Vol. 4, October 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

 

         

2004-2005 Minnetonka Teachers Association Governance Board

~ President Joseph Ricke ~ Vice President Jan Nelson ~

~ Secretary Mary Tingblad ~ Treasurer Melanie Casiday ~

~ DEC Linda Morantez ~ Deephaven Margaret Ruffino~ Groveland Pam Wertjes ~

~ Excelsior Sara Macke ~ Minnewashta Melanie Casiday ~

~ Clear Springs OPEN ~ Scenic Heights Katie Tuthill ~

~ MM-East Sandy Gosen & OPEN ~

~ MM-West Mary Tingblad & Jeri Goodspeed-Gross ~

~ MHS Doug Kennedy, Mike Cutshall, Miles Mortensen & OPEN ~

         

 

~~ From the President ~~

MTA President, Joseph Ricke, joseph.ricke@minnetonka.k12.mn.us

I hope all of you were well rested for conferences and, once again, you were affirmed for the excellent job you are doing and the value you bring to this district. I truly do believe that Minnetonka Public Schools are some of the best in the nation and that you are among the best teachers in the nation.

Each year, as conference time approaches, time becomes an ever-present issue. Time has become the constant denominator for us as we manage our workload. All of us are being asked to do more with less time. Ultimately, my greatest concern becomes how demands on our time will affect the classroom. 

While attending the two-day District Strategic Planning Review meetings, it became abundantly clear why we as teachers and administrators are feeling so much more pressure to do more with less time, thus feeling stressed. Having reviewed the district’s action plans supporting the district’s Strategic Plan, I am convinced that we could implode as a result of all the initiatives started last year and the increased amount of time necessary to continue on a course of “continuous improvement.” I do believe that strategic planning is a very valuable tool. However, as with any tool, if you move too quickly and push too hard, the tool could actually hurt you. The classic mistake of any Strategic Plan is to try to do too much too soon. 

Considering that we as an educational community have been asked to do more with less, we have come to a crossroads that mandates us to reprioritize our use of time and to start looking at what will not be done or what will be postponed—such that we do not adversely impact our teacher excellence in the classroom. This is the message I conveyed while attending the two-day Strategic Planning Review.

The MTA Governance Board has decided to have three negotiators for the next contract negotiating team. Our MTA Negotiating Team will include the MTA President and our Education Minnesota Field Staff Representative. We will be asking for your participation by filling out a survey to help us set priorities and define action items.

The School Board has denied our grievance on the MTA President’s .4 FTE release time. We will now move to step four, which involves working with an arbitrator. Not having the release time has been somewhat stressful, but I feel as though the MTA leadership team is effectively addressing pressing issues and is maintaining a positive presence and attitude while representing the MTA membership. We will continue to do our best to advocate for your work conditions and adherence to the contract.

 

 

 

~~ Contract Administration ~~

Mike Cutshall, mike.cutshall@minnetonka.k12.mn.us

Joe Ricke and Mike Cutshall met with Sandy Souba, Mike Lovett, and Claudia Risnes in regards to a number of issues in October. These included health insurance benefits and disability leaves regarding pregnancies. The rollout of Blackboard and the issues surrounding IB/AP classes were also discussed. The district is gathering data in regards to payment for summer training of all IB teachers, and the associated cost of such payment. Travel time for teachers was briefly discussed, with further talks occurring between Joe and Mike to try to solve this issue for the affected teachers.

 

~~ Membership Information Reminder ~~

MTA Membership Chair, Mary Kay Burmesch, marykay.burmesch@minnetonka.k12.mn.us

Please contact Mary Kay Burmesch at any time during the year whenever your information changes—name change, address change, phone number change, or contract time change. It’s important to keep your membership information updated.

 

 

 

 

 News From Education Minnesota

 

~~ Teacher Pay Lags Behind Other Professions ~~

Pay for the nation’s teachers is considerably lower than for other workers with similar education and skills. Despite growing national attention to the schools’ need to recruit and retain highly skilled teachers, that wage gap grew larger over the last decade, according to a new book by the Economic Policy Institute.

“How Does Teacher Pay Compare” reviews recent analyses of teacher pay and benefits and provides its own detailed analysis of trends in teacher pay and how it measures up in the labor market. Authors Sylvia Allegretto, Sean Corcoran and Lawrence Mishel found what amounts to a teaching penalty, a pay gap that has grown in recent years. Since 1993, teacher wages have fallen 11.5% relative to workers with similar education and skills. Read other key findings and analysis at the following website: www.epinet.org/content.cfm/books_teacher_pay.

 

~~ Free Reading Guide ~~

Reading Rockets, a national multimedia project that looks at how children learn to read, offers free downloadable print guides for teachers and parents. This includes a teacher’s guide that contains instructional techniques and strategies based on what reading research shows is most effective, as well as a family guide available in three other languages—Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. It’s easy to access the guides! Just go to www.readingrockets.org/guides.php.

 

~~ New Grant for K-5 Math Teachers ~~

The Irene Etkowicz Eizen Grant for Emerging Leaders in Elementary School Mathematics will award up to $6,000 to help educators teach math more effectively at the elementary level. The recipient of the Eizen grant will work collaboratively with other teachers in the same district to improve math instruction.

The recipient is expected to become a teacher leader in math and to work to develop expertise in specific math content aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Application deadline is December 3, 2004. For more information, visit: www.nctm.org/about/met/eizen.htm.

 

~~ Insurance Programs Through Your Union Membership ~~

All new Education Minnesota members are automatically eligible for $10,000 of AFT PLUS Group Term Life Insurance free for one year. New members just need to fill out an activator form, attached to the Education Minnesota membership application, or go to http://newmember.aft.org.

NEA provides Dues Tab Insurance to all members. Dues Tab Insurance is also a no-cost insurance protection providing up to $1,000 of free life insurance protection, up to $5,000 of free accident protection and additional accidental death and dismemberment coverage for work-related deaths or accidents. All members are encouraged to designate a beneficiary by filling out a form online or by phone. 

Members can save hundreds of dollars by participating in some of the Education Minnesota ESI sponsored programs, including insurance, mortgages, travel and more. Contact ESI at 651-292-4856, or online at http://esi.educationminnesota.org for activator forms, Dues-Tab forms, additional materials and more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~~ You Might Be Employed by A School If...  ~~

 

·        You can tell if it’s a full moon without ever looking outside.

·        You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says: “Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.”

·        When out in public you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.

·        Meeting a child’s parent instantly answers the question: “Why is this kid like this?”

 

 

   So, What’s New at YOUR School?

There are “good news” things happening everyday in our schools. Send your school’s good news to mary.tingblad@minnetonka.k12.mn.us to be included in the next issue of The Professional. I’ve been told that this is one of the favorite features of the newsletter. It’s the way that we can share all the good things going on with our teachers!

 

News From MM-West

On October 1, 2004, MM-West’s Technology Education Teacher Bob Koppes was named Minnesota Technology Education Association’s Middle Level Teacher of the Year and received a Teacher Excellence Plaque at the 26th Annual MTEA Awards Banquet. The awards banquet was held at the Holiday Inn in St. Cloud and was part of the annual state Technology Education Sate Conference.  Bob will Travel to Kansas City in April where he will be recognized at the International Technology Education Conference. Congratulations, Bob!

 

Baby News From Scenic Heights

Scenic Heights is the baby place! Katie Tuthill and husband Steve Tuthill (MHS) are expecting their first child January 4, 2004. Angela Weninger and husband Steve and expecting their first child January 24, 2004. Heidi Volkart and husband Brandon are expecting their second child March 15, 2004. Kirsten Pederson and husband Brian are expecting their second child May 18, 2004.

 

Editorial/Commentary/Opinion Page

Editorials, commentary, opinions, and letters to the editor are not necessarily the position of the MTA. All members are invited to share their unedited views, thoughts, concerns, etc., by submitting them to: mary.tingblad@minnetonka.k12.mn.us, Mary Tingblad, MM-West, 6421 Hazeltine Blvd, Excelsior, MN  55331.

 

Peace and Quiet!

 Ahhh, can you hear it? There’s something about having the time to just notice the peace and quiet around you! I notice this, especially after parent-teacher conferences are finished. The schools are all abuzz with activity and noise during conferences. After the last conference, when you can sit back and relax, you can notice it—the relief of having accomplished so much in so little time. Can you believe that you spoke with all those people in such short chunks of time? Multiply that by all the teachers across the district, and you know that’s a lot of talking, serious talking.

Each teacher may have his/her own way for doing conferences, but the results are the same. We are more informed, parents are more informed, and come Monday, we can expect to see something different in our students! Some are happy because of all the wonderful things you said about them. Some are eager to start turning over that new leaf you urged their parents to encourage. Others are fresh from a vacation and feeling renewed. My favorites are those that, while they would never admit it, are happy to be back in school after so many days off.

Wait… before I go on about all those students being back in school, let’s go back and appreciate that peace and quiet once more! Whether it’s only for a moment before we head out into noisy traffic for the ride home, or for a longer time because we planned it that way, relish the peace and quiet you have now. There’s always something just around the corner. Oh, no, look at the calendar! Halloween and the election—two noisy occurrences and coming one right after the other, too!

I’m not ready to give up my peace and quiet just yet. I’m going to whip up some hot chocolate, add a few mini marshmallows, and curl up with a nice quiet book. No more telephone calls or worrying about missed deadlines for me. All that will be waiting for me when I return to school on Monday. Extended weekends are nice!

 

Mary Tingblad, Editor