Dear Colleagues,
"Oh, I don’t get involved with politics!" That used to be something that would actually come out of my mouth. I did not see the connection. After all, what did being an educator have to do with politics? I used a curriculum framework that was designed by colleagues to plan lessons to fit the needs of my students. I implemented best practices to insure quality instruction and developed assessments to measure the success and growth of my students. I seemed to have most of the supplies I needed. (Although, you can never have enough books, right?) Life is good! Who needs politics!
Then I started to notice that the supply budget that I used to have was much less from year to year. My class size was increasing and my first graders were being required to take standardized tests. At first glance, it appeared that we had a district problem. Little, did I know or care about how public schools are funded. I wondered why my class size was approaching 30 and why the glue, pencils and erasers from the warehouse weren’t the same quality that we had been used to. At first, it was just irritating. Then, it aggravated me enough to try to analyze the real problem. The state of Arizona spends less per pupil than 47-48 other states and they haven’t been funding the inflation factor. While the cost of supplies, energy, fuel and educating our students, skyrockets, the funding that our legislators release does not. It is no wonder, that many of our teachers have left the profession and that we lose our support staff to the private sector. Our districts have a difficult time paying competitive salaries and wages, making it necessary for override elections. Not only that, the state implemented a School Facilities Board that decides when and if a district can build a new school. They base their formula on square footage per pupil for classroom space. The draw-back is that they define storage closets, hallways, libraries, gymnasiums, etc as classroom space. So, even though we passed an override election to retain and attract quality staff as well as lower class size, we can’t build new facilities without the approval of the School Facilities Board. I began to wonder who these people are that are making all of these decisions about education and the needs of Arizona’s children. Why is it that every article I read about public education has a negative spin? Then it hit me! Uh-oh! This sounds a little like politics and I have a stake in this. We all do! The decisions being made by our legislators impact our profession, our students, our livelihoods and public education’s stability. We can stand by, let things happen and then complain about it. Or, we can stay informed, use our collective voice and be part of the decisions being made regarding education. That’s political action! Our children are counting on us to be political!
Sincerely,
Rhonda Ball
Amphi EA President
On January 8, 2002, President Bush and the U.S. Congress agreed to a plan to eliminate our Nation’s
significant academic achievement gaps, especially in mathematics and reading. This plan, embodied
in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, recognizes that teacher quality is one of the most important
factors in improving student achievement and eliminating achievement gaps. As a result, the law set
the important goal that all students be taught by a "highly qualified teacher" who holds at least a
bachelor’s degree, has obtained full State certification, and has demonstrated knowledge in the core
academic subjects he or she teaches. Since its enactment, NCLB required each state to submit an
annual report to the United States Department of Education detailing how many teachers fit the above
qualifications. States are required to have 100% of our teachers meet the requirements by the end of
this school year. Because of this, many of our middle school and high school teachers have received
letters from our district alerting them that their current certificate may not cover the subjects that
they currently teach. They are told that they need to either pass a test in their subject area (if
one exists) or have 24 hours of coursework in that content area. This is to meet state certification
requirements. (See above mention: full state certification)
Our district is trying to comply with state certification requirements, while the state is trying to
comply with Federal requirements. So, when I am asked is this a state thing, or a federal thing? I,
often say, both. It has caused quite a bit of anxiety, anger and confusion.
I must give credit to our district for giving me the heads up early in the year about the encroaching
deadline. I immediately started asking questions, making phone calls to AZ Department of Ed (ADE).
I was given inconsistent information which left me even more confused. I, then asked other local
presidents what they knew about it. They went to their administrations. Marana, like Amphi, was
very concerned about the implications of the certification requirements.
Marana’s President, Mark DeWeerdt, and I decided to team up and
try to be pro-active in addressing this important issue. We
held a forum at an elementary school in Marana and invited Patty
Hardy from ADE and Renae Costa
from
AEA (Arizona Education Association) to hear and address our concerns.
Patty Hardy presented a little
background on the requirements, much like the above information, and then listened and responded to
concerns. She informed the group that Arizona was going to apply for an extension to be in compliance
with the requirements. She invited us to provide input to the extension proposal that would be
submitted to the United States Department of Education. (USDOE) We jumped on it. Our Collective
Voice was heard! Sounds like politics, again!
Our Members Take Action
Once ADE invited us to provide input we put a cadre of members from
Amphi EA and Marana EA together. This cadre consisted of Middle and High School teachers. They
passionately shared their own feelings and those of their peers. They expressed confusion over
being, "improperly certificated" in a subject that they had been teaching successfully for years.
This group in no way rejected the idea that we need to have qualified teachers in the classroom,
however, there should be provisions that value past experience, prior certification requirements and
success with students. It took all day, but we drafted a proposal that we were proud of. It felt
good to think that our small group’s work could impact thousands of teachers. (Oh, that collective
voice, again.) Mark and I took our draft to the presidents’ meeting in Phoenix the next day. We
handed to Andrew Morrill, AEA’s
Vice President. He took it with him, when he met with the USDOE,
ADE and AEA. This is the committee that will draft the State’s request for an extension. It is
important to note, that this is an extension for the state to meet the 100 % fully certified
requirement. The plan for extension has to show a "good faith effort" in trying to meet the
requirements. The plan has to be submitted to USDOE in February. We’ll keep you posted. For now,
thanks to all the members of Amphi EA and Marana EA who worked on our behalf!
You’re awesome!!
And speaking of awesome....
Oscar Bernal, the Behavior Intervention Monitor at Keeling Elementary School, is being honored as
the Human Service Worker of the Year at the annual awards luncheon of the Arizona Chapter of the
National Association of Social Workers on March 31st.
From the Keeling Social Worker, Andrea Paris:
He has a saying in his office that reads
It is inspiring to watch Oscar interact with students. He commands respect and at the same time,
the children really love him and enjoy talking with him. He is strict and firm but does his job in
a caring, compassionate way. Oscar draws on student’s strengths, encourages positive choices and
problem-solving, and challenges kids to do their best. Students from the middle and high school
call out to Oscar when they see him. They remember him and are excited to share with him about how
they’ve been doing. Oscar listens to them and offers advice and encouragement. He communicates well
with parents, and they often look to him for guidance.
"Kids don’t care how much you know if they don’t know how much your care". Oscar exemplifies that
saying.
January 11, 2006
A. Introductions/Nell Pederson (our new OC)
B. Membership
C. CAF Petition drive update – Amanda Way
away@hotmail.com
D. 60th Anniversary
E. Certification Issues
2. Early Childhood Endorsement
F. In-services
G. Elections
H. Read Across America
I. Day at the capital
J. New Building Update
K. Site Concerns
L. Crystal Apple Award Luncheon Table
M. Next meeting
Respectfully submitted by:
All meetings are on Wednesdays at 4:30 P.M.
Feb. 8,
March 1,
April 12,
May 3,
Special Dates:
March 2 - Read Across America
**********
All members are welcome.
Please contact our office if you are interested in attending.
• February 7 • February 21
All meetings are at Wetmore and start at 7:PM unless indicated
T-Shirts:
1. Job Fair February 18, 2006 interviews will be held with district
administrators at 701 W. Wetmore
1. Current numbers – 642 members
2. Site breakfasts – all positive!
a. If you would like to have one
at your site, let Rhonda know
3. Dance Cards – you can still fill out forms and turn them in
4. T-shirts? We need a logo. If you have an idea to submit, please do it by Feb.
8th.
Using the phrase - Amphi EA Advocating for Quality Public Education
1. Do we want to have a reception at our new building?
Yes, committee to set it up is
Mary, Mamie and Marla.
1. Middle School and High School certification
a. you must have 24 units in the
content are you are teaching or pass a test
b. AEA and MEA have met with the state to request an extension for our 2
districts
c. a committee has been created to draft the extension request to submit to
the state
d. The final draft will be submitted by Friday, January 13 at the presidents
meeting in Phoenix
a. all Kindergarten teachers must have an early childhood endorsement by
2009
b. the district is sending letters to K-3 teachers that have at least 3 years of
experience to send
into the Dept. of Ed. to get the endorsement.
1. We would like to start having teachers in the district give
in-services on their area of expertise.
2. In-services will be free to members and will qualify for
re-certification
credit.
3. Non-members could attend for a fee.
1. We have to post a notification for nominations by February
1. March 2nd - George is in charge
2. gmillen@amphi.com – email George with things you are doing at your
school
with Read Across America
1. March 8th
2. We are looking into chartering a bus
3. Announce it to your PTO and staff and have an estimate for Feb. 8th
meeting
1. We will be in the new building by February – hopefully!
1. Do you know anyone/clubs that might want to purchase seats at the table? It is $100 a seat.
A corporate sponsor would be great!
Feb. 8th @ 4:30 – Rhonda will notify us if it will be in the new
building
Marla Minnear - Secretary
"Eighty percent of success is showing up."
May 24 - End of year Celebration
March 8 - Education Day at Capital
March 13 - Delegate Assembly /RA election report due
April 28-29 - Delegate Assembly (Mesa Marriot)
May 8-12 - National Teacher Appreciation Week
June 9-10 - Spring officer's training
July 1-6 - Representative Assembly-Orlando, Florida
• March 7 • March 28
• April 11
• April 25
• May 9** • June 13
• June 27
The district is now sponsoring an IRS 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan. In order to learn
more about the new 457(b) plan, call Adam Pearce at 520-207-0000.
AEA Membership/Educator Access Card