Evidence shows schools pay less for health insurance
New analysis breaks myths of health care debate
EAST LANSING, Mich., August 13, 2009 – A new report dramatically changes the debate on public employee health care with this single fact: Michigan schools spend less per employee than private companies for health insurance. And unlike the private sector, public school health care costs are going down.
“Wrong Diagnosis-Wrong Cure” dispels many of the common myths about public school employee health insurance currently being presented as truth in the cost-cutting debate.
“This report shows that Speaker Dillon’s health care proposal is based on misinformation and faulty data,” said MEA President Iris K. Salters. “The real numbers reported to the Michigan Department of Education clearly indicate that the root of financial problems for public schools is not rising health care costs, as Dillon would have you believe.”
Speaker Dillon’s proposal is based on bringing health care spending for public employees in line with what private employers pay, but this report shows that if that were to happen, Michigan taxpayers would end up paying much more.
The evidence—gathered from actual costs, not projections—is startling:
Over the last three years, Michigan’s public schools have experienced an actual reduction of almost $350 per employee per year in the cost of health benefits paid by school employers.
· In that same three year period, overall expenditures for health benefits provided by public school employers declined more than $36 million—while health care costs for private employers have increased more than 29 percent.
· Health insurance benefit costs for Michigan’s teachers are 20 percent below private sector costs.
· In 2008, only about 1 in 4 school support employees had access to any employer-paid medical insurance.
“Speaker Dillon’s plan is flawed from the onset because it relies on projected numbers, rather than actual costs,” said the report’s author, financial analyst Arch Lewis, “In fact, the study shows that the Dillon analysis is based on projected public school health benefit costs that are $365 million to $645 million above the actual 2007-08 costs for school employee health benefits.”
“Wrong Diagnosis-Wrong Cure” uses actual costs from school district reports to the MDE to “shatter misguided illusions and present clear and comprehensive facts,” said Lewis.
“Michigan taxpayers cannot afford to gamble on a proposal built on faulty analysis and misinformation. This report shows why it could end up costing us all millions more,” said Salters.
To see the complete report, “Wrong Diagnosis-Wrong Cure,” go to www.mea.org.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Rep. Lisa Brown at MEA Office Aug. 18, 2009 @ 6:30 PM
Dear WLEA Friends,
Lisa Brown, the legislator for the eastern portion of our school district, cancelled her previous meeting with us, but she will now be coming on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009, at 6:30.
Cyndi Austin, our Uniserve Director, has asked us to meet at 6:00 pm prior to Rep. Brown's arrival. If you can come, I would greatly appreciate it.
If you need directions or would like to talk to me or Cyndi, please call the Uniserve Office.
39300 West Twelve Mile Road, Suite 140
Farmington Hills, MI 48331
Ofc: 248-553-8198
Lisa Brown, the legislator for the eastern portion of our school district, cancelled her previous meeting with us, but she will now be coming on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009, at 6:30.
Cyndi Austin, our Uniserve Director, has asked us to meet at 6:00 pm prior to Rep. Brown's arrival. If you can come, I would greatly appreciate it.
If you need directions or would like to talk to me or Cyndi, please call the Uniserve Office.
39300 West Twelve Mile Road, Suite 140
Farmington Hills, MI 48331
Ofc: 248-553-8198
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Dear Fellow WLEA Members,
First of all, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all your efforts to communicate with our representatives in Lansing! Secondly, I feel I have asked you a million times to pass on information this summer, and I hate to intrude on your vacation again. I persist only because I know how important quality health care is to all of us, and our health care is now being seriously threatened. In this blog I have included information from Steve Cook, the Vice president of the MEA.
First a Labor Coalition was formed by the efforts of Lu Battaglieri, the Executive Director of the MEA. Members of the Labor Coalition include:
MEA
AFL-CIO
UAW
Michigan Association of Governmental Employees
IUOE – Local 547
Michigan Nurses Association
AFT
SEIU Michigan State Council
Teamsters Local 214
Amalgamated Transit Union, Michigan Legislative Council
Michigan AFSCME Council 25
Michigan State Employees Association
IBEW Michigan State Conference
The Labor Coalition met with Mr. Dillon and here is Steve Cook's (MEA Vice President) summary of the meeting:
Dillon is sticking to his “concept” and we, together with members of the Labor Coalition, are working overtime with legislators to defeat it. Dillon however offered to the Coalition the idea that we could develop our own plan. Here’s the problem, each day at bargaining tables across the state each member of the Labor Coalition has members that are doing just that – dealing first hand with the high cost of health insurance with their employers in negotiations and selecting that insurance that both employers and union members can best afford. Dillon’s offer to the Labor Coalition to bargain against ourselves was refused.
Dillon’s unacceptable premise is that in order for the Labor Coalition to offer a plan it has to begin with the foundation of a one size fits all, take it or leave it statewide health plan and then build from there. As reported in Gongwer News Service yesterday, the AFT said there needs to be a “do-over” of the Dillon plan. AFSCME Council 25 said his plan is “not salvageable.” MEA agrees.
PLEASE WRITE YOUR LEGISLATORS!!!! Use EMAIL!!! Use your home accounts! I have listed districts, names, and email addresses below!
District 37 – Farmington & Farmington Hills – Vicki Barnett VickiBarnett@house.mi.gov
District 38 – Novi, Walled Lake City, Wixom – Hugh Crawford HughCrawford@house.mi.gov
District 39 – West Bloomfield Twp., Commerce Twp.Lisa Brown LisaBrown@house.mi.gov
District 43 – West Bloomfield – Gail Haines GailHaines@house.mi.gov
District 44 – White Lake Township – Eileen Kowall EileenKowall@house.mi.gov
First of all, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all your efforts to communicate with our representatives in Lansing! Secondly, I feel I have asked you a million times to pass on information this summer, and I hate to intrude on your vacation again. I persist only because I know how important quality health care is to all of us, and our health care is now being seriously threatened. In this blog I have included information from Steve Cook, the Vice president of the MEA.
First a Labor Coalition was formed by the efforts of Lu Battaglieri, the Executive Director of the MEA. Members of the Labor Coalition include:
MEA
AFL-CIO
UAW
Michigan Association of Governmental Employees
IUOE – Local 547
Michigan Nurses Association
AFT
SEIU Michigan State Council
Teamsters Local 214
Amalgamated Transit Union, Michigan Legislative Council
Michigan AFSCME Council 25
Michigan State Employees Association
IBEW Michigan State Conference
The Labor Coalition met with Mr. Dillon and here is Steve Cook's (MEA Vice President) summary of the meeting:
Dillon is sticking to his “concept” and we, together with members of the Labor Coalition, are working overtime with legislators to defeat it. Dillon however offered to the Coalition the idea that we could develop our own plan. Here’s the problem, each day at bargaining tables across the state each member of the Labor Coalition has members that are doing just that – dealing first hand with the high cost of health insurance with their employers in negotiations and selecting that insurance that both employers and union members can best afford. Dillon’s offer to the Labor Coalition to bargain against ourselves was refused.
Dillon’s unacceptable premise is that in order for the Labor Coalition to offer a plan it has to begin with the foundation of a one size fits all, take it or leave it statewide health plan and then build from there. As reported in Gongwer News Service yesterday, the AFT said there needs to be a “do-over” of the Dillon plan. AFSCME Council 25 said his plan is “not salvageable.” MEA agrees.
PLEASE WRITE YOUR LEGISLATORS!!!! Use EMAIL!!! Use your home accounts! I have listed districts, names, and email addresses below!
District 37 – Farmington & Farmington Hills – Vicki Barnett VickiBarnett@house.mi.gov
District 38 – Novi, Walled Lake City, Wixom – Hugh Crawford HughCrawford@house.mi.gov
District 39 – West Bloomfield Twp., Commerce Twp.Lisa Brown LisaBrown@house.mi.gov
District 43 – West Bloomfield – Gail Haines GailHaines@house.mi.gov
District 44 – White Lake Township – Eileen Kowall EileenKowall@house.mi.gov
Monday, August 3, 2009
A Letter From Representative Dillon Regarding His Health Care Proposal - What do you think?
Rep. Dillon's Letter:
Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns with my recent proposal to reform health care for public sector employees. I appreciate your thoughtful suggestions and advocacy on this important matter.
Please know this is simply a proposal. At this time, no legislation has been agreed upon or introduced. To ensure all concerns are heard, I am continuing to meet with groups and organizations that would be affected by this proposal. With that said, as you know these are very tough economic times, and the effects resonate in the lives of all Michigan residents. I believe that with a budget deficit approaching $2 billion, state government must make some difficult cuts in spending and do its fair share to shoulder the burden - including legislators.
I have argued from the start that the state has been using one-time gimmicks for the past eight years to avoid addressing our structural deficit. We need to make tough cuts and implement serious reforms to reduce the cost of government.
The plan I am proposing will overhaul health care for Michigan's public sector employees and retirees, consolidating the hundreds of different health benefit plans under one roof. Creating this larger pool of customers will maximize efficiency and cost savings, while making health care more affordable and accessible. This move will save taxpayers almost $1 billion per year once fully implemented.
Please note that every public employee, including myself, my colleagues in the House and Senate, the Governor, all public school teachers and many others will be able to choose from the same health care plans. Finally, this is a pro-worker reform proposal. Current contracts in place will be honored, collective bargaining rights will be sustained and patient choice will be preserved.
It is necessary to assure the state is financially sound and can compete in the 21st Century. This reform will allow the state to continue to provide for access to affordable heath care, a quality educational system and adequately funded police and fire protection, all of which are critical ingredients to a healthy economy.
As I stated earlier, this is just a proposal. In the coming weeks I will continue to meet with many groups representing state and municipal workers throughout Michigan. It is my hope we can come together and work on a solution that works best for all parties, especially Michigan citizens.
Please rest assured that I will keep your views in mind as we work through this process.
For additional information, you may view my proposal at http://www.newideasformichigan.org/ .
Again, thank you for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding this or any other matter of concern.
Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns with my recent proposal to reform health care for public sector employees. I appreciate your thoughtful suggestions and advocacy on this important matter.
Please know this is simply a proposal. At this time, no legislation has been agreed upon or introduced. To ensure all concerns are heard, I am continuing to meet with groups and organizations that would be affected by this proposal. With that said, as you know these are very tough economic times, and the effects resonate in the lives of all Michigan residents. I believe that with a budget deficit approaching $2 billion, state government must make some difficult cuts in spending and do its fair share to shoulder the burden - including legislators.
I have argued from the start that the state has been using one-time gimmicks for the past eight years to avoid addressing our structural deficit. We need to make tough cuts and implement serious reforms to reduce the cost of government.
The plan I am proposing will overhaul health care for Michigan's public sector employees and retirees, consolidating the hundreds of different health benefit plans under one roof. Creating this larger pool of customers will maximize efficiency and cost savings, while making health care more affordable and accessible. This move will save taxpayers almost $1 billion per year once fully implemented.
Please note that every public employee, including myself, my colleagues in the House and Senate, the Governor, all public school teachers and many others will be able to choose from the same health care plans. Finally, this is a pro-worker reform proposal. Current contracts in place will be honored, collective bargaining rights will be sustained and patient choice will be preserved.
It is necessary to assure the state is financially sound and can compete in the 21st Century. This reform will allow the state to continue to provide for access to affordable heath care, a quality educational system and adequately funded police and fire protection, all of which are critical ingredients to a healthy economy.
As I stated earlier, this is just a proposal. In the coming weeks I will continue to meet with many groups representing state and municipal workers throughout Michigan. It is my hope we can come together and work on a solution that works best for all parties, especially Michigan citizens.
Please rest assured that I will keep your views in mind as we work through this process.
For additional information, you may view my proposal at http://www.newideasformichigan.org/ .
Again, thank you for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding this or any other matter of concern.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
HEALTH BENEFITS PROPOSAL put forth by House Speaker Andy Dillon
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!
Please go to:
http://www.mea.org/
or
Facebook fans - type in Michigan Education Association
or
Twitter fans - www.twitter.com/meaonline
Please go to:
http://www.mea.org/
or
Facebook fans - type in Michigan Education Association
or
Twitter fans - www.twitter.com/meaonline
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Educators: What are you doing during your summer break?
*At last night's School Board Meeting (July 9, 2009), I shared the following events that members emailed to me. The Board gave me well over my 3 allotted minutes, and I still didn't get them all read! I think it is just awesome how HARD our members work no matter what time of year it is!
**Also at last night's meeting, Scott Little was moved from interim to the official Assistant Superintendent of Employee and Labor Services!
Board of Education Three Minute SHARE Presentation – July 9, 2009
Good Evening, my name is Terese Fitzpatrick and I am the proud president of the Walled Lake Education Association.
Iris Salters, President of the MEA, recently wrote a newspaper article talking about what educators did during the summer. I thought it might be interesting to find out what Walled Lake educators were doing this summer, so I sent out an email. The responses were amazing, and although I can’t share them all, I will begin with the remaining minutes I have. For all those whose accomplishments I can’t “get out” in the 3 minutes alloted to me, I want them to know I will be posting them to my blog for everyone to see.
David Stanton at Northern is working this summer toward the completion of his doctorate degree by finishing his required course work. He is also taking the Advanced Placement World History seminar at Oakland University.
Sherri Look at Central is teaching summer school and is also taking the entry test to be accepted into University Of Maryland’s Masters of Chemical and Life Science Program.
Paulette Loe had the opportunity to attend the ground breaking for the new Federal Lock project on the grounds of the Soo Locks. Many dignitaries were in attendance including Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. She conversed with Senator Levin about the History of the Upper Penninsula, as well as sharing the great work being done with kids at Walled Lake Western! Way to go, Paulette. Thanks for promoting Walled Lake Schools with our representatives in Washington!
Lois Griffin, Cindy Goris ad Jan Lamb from Walnut Creek attended a summer institute on Linking Literacy which focused on reading and writing essentials.
Jan, Greg Cleveland, Mary Rashid, Barney Hyland and Mike Peterson will be attending a 3 day vocal music workshop at MSU at the end of July.
Amanda Swanson of Central and Molly Anson of Northern did a week long AP statistics training course. Molly and Joanne Lambert did a 2 day workshop to learn how to use the TI-NSpire calculator to enhance their teaching.
Julia Gidcumb from Creek attended a four day workshop sponsored by Eastern Michigan University called, Training Content Area Teachers to Teach English. This class focused on teaching ELL students and also on teaching writing.
Joan Garretson and Cheryl Goodwin taught a 2 day Non-violent Crisis Intervention class in June and will be doing it again in August. Joan has taken a 4 day class this month to be qualified as an advanced Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Instructor.
Jason Culbert is taking math courses to gain another certification, which will make it his fourth certification area. He is also updating his Water Safety Instructor Certification this summer.
Melanie Livingston from Commerce traveled to London this summer and did a study on the Prime Meridian. In addition, she told me that Commerce teachers are participating in the online book study “Writing Essentials” using the blogosphere!
Several teachers at Mary Helen Guest have volunteered their time this summer to come in and conduct a reading lesson with students that have been selected for their Super Summer Success program. Teachers gather with students every Wedenday for 45 minutes to read to and chat with the students about their reading done at home.
Patti Graham from Smart is serving as the Public Relations Director for the Michigan Reading Association and is chairing the Public Relations Committee for next year’s MRA conference.
Patti Graham and Tim Wichert, also of Smart, attended a 2 day conference at Central Michigan University meeting with the NASA folks learning about Astronomy and solar system instruction.
Brian Blackney from Western wrote that he attended a two day symposium with the US Peace Institute at Baker College. He also completed his Education Specialist degree at Oakland University. In addition he is being in serviced to become a “Digital Coach” and will be teaching at Walled Lake “Spice it Up” Seminar in August.
Kelli Doyle of Clifford Smart is taking classes this summer to earn a library science degree at Wayne State.
I am taking a 24 week program through Notre Dame University to earn an Executive Certificate from their Business college in Negotiations and Communications.
Cathy Ferguson is heading up a very successful ESL Summer School with 123 students, 10 teachers, and 7 Walled Lake district bilingual parapros.
Zuzanna Morelli from Geisler is one of the ESL teachers working in that program and she also attended an ELL Summer Academy which dealt with motivating adolescent readers and writers.
Saundra Josephson from Smart is teaching the Autistic spectrum Disorder extended school year program. She is also taking a class on reproductive health and sexuality for special education students at Oakland Schools. She will be meeting with other CI staff this summer to work on curriculum and goal writing for the CI population at the middle and high schools.
Jeri Weems, Jenny Farough, Fran Hufferd and Kari Routledge are attending the Michigan Reading Association’s Summer Lit conference next week that is featuring Nell Duke and Stephanie Harvey.
Steven McIntyre from Smart is adding six new credits to his current TWO master’s degrees to renew his teaching certificate. He is also a part of the Aspiring Principal Academy and is teaching summer school at Western.
Melissa Imhoff of Creek took Moodle Basics at Oakland Schools this summer and has completed Pam Shoemaker’s 5 Module Technology online course. Later this summer she will be taking two more online Special Ed classes through learnport.org.
Kaye Lynn Mazurek who teaches German at Northern emailed me from Germany to let me know that she is there with 22 Walled Lake Northern students participating in a German-American exchange program. It is a 25 day trip. The students are going to school every day and participating in field trips. They have done flag exchanges and tshirt-painting with German families as they develop friendships with the German students.
Rita Sintron from Northern is taking an online course this summer sponsored by Thinkfinity.org. This course prepares her to train others to integrate thinkfinity resources into the curriculum to enhance student learning. She will be receiving full credentials as a thinkfinity Field Trainer for Michigan.
Jamie Singelyn from Smart has laid out his entire 8th grade social studies benchmark studies for next year and has posted it to his website.
Paula Cullison at Guest is taking classes and participates in their Super summer success.
Brian Gorden at Smart is taking 3 summer classes.
Emily McBryar, soon to be from Geisler, is taking classes at Oakland University toward her master’s degree.
Kathy Murray at Glengary is doing a 6 hour training called “Talk, Draw, Write”. She is participating in the Techno Fest this summer and helping to plan Martin Luther King Day activites.
Suzanne Stiles of Wixom and Beverly Currie of Loon Lake are leaving for Santa Fe, New Mexico on Saturday to attend a art teacher training session with emphasis on Pueblo culture and pottery. They will be presenting their learnings to 12 other art teachers in September.
Laura King from Creek is taking a class on Communication and Collaboration in the classroom this summer.
Michael Weiskopf from Western attended the 2009 Michigan Joint Education Conference at Holt High School in June.
Debbie Jess-Isenegger completed her 30+ hours in March and will be leaving for Pampered Chef “school” in Chicago on Wednesday.
Carol Kravetz from Geisler is conducting an instructional program for the West Bloomfield School District that provides weekly units of study in math and language arts for grades K through 8. She is also working with the group of educators planning Martin Luther King Day celebrations for 2010. In August she will be taking a one week workshop at Oakland Schools, called "The Reading Workshop." Carol is also the president of the West Bloomfield Library Board which keeps her very busy.
Jennifer La Cross shares that several teachers from Walled Lake Central took a week long class on Differeniated Instruction last week. Lessons were created and will be ready to use when school begins.
Chris Kozicki from Commerce Elementary shares that Commerce teachers are working on continuing their educations during the summer. Those who are changing grade levels are accessing the District Curriculum website to study pacing guides, rubrics, and curriculum guide lines. These teachers as well as others are reading and reviewing current research making sure they are continuing to use best educational practices in the coming school year. A teacher blog page has been set up on the Commerce School website to accomodate discussion of our selected summer reading, Writing Essentials, by noted author Regie Routman. We are updating and recreating personal web pages so that communication between home and school flows smoothly when the new school year begins. Commerce teachers are commited to excellence!
Sandi Brough-Gresh wrote that this summer I attended AP physics training and spent a day this summer with Judy Davis and JP Arens updating and revising Physics benchmarks.
**Also at last night's meeting, Scott Little was moved from interim to the official Assistant Superintendent of Employee and Labor Services!
Board of Education Three Minute SHARE Presentation – July 9, 2009
Good Evening, my name is Terese Fitzpatrick and I am the proud president of the Walled Lake Education Association.
Iris Salters, President of the MEA, recently wrote a newspaper article talking about what educators did during the summer. I thought it might be interesting to find out what Walled Lake educators were doing this summer, so I sent out an email. The responses were amazing, and although I can’t share them all, I will begin with the remaining minutes I have. For all those whose accomplishments I can’t “get out” in the 3 minutes alloted to me, I want them to know I will be posting them to my blog for everyone to see.
David Stanton at Northern is working this summer toward the completion of his doctorate degree by finishing his required course work. He is also taking the Advanced Placement World History seminar at Oakland University.
Sherri Look at Central is teaching summer school and is also taking the entry test to be accepted into University Of Maryland’s Masters of Chemical and Life Science Program.
Paulette Loe had the opportunity to attend the ground breaking for the new Federal Lock project on the grounds of the Soo Locks. Many dignitaries were in attendance including Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. She conversed with Senator Levin about the History of the Upper Penninsula, as well as sharing the great work being done with kids at Walled Lake Western! Way to go, Paulette. Thanks for promoting Walled Lake Schools with our representatives in Washington!
Lois Griffin, Cindy Goris ad Jan Lamb from Walnut Creek attended a summer institute on Linking Literacy which focused on reading and writing essentials.
Jan, Greg Cleveland, Mary Rashid, Barney Hyland and Mike Peterson will be attending a 3 day vocal music workshop at MSU at the end of July.
Amanda Swanson of Central and Molly Anson of Northern did a week long AP statistics training course. Molly and Joanne Lambert did a 2 day workshop to learn how to use the TI-NSpire calculator to enhance their teaching.
Julia Gidcumb from Creek attended a four day workshop sponsored by Eastern Michigan University called, Training Content Area Teachers to Teach English. This class focused on teaching ELL students and also on teaching writing.
Joan Garretson and Cheryl Goodwin taught a 2 day Non-violent Crisis Intervention class in June and will be doing it again in August. Joan has taken a 4 day class this month to be qualified as an advanced Non-Violent Crisis Intervention Instructor.
Jason Culbert is taking math courses to gain another certification, which will make it his fourth certification area. He is also updating his Water Safety Instructor Certification this summer.
Melanie Livingston from Commerce traveled to London this summer and did a study on the Prime Meridian. In addition, she told me that Commerce teachers are participating in the online book study “Writing Essentials” using the blogosphere!
Several teachers at Mary Helen Guest have volunteered their time this summer to come in and conduct a reading lesson with students that have been selected for their Super Summer Success program. Teachers gather with students every Wedenday for 45 minutes to read to and chat with the students about their reading done at home.
Patti Graham from Smart is serving as the Public Relations Director for the Michigan Reading Association and is chairing the Public Relations Committee for next year’s MRA conference.
Patti Graham and Tim Wichert, also of Smart, attended a 2 day conference at Central Michigan University meeting with the NASA folks learning about Astronomy and solar system instruction.
Brian Blackney from Western wrote that he attended a two day symposium with the US Peace Institute at Baker College. He also completed his Education Specialist degree at Oakland University. In addition he is being in serviced to become a “Digital Coach” and will be teaching at Walled Lake “Spice it Up” Seminar in August.
Kelli Doyle of Clifford Smart is taking classes this summer to earn a library science degree at Wayne State.
I am taking a 24 week program through Notre Dame University to earn an Executive Certificate from their Business college in Negotiations and Communications.
Cathy Ferguson is heading up a very successful ESL Summer School with 123 students, 10 teachers, and 7 Walled Lake district bilingual parapros.
Zuzanna Morelli from Geisler is one of the ESL teachers working in that program and she also attended an ELL Summer Academy which dealt with motivating adolescent readers and writers.
Saundra Josephson from Smart is teaching the Autistic spectrum Disorder extended school year program. She is also taking a class on reproductive health and sexuality for special education students at Oakland Schools. She will be meeting with other CI staff this summer to work on curriculum and goal writing for the CI population at the middle and high schools.
Jeri Weems, Jenny Farough, Fran Hufferd and Kari Routledge are attending the Michigan Reading Association’s Summer Lit conference next week that is featuring Nell Duke and Stephanie Harvey.
Steven McIntyre from Smart is adding six new credits to his current TWO master’s degrees to renew his teaching certificate. He is also a part of the Aspiring Principal Academy and is teaching summer school at Western.
Melissa Imhoff of Creek took Moodle Basics at Oakland Schools this summer and has completed Pam Shoemaker’s 5 Module Technology online course. Later this summer she will be taking two more online Special Ed classes through learnport.org.
Kaye Lynn Mazurek who teaches German at Northern emailed me from Germany to let me know that she is there with 22 Walled Lake Northern students participating in a German-American exchange program. It is a 25 day trip. The students are going to school every day and participating in field trips. They have done flag exchanges and tshirt-painting with German families as they develop friendships with the German students.
Rita Sintron from Northern is taking an online course this summer sponsored by Thinkfinity.org. This course prepares her to train others to integrate thinkfinity resources into the curriculum to enhance student learning. She will be receiving full credentials as a thinkfinity Field Trainer for Michigan.
Jamie Singelyn from Smart has laid out his entire 8th grade social studies benchmark studies for next year and has posted it to his website.
Paula Cullison at Guest is taking classes and participates in their Super summer success.
Brian Gorden at Smart is taking 3 summer classes.
Emily McBryar, soon to be from Geisler, is taking classes at Oakland University toward her master’s degree.
Kathy Murray at Glengary is doing a 6 hour training called “Talk, Draw, Write”. She is participating in the Techno Fest this summer and helping to plan Martin Luther King Day activites.
Suzanne Stiles of Wixom and Beverly Currie of Loon Lake are leaving for Santa Fe, New Mexico on Saturday to attend a art teacher training session with emphasis on Pueblo culture and pottery. They will be presenting their learnings to 12 other art teachers in September.
Laura King from Creek is taking a class on Communication and Collaboration in the classroom this summer.
Michael Weiskopf from Western attended the 2009 Michigan Joint Education Conference at Holt High School in June.
Debbie Jess-Isenegger completed her 30+ hours in March and will be leaving for Pampered Chef “school” in Chicago on Wednesday.
Carol Kravetz from Geisler is conducting an instructional program for the West Bloomfield School District that provides weekly units of study in math and language arts for grades K through 8. She is also working with the group of educators planning Martin Luther King Day celebrations for 2010. In August she will be taking a one week workshop at Oakland Schools, called "The Reading Workshop." Carol is also the president of the West Bloomfield Library Board which keeps her very busy.
Jennifer La Cross shares that several teachers from Walled Lake Central took a week long class on Differeniated Instruction last week. Lessons were created and will be ready to use when school begins.
Chris Kozicki from Commerce Elementary shares that Commerce teachers are working on continuing their educations during the summer. Those who are changing grade levels are accessing the District Curriculum website to study pacing guides, rubrics, and curriculum guide lines. These teachers as well as others are reading and reviewing current research making sure they are continuing to use best educational practices in the coming school year. A teacher blog page has been set up on the Commerce School website to accomodate discussion of our selected summer reading, Writing Essentials, by noted author Regie Routman. We are updating and recreating personal web pages so that communication between home and school flows smoothly when the new school year begins. Commerce teachers are commited to excellence!
Sandi Brough-Gresh wrote that this summer I attended AP physics training and spent a day this summer with Judy Davis and JP Arens updating and revising Physics benchmarks.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Important Legislative Update!
CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR!!!
The House Education Committee has reported out to the full House of Representatives a package of bills that the MEA strongly supports.
HB 4788 – This is very important legislation as it amends PERA (Public Employees Relations Act). This piece of legislation:
1) REMOVES the prohibition against bargaining over privatization,
2) REMOVES the prohibition against bargaining the first day of the school year,
3) REMOVES the prohibition against bargaining the granting of a leave of absence to teach in a charter school.
Item 2 would be particularly useful to teacher bargaining units as we struggle with the increasing “fixed” requirements regarding the school calendar; i.e., mandatory 2 weeks in December/January, and the mandatory first week of April for Spring Break.
Item 1 is becoming increasingly important to MEA bargaining groups as school districts seek to privatize their custodial, food, and transportation services, affecting hundreds of MEA members who drive our buses, cook and feed children, and clean our schools.
Details in other legislation include the preservation of bargaining rights for employees in “failing” schools. Also, the provisions of the new legislation limit charter school expansion to the "last resort" after all other efforts fail to make improvement in the “failing” school. It also states that the charter schools must be located in the attendance are of the “failing” school. This has not yet become a concern for our school district, but I believe it is important to consider this issue as it affects other schools around us and school choice.
PLEASE WRITE YOUR LEGISLATORS!!!! Please urge them to support the amendments to PERA and guidelines for preserving bargaining right for employees in “failing” schools. Use EMAIL!!! Use your home accounts! I have listed districts, names, and email addresses below!
District 37 – Farmington & Farmington Hills – Vicki Barnett VickiBarnett@house.mi.gov
District 38 – Novi, Walled Lake City, Wixom – Hugh Crawford HughCrawford@house.mi.gov
District 39 – West Bloomfield Twp., Commerce Twp.
Lisa Brown LisaBrown@house.mi.gov
District 43 – West Bloomfield – Gail Haines GailHaines@house.mi.gov
District 44 – White Lake Township – Eileen Kowall EileenKowall@house.mi.gov
CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR!!!
The House Education Committee has reported out to the full House of Representatives a package of bills that the MEA strongly supports.
HB 4788 – This is very important legislation as it amends PERA (Public Employees Relations Act). This piece of legislation:
1) REMOVES the prohibition against bargaining over privatization,
2) REMOVES the prohibition against bargaining the first day of the school year,
3) REMOVES the prohibition against bargaining the granting of a leave of absence to teach in a charter school.
Item 2 would be particularly useful to teacher bargaining units as we struggle with the increasing “fixed” requirements regarding the school calendar; i.e., mandatory 2 weeks in December/January, and the mandatory first week of April for Spring Break.
Item 1 is becoming increasingly important to MEA bargaining groups as school districts seek to privatize their custodial, food, and transportation services, affecting hundreds of MEA members who drive our buses, cook and feed children, and clean our schools.
Details in other legislation include the preservation of bargaining rights for employees in “failing” schools. Also, the provisions of the new legislation limit charter school expansion to the "last resort" after all other efforts fail to make improvement in the “failing” school. It also states that the charter schools must be located in the attendance are of the “failing” school. This has not yet become a concern for our school district, but I believe it is important to consider this issue as it affects other schools around us and school choice.
PLEASE WRITE YOUR LEGISLATORS!!!! Please urge them to support the amendments to PERA and guidelines for preserving bargaining right for employees in “failing” schools. Use EMAIL!!! Use your home accounts! I have listed districts, names, and email addresses below!
District 37 – Farmington & Farmington Hills – Vicki Barnett VickiBarnett@house.mi.gov
District 38 – Novi, Walled Lake City, Wixom – Hugh Crawford HughCrawford@house.mi.gov
District 39 – West Bloomfield Twp., Commerce Twp.
Lisa Brown LisaBrown@house.mi.gov
District 43 – West Bloomfield – Gail Haines GailHaines@house.mi.gov
District 44 – White Lake Township – Eileen Kowall EileenKowall@house.mi.gov
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