Vol. 2, March 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

~ 2002-2003 Minnetonka Teachers Association Governance Board ~

~ President Mark Chalupsky ~ Vice President Julie Anderson-Simonson ~

~ Secretary Mary Tingblad ~ Treasurer Joseph Ricke ~

~ DEC Gail O’Rourke ~ Deephaven Diane Jost ~ Groveland Pam Wertjes ~

~ Excelsior Mark Broten ~ Minnewashta Melanie Casiday ~

~ Clear Springs Debra Jensen ~ Scenic Heights Jan Sellman ~

~ MM-East Mark Brzezinski & Heidi Johnson ~

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

~ MHS Joseph Ricke, Jan Nelson, J. Beowulf Boswell, & Mike Cutshall ~

~~ President’s Ponderings ~~

MTA President, Mark Chalupsky, mark.chalupsky@minnetonka.k12.mn.us

Hello everyone! There are several issues I would like to address this month:

1. We have had three negotiation sessions so far, and we hope to have a ratified contract before we leave for the summer. The latest information I have leads me to believe that there will not be a salary freeze for teachers.

2. The Grading and Reporting Committee is meeting and working hard on a recommendation for a grading policy for Minnetonka teachers. Hopefully there will be something in place for next year.

3. It appears our health insurance rate increase will be under double digits again this year.

4. We are still discussing with the district a master teacher concept that will improve teacher pay for those who take advantage of the program.

5. The TIP Committee is continuing its work to improve the teacher assessment process.

6. The continuing education process will be computerized and simplified starting next year. It will make it much easier to keep track of teachers’ credits for relicensure.

7. It is possible that we will have a grading program in place next year that would simplify the grading process.

8. The Group Performance Incentive Committee is continuing to support teachers with innovative ideas by putting money in teachers’ pockets for work they do to help improve instruction.

Have a great spring break!

~~ MTA News ~~

Congratulations, Daryl Seifert!

Daryl Seifert, Deephaven Elementary, has made the cut again! She has been chosen as one of the top finalists, known as Honor Roll Teachers, in the Minnesota Teacher of the Year 2003 program. From this group, the 2003 Minnesota Teacher of the Year will be selected. The big announcement will be on May 4, 2003. Best of luck, Daryl! Read more about this on the EdMinnesota website.

MTA Election News

Members in seven schools will be electing MTA Governance Board Building Representatives. Governance Board Building Representatives whose positions are up for election in April include: Gail O’Rourke, DEC; Diane Jost, Deephaven; Melanie Casiday, Minnewashta; Jan Sellman, Scenic Heights; Heidi Johnson, MM-East; Jeri Goodspeed-Gross, MM-West; Mike Cutshall, MHS; and J. Beowulf Boswell, MHS. Members from DEC, Deephaven, Minnewashta, Scenic Heights, MM-East, MM-West, and MHS, who are interested in running for Building Representative, must submit their names to Julie Anderson-Simonson by Tuesday, April 8, 2003.

MTA Contract Administration Update

julie.anderson-simonson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us

The Contract Administration meeting on March 12, 2003, included Mark Chalupsky, Joseph Ricke, Julie Anderson-Simonson, and Mike Lovett. Dan Kuzlik and Pam Wertjes also attended as guests. The agenda items consisted of:

· Extended Day Kindergarten and MCES prep time

· Teachers on special assignment

· Music staffing ratios

· Protocol when school sites are short of reserve teachers

· Transfer process and time lines

· Teachers on leave

· Technology team’s bonus pay issues

MTA Negotiations Update

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

The District and MTA negotiators met on March 19, 2003. The MTA Negotiations team presented a list of concerns and improvements for the 2003-05 contract. We covered one third of the items. We are meeting again on March 24th, to review our list and cover items of interest from the District’s negotiating team. Our information is that Governor Pawlenty has withdrawn his desire to freeze salaries and let the individual districts determine appropriate action. Needless to say, we can expect money to be tight, but our district is in good financial shape. We fully intend to reach an agreement on improvements to the contract language and to money items.

Teachers’ Rights Review

Teachers’ Rights Co-Chair, Mary Benson, mary.benson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us

Here are some important key concepts concerning Teachers’ Rights:

· Due Process: In an employment situation, due process means providing an employee the opportunity to be heard before taking an adverse action against the employee. The 14^th Amendment of the Constitution affords a person due process rights whenever a life, liberty, or property interest is at stake. Courts have determined that a number of employment actions may violate a person’s property rights, including termination of one’s employment or placement on unpaid suspension. Most labor contracts typically include processes for discipline that are consistent with the principle of due process.

· Grievance: A grievance is a formal claim by an employee or union that an action by the employer has violated the terms of the labor agreement. Union contracts lay out formal grievance procedures that provide both parties with a method of resolving disputes.

· Mediation: Mediation is a method used to resolve disputes between two or more parties. A neutral third-party helps the disputing parties develop a resolution; however, this mediator has no authority to mandate this resolution. Both parties must agree to the mediation process in order for it to work.

· Arbitration: This is a formal method of resolving disputes. A neutral third-party hears the disputing parties’ arguments and issues a “decision” or resolution to the issue. The decision of an arbitrator may be binding or non-binding, depending on the circumstances. Grievance procedures typically include a final step remanding the issue to an arbitrator who renders a binding decision.

~~ News from Education Minnesota ~~

Delegates Approve Legislative Goals, Turn Down Term Limits

More than 700 delegates and alternates attended the Education Minnesota Representative Convention at RiverCentre in St. Paul on March 14 and 15, 2003. Among their actions, they approved Education Minnesota’s Legislative Goals, reaffirmed the organization’s Statements of Principle, defeated a bylaw amendment that would have set term limits for officers, approved new boundaries for election districts, and elected Ed Schones, MN State College Faculty, to the Education Minnesota Governing Board. They also honored Bill Rasmussen, Foley, who received the Peterson-Schaubach Leadership Award. Rasmussen is a long-time union activist who served on the merger team that created Education Minnesota.

Delegates also honored the recipients of 35 grants from the Education Minnesota Foundation of Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Thirty grants were awarded for innovative classroom projects. Five Professional Development Leadership Grants were awarded for Education Assistants and School-Related Personnel (EASRP).

Join Worldwide Lesson on Global Education

On April 9, 2003, children and adults from all over the world will attempt to break the world record for the “largest simultaneous lesson.” The Global Campaign for education (GCE), a worldwide coalition of charities, trade unions, and citizens’ groups, is organizing a BIG lesson, entitled “Girls’ Education: The Biggest Lesson.”

This lesson aims to inform people of all ages of the urgency to enroll children, both boys and girls, in school. The goal is to publicize the plight of the millions of children—especially girls—who never get a chance to go to school. This lesson plan will be taught in more than 50 countries, and is part of the GCE’s broader campaign to get every child in the world into school by 2015.

Educators are encouraged to take part in teaching the lesson plan at 9:00 a.m. central time on April 9, 2003. Participants are then asked to return a validation form to the GCE. Details about the event are posted on this website: www.netaid.org/campaigns/actionweek/gce_home.pt.

Mark Your Calendar For Youth Service Day

National Youth Service Day, highlighting the contributions young people make to their communities, will be celebrated April 11-13, 2003. This event highlights the work of our nation’s youth in designing and leading service-learning projects in areas ranging from literacy and the environment to healthcare, hunger and help for the elderly.

As the largest service event in the world, engaging millions of young people, National Youth Service Day draws together a consortium of local, regional, and national youth groups and municipal partners, while recruiting the next generation of young volunteers. For a planning toolkit, curriculum guides, T-shirts, and other information, go to www.ysa.org/nysd.

New Book Traces History of MFT

Education Minnesota’s second history book is hot off the presses. Minnesota Federation of Teachers: 63 years of Action traces the federation’s growth from the foundling of Minneapolis’ AFT Local 59 in 1919 to the state merger that created education Minnesota in 1998. The 63-page book is loaded with historic photos and personal reminiscences. The MFT book costs $13. You can get the best deal by ordering both the MFT book and the MEA book: Minnesota Education Association: 137 Years Proud, for just $18. Both prices include shipping and handling.

Make your check out to education Minnesota and send it with your name, address, and daytime phone number to: Georgie Westphal, Education Minnesota, 41 Sherburne Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55103. Any questions? Please e-mail georgeann.westphal@educationminnesota.org.

~~ Educator Appreciation Weekend ~~

Borders Books & Music store in Minnetonka (1501 Plymouth Road) will honor local educators for their hard work and dedication during “Educator Appreciation Weekend” from Friday, March 28, to Sunday, March 30, 2003. Traditionally, during this event, Borders has offered 25% discounts to teachers for classroom and non-classroom purchases. This year, for the first time, Borders will allow those 25% discounts to be combined with other discounts currently in effect on the floor, such as Borders Best and Buy Two Get One Free. For example, a teacher buying a best seller title at standard 30% off list price, will get the Borders Teacher Appreciation discount of 25% added to the sale discount.

Teachers, librarians, principals, and other educators can stop by their local Borders to enjoy special discounts on thousands of books, CDs, and videos/DVDs, to use in their classrooms or for personal enjoyment. Borders will also treat them to prize drawings, refreshments, music, and book signings with children’s authors.

Here’s what’s happening at the Minnetonka Borders location:

Friday, March 28:

· 4:00-7:00 p.m. Reception

· 8:00-10:00 p.m. Tom Linker—This solo pianist’s background in jazz, traditional, and new music makes him a dynamic performer.

Saturday, March 29:

· 11:00 a.m. It’s a Wild Storytime! Celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Where the Wild Things Are.

· 1:00-3:00 p.m. Tom Linker—Linker’s CD is Time Was.

· 3:00 p.m. Bruce Lansky, The King of Giggle Poetry—Join us for this interactive presentation for people of all ages as we kick off “April is National Poetry Month.”

Sunday, March 30:

· 1:00-3:00 p.m. Tom Linker—As a concert pianist, Tom Linker has performed throughout the world, playing a wide variety of music. Visit his website at www.tomLINKER.com.

~~ What’s New at Your School? ~~

News From MHS

If you’re following Maggie Pistner’s “other career,” here’s the latest news. Maggie will begin rehearsal in May for a June production of William Inge’s Bus Stop. She’s working for the Gremlin Theatre. Performances will be at The Loading Dock Theatre in St. Paul. More information to come!

News From Excelsior

2nd grade teacher, Lisa Bodin, is getting married on March 29th. Molly Dumalag, 2nd grade teacher, and her husband welcomed their first baby, Zoe Anne, into the world on March 2nd. Jennifer Kitt, 4th grade teacher, is expecting her first baby on June 13th. 1st grade teacher, Sara Maves, is expecting her first baby July 31st.

News From MM-West

Ethan Sobotta, Orchestra teacher at MM-West and MM-East, and Erin Conery, Language Arts teacher at MM-West, got engaged when they were in San Francisco with the MHS Orchestra. Ethan popped the question at the top of Twin Peaks. Congratulations, Ethan and Erin!

Bill Seibert, Phy. Ed. teacher; Pam Sohlberg, social worker; and Bill Josephson, guide, are looking forward to retiring this year! A big party is in the works for this group, so watch for the announcement later.

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 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!

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

Who Can You Count On?

This month’s issue of the MTA newsletter is finally ready! This has been a stressful month for me, but I definitely have learned a lot! I would like to say thank you to all for your patience. I know the Governance Board minutes are late, and the newsletter is late, but it seems the only one that this has bothered has been me! I guess I need to be patient with myself!

I spent March 10th to 19th in Wisconsin, due to a family emergency. When I first got the phone call on Saturday, March 8th, I didn’t think that I could leave. I just had too many things to do! But I just had to get there, so I calmed down and began to make phone calls. I was on the phone most of the afternoon, but with each call, it got easier to see that I could leave and everything here would be OK.

I spent Monday morning at school, getting a week’s worth of lesson plans ready, and then extra things just in case I needed to stay away longer. I hit the road after lunch, and drove straight through to my parent’s house, four hours away. My parents weren’t home yet from Madison. They were with my brother Greg, in the University Hospital.

Greg has cancer of the liver and spleen, lymphoma, and bleeding and blood clots in the brain. When the doctors called my parents on Saturday, they didn’t know if Greg would last the week. Now, with what they call “gentle chemo-therapy,” if the blood clots behave themselves, he could have two more years.

So, we learned the many answers to that question: “Who can you count on?” Greg can count on the doctors and nurses and specialists to do their best to take care of him. He can also count on his parents, brothers, and sister to worry about him. My parents can count on their children to come home when the times get tough. We all counted on some aunts and uncles to help us, too. I learned that there are many special people right here in Minnetonka Schools that I can count on, too. I never would have been able to make it through those days away without the support of so many of you that helped out while I was gone. THANK YOU! Extra special thanks goes to Mary Ann DeZiel, for taking care of my son while I was away.

Mary Tingblad, Editor