Vol. 3, March 2004
The
Professional
A
Publication of the Minnetonka Teachers Association
Members of Education Minnesota, NEA, AFT, Minnesota
Local #7173
http://www.minnetonkateachers.org
Editor,
Mary Tingblad, mary.tingblad@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
MM-West,
6421 Hazeltine Blvd., Excelsior, MN 55331
2003-2004
Minnetonka Teachers Association Governance Board
~
President Mark Chalupsky ~ Vice President Julie Anderson-Simonson ~
~
Secretary Mary Tingblad ~ Treasurer Joseph Ricke ~
~
DEC Linda Morantez ~ Deephaven Margaret Ruffino~ Groveland Pam Wertjes ~
~
Excelsior Mark Broten ~ Minnewashta Melanie Casiday ~
~
Clear Springs Debra Jensen ~ Scenic Heights Katie Tuthill ~
~
MM-East Mark Brzezinski & Sandy Gosen ~
~
MM-West Mary Tingblad & Jeri Goodspeed-Gross ~
~
MHS Joseph Ricke, Jan Nelson, Mike Cutshall & Miles Mortensen ~
~~ President’s Ponderings ~~
MTA President, Mark Chalupsky,
mark.chalupsky@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Hello everyone! I would like
to address some issues that eventually will affect all of you in the future.
The first issue is student grading. About two years ago, I asked the district
administration to establish a grading committee to help establish some grading
policies for all Minnetonka schools. The committee is a large one and has
worked very hard over the last 18 months to come up with some policies that
hopefully will be adopted by the school board and put into effect next school
year. I am hopeful that the policies will bring more consistency to how we
evaluate and grade students.
Currently, I am one of a group of teachers
piloting the Skyward Grade Book program this semester. It is similar to the
Making The Grade program many people are currently using. It would be great if
we can get every teacher using one program, and each teacher would only have to
enter his/her grades one time.
A tie-in to the above issues
is the Blackboard software program that the district is currently evaluating.
This is a program that every teacher would use to set up his/her own webpage
and would allow students and parents to access grades and homework assignments
in the future. I think all of these changes will eventually save time for every
teacher.
I am currently part of a
committee that is setting a program tentatively called “The Distinguished
Teacher” program. The program will be a scaled-back version of the National Board
Certification program. It will be another way that the people under the
Minnetonka Teachers Association collective bargaining agreement will be able to
demonstrate their skills and knowledge and also receive compensation for their
efforts. Look for more information on this later this spring!
~~ Vice-President’s Notes ~~
MTA Vice-President, julie.anderson-simonson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
·
The
election for the NEA RA State-Credentialed Delegation occurred on March 11-12,
2004. These are delegates who will be representing us from our regional
organization, Metro West UniServ, in Washington, DC in July.
·
You
will soon receive a Zoomerang survey via e-mail from the Calendar Committee.
The MTA has made an agreement with the District to modify the 2004-05 school
year. Please take the time to complete the survey. It will be important for you
to weigh the questions as they pertain to your grade level and area of
expertise.
·
Seven
MTA members represented you at the Education Minnesota Representative
Convention in St. Paul, March 19-20, 2004. We voted for the state Vice
President and Secretary Treasurer, as well as various amendments and changes to
the state bylaws.
·
Six
buildings will have upcoming elections for Building Representatives on April
20, 2004. Members in these six buildings have received information regarding
submitting their names for the building Representative elections.
~~ MTA Contract
Administration Update ~~
joseph.ricke@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
No significant contract issues have occurred, but
more items affecting our workload are being considered. Items discussed on March 10, 2004, include:
·
The
TIP committee will be making recommendations soon.
·
The
Distinguish Teacher Program (name not finalized) should be in place for next
year. Details to follow.
·
The
district is discussing having head coaches at the high school.
·
The
Calendar Committee will be meeting in the next two weeks.
·
The
Grading and Reporting Committee should have recommendations for the school
board by summer. A webpage by all
teachers for grading and assignment updates is being considered. A software
package is being evaluated.
·
Teachers
will not have the March 5th snow day counted against their “Basic Leave” time.
~~ Teachers’ Rights Review ~~
MTA Teachers’ Rights
Co-Chair, mary.benson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
(source: Paul C. Ratwik of Ratwik, Roszak &
Maloney, P.A., Attorneys at Law)
In
2003, the legislature adopted a provision amending Minnesota Statutes Section
121A.64 and declaring that “a classroom teacher has a legitimate educational
interest in knowing which students in the teacher’s classroom has a history of
violent behavior” and requiring that notification must be given to teachers
before such students are placed in their classrooms. The new requirement became
effective with the start of the 2003-2004 school year. The statute gives school
boards significant latitude in determining how the statute will be implemented
in their particular districts.
REQUIRED
ACTIONS
·
Notification is required to be
given to a classroom teacher that a student with a history of violent behavior
is going to be placed in the teacher’s classroom.
·
Representatives
of each school board must meet with their teachers’ exclusive representative to
“discuss issues related to the model policy on student records… and any
modifications adopted under this act” regarding notifying classroom teachers
and other school district employees having a legitimate educational interest in
knowing about students with a history of violent behavior placed in classrooms.
The discussions “may” include “the need for intervention services or conflict
resolution or training for staff related to placing students with a history of
violent behavior in teachers’ classrooms.” Minn. Stat. 121A.64 (b).
~~ MTA Political
Organizer Report~~
MTA Political Organizer Jan Nelson, janet.nelson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Licensed to Be a Minnesota
Teacher
Research tells us that students learn
best from those who are trained and licensed to teach. In Minnesota’s
public schools that means having a current and appropriate license from the
Minnesota Department of Education's Division of Personnel Licensing based on
standards set by the Minnesota Board
of Teaching (BOT).
Most who wish to teach in Minnesota's
P-12 public schools are looking for a teacher preparation program that will
meet their needs. The Minnesota Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
(MACTE) has prepared a website to make that information available for your
review. Explore this site, Measure of
Teacher Quality in Minnesota, to find out about the 28
approved teacher preparation programs and to look a little deeper to
understand the reasons for Minnesota's reputation for preparing high quality
teachers.
|
|
|
If you're interested in more
information about the ideas included, download this NCTAF publication: No
Dream Denied: A Pledge to America's Children, Summary Report. National
Commission on Teaching and America's Future. (2003). |
The Board of Teaching rules create a process
by which practicing Minnesota teachers must renew
a teaching license every five years. Your local school district’s
Continuing Education Committee is the first source of information about this
process.
Licenses expire on June 30 of the year established for
renewal and it is the license holder's responsibility to assure that the
license is renewed. You may renew any time after January 1 of that year. Be
sure to allow plenty of time for your application to be processed. The turn
around time gets longer as the calendar moves toward July. No one may teach
without an up-to-date Minnesota license.
~~ School Jobs Online ~~
Minnesota
Schools Jobsite Online offers a free service to teachers, support staff and
administrators. Candidates can search for all types of school jobs online.
Teachers are able to place their profiles online and make their availability
known to districts searching for new talent. This is available at no cost to
the candidates. To find out how to enter your profile, go to: www.mnasa.org.
~~ MTA Teachers
Celebration ~~
You are cordially invited
to an afternoon of socializing with friends
to celebrate your amazing accomplishments!
The Minnetonka Teachers Association
would like to honor all the members
that make such a difference every day.
Please mark your calendars
April 30th, 3:00pm-6:00pm
and join us at the Marsh (15000 Minnetonka Blvd)
for an afternoon of delicious
appetizers (free!),
cash bar (not free!), and fabulous
conversation
with those colleagues you never get
to see.
Hope to see you there!
News From Education Minnesota
~~ Help Your Local Win a
Computer ~~
Your Education Minnesota Local or
affiliate has the chance to win a Dell Dimension 2400 computer or a digital
camera, and you can help! Just register a username and password at www.educationminnesota.org by
April 15, 2004. The Locals or affiliates in five size categories with the
highest percentage of registered members win either a computer (first place) or
camera (second place).
To register your username and password, go to www.educationminnesota.org, click
on “not registered” in the far right column and follow the instructions. Watch
for the announcement after April 15th to find out the winning
Locals/affiliates. The contest is co-sponsored by Education Minnesota and ESI.
Here’s the really great news—if the Minnetonka Teachers
Association wins, the prize will be given away to one of our lucky MTA members! Don’t miss out on this
great opportunity! Go to www.educationminnesota.org
to register yourself, and then go tell your colleagues to register, too.
~~ Online Petition to Fire Paige ~~
Education Minnesota received word from NEA leadership that MoveOn.org,
the website of the grassroots public policy group MoveOn, has created an online
petition that calls on President Bush to fire U.S. Secretary of Education Rod
Paige. The petition is based on Paige recently calling the NEA a “terrorist
organization.” If you would like to view or sign the petition, please go to: http://www.firepaige.org/petition.asp.
NEA News
~~ Ryan White HIV Prevention
Award ~~
Do you know an NEA member who is committed to implementing or
supporting innovative HIV prevention education? NEA will honor an NEA member or
affiliate with the Ryan White HIV Prevention Award at the 2004 NEA
Representative Assembly in Washington, D.C. Call 202-822-7787 for a nomination
form. The application deadline is May 1, 2004.
~~ All-USA Teacher Team ~~
NEA is encouraging members to seek nomination to the 2004 All-USA
Teacher Team. Twenty teachers who have excelled in a variety of teaching
situations will receive a trophy and a $2,500 cash award. The sponsor, USA
Today, is now accepting nominations. For more information, go to: www.nea.org/members/allusanom04.html.
~~ Keeping the Promise ~~
For the definitive word on NEA’s policy goals for the 108th
congress, request Keeping the Promise: What It Truly Means To Leave No Child
Behind. The guidebook identifies NEA’s initiatives from early childhood to
higher education, state fiscal crises, teacher quality, student achievement,
and the so-called “No Child Left Behind” law. For your copy, send an e-mail to:
rdepp-tyler@nea.org.
~~ Keep Assault Weapons Off the Streets ~~
The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban that keeps military-style assault weapons off the streets will expire in September if Congress does not renew it. Please tell your senator that any firearms legislation must renew the ban (S.1034) and close the gun show loophole (S. 1807) to stop illegal buyers at gun shows. Lawful gun owners are protected. For more information, go to: www.nea.org/lac.
~~ Racism Can Make You Stupid ~~
Racism can make you stupid—so says brain-imaging research led by Dartmouth University. The more biased people are, the more difficult it is for them to interact with other races without being offensive. The result? Biased people are unable to perform well on cognitive ability tests.
Meanwhile adolescents tend to do better in school if they have relatively complex beliefs about their ethnic identities. Those who hold optimistic ideas, are positive about their own ethnic group and society at-large, and are more likely to perform well on school tasks according to studies published in the Social Psychology Quarterly.
AFT
PLUS... The Benefits of Belonging
To take advantage of the above AFT-members-only opportunity, send an
e-mail to:
Mary Tingblad, mary.tingblad@minnetonka.k12.mn.us.
~~ AFT Scholarships for Children of Members ~~
The Porter Scholars Program was established in 1992 to honor the late
Robert G. Porter, who served as AFT secretary-treasurer from 1963 through 1991.
Four $8,000 scholarships will go to high school seniors graduating in 2004 who
are dependents of AFT members and who intend to pursue a career in labor,
education, healthcare or government. Also offered are 10 grants of $1,000 for
AFT members to pursue further study in their fields. Members may download the
application from the AFT Web site at www.aft.org/scholarships
or send an e-mail to porterscholars@aft.org.
Members who do not have access to the Internet may mail a postcard or letter to
the Robert G. Porter Scholars Program, 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington,
D.C. 20001. Applications must be postmarked no later than March 31, 2004.
