus.

Mike Stovall asked why teachers should be compensated extra for extending the day within their contract day.

David Wymer asked what goes on in the 7:30-7:55 time. Apparently schools don't do things the same. Many schools engage the students from the moment they come in.

Leigh Porter of Mountain View suggested that many teacher wanted to extend the day. She went on to discuss some creative scheduling opportunities.

Jodi Poff shared that the staff has discussed the issue. The majority seems to be in favor of extending the day. She did not take a vote. She shared that the instructional day starts from the moment the children walk in the door.

Amy Shank said that Burlington was overwhelmingly in favor of extending.

Drew Barrineau then shifted the discussion onto how the extended time would be used.

Math was the number one choice on an area to bolster.

David Wymer asked the same question. He noted that there really is no transition time built into the basic schedule. By having Encore time this year, the pressure on the afternoon planning time has been relieved.

Fuzzy Minnix asked about the support personnel and how it would affect their contracts.

Mike Stovall suggested that he would feel uncomfortable making decisions without giving the teaching staff the opportunity to have input. (Teachers and RCEA)

Jerry Canada feels like the idea of extending the contract without additional compensation doesn't make sense. How much more can we expect our teachers and support staff to extend the contractual day without compensation especially since they haven't receive any additional compensation for three years.

Dr. Lange said that elementary principals would be happy to go back to their staffs to discuss the extension of the day with compensation. (Survey Monkey)

Mary Wagner from Cave Spring Elementary spoke passionately about our needs in elementary. She believes that we are doing well already. Why are we rushing them from place to place? When do we actually have time to get to know them?

Jan Nichols at Glen Cove spoke to the problem with transitions and the lack of time between classes.

Drew Barrineau tried to boil it down to two issues. He questioned whether any further polling is necessary. Do we want to extend the day? Yes or No. If yes, then are we going to compensate them?

Jerry Canada spoke passionately in reply to Mary Wagner's words.

Moving on to Middle School

This live blogger is more in tune with elementary so please forgive him for playing a bit of catch up with the secondary issues.

Each principal spoke in favor of extending the day but only if the teachers are compensated for the additional time. One of their main concerns is that whichever plan is adopted, five minute transition time must be preserved.

******************************************************

David Wymer wants this item to be kept on the information agenda for Thursday night.

Jerry Canada wanted to know what fair compensation would be for teachers if the day is extended. Dr. Lange thought that perhaps 2%.

David Wymer wants to act on this item at the school board meeting. The discussion clarified that this extension is not a budget issue.

Drew mentioned that this would NOT be a RAISE. It's a contract adjustment for certain people.

Survey Monkey was ditched... in favor of a an update on Penny Hodge's Budget Blog concerning what the board will be voting on Thursday night.

Boiled down: Look at policy 3.17 and will add on a report that teachers will be compensated for additional time.

Elementary Impact: Extend the student day 20 minutes (7:50 to 2:15). Extend the teacher contract time by 20 minutes and compensate the teachers for the extra time.

Middle/High School Impact: Extend the day by 10 minutes and extend the teacher contract time by 10 minutes with compensation.

Breaking News From Wisconsin...

2011-03-09T20:41:00.002-05:00

A statement from Mary Bell, President of the Wisconsin Education Association Council(WEAC)

Tonight, Senate and Assembly Republicans pushed forward an extreme power grab with an unconscionable maneuver that split collective bargaining off from the fiscal items in the budget repair bill – rigging an 18-to-1 vote in the Senate. The Assembly will vote tomorrow.

This is heart wrenching and unconscionable – and we won’t back down. For weeks our members have pushed forward with aggressive advocacy to have their voices heard about the need to protect their rights. We’ve won the battle in the court of opinion – and we’ve exposed the truth behind Governor Walker and Legislative Republican’s motives.

I know this isn’t over. We are outraged, hurt and betrayed – but he will not break us.

I ask Wisconsin’s educators to be at work tomorrow as we coordinate with the Labor Coalition to determine next steps to make the voices of Wisconsin workers heard. This includes legal avenues, preparations for this weekend’s rally and recall efforts.

In talking about this, my message is that this isn’t what Democracy looks like and this won’t stop us from fighting for what’s right.

Mary Bell is correct. Democracy should not look like this.

No Sale

2011-03-07T21:48:00.002-05:00

Tim Summers, RCEA vice-president recently shared his thoughts on the current state of education with the VEA Journal. Maybe one day, we will publish the actual whole piece where Tim told it more like it is.

No Sale

Why a school can't be run like a business.

by Tim Summers

This just in—public schools are to be run like businesses. Hallelujah! Finally, a model that will save failing schools, motivate apathetic students and teachers, and catapult America’s educated citizenry to the top of the world’s list of overachievers.

Just one problem: Schools are not now, nor have they ever been, remotely like a business. The business model cannot be made to fit the art and science of education. The process of awakening the mind and nurturing the growing intellect and natural curiosity of the student fares not at all well in a numbers-based business environment.

Students learn at different rates and, by nature, become prepared to receive information cognitively at different times. Given these real variables, and our emphasis on testing, only superficial understanding of concepts can be attained. In fact, only superficial understanding of concepts is required under the law. Which brings me to the point: Education is a process so dependent upon such a diversity of variables that the word “business” should be anathema to anyone associated with it.

This is the way I used to see it: Education cannot be seen as a business and cannot be subjected to the mechanics of applied business philosophy because education, as a system, is not designed to turn out a product with any degree of uniformity. Nor should this ever be its goal. That’s what businesses are for.

A business manufactures or markets a product which is economically produced and by its nature, therefore, exactly like or very similar to products of the same function. As long as similar models, be they Chevys, mouse pads or insurance policies, are produced and sold to consumers, everyone is happy and successful. In fact, theoretically, the longer a company is in business, the better it becomes at producing uniformity.

In education, there is no uniformity in product. If we consider the product of education to be an adequately educated student, we find that the raw materials required to produce it are so dissimilar that each individual unit is a different product altogether. A human being is a thinking, feeling, dynamic organism. Each child comes to education with different cognitive, emotional, social and economic resources. To expect each unit produced to possess the same attributes is ludicrous—not to mention the fact that I think most of us would agree that we expect and indeed celebrate differences among people.

Like I said, that’s the way I used to see it. Lately I have come to see things somewhat differently. The way the business model is actually being applied today is quite a different story. The product under this model is not the student: It is a score. The score determines the success of the business. A score fits much more easily into the concept of uniformity of product than does a human being. Very little consideration is given to individual circumstances and qualities of the raw materials. Bauxite makes aluminum, therefore children’s sub-cranial electro-fatty matter makes a score.

Let’s take this a little further. If the student is no longer the product, what is she? She is the employee. Her job is to produce the score. She works for the teacher who, in this analogy, is like a middle manager of a company, responsible for the productivity of the workers under him and beholden to the executives above him. The teacher could be rewarded lavishly if his team delivers an excellent product or, conceivably, be sanctioned or lose his job if productivity falls.

Now in the real business world, the middle manager assembles his own team of workers through the interviewing and hiring process and can fire employees who are hurting his team’s productivity. A teacher cannot do this, but must soldier on, seeking a way to reach every student, keeping all together in a protective, nurturing work environment, and never giving up on a single one.

There are, of course, other reasons why business and education don’t mix. Recently I heard it said concerning the preponderance of paperwork teachers are experiencing that, “You’re just getting a taste of what we in business have always done.” Poppycock! This extra work requires teachers who, by the way, are already working far in excess of their contracted hours out of a sense of responsibility (and for free), to put even more hours into the job, to the further neglect of their families and personal lives. Unfortunately, since there are only 24 hours in each day, students may begin to suffer as preparation time for their lessons and time for remediation opportunities fall victim to time spent by the teacher in test analysis and test administration itself.

When businesspeople put in extra hours, it’s usually to curry favor with one’s superiors, seek a promotion, or get some other purely materialistic reward. Businesspeople with comparable levels of education or even less than that of teachers, are as a rule given paid vacation and bonuses. Teachers are not paid for their “time off,” commonly viewed as vacation time. Actually, teachers are not paid for any time beyond their contracted hours spent in the school building. I have to work a couple of other jobs all year just to survive while supporting a family of four. I defy you to find a business professional who would be motivated to pursue a career with these excellent benefits.

While corporations typically sponsor trips, conventions, seminars and other training opportunities for their employees, teachers are often required to dip into their own pockets to pay for mandated training for license renewal. Some are forced to resort to the use of credit cards and other high-debt instruments in order to fulfill these obligations.

By the way, I realize that there are exceptions. There are people in business who are not rewarded in the aforementioned ways and there are teachers—not many—who refuse to work beyond the particulars of their contract.

But teachers do not teach for the money. Certainly not in Virginia, where in the 7th most prosperous state in the nation, teachers are paid near the bottom of the salary rankings among states. Teaching is done in service to society in general and to our communities specifically. Teaching is a service occupation and as such it once again does not fit the corporate model. Teachers ask for little in return for this service: Only that they be given the opportunity to teach as they know best how to do, that their students be successful in a variety of ways, and that they be afforded a modicum of the respect that they richly deserve.

As public support for education dwindles, as the media portray our schools as if they are all failing – it is always the schools that are failing, not the children, their parents or our society – teachers struggle to maintain their composure in the classroom, their morale in general and their love for their chosen profession. It’s a battle that, sadly, many of us seem to be losing.

Summers, vice president of the Roanoke County Education Association, teaches second grade at Oak Grove Elementary School.

Jobs, Roads, Transportation and Overall Government Reform

2011-02-03T18:31:00.004-05:00

[Unsanctioned Commentary]

Your Governor spoke with Bob Gibson on WVTF this past Tuesday, Febraury 1. I heard his lecture while on my way home from parent/teacher conferences around 7:30pm.

One of Governor McDonnell's first callers was a teacher in higher education (perhaps in the community college network). She was letting the Governor know that higher education instructors had been frozen out of any recent wage increases. (Listen around the 11 minute mark)

The Governor apparently misinterpreted the caller's background and launched into a long VRS lecture.

He volunteered that the State of the Commonwealth did not allow him the opportunity to speak about the plight of K-12 teachers. Then he went right to VRS.

It's $17.6 billion underfunded. By 2014, it will be funded at 61% (bad news). He claimed that he will try to get it fixed, and he will not pass the problem along to the next Governor. He said that "IOU" the truth. Teachers currently pay NOTHING (his emphasis) and with "a little bit of sacrifice to pay a little bit more" he can right the VRS ship.

It was at that point that I began hurling expletives at the North Lake Drive hill. I'm sorry. The hill shouldn't have had to hear that sort of language coming out of my mouth; neither should my car nor neighbors.

The fact is that the REASON the VRS program is in jeopardy is that the State KNOWINGLY and WILLFULLY starved then robbed the system.

The "reforms" that the Governor supports, which would basically turn VRS into a "Defined Contribution" program, would NOT address the short funding issue. What needs to happen is for the Commonwealth to partake on a path to restore their advised JLARC contributory levels over the next twenty or so years. If they do that, the program would have NO solvency problems.

Which brings me to "just a little sacrifice"....

Why is it that I, a public school teacher for the past 29 years, have to sacrifice when no one else does? Look at our country. Right now, we are involved in two wars, one is winding down. How much have the American people sacrificed? (Other than those actually directly involved). It's the same with VRS.

I recall that when times were good back in the early 2000's, our local school board was already putting away assets and saving up for a rainy day. Big raises...nope...gotta save. Then the economy turned south. $17 million was cut from our budget. Salaries were frozen. Class sizes increased as 150 positions were eliminated. Good times became make-up times. Bad times became dark times.

The sad point is that THIS IS THE WAY IT HAS BEEN over the past thirty years. We, the employees, rarely get the goose. There's always something, some sacrifice-a building, a shortfall; something to derail anything beneficial for us. We have been bred to be second class citizens.

When the Governor told the listeners that teachers need to give "just a little sacrifice" I felt that he ripped what was left of my heart out. I've very little left to give. I'm just a stump. Stumps are good for sitting on, you know?

~Thom

VEA's Robley Jones Spells VRS Out

2011-01-31T18:17:00.002-05:00

I hope Rob won't mind that I've taken his Daily General Assembly Report verbatim and added it to this blog. Rationality is what we need in the debate to save our VRS, and Rob has posed the real questions that should be answered before anyone goes off, willy-nilly, to change our solid retirement program.

~Thom

Think Before You Mess With VRS!

There seems less certainty now regarding how the session will address VRS reform. That is good news. A knee-jerk reaction to the Governor’s Chicken Little rhetoric could have a negative impact upon the ability of the commonwealth to attract and retain high quality personnel and, there are legitimate questions regarding the adequacy of some of the proposals on the table to afford retirees some dignity in their final years.

It seems that if we are going to take a rational approach in regard to Virginia Retirement System reform, some questions should be answered regarding the pending retirement legislation and the degree to which they will “fix” VRS.

1. Does changing who pays the 5% employee contribution add one cent to the fund?

2. Is there a danger that current retirees won’t get their checks in the years ahead?

3. Does creating a defined contribution plan for future hires, be it optional or mandatory, reduce the $17.6 billion unfunded liability of VRS?

4. If we adhere to the ten year repayment schedule, in regard to last year’s VRS contribution shortfall, and; from this day forward, honor the VRS Board of Trustee’s certified rate; won’t we achieve a sounder funding status? If we follow this path, isn’t it likely that we will move to a much firmer footing within a decade?

5. Isn’t the actuarial horizon of the $17.6 billion rather long? Consequently, don’t we have decades to address this problem?

6. I keep hearing that the current system is not sustainable. Isn’t it a fact, that if we bite the bullet and pay the certified rate that the system is sustainable?

7. Aren’t the high anticipated contribution rates, which will be a burden in the short-run, just a repayment for our failure to make appropriate contributions most of the time over the past twenty years?

8. In the 2008 JLARC report on state compensation, PricewaterhousCoopers found that the defined contribution model in the report d would provide 52% of the replacement income of the current defined benefit plan. Shouldn’t we take the time to do this same kind of analysis on each proposal to know the expected consequence of each on those that will retire after years of honorable service to the commonwealth?

Your legislators, both delegates and senators, are heading home for the weekend. Look for a chance, by letter, call, email or in face-to face conversation to ask them if this isn’t just too big an issue to address in a short session when so many questions remain unanswered.

Speaking Out For Education

2011-01-20T07:47:00.002-05:00

It's happening. People across the state are speaking up for education!

Public radio station, WVTF, carried a news piece this morning regarding public school education. The report drew heavily on comments by the state PTA and VEA. This is a transient link, so it may be rotated off the main page soon.

WVTF News

http://www.wvtf.org/news_and_notes/

Today in the Roanoke Times, the editorial board blasted Governor McDonnell's approach to public school education funding in Virginia. The editorial board backs up their claims with solid facts and irrefutable information. It is THE MUST READ of the budget season.

Roanoke Times Editorial

http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/274284

It's Coming...

2011-01-18T22:16:00.005-05:00

On January 9, the RCEA led a "Rally for Education" at Northside High School. The purpose of our meeting was to bolster our membership and send our local legislators to Richmond with our message clearly articulated.

The event was attended by approximately 300 RCEA members, central office personnel, parents, and students. We were loud and unwavering as several speakers addressed the crowd. Tammy Wood, President of the RCEA, Chuck Lionberger, Chairman of the Roanoke County Council of PTA's, Superintendent Lorraine Lange, School Board Chairman Mike Stovall, and State Senator John Edwards all spoke to the enthusiastic crowd.

Attendees were encouraged to stay engaged in the political process by joining VEA's cyber-lobby army.

Since the rally, there have been several key developments. Thom Ryder, ex-RCEA president (me) was interviewed by a news organization for a state-wide piece on the impact of negative education support. Ryder recounted facts that Dr. Lange taught the rally participants. Roanoke County supports its schools, but thanks to cuts from the state, we've had to cut $17 million from the education budget and lose 150 positions over the last two years in addition to closing three effective schools. This radio spot played heavily here in the Roanoke area, especially on WFIR.

*****

And now a personal comment...

Today, news is being distilled from Richmond that our Governor is calling for a merit-pay scheme. Personally, I have no problem with merit pay as long as I get it. But how do you fairly distribute such prizes? Are you going to base it on my homeroom class' test scores? My Math class' scores? My Reading class' scores? Some kind of sort of quasi kind of combination of all of the above?

In some respects, I'd support such schemes IF AND ONLY IF the cost of education, as defined by the Virgina Standards of Quality, is FULLY met. Until then...sorry. Can't support such poppycock. Read more about it here...Oh and remember, please write your governor. Tell him who you are and what you do for our state. Tell him what you think. Tell him where you vote. Tell him what you're going through this year. Tell him your story. You'll feel better. While you're at it, tell your story to your local state legislators (Senator Edwards, Delegate Ware, Delegate Cleaveland, Senator Smith). Let them know what it's like to be a teacher today!

Rally For Education!

2011-01-05T17:54:00.000-05:00

RCEA will lead a "Rally For Education" this Sunday, January 9, 2pm, at Northside High School's auditorium. We will have speakers from our organization, the school division, the school board, the county supervisors, and the state legislature. We want everyone to know that Public School education is IMPORTANT and needs to be fully funded!

Please join us and bring your family and friends.

Roanoke County School Board meets tonight.

2010-11-11T16:33:00.039-05:00

I'll be "Live Bloggin'" during the meeting.

Stay tuned.
Here's the agenda...

1. CLOSED SESSION - 5:30 P.M.

1.01 Closed Session in Accordance with Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711 (A) (1) To Discuss a Personnel Matter and Code of Virginia Section 2.2-3711 (A) (2) To Hear 2 Requests for Student Expulsion

2. MEETING OPENING - 7 p.m.

2.01 Call to Order - Chairman Michael Stovall

2.02 Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance -Ms. Rebecca Eastwood

3. ACTION FROM CLOSED SESSION

Action

3.01 Certification of Closed Session

3.02 Action from Closed Session

4. ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHANGES IN THE AGENDA

4.01 Announcement of Changes in the Agenda

4.02 Approval of Agenda with Changes

5. PRESENTATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS

5.01 The Prevention Council of Roanoke County, Winner of the 2010 Got Outcomes! Coalition of Excellence Award from the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America - Dr. Lorraine Lange

5.02 Recognition of American Education Week, November 15-19, 2010 - Mr. Chuck Lionberger

6. REPORT BY STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL

6.01 Report by Student Advisory Council
Interesting report. The students on the advisory council were split over the ten point scale issue.

7. PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 10-POINT GRADING SCALE

7.01 Public Hearing to Receive Comments Regarding the Proposed 10-Point Grading Scale

Several people spoke, including RCEA president, Tammy Wood. All speakers spoke in favor of the ten point scale. Tammy shared results of the recent RCEA survey of members on the ten point scale issue. In that survey, members who returned the survey supported the ten point scale by a wide margin.

8. HEARING OF CITIZENS AND DELEGATIONS

8.01 Hearing of Citizens and Delegations

Several people spoke out against the block schedule plan for high school including Barry Tucker, head of the music program in the county. He asked for a split block that would meet daily in order to foster the repetitiveness needed to master the instruments and scripts. He also pointed out that the elimination of the zero periods will eliminate the Jazz band program at our schools.

Mindy Sarver also spoke to the length of the blocks at the middle school, especially how it may affect her students in playing their instruments. She further spoke in support of the zero periods.

Greg Denton spoke as well. He's concerned that the new scheduling system will negatively impact the highly recognized music programs in our county. Greg stressed that with music instruction being skills based, they HAVE to meet every day.
A parent asked the "why" question. Why are we doing this? She went on to asked many other valid questions, for example will students be able to participate in Science fairs even if they aren't in Science class that semester.

See heated discussion in 10.03 below

9. CONSENT AGENDA

10. ACTION ITEMS

Action

10.01 Superintendent's Contingency Fund Request - Dr. Cecil Snead

Action

$13,000 to transfer for Olsats, etc.

10.02 Revision to Policy 6.43 to Include Virginia High School League Exception - Dr. Cecil Snead

Allow low revenue teams to use school buses when they need to travel beyond 125 miles. He Mr. Wymer was concerned about provisions to compensate the teachers and drivers on multi-day events.

10.03 Block Scheduling

Mr. Canada moved the change to block scheduling. He spoke to his motion and suggested that the board find money for zero period classes. He thinks that high school students in band should be able to handle the 90 minute odd/even block (8th-12th). He would like to see a split block program worked out for middle school (6th and 7th). He said he would vote for the block. IN the end every school will do this zero period differently. He pointed out that Tim Gaylen at NHS will make a zero period happen by coming in early and leaving early.

Dr. Lange: In high school, we have 7 periods plus a zero period. There are some misconceptions. GHS principal, Joe Haffey, spoke to how students would still be able to take the same number of band classes as in the past. Dr. Lange said that all teachers were talked to about this.

David Wymer spoke to the financial aspects of the block plan. David was concerned that the people affected by the block need to be involved and at the table. What concerns him the most is that the only advantage as he sees it is that teachers are just weary trying to go through a seven period day. We need to look at what we can do and not what we can't do (referenced to the ability to fully schedule band in the 8 period day). Dr. Lange spoke to the "singleton classes" and our ability to schedule.

Dr. Canada asked why we can't fund a split period (create skinnies).

Drew Barrineau interjected at this point and asked Dr. Lange why a teacher couldn't take a duty period to teach a zero period.

GMS principal spoke to the skinny issue. She suggested that skinnies most likely could be done, but with a cost. Also, she insisted that the middle school program must work for "the total child."

Mr. Wymer stressed that teachers need to have adequate training before implementation.

Mr. Barrineau spoke to the potential $7 million cut staring us in the face. Expressed his disappointment that more people aren't getting fired up about the states pending lack of education funding support. He's sympathetic to his employees. He's afraid that the current 7 period plan is unsustainable, especially with the general lack of raises. He gave a tristifical appraisal of the despondent times in which we are wading where the rules have changed rapidly and the way we've done things in the past no longer hold sway. He's convinced that this block business will work. He again told the public to get out there and contact legislators.

Fuzzy Minnix echoed much of what was said in prior discussion. "Folks, change is scary... a lot of times we're reluctant to embrace change."Change is scary. Let's embrace it and work to get everything [everyone] needs...I think you'll find a year from now that you'll be very satisfied with the block system."

Mr. Canada asked again if NHS will have a zero period. Dr. Lange said, "No."

Mr. Stovall stated that he is in favor of it. He thanked the people for coming.

The vote: all in favor...Canada cast a reluctant "yes."

11. INFORMATION AGENDA

Action (Consent), Information

11.01 Request for Acceptance of 4th Quarter Report of Revenues and Expenditures for Fiscal Year 2009-10 - Mrs. Penny Hodge Information

Presented and accepted...

11.02 Annual School Report for 2009-10 - Mrs. Penny Hodge

Action (Consent), Information

Formal request. Ended the year under budget by $2.1 million. State cut our budget at the end of the FY. Did not draw down second year of fed stimulus dollars which the state had forwarded to us...long story short... Net surplus of $6.0 million.

Will send 2/3 to major capital and 1/3 to minor. We can play with the minor how we want.

Emergency reserve: Up from $2 million to $2.6 million...after a few transactions between the county and the school board. Take the excess over $2 million and send it to minor capital.

11.04 Request for Acceptance of 1st Quarter Report of Revenues and Expenditures for Fiscal Year 2010-11 - Mrs. Penny Hodge Action (Consent), Information

Budget for the year based on 14,200 (200 less than last year but in accordance with actual trends)

Sales tax collections last month were really good...

11.05 Revisions to Purchasing Policies for Purchasing Authority and Capital Outlay - Mrs. Penny Hodge Information

A jobler task involving contracts and lawyers.

11.06 Technology Assessment - Dr. Cecil Snead and Mrs. Penny Hodge

Information

Penny spoke of a technology replacement plan. She summarized the state of the county technology program now. Dr. Snead spoke to the next steps. "We need to maintain a certain level of functionality." His team analyzed basic needs (SOL electronic testing). Will evaluate a purchase lease program. Will identify basic needs at middle and elementary schools. Since we've introduced item analysis... So we need to be able to formatively assess and address our needs in this area. Looked into teacher laptop replacement plan. Asked for a group to look into the priorities as outlined. Penny called this a needs assessment.

Mr. Canada: concerned about laptop carts used for middle school testing. Can we be successful this year using these machines? Ben Williams said that yes we can. In future years, we will run into challenges.

Mr. Barrineau wants a report of current reserves as of 6/30/10.

Battery running low...

Wymer and Canada were concerned about losing data on old laptops. Spent $752,000 for new labs at middle schools according to Jeff Terry.

11.07 Revisions to Policy 7.11, Rule 1 Weapons and Dangerous Instruments - Mr. Allen Journell

Information

Hanging in as long as I have battery power...
Modified the language of what weapons are in the mandated expulsion.

11.08 Approval of New Course/Program Refinements - Dr. Cecil Snead

Information

Culnary arts and Mechatronics programs at BCAT (Burton) for 2011-12. Some money will come from Perkins grant money (Fed govt for economically disadvantaged.)
Want to develop choices for foreign language and band in 8th grade. The state will allow 8th grade PE to be an elective. RCPS currently requires PE in 8th grade and 9th and 10th. We must offer it. Mr. Canada is concerned about relaxing the PE standard.

11.09 Revisions to the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) - Dr. Cecil Snead

Information

A plucky jobler, Dr. Snead stated that an update is needed to address mobile devices and bullying in a tidy fashion.

11.10 Technology Plan 2010-2015 - Dr. Cecil Snead

Information

Submitted to the board to give us direction. Not an absolute, but rather a plan. It was required by the state by December.

11.11 2010 Comprehensive Plan - Dr. Cecil Snead

Plan presented as a growing document. Mr. Canada acknowledged the amount of time that was needed to create the document.

12. REPORT BY SUPERINTENDENT

None

13. REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS

Late discussion about how minor capital money can be spent by principals. Software, books, cd's are all fine. Consumable things are fine (like levelized books) according to the school board. Copy paper, crayons. are all okay.

Mr. Wymer asked if Formative Assessments have been finished. He wants the data as soon as possible.

14. ADJOURNMENT

at 9:40pm

Reality of Today

2010-11-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

A look into professionalism and test data.

Listening to Us

2010-10-18T17:24:00.005-04:00

My colleagues and I spent our afternoon at Northside High School's cafeteria. Why? Well, the RCEA held an open meeting to address school concerns with our superintendent, Dr. Lange, and school board chairman, Mike Stovall.

The discussion was passionate and pointed.

More on that when we digest what we learned.

Important Memo to Members

2010-10-06T19:30:00.002-04:00

Members, be sure to look in your box. You should receive two pieces of information from RCEA. We need your input. Help us and yourself out...send the survey back to your rep ASAP.

VEA SPARKS Retreat

2010-10-01T19:57:00.001-04:00

VEA SPARKS Retreat

Are you a teacher or other school employee with five or fewer years of experience on the job? If so, consider taking part in our unique VEA SPARKS weekend, to be held February 25-27, 2011, at the Wintergreen Ski Resort (near Charlottesville).

Through VEA SPARKS, you’ll learn skills and make connections with other members that will help you in your job as well as assist in your understanding of the Association. And it’s free! (You do have to pay your own transportation and submit a $50 refundable deposit.)

Kristen Crum, a 3rd grade teacher and member of the Northumberland County Education Association, attended SPARKS last year. “It was wonderful to know that you are not standing alone in facing the day-to-day trials of a new teacher,” she said. “Lots of people shared great ideas, and in fact, we still keep in touch through e-mail.”

SPARKS is not a one-size-fits all program. VEA staff will survey you prior to the weekend to find out what you want to learn. So the content will be relevant. And we’ll keep in touch after the weekend is over.

Interested? Don’t delay – applications must be received no later than December 13, 2010.

For more information contact VEA’s Sonia Lee at 116 South 3rd St., Richmond, VA 23219; 804-775-8333 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 804-775-8333 end_of_the_skype_highlighting; slee@veanea.org. Click here to watch a video clip of SPARKS 2009. Click here for a fuller description of the program and an application.

The Good Teacher

2010-10-01T19:44:00.004-04:00

Anthony Cody, an experienced Science teacher/coach from Oakland, California, wrote today in Teacher Magazine Online of what it means to be a "good teacher" in today's America.

A Talk With Arne

2010-09-29T22:43:00.004-04:00

~A Commentary~

A Talk With Arne

Education Secretary Arne Duncan was a guest on NPR’s Talk of the Nation on September 2. Since listening to that interview live, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. What follows is a personal dialog purge.

When President Obama selected Arne Duncan to be the new Secretary of Education at the beginning of his term, I was intrigued. I had expected Mr. Obama’s campaign education advisor, Linda Darling Hammond, to take the post- a selection I would have greeted with glee.

Duncan’s selection was curious. Duncan gained notoriety as the tough reform-minded Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools who banded together with Mayor Richard Daley to launch Renaissance 2010 back in 2004. Within a couple of years, the school division was trumpeting claims of dramatic gains in state test scores. Yet, it has since been uncovered that the state changed testing companies and lowered cut scores. The net result was dramatic improvement on state tests, yet the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test scores remained flat.[i]

Duncan spoke that early September day with a group of mostly private academy students from the Northern Virginia area. I’ve drawn some snippets out of the dialog transcripts that specifically interested me. One final note: the transcripts were copied and pasted from the NPR site as they were written there. The transcriptions were not 100% error-free.

Sec. DUNCAN: So what I want for this country is for every single child to have a chance to go to a great school...

…And that might be public. It might be religious based. It might be private. And it might be something else. We just need every single child to have that opportunity. And - so to me, there's no sense of competition. There's no sense of us versus them. It's about us as a country, educating our way to a better economy.

And so, I've been working very, very closely with national leadership both from religious based schools, faith based schools, as well as from private schools. And we want to be a better partner. We want to be a resource. We want to support the hard work that's going on there. And we just want to see every single child have a chance. And so, we are finding, I think, some pretty creative ways to better partner and better support the hardworking that's going on in faith based and private schools around the nation.

Duncan comes across clearly in favor of sharing public resources with private secular and religious schools. He sounds quite reasonable, but when you get right down to it, the playing field isn’t level. Private and religious schools have the freedom to accept any student they wish. Public schools must accept all children. If sparse financial resources were to be diverted to private and religious schools, how would public school funding be impacted? More on this quote later in the conversation.

I think No Child Left Behind - much that needs to be fixed, and that's one of the real challenges. So let me just take one minute on this one, because this is hugely important. I think the current law is far too punitive. If you said there are about 50 ways to fail and almost no rewards for success, it is very prescriptive. It's very top down from Washington. I think that, fundamentally, doesn't work. It is led and I talked about that earlier. I think there's an unintended consequence, but still led to dumbing down of standards.

One of the biggest complaints I've heard, ever, around the country, has led to narrowing of the curriculum. Teachers just teaching to the test, filling out bubble sheets. And so how do we fix all those? We have to reward excellence. We have to reward success. We have to find those schools that are beating the odds and doing a great job. Those teachers, those schools, those districts, those states - celebrate them. Reward them. Give them more resources, not less. We have to focus on growth and gain.

Mr. Duncan clearly states one of the greatest problems in education today, but then he steers in to mindless rhetoric. Reward excellence! (How do we do that?...wait for it…wait for it…use standardized test scores!)

KIMBERLY GODFREY: Good afternoon, Secretary Duncan. My name is Kimberly Godfrey(ph), and I attend in Annapolis Area Christian Schools. My question is, how can we make education more attractive so that we can attract and retain qualified teachers? I know that in my school the teachers are very qualified. And in return, they get very good privileges and benefits.

Right on Kimberly! Teachers are very qualified in my school district as well. The benefits are still excellent. However, the compensation packages and privileges are somewhat lacking.

Sec. DUNCAN: So that's a huge question, and it's really interesting. Teaching used to be a revered profession in our country. I think, somehow, we've lost our way. I think we've beaten down teachers. We disrespect them too often. And we have to find a way to elevate and strengthen the entire teaching profession. And actually, as we get into the end of the month, we're going to launch a national campaign. So you're hearing it here first. We're going to launch a national campaign to recruit the next generation great talent. And we're going to work hard to elevate the profession.

Is what we’ve experienced in the national news from the billionaire sponsors, Oprah, NBC, and the President this past week all a part of that revved up national campaign? Seriously, I haven’t heard teachers so vilified since the press mangled the message in “A Nation at Risk” back in 1983. It’s like we are all the super bad guys in some Superman movie or something.

And it's interesting. Other countries who are out competing us, educationally, have taken very different approaches. Um, in South Korea, that, right now, is doing better than us by many measures, their teachers are known as nation builders. And that's a really interesting idea, teachers as nation builders. And I see this as their driving force for the entire country. In Finland, which is doing a great job, educationally, only one in 10 young folks who want to be a teacher is allowed to be the teacher. They take the best of the best, the hardest working, the most committed, into the profession. So I think we can learn some examples from around the globe. But we have to elevate the profession. And if we do that well, I think we'll give the next generation a phenomenal talent to come in and help us educate our way to every county.

CONAN: Are those teachers in Finland paid and better than, perhaps, other professions?

Sec. DUNCAN: They are. They are. In many countries - it is actually interesting. Some countries - and there's a little controversy here. They trade off class size. They have larger classes. And they pay teachers more in those larger settings.

I absolutely love it when politicians and media voices bring up the success of schools in foreign countries. I especially enjoy discussing Finland, roundly regarded by reformers as being at the pinnacle of state-sponsored education reform. Two points regarding Finland are usually left out. First, virtually every Finnish teacher is a member of the teacher’s union. Second, Finland does not use heavy-handed accountability measures. Instead, they’ve focused their 30-year reform program on investing in teacher education and curriculum development. Maybe we should get with the Finns. Oh and I can’t see trading off on class size for greater pay. I’d challenge anyone to find space to add another five more kids to my small classroom.

In closing, I’d like to revisit part of the first quote from Arne Duncan. Mr. Duncan was involved in his response to the public vs. private dollars when he said something that made my mouth drop.

It's about us as a country, educating our way to a better economy.

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I’ve been misguided my entire 29-year teaching career. I always thought that I was educating children to be productive citizens, not productive money spenders. I also find it interesting that Duncan chose the word economy considering the increasing influence of billion dollar foundations led by some of America’s most wealthy billionaires. Maybe we really are educating children to create a better economy, and I’ve been reading from the wrong manual my whole life.

…and that’s what education is all about Charlie Brown.

Thom Ryder

[i] Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Pp 158-159.

Ravitch on Accountability

2010-09-24T09:21:00.001-04:00

The Death and Life of the Great American School System

"One problem with test-based accountability, as currently defined and used, is that it removes all responsibility from students and their families for the students' academic performance. NCLB neglected to acknowledge that students share in the responsibility for their academic performance and that they are not merely passive recipients of their teachers' influence."

I'll be posting more of her thoughts from her book on this blog from time to time.

thom

Concerns Abound

2010-09-20T20:07:00.008-04:00

The RCEA held its first representative meeting of the year today at Northside High School. Reps from most of the county's schools were there. Meeting at NHS was a refreshing change of pace from our previous meeting place, NMS. We appreciate all the years that NMS allowed us the use of the facility, and we look forward to our times at NHS this year.

Without a doubt the over-riding concern expressed at today's meeting involved the institution of so many new academic and clerical initiatives. The group created a list of related concerns and that list will be brought before the superintendent. In a nutshell, the group is concerned that teachers are being stretched beyond thin and that the educational program will suffer. The common perception out there among educators in the classrooms is that we are taking a proud, successful school program and turning it upside-down in our attempt to capture those last few NCLB children. We may win those battles, but we risk losing a greater war. Hopefully, we will be able to have serious, professional dialog with the administration over these related concerns.

Speaking of dialog, as part of its week long "Education Nation" summit, NBC News is hosting a Teacher Town Hall with Brian Williams. The Teacher Town Hall is an opportunity for teachers from across the country to share ideas about how to improve education in America. The Town Hall will be aired live on MSNBC at 12:00pm (EST) on Sunday, September 26th. Make your voice heard. To participate in the virtual Town Hall open forum and live voting, please register today at: http://tiny.cc/szsp5.

At the meeting today, Pat Wood-Uniserv director of our region, shared with us that the county schools will receive just over $3 million from the latest federal stimulus package. The money is specifically earmarked to use for education salary, benefits, or positions. The last we heard, the school board was discussing the best way to utilize these funds. Hopefully, they will trickle down to us sooner than later as the intent of the emergency legislation was to get the funds out pronto at the beginning of THIS school year.

We are experiencing challenging times both financially and professionally. Only by voicing our concerns and remaining resolute and true to our beliefs will we be able to move forward in a positive direction.

Rep Meeting Next Monday

2010-09-13T21:49:00.002-04:00

Next Monday, September 20, the RCEA will hold its first regular representative meeting of the year. The meeting will start at 4:10pm at a new location: Northside High School's cafeteria.

All reps are encouraged to attend, as we have some very important new information to discuss. The meeting is open to any bonifide member of the RCEA as well.

Also, we want to find out how it's going out there. Frankly, we're concerned about what we are hearing regarding the bevvy of new initiatives being propagated this year. Please let your building rep know how you're doing: what's working, what's not; where any stress is originating. You can also contact a member of our executive committee: Tammy Wood (president), Tim Summers (vice president), Sarah Hollett (treasurer), Kenya Huffman (secretary), Linda Hogan (high school rep), Theresa McGuire (middle school rep), or Thom Ryder (elementary school rep).

"Experiments that crash atoms together could start a chain reaction that erodes everything on Earth." ~Sir Martin Rees

Who and What

2010-08-18T13:21:00.002-04:00

Who is Your RCEA President and What are We Doing This Year?

I feel the need to get this information out as we dive in to this upcoming year of change. I look over membership lists and there are many names that I can connect a face to but there are more and more that I have not been able to meet or connect with. I believe that the same can be said about many members who do not know who I am. So, here goes…

I am originally from Damascus, Virginia (about two hours south of Roanoke). Damascus is a small town that is known for the trails that run through it. Main Street is on the Appalachian Trail and the Virginia Creeper (bike trail) also goes through town. I have a house there that I often retreat to on weekends and long breaks. I cannot get the mountains out of my system and my family is there keeping me grounded.

My college background is Virginia Tech. I came out of a very small high school and even though Tech is huge by standards that I was used to, it allowed me to be a comfortable distance from home. I started out in engineering but decided my fourth year that I wanted to follow in my beloved uncle’s footsteps and be a teacher. I like to think that my uncle “fathered” me every way except biologically and he continues to be a huge influence on me today. (I was also in the Marching Virginians at VT, along with Thom Ryder…small world!)

I was married for twenty two years and my husband and I are currently separated. I relocated to Roanoke in January and brought one of my daughters with me. She will be a 7^th grader at Northside Middle and she loves it there. If you are a part of the Northside Middle staff, thank you for everything you do to make my daughter’s experience such a positive one!! My oldest daughter will enter Radford University at the end of this month. She wants to be a middle school teacher and I discussed that decision with her. Her response to my concern was that no matter what I have to face as an educator, she knows that I love the students and I love my career. I discovered that I have absolutely no argument for that statement! Go Highlanders J

This year will be my 23^rd year as an educator and my 23^rd year as a member of the Education Association. Wow, how time flies. I teach at Northside High School and this year my assignment will be CB Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry and AP Chemistry. I am also Science Department Chair. I have taught science down through sixth grade. I have done long term substitute work at the elementary level. I have taught in several systems in SW Virginia before finally settling in Roanoke County.

Why did I join the Education Association? When I was a student at Virginia Tech, the Science Foundations teacher (who was also my advisor) told us that we needed to join a professional organization, it would look good on a resume and it just needed to be an active part of our career. He told us the best organization was the Education Association. Our membership would involve a local, state, and national organization (so actually three instead of one). He told us we probably would not always agree with the politics of the national level but the most important work would be achieved at the state and local level. I joined and have never looked back or have never said “I can’t afford it”.

Twenty three years later, here we are….

I give tremendous credit to the entire staff of Roanoke County Schools. The hard work that takes place here takes my breath away. We face economic change that is changing the face of everything that we have grown comfortable with. Unfortunately our careers are driven by a testing system that is changing on top of the socio-economic change we are challenged with in our everyday lives as well as in the lives of our students. The schools and staff are assuming more of the parenting roles than ever before, while dealing with less funding or more strings attached to existing funding….I know I am “preaching to the choir” but we must “sing loudly.”

Where are we headed this year????

Pat Wood (our devoted Uniserv Director) and Thom Ryder (past president and current exec board member and techno guru, gardener extreme….) have been meeting with Board of Supervisor members and School Board members driving home the point that raises are LONG OVERDUE and we absolutely, without a doubt, have to do something to generate funds. That is the only way we can move forward and continue to deliver high quality instruction to our students. MEMBERSHIP is our top priority and we want to see it climb. The RCEA has a great working relationship with our current School Board and Central Office. We are working on the Board of Supervisors. During the year we push out email information encouraging members to be vigilant about emailing local, state, and national legislators. This is becoming an excellent means of helping make a difference because we heard this past year that elected officials really do take notice (if nothing else they figure there must be something going on when they receive 1000+ emails).

You will be receiving information from the organization throughout the year and I would like to thank our BUILDING REPS for distributing the information. They do a GREAT JOB and I know that everyone has a full load, family schedule, and life in general so THANK YOU for everything!

Thom (techno guru…) has a blog that everyone needs to check out. He is a fantastic writer and understands all that computer stuff…For those of us who are on Facebook, Thom has set up a group that we can also get going with….you can search it out and I encourage all of you social networkers to check it out!

OK, this is enough from me….I would much rather leave the writing to Thom…I would like to encourage everyone to welcome the new people (yes there are some new people on board). Get caught up with existing membership….and invite a non-member to join. Everyone is welcome to check out our rep meetings (I have sent a separate schedule). Please note the location has changed to the Northside HIGH School Cafeteria. The Uniserv Office is downtown in the Jefferson Center (you can check out some amazing artwork). We attend School Board meetings and work sessions, and Board of Supervisors meetings. If you have never attended those meetings they get interesting! There are also opportunities to attend trainings, conferences and to serve on committees. If you are interested, let one of our building reps know or you can let me know directly. Please let us know of any concerns or suggestions you have!

Let’s have a great year!

Tammy Wood

RCEA President

Our Newest Member

2010-08-11T22:52:00.002-04:00

New member Dallas Washburn and executive board member, Kenya Huffman, became famous today! They were featured on the special VEA blog: Our Next Member. Check it out! Welcome Dallas and way to go Kenya!

It's not too late to join us. We are the largest and most active professional education association in the Roanoke area. In fact, we are the largest employee group of any kind in the valley and surrounding area from here to Timbuktu. Join us! We can make a positive difference if we stick together.

New Calendar

2010-07-12T23:28:00.002-04:00

The calendar on the right side panel is up to date. If you click to a particular month, you can print out a calendar of RCEA events. Viewing the calendar on the blog won't yield you great viewing results. We'll be working to upgrade the view-ability.

All known rep and exec board meetings are already on the calendar.

The Shrinking State Share

2010-06-30T11:26:00.004-04:00

Richard G. Salmon, , an education professor at Virginia Tech, has recently published a historical look at state funding for education. The 12 page article is extremely educational. He goes into the development of the Literary Loan program, which helped establish public schools in Virginia after the War of 1812. Salmon traces education support through the entire 200 year history of funding for public schools in Virginia. I've copied his observations and conclusions here for you. I would suggest that you take the time to read the entire piece.

His observations are truly disconcerting. Be sure to click on the table at the end to enlarge it.

thom

Observations and Conclusion

A substantial part of the current crisis is due to the fiscal decisions made by previous administrations, General Assemblies, and many local governing bodies. It is unfortunate that long term tax policy often has been based on highly energized national, state and local economies that inevitably forces reexamination of policy during the most difficult times. The most obvious example is the so-called car tax relief that biennially forces the transfer of $1.9 billion state revenue to the localities. The transfer of these replacement revenues from the state to the localities should be phased out, perhaps over two or more biennia. Under current fiscal conditions, this would be a painful political process, both for the state and the localities. It is also unfortunate that when the commonwealth substantially increased state funds for public schools for FY 2005, most localities either decreased or level-funded their local appropriations for public schools. If the localities had followed this seldom-seen lead of the state, fiscal disparities among local school divisions would have been reduced and the current budget reductions would not have been as devastating to the public schools. On the other hand, it is fortunate that Virginia has the potential, without the need to make extraordinary fiscal effort, to remedy the current fiscal plight confronting public schools and other governmental agencies.

The state budget reductions for public schools have affected negatively the quality of public schools throughout the commonwealth and especially in the lower fiscal capacity school divisions. Not all of the local responses to budget reductions have been harmful, and in some instances likely have increased cost efficiency without affecting educational quality. However, freezing personnel salaries for several years could well prove harmful to public schools Although reductions have been determined through the LCI, the equalization component of the state formulae, the lower fiscal capacity school divisions suffer the most. Since the lower capacity school divisions depend primarily on state aid to fund their budgets, reductions in state aid inevitably result in larger total budget reductions for the lower fiscal capacity school divisions.

Both the executive and the legislature have relied exclusively on cost containment and have implemented massive budget reductions for virtually all state agencies in order to balance the state budget. The reductions have fallen particularly hard on public education, both higher education and elementary and secondary schools. Neither the current executive nor the legislature has considered seriously modest tax increases in order to remedy the budget shortfall. Both have attempted to convince the public that their constitutional obligation to provide and maintain a high quality system of public schools has been fulfilled by engaging in a series of charades. These charades include use of federal stimulus funds to fund Basic State Aid and reductions in the caps for the number of support personnel to lower the costs required to fund the SOQ. History continues to repeat itself as the General Assembly has again completely stripped funds from the 200-year-old Literary Fund.

[Click to enlarge]

Civics and You

2010-03-30T09:22:00.002-04:00

Are you a secondary History teacher? Are you an elementary school teacher? Well, the State of Virginia has just the thing for you to do. Take a Civics class.

In a story reported on WVTF in Roanoke, elementary teachers and secondary History teachers in the commonwealth will be required by law to take a Civics course before they earn initial certification or recertification.

Details about implementation are sketchy. Stay tuned.

Approval

2010-03-25T23:18:00.015-04:00

The Roanoke County School Board approved its 2010-2011 school budget Thursday evening.

Thanks to the 50/50 revenue(loss) sharing agreement with the county that saved the schools about 3.0 million, the state's generous VRS holiday extended to school divisions across the state which saved Roanoke County Schools about 4.5 million, and the voluntary retirement by almost 100 employees, the budget was doable without requiring personnel to be laid-off. The school system was even able to pay insurance premium increases and our VRS contribution.

While the fact that all employees who want to keep their jobs will have jobs next year bolsters us, there is little else to cheer in the budget. Drastic cuts do not come without cost. People need to understand that. The VRS holiday is a double-edged sword for the schools because the holiday is over next year, and the vacated funds will need to be repaid with 7.5% interest.

Over the course of the budget discussion, my one criticism is that there was too much sugar-coating of the cuts. For example, administrators who would review with the school board specific cuts and how they will be handled within the school program would frequently make statements about how the instructional program would not be negatively impacted. In some cases, they stated that the program would be more stream-lined or that the pupil/teacher ratio would be well within state guidelines. Yet, the reality is that when you lose another 52 positions (due to retirement) without replacing those employees on top of all the employees who left without being replaced last year, you really can't say that the instructional program won't be affected.

The reality, however, is that the instructional program may be affected in the future. You simply can't sugar-coat that and wish it was not true. When you eliminate as many positions as we have over these two budgets cycles, the program will suffer.

Overall however, the School Board, Dr. Lange, Penny Hodge, and the staff really worked together to solve the most challenging budget dilemma in anyone's memory. They deserve our thanks.

The Board of Supervisors will entertain the School Board's budget on April 13 at 3pm. They are expected to give their approval.

Later in the meeting, the Board was updated on the Formative Assessment program. They were told that the program was effective and well-received by teachers. I was wondering if teachers in the county share that assessment.

Do you find the formative assessments to be useful and an effective use of instructional time?polls

Rally For Education Video Compilation

2010-03-24T00:17:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, the Roanoke Education Association held a Rally for Education at the Martin Luther King, Jr Bridge by the tracks. It was a glorious early spring day. Many Roanoke City teachers showed up as well a few of us from Roanoke County. Local politicians and civic leaders spoke out in favor of public school education.

Here are a few video clips from that event. Warning: videos were shot on an older generation Flip Camera paw-held by my tired trained bear. Hence some of the camera work is a bit shaky and out of focus. However, the sound is generally good. So sit back, close your eyes, and listen to the speakers talk to your heart.

Jeff Artis

Onzlee Ware

John Edwards

Early Word

2010-03-22T20:04:00.000-04:00

Back from the School Board work session. In a nutshell...no layoffs. 91 positions will be eliminated through attrition. VRS and health insurance will continue to be funded- increases paid. The health insurance contingency fund will be used to meet those costs.

Without the County revenue (negative) match and without... the State VRS funding holiday, we would be in deep trouble. The VRS holiday will one day have to be paid back either locally or at a state level w/ 7.5% interest.

The budget for 2011-2012 looks very bleak right now looking into the future crystal ball.

More detail later after the VT/UConn game :)

The State of Things

2010-03-15T23:54:00.002-04:00

The State of Things

Around this time of year, budget, budget, budget is all we hear! This budget season, however, is one for the ages. At the regular Roanoke County School Board meeting last Thursday, Real Virginians (a.k.a. school employees) like me were accused by one speaker in the public comment time of causing public hysteria over the budget. If I could have replied to the man, I would have told him, “GOOD! The public SHOULD be hysterical about the state budget.”

I’m going to break Rule # 2 in creating a readable blog entry. I’m going to write about many different items and ideas all in one piece. Hopefully, all the items are tied together by one binding theme, hysteria.

Let’s start nationally and work our way down.

The National Scene

President Obama’s education secretary, Arne Duncan revealed his revision to NCLB this past week. NEA had forged an excellent working relationship with Duncan and was looking forward to assisting him in crafting the new policy. Unfortunately, Duncan has taken the revision in a direction that concerns NEA and AFT. Read more about this at NEA Today.

http://tinyurl.com/yj38kma

The State Budget

As you no doubt have heard, the state legislators came to agreement on a balanced state biennial budget (2 year). This budget will cut public school education over 1 billion dollars over the two-year period. Governor Kaine introduced the budget in December and slated education to receive $800 million in cuts. The Senate then put forth amendments to the Kaine budget that would up the hit to education by $114 million. The House then came home with amendments that tacked on $683 over Kaine’s original budget. The final compromise budget goes $253 million above Kaine’s original $800 million in cuts according to Rob Jones of VEA.

The Media Reports on the Budget

Now, I’ve been following the budget reconciliation process, and I knew that the conferees were working off of Governor Kaine’s original budget. Both state chambers had amended Kaine’s budget, and they had to come to some sort of reconciliation. Common sense.

I was listening to WVTF on Monday morning and heard a capital news report. On that report, the reporter confidently declared that public schools would take a $253 million dollar cut. I spit out my coffee. Okay…I don’t drink coffee. I knew that the total hit to education was over ONE BILLION dollars. Later, I heard the news director at the same station repeat the same $253 million sum. I spit my coffee out again. Hearing that incorrect number twice made my mind start whirling. I wondered how many local media outlets were informing the public that public school education would only be cut $253 million? It turns out more than you would think.

So if you’re with me on this, here’s a quick look at some major media outlets and how they covered the education hit. All comparisons use VEA/Rob Jones previously cited figures as a basis.

Richmond Times http://tinyurl.com/ygl7hc9

They got it the closest to right. $253 on top of one billion from Governor Kaine. Kudo’s to that flagship publication.

Washington Post http://tinyurl.com/ykwogpt

You’ll need a free subscription to view the article. In it, they claim that public schools will lose $646 million. Now if they mean that’s the number for the first year of the biennium, then that might be close.

The Roanoke Times http://tinyurl.com/yd2q9u2

The Times is a little confusing. The reporter mentions the $253 million in cuts then says that, overall, education will receive $790 million less in funding than in 2008-2009. He attributes that fact to Rob Jones of VEA. Really? I’ll have to ask Rob about that.

WSLS http://tinyurl.com/yhmandt

Newschannel 10’s Jay Warren reported that public school education received a $253 million cut in funding. (Over $750 million short)

WDBJ http://tinyurl.com/ygjrusq

WDBJ confidently reported that public school education received a $253 million cut. (Over $750 million short)

WVTF $253 million…

So as you can see, the media seems to have a different opinion of what the facts are in this important matter. Thanks to the reporting of many local and state media outlets, the general public may now believe that public school education received $253 million in cuts out of the $4 billion that were carved out. So what’s so bad about that?

VRS Takes A Hit

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. VRS was permanently altered by this year’s General Assembly. The pact that state employees and the state have cultivated over the past 50 years has been radically altered. WSLS had a report on the changes.

On the positive side, most of the changes do not affect current employees (no mention of vesting in the system either). However, new hires will participate in what has now become a two-tiered retirement program, one tier for current employees, another for new hires from this point going forward, forever and ever.

Two changes will affect everyone:

1. The state will now allow localities to decide to mandate employees (I know...wordy…dramatic effect in a long article) pay anywhere from 0 to 5% of their annual salary as their share of their retirement account. Since the early 1980’s this portion was picked up by the locality. We were granted this perk in-lieu of raises. Again this is a local option. As of this writing, RCPS has not visited this topic in open sessions. Hopefully they won’t tread over this ground.

2. The general Assembly has now granted localities the option to opt out of the VRS Group Life insurance coverage for fiscal year 2012. This loophole affects local government employees, but not state employees. Read more about the VRS solution on the VEA DAILY REPORTS.

Roanoke County Budget

· There will be a budget work session (previously scheduled for March 16) this coming Monday at 6:30 in Room E of the school office building on Cove Road. Mrs Hodge, Assistant Superintendent of Budget and Finance, should have the updated state budget numbers to work with by then, and the school board will get down to figuring out exactly how much funding for our instructional program can be improved and salaries boosted this year. Of course, we are actually anticipating program and position cuts as well as salary freezes, etc, etc, etc.

· An interesting question was posed at the very end of last week’s budget session with the county supervisors. Jerry Canada asked if the county was in position to fulfill its part in the 50/50 revenue (loss) sharing agreement as had been practice in recent years. His answer was that if the final budget approved was close to the Senate budget, then the county would be able to fulfill its obligation. If, however, the budget came in closer to the House budget, then there would be problems meeting that obligation. The final state budget was higher than the Senate, but less than the House. Stay tuned.

When Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball team was denied admission to the NCAA Hoops tournament last year, Seth Greenberg, the coach, said that the selection committee must be “certifiably insane” for not selecting VT. That’s how I feel about the state of public school education funding. Read this editorial from Monday’s Roanoke Times.

Finally, I leave you with hope. On Saturday March 22 at Noon, educators from all across the area will attend a rally spearheaded by the Roanoke Education Association (REA). The rally begins at Noon at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge next to The Hotel Roanoke. Please make time to come out and show your support for public school education.

Thom Ryder

(Please forgive omissions and typos…I wrote this late at night)

VRS and You

2010-03-13T23:57:00.002-05:00

Rob Jones at VEA Central is no doubt putting in long hours these days. He and his plucky team of intrepid Factors are working tirelessly to protect public school education in Virginia. We owe Rob and his team a gigantic debt of gratitude.

We lifted Rob's latest blog entry. VRS is in the news. I hope Rob doesn't mind. :)

The conferees were very close to agreement this morning (Saturday). The good news is that your efforts have paid off, and the House has moved substantially toward the Senate position in regard to PreK-12 funding. Both chambers reconvene at 5 p.m. Sunday to take up the budget conference report, but anything can happen.

As we await final action on the budget, I thought it a good time to review the final action of the General Assembly in regard to changes to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) benefit structure. VEA’s extensive efforts to warn members of the proposals being considered and to educate members on retirement issues paid off. Our members lobbied effectively to prevent a shift away from a traditional pension to a personal risk account. And they lobbied to prevent degradation of the current benefit structure. We did not win on all accords, but we won more of the battles than we lost by a long shot.

The good news is that strong “grandfathering” language protects the benefits of current VRS members. Delegate Putney’s language in this regard was far superior to that of the Governor in the introduced budget. The changes only affect future hires. The bad news is that we are moving to a two-tiered system which will provide reduced retirement benefits to future hires (those hired after July 1, 2010 with no prior VRS service).

School boards will have the authority to require new hires to pay from 1 to 5 percent of their credible compensation toward their VRS account. Sparing current employees from this provision is a huge victory!

The current normal retirement age, 65, is changed for employees hired after July 1, 2010, to the date for retirement under Social Security (either 66 or 67 years).

Future hires will come under the “Rule of 90” to determine the early retirement date with unreduced benefits. Under the “Rule of 90,” experience and age must add up to 90 to qualify for an unreduced retirement benefit (example: 59 years of age with 31 years of experience, 59 + 31 = 90). The “Rule of 90” replaces the current 50 years with 30 years of experience threshold. Currently, the age/service eligibility is 50/30.

For new hires “average final compensation’ (AFC) will be the average salary for the 60 highest consecutive months of service. (Currently AFC is computed on the 36 highest consecutive months.)

New hires will purchase prior service credit at the “normal” retirement rate during the first year of service, and at the actuarial rate after that. The VRS Board of Trustees will set the “normal” rate. The window for current employees is three years and the current purchase rate is 5%.

Caps the Cost of Living Increase (COLA) for employees hired after July 1, 2010, at a maximum of 6 percent (recognizes the first two percent of inflation plus one-half of the next 8 percent). The current COLA recognizes the first three percent, plus one-half of each of the next 4 percent (5 percent cap). The change in the COLA moderates COLA increases in periods of low to moderate inflation, but allows for greater increases in periods of higher inflation.

The VRS multiplier stays at 1.7% for all employees. This is a major victory. There was an effort to reduce the multiplier for new hires to 1.65%.

We’ll have to see if there are amendments proposed in the veto session.

We could have done much worse. Your work paid off!

Robley Jones

The School Board and The Board of Supervisors

2010-03-11T22:26:00.003-05:00

School Board and The Board of Supervisors

Joint Work Session 3/11/10

The Players

Supervisors

Butch Church-Chairman

Richard Flora

Ed Elswick

Mike Altizer (absent)

Charlotte Moore

School Board

Mike Stovall-Chairman

Drew Barrineau

David Wymer

Fuzzy Minnix

Jerry Canada

The meeting was a general discussion between the two boards and their staffs. The idea was to discuss budget issues and whatever else came up. The meeting was generally informal. For purposes of brevity, I’ll refer to the players by their last names.

Called to order at 5:05pm

Opening remarks from Stovall and Church:

“We’re all in for the same people, the children and families of Roanoke County”~Church

Budget

Penny Hodge and Diane Hyatt presented a synopsis of the current budget numbers from the school and county perspective. Much of this information is available on the RCPS Budget Blog and through the RCPS Board Docs. The key information was hashed out last night at the budget work session relating to schools:

$9.2 million gap in House budget
$7.2 million gap in Senate budget
RCPS will base its budget on 14,200 students.

County:

Not filling positions.
Moving people around.
County administrator Goodman stated that he believes that the county can weather the storm on their side of the budget without cutting positions.

The county should be able to meet their revenue match agreement with the school is the Senate version of the state budget is adopted ($3.4 million); however, they would "have a difficult time" supporting their match if the House version is passed. ($4.1 million). The boards did not illuminate us on how they would deal with such a discrepancy.

The Future

Much general discussion, which I will not directly transcribe here, centered on what happens after the current budget process ends.

All players suggested that they have the current budget process in control. They suggested that while they don’t know final numbers from the state, they are at the point where they have plans to deal with eventual realities in funding.

However, all the players expressed concern about the future…the budget for 2011-2012. The upcoming budget will force schools to take an $8 million or so hit. However, the following budget is shaping up to be more of the same or worse. After absorbing a reduction of 150 teaching positions over in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 budgets, Barrineau wondered out loud what happens on next year’s budget. Stovall noted that many people are contacting him and asking what they can do to support schools. He opined that “The future budget is big and huge and catastrophic.”

I want to transcribe notes I took during a particularly pivotal exchange between Richard Flora, Jerry Canada, and Butch Church and

Flora: We know where we stand for the 2010-2011 budget. What happens next year 2011-2012? The stimulus money will be gone. When times were good, and the schools were getting a lot of extra revenue the county used a lot of that revenue to build positions on the county side (police, firemen, etc). “We can’t abandon schools now…If you think you can cut education year after year and not affect the program…If people think you can cut education year after year, you must have your head in the sand.”

Canada: “If the revenue doesn’t stop bleeding, then next year jobs, buildings and positions will be cut.”

Church: “We’re not going to take a hike on education.” Wants to work immediately together on next year’s budget.

The two boards agreed in principle that they would get to work immediately after the 2010-2011 budget is put to bed to begin work on the 2011-2012 budget.

Canada and Barrineau are concerned that the state may come back in six months, like they did this school year, with revised revenue forecasts and strip financial support from our budget. The board members wanted to know if the supervisors would allow the school board to tap the school division’s capital reserve fund in the event of such an emergency rather than laying off people or cutting programs. While no binding decisions were made, three of the four supervisors expressed no problems with that use and indicated they would understand and support such a decision. Ed Elswick’s view was that if the schools know that this may be a problem later in the year, then the school board should cut the budget hard now. After all, “Tax-paying citizens are having to shell out a lot of money.”

Bent Mountain Summary

Essentially the school board’s position is that they are closing Bent Mountain Elementary; however, they want to retain ultimate control over the building. The thinking is that one day in better times, the school system may be able to reopen the school. The school board members and most of the supervisors seemed to feel (trying to not put words in their mouths) that they would be okay with Bent Mountain going over to county control for the purpose of use as a community center. Mr. Elswick, however, was promoting another plan that was somewhat unclear. On one hand, he spoke of a community center idea yet on the other he talked of a private organization running a school out of the building (Note: the Roanoke Times reported that the organization is a Christian church group looking to begin a private school) School Board members expressed concern about that idea. They asked the county lawyer for clarification on the matter, but he had no definitive opinion of the legality of that use.

Elswick’s initial argument is summarized and paraphrased here:

Citizens want to utilize the school. Want to enhance it and make it a valuable asset. There are no county facilities there. People pay taxes there like everyone else. Proposes using the building as a community and not ask the county for a dime. Would like to preserve the way of life on Bent Mtn. Keep it a school, community center, etc. It’s more a part of the people’s life than similar facilities in the urban areas. It shouldn’t sit idle. The people want title switched to the county…away from the schools. Wants a vote today.

Mr.Minnix chimed in on the argument at this point saying that he had no problem leasing it. No problem letting a school group have it at a nominal fee.

After allowing everyone to voice their concerns, a consensus seemed to emerge whereby it was decided that staff for the county will put forth a proposal for what the county would like to do with the property and present it to the school board. Debate it. Decide it. Do it at highest priority.

Closed at 6:25pm

Regular School Board Meeting

March 11, 2010

7pm

Many people were in attendance. Many wrestlers from Glenvar’s state championship team were there to be honored. Principals were presented with an award from Governor McDonnell.

Most of the people were there to speak on the fate of the county school’s Governor’s School commitment. As we reported from last night’s meeting, the school board had decided that they could continue support for the program one more year, especially after negotiating a 20% reduction in the cost of the 57 (might be 54..can’t remember for sure) student slots. Total cost of about $250,000. Before opening the public comment section of the meeting, Mr. Stovall announced the board’s intent to the public in the meeting. Each board member then took a turn to espouse his support for the Governor’s School program. However, each board member also stressed that more than likely, the issue would come up again next year. Several board members pleaded with the citizens to contact their legislators in Richmond to help secure future funding support.

Several citizens rose to speak. The first two were a couple. The husband opened by telling the board that he is “an executive at a Fortune 500 company in Roanoke.” He told the board that they need a comprehensive review of the budget. He pointed out several items that were in opposition to how industry handles budgets. He especially was concerned about discretionary funds at central and paying for employees health care benefits. He believes employees should be paying these increases out of their pocket. This man went on to say “Hysteria generated by the media and school employees…” over the budget and the cuts is inappropriate and should not be tolerated by the people. His wife later followed up by saying that the taxpayers made their voices heard during the last election and they elected to send representatives to Richmond to cut the budget. She ran out of time to complete her statement.

Several Governor’s School students then spoke and gave their planned speeches in favor of their school. Each student who spoke was rational and presented well-reasoned arguments.

As an aside and commentary, I wanted to share the public comments as a way to illustrate a point. Our students are civic-minded, concerned and constructive…and that is not a “histrionic” statement.

The only other action at the regular school board meeting was the approval of the new retirement offer from Personnel. The offer (50 years old w/ at least 10 years in the county gets you $12,500 or $2,500 for five years towards health insurance premium) was approved without discussion.

The Board quickly adjourned at 8:05 to rush home and watch the second half of the UNC/Georgia Tech ACC tournament basketball game.

thom ryder