SEA Notes Before Summer!

Hello SEA members -

 

1. I have received a couple of questions about this year's change in schedule for the last day of school. The last day for students is Friday, June 17 - this will be a full day with students.

 

The contract changed this year.  The last day of school was 1/2 day for students and 1/2 day for teachers to wrap up their room. Since the Board changed the last day, all Administrators have been asked by the superintendent to use the 1/2 day  (2 hours) for professional development. Several of the buildings have had meetings on the last day, so this is new for the high school to be in line with the rest of the school district.

 

2. The request for the MEA attorney to review the school board policies was overlooked (that is why there has been such a long wait for an answer), but I finally have an answer. The attorney said after reviewing the policies that the policies, as they are written, are legal and reasonable. If people have further questions about the policies please ask me directly. The reps. have fielded several questions and there are not new answers for these questions but some people may want more clarification. Please email me if you do.

 

I do understand that these are changes and for some of us they may be difficult to adjust to but they are important to follow under our contract. If you have more concerns please let me know, but as they are they are within the scope of the contract. If any one has had difficulty with the School Board policies the best thing to do is contact me or a representative right away. I have not heard of anyone having any difficulty following the policies, so I am assuming this is not a problem.

 

3.  After a lengthy process of working on the Reduction In Force list Jo Anne Sizemore and I met with some staff on Tuesday, June 21. I can't stress enough how difficult this process has been - our job is making sure we follow the contract while trying to balance the needs of the schools and the students as well as the staff within that contract. Other SEA members and I have been involved every step of the way and I feel confident the contract was followed as it was written.

 

Many members have expressed concerns regarding how RIF is written, what trainings and committees can be submitted as points / qualifies as points, and what to turn in. This summer I will be working with Jo Anne and administration to come up with a "training" or workshop where members can come and learn more about RIF and what they should submit so the points next year are accurate. Those meetings will be sent out at the beginning of next year. Check the Sweb in the fall for dates and times.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions,

 

Thank you, and I hope the last couple of weeks of school go well for everyone.

 

Crystal Goodrich

Anne Sheehan Honor Grant Available for Teachers Seeking Graduate Degree

For 2012-2013 the Maine Education Association-Retired is again sponsoring an honor grant through the legacy of Anne Sheehan, a former member of MEA-R. The grant has been increased from $750. to $1,200 for the next award in 2012.

The grant may be used to defray any expenses occurred.

The applicant must:

• be a full time educator practicing in Maine
• be enrolled in a graduate program in the area of political science, government, public policy, or a closely related subject
• be a member of the local teachers' association, a member of MEA, and a member of NEA

The application for 2012-2013 will be available after August 1st, 2011.

Please follow this link to Maine Education Association - Retired and click on the "Sheehan Honors" link for more information.
Please remember the application will not be available until after August 1st, 2011.

Annual Meeting of MEA Rep. Assembly, 83rd Annual Meeting

A hot topic in the Scarborough Schools (and all schools in Maine) right now are the Highly Qualified Teacher regulations imposed by the State of Maine. Just the paperwork to submit to the State can be overwhelming to some teachers.

In addition there is pressure from the national, state and local government levels for teachers' evaluations to be changed to determine not only continuing employment but to determine "merit pay" - success of students determined by test scores = the rate of pay for a teacher. If your students score higher you get paid more, the opposite would also be true.

At the MEA Representative Assembly meeting this Saturday and Sunday (special thanks to Bob White and Amy Taylor for giving up a weekend to attend with me!) we learned more about the policy NEA has been developing for "Teacher Evaluation and Accountability".

The primary purpose of this document is to have NEA take more of a leadership role to create fair and measurable criteria for evaluation of teacher performance. Their goal is to promote the improvement of teacher accountability to ensure a high quality public education for all students.

I will be scanning the document that was shared at the meeting and emailing it out to you, but some of the highlights are:

• Indicators of Teacher Practice
• Indicatiors of teacher contribution and growth to a school's and / or district success
• Indicatiors of teacher contribution to student learning and growth

Other goals: Meaningful evaluations that are fair, conducted by trained and objective evaluators, and evaluations that are reguarly reviewed. High quality teacher accountablity systems - with the teacher being supported to meet expectations and improve their performance if needed.

A significant portion of the policy statement addressed probationary teacher status and the need for support for teachers in the probationary status so they "thrive and not merely survive".

Also noted was the responsibility of career teachers to "reflect and enhance their own practice and to support and enhance the practice of their colleagues, particularly probationary teachers" (NEA: Proposed Policy Statement on Teacher Evaluation and Accountability, May, 2011).

After I scan the document and send it out via email let me know if you would like a paper copy and I can get you one as well.

- Crystal Goodrich, SEA President

New MEA Newsletters

Threats To Your Healthcare, April 9
AND
The MEA Connection, April 7

From MEA: Lies About Your Pension

Read the MEA Newsletter about your pension by following this link:

Lies About Your Pension - MEA

ESP Contract Negotiations Begin!

THE ESP CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS ARE BEGINNING!!!!

WE NEED MEMBER INPUT!!!!

 

An ESP Member Meeting will be held:

 

WHEN:  Wed. April 6th, at 3:45 pm

AT: Wentworth Intermediate in the Occupational Therapy Kitchen, near the Art Rooms and the Gym.

WHY: Contract Negotiations

 

Bring your ideas for what you want in your contract for the next three years.

 

If you can't make the meeting you can:

 

E-mail your ideas to seamaine@gmail.com

OR

Contact any of the Negotiations Team Members:

Bob White at WI

Bruce Caron at MS

Marsha Twombley at WI

Robyn Carrier at HS

Sue Leighton at HS

Rebecca Zafonte at EC

 

We hope to hear from you!

thanks,

Crystal Goodrich

SEA President

Update on retirement and health insurance

From Cheryl Lunde, UniServ Director District 2

Hi folks,

Yesterday I received a legislative update on the retirement and health insurance issues.  These are the priority issues for MEA this legislative session and the goal of the topics for the meetings/discussions with legislators.  I have copied it into this message for your information:

The Pension

There are no changes to the pension yet. The Governor’s proposed changes to the pension are sitting on the Appropriations Committee’s table. They have taken no action and will not until they can come up with an entire budget that addresses this issue and all the others.

Most observers are predicting late May as the timeframe for the budget to move forward. While the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee works on other parts of the budget, it will be important to keep this issue fresh in legislators’ minds. Contacting and re-contacting legislators will be important over the next 6 weeks or so.

Health Insurance

LD 404 and LD 619 have had a hearing are headed to work session on April 1. There is no schedule available for when it will come to the floor.

LD 404 will force the MEA Benefits trust to collect experience rates by district rather than by the whole plan and share it with school districts. Healthier districts can then go shopping for a deal.

The downside – When a healthy district leaves the plan the remaining participants will be charged more because, as a group they are less healthy with the missing district. A catastrophic illness in the small group that leaves will cause huge spikes in rates in subsequent years.

LD 619 will give school districts the option of joining the state plan – subject to negotiations.

The downside – The state plan is currently much more expensive (almost $190.00 per month for a single plan). There would be no control over benefit design and coverage could be reduced to lower costs (like a very high deductible plan).

LD 844 and LD 877 are scheduled for hearing on April 5.

LD 844 will force competitive bidding by districts and could force the breakup of the large MEA Benefits trust pool of participants. It will also allow school districts and municipalities to join the state plan.

The downside – When a healthy district leaves the plan the remaining participants will be charged more because, as a group they are less healthy with the missing district. A catastrophic illness in the small group that leaves will cause huge spikes in rates in subsequent years.

LD 857 will force all school employees into the state plan.

The downside – The state plan is currently much more expensive (almost $190.00 per month for a single plan). There would be no control over benefit design and coverage could be reduced to lower costs (like a very high deductible plan).

Bottom line – The MEA Benefits Trust plans are cost effective, well managed, and are important to our members.

Governor LePage Will Not Take A Pay Cut Under His Proposed Pension Plan

SEA Members -

Below is an article from the Kennebec Journal stating the reality of Governor LePage's plan. Governor LePage will not take a cut in his pension under his new plan, but we will.

This is information I plan on presenting to Amy Volk, State House Representative today at our meeting.

Please send your letters into the Appropriations Committee to defend our pensions and our bargaining unit's right to a good healthcare plan!

Here the email address: 

Carol.Tompkins@legislature.maine.gov 

the emails will be forwarded to the 13 Appropriations Committee members who will determine the future of our retirement.
Or real mail your comments to:

AFA Committee c/o 5 Statehouse Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0005

Send your email today, don't wait another minute!

Thank you!

Crystal Goodrich

President SEA

Beginning of article..................................................................................

March 13

MIKE TIPPING: LePage exempts own pension from budget cutbacks

Mike Tipping

Under Gov. Paul LePage's proposed budget, teachers and other state employees will be required to increase their contributions to the pension system, from 7.65 percent of their salary to 9.65 percent.

One public employee currently paying 7.65 percent, however, won't see an increase.
The governor has exempted himself.

While public employees and teachers face this increase, as well as a raise in the retirement age, a freeze on cost-of-living adjustments for current retirees and a 2 percent cap on future cost of living increases, LePage's personal contribution rate to the retirement system will remain the same, which means he'll be paying $21,420 over four years.

If LePage faced the same increase as state employees, it would cost him $5,880 over his term.
Unlike teachers and state employees, however, the size of the governor's pension doesn't depend on how long he pays into the system. As soon as he leaves office, he'll begin receiving a three-eighths of his salary, which works out to $26,600 annually.

For comparison, a Maine teacher would have to work for more than 25 years to receive this level of benefits.

Confidential employees, those that are not represented under union collective bargaining, also are not seeing their salary contributions increased to the same rate. They'll continue to pay just 3.65 percent of their salary to the pension fund.

At the same time that most employees are to be forced to increase their contributions, the state will reduce the amount it pays into the retirement fund.

Maine currently contributes 5.5 percent of an employee's salary, less than the 6.2 percent it would have to pay if these workers were enrolled in Social Security rather than the more efficient state pension system.

It is difficult, then, to take LePage seriously when he says, "I know some teachers and retirees are struggling, but we need honest and shared solutions to solve our pension problem," as he did last week, or when his spokesperson talked about "shared sacrifices" as they announced the budget.

LePage's budget shows the same lack of fairness on a larger scale as well. Last week, LePage's commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Sawin Millett, explained that the money raised from these payment increases on teachers and public employees isn't targeted to shore up the state's pension system, but will instead pay for other budget priorities, including $203 million in tax cuts.

Maine's wealthiest residents will benefit the most from these cuts. One percent of households, those earning more than $360,000, will see their income taxes go down by $2,700. The budget also would double the size of estates that are exempt from the estate tax from $1 million to $2 million, a provision that would benefit only about 550 Maine families and cost the rest of us $30 million.

Overall, about half of the benefits of LePage's proposed tax cuts would go to Maine's richest 10 percent.

Amplifying this vast shift in money toward those who need it the least, LePage's budget also would cut funding for the Maine's property tax refund program, which helps families keep their homes, and roll back prescription drug coverage for seniors and health coverage for working families.

Compared to the size and scope of these misplaced priorities, LePage exempting himself from having to pay the same increase as other public employees doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
It does show, however, just how deaf the governor is on this issue. He could have made political hay by trumpeting the fact that he will be suffering right along with the teachers of Maine. That kind of anecdote might have helped people to ignore the larger unfairness of his budget.

And, in the end, it really is a question of fundamental fairness. These public employees have made contracts to serve the people of Maine in exchange for compensation and benefits that all parties agreed on. State employees earn less than their private-sector counterparts earn, and part of the way Maine is still able to attract dedicated public servants is by letting them know that their retirement savings will be kept safe and will guarantee them a reasonable retirement.

Over the past eight years, Maine's teachers and public employees already have been subject to more than $150 million in takebacks to their wages and benefits.

For LePage to go after their pensions again in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthy isn't right, and for him to exempt himself from the same cuts is both bad politics and bad policy.

Mike Tipping is a political junkie. He writes the Tipping Point blog on Maine politics at DownEast.com, his own blog at MainePolitics.net and works for the Maine People's Alliance and the Maine People's Resource Center. He's @miketipping on Twitter.