Vol.
2, May/June 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 ~
~~ President’s Ponderings ~~
MTA President, Mark Chalupsky, mark.chalupsky@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
This is my final article for
the year, so I would like to write about some important issues. The first two
are school related, but the other two are more of a personal nature.
As you all know, we have hit
a big snag in the negotiation of our contract. I believe the negotiators all
felt blind-sided by the district’s position. In a nutshell, the district
proposed more days to our work year, more hours teacher classes, bigger class
sizes, and—oh yes—all of this for no increase on the salary schedule. Their
offer brought back many bad memories from twelve years ago when the district
took a similar position. The district does have a fund balance close to $6
million, so it is not a case of the district being broke. It clearly is a case
of the district having other priorities for their money, priorities that do not
include teachers.
MTA leadership will be
putting together a settlement plan with a settlement date. Also, we will only
be attending meetings with school officials that are critical to the
organization. Our philosophy for many years has been not to work without a
contract, so if we are unable to bring you a respectable offer in August, we
may be forced to do others things to encourage the district to treat us fairly.
Teachers can keep updated this summer by going to our webpage, www.minnetonkateachers.org.
A few weeks ago, I lost
another dear friend named Kenn Pratt. Kenn’s wife, Mary Lee, worked with me in
the MHS Special Education Department for many years. Kenn worked for MEA for
many years before he and Mary Lee retired and moved to Arizona. More than once,
Kenn drew cartoons for our newsletter. Also, Kenn and I had many discussions
about education, and he often advised and encouraged me in terms of my
leadership position in Minnetonka. At his funeral service, former MEA president
Don Hill talked about Kenn’s love and support of public school education and
his attachment to Minnetonka. Kenn was an extremely talented individual--he made
a caricature for me, and I have it on the wall in my home office. He was
admired and loved by all who knew him, and the world is a much less happy place
without him.
I normally don’t like to write about my personal life, but I will be
involved in a very happy and exciting event that will occur on June 16, 2003. I
will be getting married in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, to a very beautiful Thai
lady named Wasana Bungsri. Ubon Ratchathani is located in northeast Thailand. After the Thai ceremony, we
will vacation in the beach resort town of Pattaya for about four weeks before
returning to the United States in the middle of July. Wasana speaks English,
Thai, and Laotian, but she has never been out of Thailand. She is a little
nervous about leaving her family, friends, and the only country she has ever
known, but she is excited to see the United States and is looking forward to
meeting many of you next school year. If you need MTA assistance while I am
gone, please contact MTA Vice-President Julie Anderson-Simonson.
Thanks to all of the MTA
Building Representatives for their hard work this year. A special thanks to
Julie Anderson-Simonson, Mary Tingblad, Joe Ricke, Anita Otten, Mary Benson,
and Mike Cutshall for the hours and hours they have spent helping me and
representing you.
~~ MTA Information Update ~~
MTA Membership Chair, Mary Kay Burmesch, marykay.burmesch@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Attention MTA members! Avoid the fall rush--update your
membership information now! Let us know about your changes—address, phone
number, name changes. Contact Mary Kay Burmesch at mkbskis@unique-software.com.
~~ MTA Contract Administration Update ~~
julie.anderson-simonson@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Mark Chalupsky, Joseph
Ricke, and Julie Anderson-Simonson, on behalf of the MTA, did not meet with
administration for the Contract Administration meeting on May 14, 2003, due to
the lack of progress with the current negotiation sessions.
~~ Teachers’ Rights Review ~~
Interesting Summer Reading
“A Disgrace to the Profession vindicates, validates teachers
in a big way”
Star Tribune article by Jane Burns, published May 26, 2003
http://www.startribune.com/stories/384/3899340.html
A Disgrace to the Profession
follows a few months in the lives of two teachers of fictional Martha Bancroft
High School in Des Moines, Iowa. They try to teach their students, they have
classes and extracurricular activities added to their schedules, they sit on
endless committees with irritating acronyms, a student is barely punished for
beating up a teacher, and a micromanaging principal seemingly enjoys making
their lives hellish.
The book has sold more than 3,000 copies, with a fourth printing of
another 2,000 copies scheduled for this summer. It was the best-selling novel
at Borders in West Des Moines, Iowa, last year, bumping out anything about
Harry Potter. The authors’ website, http://www.disgracetotheprofession.com,
on which readers vent about their schools and bosses, have received hundreds of
messages, many anonymous.
~~ Economic Facts
of Life for Educators ~~
National
Education Association Research has compared the average earnings of all
non-teachers with a college degree against the average earnings of all K-12
teachers with a college degree. Adjusting for inflation, the pay gap was 11.2%
in 1940, 18.4% in 1950, 36% in 1960, 52.3% in 1970, 45.2% in 1980, 40.7% in
1990, and 50.6% in 2000—and not in teachers’ favor.
~~ Is More Time in School
the Answer? ~~
NO! As the debate continues
about approving public education, the American public does not want children to
spend more time in school. When asked in the 2002 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll
about several plans to increase the amount of time U.S. students spend in
school, 59% of Americans oppose lengthening the school year, and an
overwhelming 70% oppose lengthening the school day.
~~ Online Clearinghouse Has
Wealth of Resources ~~
Eisenhower
National Clearinghouse (ENC) Online offers educators the largest catalog of
math and science resources in the nation—books, CDs, videos, kits, tapes, and
more. In addition, the site offers the full text of ENC’s quarterly magazine
and links to other publications and national and state standards. The site also
links to websites offering a wealth of instructional resources for K-12
classrooms. Visit www.enc.org.
~~ Grants for Educators ~~
Toshiba’s Grade 7-12 Grant Program: The Toshiba America
Foundation encourages programs with the potential to improve classroom teaching
and learning of science, math, and the science and math of technology in grades
7-12. Grant proposals (under $5,000) are accepted throughout the year.
Decisions about small grants are made monthly, except March and September.
Visit www.toshiba.com/about/taf/grant.html.
eSchool News School Funding Center: Information on grant
programs, funding sources, and technology funding at www.eschoolnews.com/resources/funding/.
Philanthropy News Digest K-12 Funding Opportunities:
Opportunities
for K-12 funding with links to grants for teachers, learning technology and
more. Visit the site www.fdncenter.org/funders/.
Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and Learning: www.educationminnesota.org/index.cfm?page_id=643.
Grants from Education Minnesota to teachers for projects that improve teaching
and learning, as well as a list of grants from other organizations.
~~ What’s New at Your
School? ~~
News From Deephaven
margaret.ruffino@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
Congratulations to
2003
Honor Roll Teacher Daryl Seifert!
Matt
and Wendy Olson welcomed Matthew Quinn into
their family on January 8, 2003. Jeff and Kelli
Whiteside welcomed Lillian Grace on April 3, 2003. Congratulations to Susan Kenney on her marriage to Corey Bonnema on
April 12, 2003.
Clear Springs News
gloria.ameter@minnetonka.k12.mn.us
The good news happens in THREEs at Clear Springs! Three
babies were born this year to happy moms Courtney Norton, Jolana Bernhardt, and Jen Schachenmeyer. Another three
moms-to-be are waiting for their new arrivals: Shannon McCormick Studenski (June), Amy Teixeira (September),
and Ursula
Speedling (November). Brides-to-be are three also: Chrissy Zarnjahn (July wedding),
Jean
Neumann (August wedding), and Gloria Ameter (December
wedding).
Fortunately, the good-byes only come in ones and twos. Happy retirement
to Jean Neumann! Best wishes to Amy Teixeira as she moves to California, and to Beth Swanberg as she moves to Mexico!
Groveland Open House Success
Groveland
hosted an Open House on Sunday, May 4, 2003, 3:00-5:00p.m. The purpose of the
gathering was to showcase our school and district. Fairly quickly, eight more
families have enrolled as a result of the open house.
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 September 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!
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
Is
It June 12th Yet?
Come on now—I know I’m not the only one asking that
question!
We all look forward to our time away from the classroom. After the
intensity of the rush, rush, rush of the school year, teachers need a little
downtime to reflect and refresh before it starts all over again. Tacking more
days onto the already lengthy calendar or more hours onto the already packed
schedule just doesn’t make sense!
Teachers work hard! Many, many hours are donated above and beyond
the “teacher work day” just to keep up with everything! It’s staggering to
think of all those hours that we just give to our district because we
are great teachers and we want to get the work done. That’s time taken away
from our lives, time away from our families, time that we could be doing
something else for ourselves.
The district is proud of the volunteers of our district. And proud
they should be! We have a fantastic group of volunteers in Minnetonka. These
volunteers are honored and thanked for all the time and money that they have
saved the district. The district meticulously adds up each and every hour of
volunteer time donated each year. They figure out how much money the district
has saved with all this donated volunteer time.
What about all those hours that teachers donate year after year?
How many hours a week do you put in above and beyond your regular day? How many
evenings a week do you take work home with you? What about your weekends? How
much of your summer is totally school-free? How much time do you donate during
the hurry-up-and-get-you-classroom-ready-for-the-first-day-of-school-crunch?
Many, many teachers end their summer breaks early just so they can get their
classrooms and lessons ready in time.
I wish each and every teacher a very happy, relaxing,
rejuvenating, well-deserved summer break! Enjoy it—you’ve earned it! Schedule
some just-for-me-time and enjoy every minute of it!
HAPPY SUMMER! 