The State of Things

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)

ReStoring Order

ReStoring Order

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

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

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

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

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

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

{Click Photos to enlarge}

Group leader, Karen McInnis talks with Convention Staff

Plumbing

Bulbs

Toilets and Sinks

Doing what he does

Tile...the first wave

All done...Not

Tile redux

Tile Redux II

Really finally done

Electric Lights

Delaware

Another look at Delaware

NEA Convention Report

NEA Convention Report

by Thom Ryder

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

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

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

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

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

There was dancing in the aisles after Obama spoke.

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

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

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

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

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

Extinction of a Species

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

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

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

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

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

Extinction of a Species

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

F. R. Eichelman
October 1963

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

{Click for large image}

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

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

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

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

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

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

~Thom Ryder

Fair and Balanced

Imagine you just walked in to have your hair cut. You sit in the seat as the stylist works miracles with your hair. When all is done, you whip out your wallet and carefully consider a sizable tip in addition to the $20 she charged. When you fork over the money, she stops you.

"No, no...I can't take all that. You need to give $19 to the owner and $1 + tip to me. Sorry :) "

So you walk over to the scowling owner and get a grudging dollar back from your twenty, then you guiltily hand the stylist the $1 bill plus another $2 as a guilt tip.

That's sort of the way education funding works in this country right now.

The Federal government has laid down the rules (aka NCLB-Elementary and Secondary Education Act). The rules are backed by law but not by funding. Typical local school budgets in Virginia only get about 6% of the total annual budget from the Federal government, yet they get about 75% of the regulation from the same source.

This past summer, several Presidential hopefuls addressed the NEA Representative Assembly. Most of them had similar messages. "Testing" and "bubbles" were popular word choices. Yet which would-be President would do the best job for our children and the American public school teacher? Please view this link to determine who you think has the best and clearest vision for public school education.

Candidates Address the NEA

Jeopardy

Let's play a little game of Jeopardy with some information that was unveiled in the latest NEA Report on teacher salary. The numbers reflect a snapshot of last school year across the state and country.

?? $44,727 ??

What is the Virginia average salary for a teacher in the 2006-2007 school year and the amount a RCPS teacher finally surpasses at Step 20 on the 2007-2008 scale.

?? $50,816 ??

What is the national average salary for a teacher in the 2006-2007 school year and the amount a RCPS teacher finally surpasses at Step 23 on the 2007-2008 scale.

?? $6,089 ??

What is the amount that the average teacher salary in Virginia for 2006-2007 was below the 2006-2007 national average teacher salary.

?? $5,408 ??

What is the amount that the 2007-2008 RCPS Step 10 is below the Virginia 2006-2007 state average teacher salary.

?? $11,497 ??

What is the amount that the 2007-2008 RCPS Step 10 is below the 2006-2007 National average teacher salary.

I’ve heard people say that comparing teacher salaries with a state or national average is like trying to hit a moving target. I suppose those people are correct. I would suggest, however, that they take better aim.

Read more about this topic at the VEA website.

?? Balanced 455 ??

What is the RCEA proposal for a three-year salary initiative that will first balance the teacher pay scale so that Step 15 is halfway between Steps 10 and 20. Additionally, the RCEA plan advocates a 4% raise for the coming 2008-2009 school year and then a 5% raise for 2009-2010 and a 5% raise for the 2010-2011 school years. Balanced 455.

ESEA 2007

ESEA 2007

I didn’t envision the first real entry in this blog to be of such a sad and serious nature, but that is the card I’ve been dealt this evening. Some of you may be old enough to remember the series of “Keep America Beautiful “ commercials featuring an American Indian surveying the land of litter, polluting smokestacks, and unbridled development with a tear rolling down his cheek. I feel like that Native American tonight in regards to the state of public education in our country.

As we all know, public school education has been under attack from all sides for many years. I remember the famous words of Education Secretary Terrel Bell from back in 1983, “We report to the American people that while we can take justifiable pride in what our schools and colleges have historically accomplished and contributed to the United States and the well-being of its people, the educational foundations of our society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people.”

Secretary Bell’s words struck me then with an intense sadness. Deep down, I suspected his words were a bellwether of changes to come.

Fast forward almost 25 years. The whole institution of education has changed. The art of teaching has been largely replaced by standards based instructional practices. “Accountability” has become the marquee word of the day; a linear, one way, one size-fits-all term.

Through it all, teachers like you and me have struggled to maintain the sanctity of the classroom. We’ve fought to keep education meaningful for our children. We’ve endured ill-conceived curricular changes at the national and state level coupled with unrealistic performance standards. Through it all we’ve been pounded by the media, by parents, and by our government. Do you remember when the Secretary of Education Rod Paige called the NEA a terrorist organization? Oh we grumbled at the changes, especially in how these changes affected the childhoods of our students. Yet we’ve been engaged in a futile fight against that rising tide of over-reaction, over-regulation, institutional blindness, micromanagement, and vilification. It’s enough to make a teacher just want to throw up her hands in despair.

Today I received two pieces of information that rocked me. Monday, I received information direct from a trusted source that suggests discussions on the reauthorization of The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB) with members of Congress are not going well. In fact, my trusted source believes that House Education Chairman George Miller is close to releasing the revamped ESEA legislation this week. In it, the trusted source is hearing that there will be no relaxation of NCLB AYP (Average Yearly Progress) requirements. Worse than that, word on the street is that the bill will tie teacher compensation to test performance. That’s right. If the reauthorization passes, our pay will hinge on how well the children we can’t choose from parents we can’t choose from homes we can’t choose perform on tests we can’t modify or adjust.

The second piece of news I received today shook me equally and at a more personal level. A teacher from another school system came to me and told me that a child she received a couple of weeks ago from another country who speaks no English will not be granted an exemption from the Virginia SOL tests this year. So this third grade teacher is faced with the virtually impossible task of somehow imprinting four years worth of curriculum material onto a child who at this moment has no capacity to process it. The teacher was just flabbergasted and at a complete loss. How is she going to be able to get this child prepared to meet the expectations? Is it fair to have this child, who counts in several AYP groups, impact that school’s scores negatively? Imagine if ESEA passes…is it fair to have this teacher’s livelihood negatively impacted because she just happened to have a child placed in her classroom who couldn’t speak English?

It’s all so preposterous. For me, this is a sad Native American-looking-at-litter-tossed-at-his-feet moment. If the new ESEA evolves from draft as anticipated, I don’t see teachers across America taking it quietly.