Vol. 3, September 2003
The
Professional
A
Publication of the Minnetonka Teachers Association
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 ~
J WELCOME! New
Names and New Faces! J
Welcome
to the new school year, and a special welcome to the new kids on the block!
Practice their names—test in two weeks!
J Amanda Aiken, Charlie Barniskis,
Sarah Berger, Anne Betzel, Dave
Cooper, Tarah Cummings, Christina Davis, Matt Duoos, Terri Ellis, Clinton
Fenner, Carrie Fjerstad, Beth Fletcher, Deb Frederickson, Anne Gleeman, Rob
Hagar, Teresa Hoppe, Josh Jansen, Amanda Jepson, Ryan Johnson, Lisa Jones,
Jennifer Justen, Melanie Kelly, Abby Ludvigson, Rhonda Lundgren, Tim Moen, Fred
Mutchler, Traci Nemetz, Katie Nolan, Nina Northrup, Riina Raisanen, Deb Reding,
Steve Ristau, Paul Rosen, Kay Rosheim, Dawn Sailer, Joanne Search Johnson,
Molly Sharpe, Sheri Simpson, LeAnn Slama, Margaret Spriggs, Travis Sutten,
Chrissy Theis, Allison Underwood, Isaac Yong Hou, Tom Zaruba. J
First Day of School Chuckle
On the first day of school, each new
kindergartener arrived home with a note from the teacher. It read, “Dear
parents: If you promise not to believe all your child says happens at school,
I’ll promise not to believe all he says happens at home.”
~~ President’s Ponderings ~~
MTA President, Mark Chalupsky, mark.chalupsky@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Hello everyone! I hope that
by now you have been able to memorize the names of all your new students and
that you are settling into your daily routine. It promises to be another
interesting and exciting year for Minnetonka teachers.
The district has been
working on a new strategic plan for many months. I want to make it clear that
while the district maintains that teachers were heavily involved in the
strategic planning, there have been no classroom teachers participating on the
committee since last spring. At this point I have not even seen the final
report, but I am sure we will see it soon. It will be important that we as
professionals do our best to implement the parts of the strategic plan that
will help our students. I am sure we will be hearing much more about this in
the coming weeks.
The new state graduation
guidelines will also be put on our plates before long. We will have to wait to
see what the final standards will be and then figure out how to best implement
them.
The MTA negotiation team has
been working very hard for many months trying to get a new contract for
Minnetonka teachers. At this point we are not close to an agreement with the
district. We will continue to try to get the job done. We will also keep you
posted about things you may be able to do to help bring about a fair settlement
in the near future.
If I can be of help to you
in any way, please contact me at 612-281-5900. I hope your year is off to a
great start! Best wishes!
~~ Teachers’ Rights Review ~~
MTA Teachers’ Rights
Co-Chairs, Mary Benson and Anita Otten
mary.benson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us, anita.otten@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Welcome back MTA members!
Education Minnesota provides lots of information on its website www.educationminnesota.org.
Here’s a sampling of some of the important information you can find there:
EDUCATION MINNESOTA – LEGAL DEPARTMENT DISCLAIMER: Information
contained on our website is published for general information and educational
purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice or an offer to give
legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship with any
of our attorneys. We cannot accept direct requests for legal advice or offer
specific legal advice over the Internet. If you have a specific member rights
question, talk to your member rights representative or Education Minnesota
Field Staff.
What are the primary state
laws that govern my employment rights? In Minnesota, the most
important law governing public employees is the Minnesota Public Employment
Labor Relations Act, Minn. Stat. Ch. 179A (PELRA). In PELRA, you will find the
right to bargain collectively and be represented by a union and many other
rights and responsibilities that arise from those two basic rights.
For teachers, the law they
encounter most frequently is probably the continuing contract law (Minn. Stat.
§122A.40, formerly known as Minn. Stat. §125.12), or the tenure act (Minn.
Stat. §122A.41, formerly known as Minn. Stat. §125.17). These two laws contain
all the details about hiring, probationary periods, obtaining continuing
contract status or tenure, peer evaluation, unrequested leaves of absence
(ULA), and termination or discharge from employment.
The rest of the preK-12
education statutes are found in the “120s” of the Minnesota Statutes, as
follows:
Chapter Title
120A Education Code; Compulsory attendance
120B Curriculum and assessment
121A Student rights, responsibilities, and behavior
122A Teachers (includes continuing contract law & tenure act)
123A School Districts; forms for organizing
12B School district powers and duties
124D Education programs
125A Special education; early childhood, academies for deaf & blind
125B Education and technology
126C Education funding 127A State administration of education
128C High school league
Laws affecting higher education are:
Chapter Title
Department of employee relations
135A Public post-secondary education
136A Higher education services office
136D Intermediate school districts
136F Minnesota state colleges and universities
137 University of Minnesota
Other state laws that
regularly affect public employees are the Minnesota Government Data Practices
Act (Minn. Stat. Ch. 13), the Open Meeting Law (Minn. Stat. §471.705), and the
Minnesota Human Rights Act (Minn. Stat. Ch. 363).
How long is my probationary
period? For Teachers in all school districts except Minneapolis, St. Paul,
and Duluth: The first three consecutive years of a teacher’s first teaching
experience in Minnesota in a single district is a probationary period of employment.
After you complete this three-year probationary period, the probationary period
in other districts of this type in which you are later employed is one year.
Once you have completed a probationary period in any district, and as long as
you have not been fired or advised that the district is refusing to renew your
contract, you then have a continuing contract with the district, which can then
only be terminated for cause after a hearing (Minn. Stat. §122A.40, subds. 5
and 7).
~~ NEA Representative Assembly
Report I ~~
Julie Anderson-Simonson, MTA Delegate to the NEA
Representative Assembly
*See Joe Ricke’s report following this one. See Mary
Tingblad’s report on the editorial page.
Mark Chalupsky was unable to
attend the Representative Assembly, so as the first alternate, I represented
the MTA along with Joe Ricke and Mary Tingblad for our week in New Orleans. In
the afternoon of July 1, the delegates from Minnesota met for two hours for our
first state caucus meeting. We were introduced to our state officers, NEA
Directors, and NEA Resolution and Election committee members. We listened to
reports and announcements about the week’s activities from these people. That
evening, as part of our Minnesota Night Out, we enjoyed the dinner cruise and jazz
band set up for the Minnesota delegates. We sailed down the Mississippi River
aboard the Creole Queen, an authentic Louisiana paddle wheeler.
Our days began at 7:00 a.m.
the next four mornings when we attended the two-hour state caucus meetings. It
was during these meetings that we were introduced to candidates who were
running for national office, we discussed taking a state caucus position on the
various standing rules and bylaws to be voted on by the NEA delegates later in
the convention, and we were brought up to date on the happenings of the day.
On July 2 we attended a
two-hour symposium on the No Child Left Behind Act: Implication for NEA Members and Locals. The four-member panel
shared insightful information and reinforced what we already knew about its
shortcomings and pitfalls for teachers and students. That afternoon we explored
the exhibit hall with over 850 booths. It’s a good thing we flew to New
Orleans, because it limited what I could buy and take home in my suitcase. I
also had an opportunity to view one of the remaining 25 Dunlap broadsides of
the Declaration of Independence on display in the exhibit hall. A stirring
video narrated by Reese Witherspoon and Morgan Freeman told the story of how
the Declaration of Independence came to be and what it continues to mean for
our country.
July 3 was the first
business meeting of the 10,000 NEA delegates, the largest democratic
organization in the United States. We observed a very moving ceremony with the
presentation of colors, the singing of the National Anthem, and the Invocation.
Later in the day, following three hours of lengthy discussion on ten standing
rule amendments, we heard the Keynote Address by NEA President Reg Weaver. Reg
spoke about our courage and commitment as teachers to fight for each and every
student in our charge. He reiterated that the No Child Left Behind Act is
frustrating and that it labels teachers and schools. He shared that the NEA is
preparing a lawsuit challenging the unfunded mandates imposed by the NCLB. Reg
told us of the NEA’s efforts to propose specific amendments to this law. He
called us “Team NEA” and said that we are the ones who will make ‘Great Public
Schools for Every Child’ (the theme of this year’s convention). The evening of
July 3 was spent at the event called “Friendship Night.” We were bussed to a
renovated Municipal Auditorium and had a choice of listening to five different
styles of bands and eating Cajun and Creole food. We dined with teachers from
Las Vegas, NV and Houston, TX. I’m always fascinated to compare stories and
working conditions with teachers from other parts of the United States.
July 4 and 5 were spent at the
convention center listening to the national delegates debate new business
items, standing rule amendments, constitution amendments, and bylaw amendments.
During the morning caucus sessions, the MN delegation would take a position on
each of these items. But it wasn’t until we got to the convention center with
the whole delegation that we would vote for real. After what seemed like
endless hours of debate, the nicest sound at the microphone was when a delegate
would say, “I move to close debate.” On July 4 we voted for two NEA members to
serve on the Executive Committee and three At-Large members to serve on the
Board of Directors ESP.
This was my third NEA/RA as
a delegate from Minnetonka. These assemblies are a great way for me to learn
the ins and outs and ups and downs facing educators across our country. They
provide me with an opportunity to keep abreast of what the NEA is forecasting
as it forges ahead. The RA’s also afford the delegates time to explore the
city, its culture, and heritage. It was a privilege and an honor for me to
attend the NEA/RA and to represent you in New Orleans. Thank you for the
opportunity to do so.
~~ NEA Representative Assembly
Report II ~~
Joseph Ricke, MTA Delegate to the NEA Representative
Assembly
First of all, I would like
to thank the membership for allowing me to attend the NEA Representative
Assembly in New Orleans. I can honestly say it started with a bang. The trio of
Mary Tingblad, Julie Anderson-Simonson and Joseph Ricke arrived in New Orleans
in the middle of a hurricane activity. We tried to walk around upon our arrival
and were immediately saturated with rain.
As usual, the convention
activity was brisk and eventful. The highlights for me were the seminars and
speeches by the President and distinguished speakers. One cannot leave the
convention without realizing that the NEA has a huge commitment to quality
education and excellence in teaching. The democratic process used for
individuals to speak and to vote is alone worthy of one’s time and effort to
attend what turns out to be a very long and tiring week. That is not to say fun
was not had! Visiting with fellow NEA members from other states, a paddleboat
ride and a festive night of dancing and frolicking were indeed memorable
events.
The only downsides to the
convention were some very long and seemingly pointless discussions—some members
love to discuss—and the noise on the floor caused by the constant chattering of
neighboring members.
Once again, thanks for allowing me to represent you.
