Not Another Cent - MEA Pledge Cards

From MEA's informational handout "Not Another Cent". For the full document please go to: http://www.maine.nea.org/notanothercent

In the last 20 years Maine's average teacher salary fell from 31st in the nation to 44th. Pensions and benefits under the Maine Public Employee Retirement System (MePERS - previously known as Maine State Retirement) were cut and frozen. Health Insurance plans provided by MEA's Benefits Trust are threatened by a legislative attack that could increase rates and lower coverage.

MEA is asking members to sign pledge cards in support of retirement benefits, insurance rates and to stop cutting, capping what we have worked so hard for. 

The cards will be delivered to the MEA office and then will be delivered by MEA to the State Legislation.

Please make sure they are received by Crystal Goodrich by next Friday:  Jan. 20^th.

If you do not have a card from your building representative please use the following link, fill out a pledge card and return it to Crystal at Wentworth Intermediate via interoffice mail or to your building rep. They will deliver the cards to me.

FOR A PLEDGE CARD GO TO:

http://msg6svc.net/static/neame/images/pledgecardv_111411.pdf

Once the cards are received by MEA they will be delivered to the State Legislature. Our goal is to have at least 90% of our membership complete a pledge card and have it sent in.

Please participate in this simple action to help protect the benefits we work so hard for. It will only take a few minutes of your time and your voice will be heard.

Thank you!
Crystal Goodrich
MEA President

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.