TEA General Counsel: TVAAS too
Complex to be Trusted
page 7
Special Insert:
Published by the TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
October 2013  Vol. 45, No. 3  www.teateachers.org
American Education Week Poster
page 8
Will the State Let
Love Chapel Elementary
Fall Through the Cracks?
page 4
Speaking out with you
Gera Summerford, President
Salary Increase: Let’s Do the Math
Governor Haslam announced in early October a new goal
for teacher salaries in Tennessee. He plans to increase teacher
salaries at the fastest rate in the nation. With no specifics in the
announcement, we’re left to ask what this means for Tennessee
teachers.
Teacher salaries in our state currently rank about 45th in the
nation. Both the beginning salary and average
salary for Tennessee teachers are lower than in
half our border states. Georgia ranks highest
among southeast states, with teachers there
earning on average some $4600 more than in
Tennessee. The highest-paid teachers are in
New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and
California, yet the salaries in these states have
not grown rapidly in recent years. Over the
past two years, though, some states have seen
high rates of increase – as much as three-to-five percent. Does the
governor intend to fund salary increases to match those rates?
Gov. Haslam said that over the past two years, teacher salaries
in Tennessee have increased by four percent. We can assume he’s
referring to the 2.5
percent raise in 201213 followed by an
“Does the governor
intend to raise all teacher increase of 1.5 percent
this year. But, due to
salaries or simply
changes in the minimum
increase state funding as salary schedule and
state mandates for
he did this year?”
differentiated pay, less
than half the school
systems in Tennessee are giving all teachers the 1.5 percent
salary increase for 2013-14. This administration has said they
want local school districts to determine how best to apply state
funding for teacher salaries. But whether called differentiated
pay, alternative pay, or strategic compensation, these plans
usually mean some teachers get a raise while others don’t. Does
the governor intend to raise all teacher salaries, or simply increase
state funding as he did this year?
We know that salary rankings are based on average salary. Now
let’s do some math: If five teachers each earn $40,000, we can
give everyone a raise of $2000 and the new average is $42,000.
However, if we give one teacher a $10,000 raise and leave the other
four salaries the same, the new average is also $42,000. So we
can raise the average salary even though four out of five teachers’
salaries stay the same. While the governor’s intent may be to
increase the average teacher salary in our state, who will actually
get a raise?
We’ve heard the State Board of Education express concerns
about low-ranking teacher salaries in Tennessee, and now Gov.
Haslam has set a goal for our teachers to have the fastest-growing
salaries in the nation. How will these concerns and the governor’s
goal be addressed? The details are yet to be forthcoming. As for
now, we just have more questions.
Mitchell Johnson, Interim Executive Director
Fight for Public Education for the Public Good
There has been a lot of talk by so-called education reformers in
recent years promoting the need for charter schools and vouchers
(sometimes disguised as “opportunity scholarships”). The American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a huge player in advancing the
extreme agenda of these neo-reformers, pushing the idea that the free
market and the private sector can address a child’s intellectual and
social development better than any other entity,
including local government. The battle cry they
use to attract the uninformed offers parents socalled “school choice,” options other than public
schools, for their children. TEA supports the belief
that all of Tennessee’s children should enjoy all
available options and opportunities. The operative
word here is “all”.
The southern strategy for ALEC, adopted by
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and other highranking state leaders, is to create a dual school system in the state:
One that is unequal serving the majority of school systems; and another
one that is more prosperous and affluent, rich with resources but
unavailable to most students. The push for a dual education system
is accompanied by shameless discrediting of the traditional public
schools; describing them as failures; then starving them with limited
resources; disturbing the education process by implementing a highstakes testing system; then disrupting public education through
divisiveness by implementing counter-productive reforms. Chief among
those reforms is the state’s punitive evaluation system. On the other
side, state leaders promote charter schools and vouchers as viable
options for those wishing to escape the discredited public schools.
Their solution to adopt a corporate model of school reform turns
the schools over to private managers. Their solution creates a system of
winners and losers.
TEA advocates another option. We encourage educators and other
like-minded groups to unite to promote this basic principle — Public
Education for the Public Good. TEA believes every child should be given
the opportunity to pursue a rich and productive life — both individually
and as a member of society — through a system of publicly funded,
equitable and democratically controlled public schools.
A strong public education system has made the United States
the strongest in the world because of a commitment to provide all
children with the opportunity to attend a quality public school in their
community. To preserve our leadership position in the future, public
schools should be appropriately funded for success, equity and the
educational value they provide our communities.
Unfortunately, many of our schools remain segregated and unequal
to this day and the corporate-reform solution would only create
greater segregation and inequity. Some students would be able to get
a stronger education than others under their schemes. When Tennessee
fails to properly fund public education, we shortchange our children
and ultimately shortchange our future. The result is that some students
are able to access a better set of circumstances than others. We must
preserve opportunities for all children to access a quality education
and not hand this responsibility over to private corporate executives,
entrepreneurs or distant philanthropists who view our students as
commodities and collateral.
teach (USPS 742-450, ISSN 15382907) is published in August, September (online only), October, Nov/Dec (online
only), Jan/Feb, March/April, and May (online only) by the
Tennessee Education Association, 801 Second Avenue
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allocated from annual membership dues of $258.00 for
active members; $129.00 for associate, education support and staff members; $16.00 for retired members;
and $10.00 for student members. Member of State
Education Editors (SEE).
Teacher Salary Schemes: Much Talk About Little Pay
District Plans for State Salary Increase Funds
Postmaster: Send address changes to teach,
801 Second Avenue North,
Nashville, TN 37201-1099.
MANAGING EDITOR: Alexei Smirnov
[email protected]
ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Carol K. Schmoock
INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & PUBLISHER:
Mitchell Johnson
Tennessee Education Association
801 Second Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37201-1099
Telephone: (615)242-8392,
Toll Free: (800)342-8367, (800)342-8262
Fax: (615)259-4581
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT: Gera Summerford* (800)342-8367
VICE PRESIDENT: Barbara Gray* (901)867-6015
SECRETARY-TREASURER: Mitchell Johnson (615)242-8392
DISTRICT 1 Leisa Lusk (423)794-6247
DISTRICT 2 Lauren McCarty* (865)385-5220
DISTRICT 3 Michael Carvella (865)212-9774
DISTRICT 4 Anthony Hancock (865)293-9232
DISTRICT 5 Shawanda Perkins (423)385-9569
DISTRICT 6 Scott Price (931)455-7198
DISTRICT 7 Ashley Evett (847)338-0580
DISTRICT 8 Kawanda Braxton* (615)554-6286
DISTRICT 9 Theresa L. Wagner (270)776-1467
DISTRICT 10 Larry Proffitt (423)608-7855
DISTRICT 11 Wendy R. Bowers (731)645-8595
DISTRICT 12 Suzie May (731)779-9329
DISTRICT 13 Ernestine King (901)590-8188
DISTRICT 14 Tiffany Reed (901)412-2759
DISTRICT 15 Tom Emens (901)277-0578
ADMINISTRATOR EAST Johnny Henry (865)712-3199
ADMINISTRATOR MIDDLE Julie Hopkins
(615)822-5742
ADMINISTRATOR WEST Vacancy
HIGHER EDUCATION Clinton Smith* (901)230-4914
BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER EAST Paula Hancock
(865)694-1691
BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER MIDDLE Kenneth Martin
(615)876-1948
BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER WEST Sarah Kennedy-Harper
(901)416-4582
STATE SPECIAL SCHOOLS Vacancy
NEW TEACHER CandraClariette (615)298-8053
ESP Stephanie Bea (901)265-4540
TN NEA DIRECTOR Melanie Buchanan* (615)305-2214
TN NEA DIRECTOR Diccie Smith (901)482-0627
TN NEA DIRECTOR Diane Lillard (423)715-0568
STEA MEMBER Parris Malone (901)406-9188
TN RETIRED Gerald Lillard (423)473-9400
* Executive Committee
TEA HEADQUARTERS STAFF
INTERIMEXECUTIVEDIRECTOR:MitchellJohnson;ASST.EXECUTIVE
DIRECTORS,TerranceGibson;CarolK.Schmoock;Duran
Williams; MANAGEROFBUSINESS AFFAIRS:StephanieFaulkner;
INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY&SYSTEMSMANAGER,Galen Riggs;
MANAGEROFLEGALSERVICES:Steve McCloud;STAFFATTORNEYS:
JohnAllen,VirginiaA. McCoy;MANAGEROFGOVERNMENT
RELATIONS:JimWrye;GOVERNMENTRELATIONSCOORDINATOR:
AntoinetteLee;WEBMASTER&COMMUNICATIONSCOORDINATOR:
AmandaChaney;MANAGINGEDITOR&COMMUNICATIONS
COORDINATOR:AlexeiSmirnov; INSTRUCTION&PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENTCOORDINATORS:SusanDalton,ChelseaMcKissack;
COORDINATOROFMEMBERSHIP&AFFILIATERELATIONS:Shannon
Bain.
UniServ Staff contact information
can be found on page 16 or by scannig
the Quick Response code below.
2
October 2013
9%
4%
Raise
7%
Bonus
Performance Pay
10%
52%
Step and Degree Increases
No Funds to Teachers
18%
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam recently
announced a plan to make Tennessee the fastest
improving state in the nation when it comes to
teacher salaries. While the details of his plan
remain vague, lessons learned from prior education
initiatives urge a sufficient amount of caution about
the governor’s most recent proposal.
Earlier this year, the State Board of Education
voted to gut the state minimum salary schedule
(SMSS), approving the proposal of Tennessee
Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman who
encouraged school districts to distribute the 1.5
percent state salary increase to teachers on a
voluntary basis under the guise of local control.
That state board vote could have been a lot
worse. Thanks to hundreds of TEA members’ calls,
emails and presence at the meeting, TEA prevailed
in its plea to increase the base salary on the new
minimum state salary schedule by 1.5 percent. The
increments have likewise been increased by that
amount. That victory was significant because it was
not a part of the proposal Huffman presented to the
State Board at a prior meeting.
While the Department of Education admitted in
its salary schedule fact sheet and during the board
meeting that local districts can continue to use their
existing schedules this year (including the ability to
continue to reward teachers for years of experience
and advanced degrees), new data from across the
state shows that less than half of all school districts
followed through with giving teachers their hardearned, permanent 1.5 percent raise.
In the graph above, it appears that 52 percent
of districts chose to distribute the salary increase.
That percentage includes districts distributing the
1.5 percent raise as the main portion of their new
salary plan, coupled with other initiatives such as
Undecided/No Response
pay-for-test-scores.
Another four percent of districts chose to not
distribute the salary increase and an alarming 10
percent decided to exclusively tie the salary increase
to a local pay-for-test-scores scheme.
Today, teacher salaries in Tennessee rank about
45th in the nation. Both the beginning salary and
average salary for Tennessee’s teachers are lower
“If we want the best for our
students and teachers, we
should go back to the standard,
proven state minimum salary
schedule.”
than in half of our border states. Georgia ranks
highest among southeast states, with teachers
there earning on average some $4600 more than
in Tennessee. As TEA President Gera Summerford
points out in her commentary on the opposite
page, the highest-paid teachers are in New York,
Connecticut, Massachusetts and California, yet the
salaries in these states have not grown rapidly in
recent years. Over the past two years, though, some
states have seen high rates of increase – as much as
three-to-five percent.
“Does the governor intend to fund salary
increases to match those rates?” Summerford asks.
It’s still unclear whether Haslam’s plan to
increase teacher pay will be solely tied to student
test scores and teacher evaluations.
“TEA appreciates the governor recognizing how
hard Tennessee educators work and how little they
are currently paid,” said Summerford. “Teachers
have been under increasing pressure during the past
three years, and compensation is one way to show
appreciation for their tremendous efforts in raising
student achievement. If we want to recruit and
retain the best educators, we must get Tennessee
out of the bottom 10 states for teacher pay.”
“Our concern is whether the governor’s intent
is to make the increases solely based on unreliable
student test data and a flawed evaluation system,”
Summerford said. “TEA believes any compensation
plan must include input from educators and
opportunities for all teachers to realize higher
salaries. We are eager to learn more about the
governor’s plan and hope to see real increases in
teacher pay, not just another pay-for-performance
scheme.”
The recent radical changes reduced Tennessee’s
21-step salary schedule for teachers to four steps
and collapsed the levels of advanced degrees from
four to one.
The overall effect of these changes was a
substantial reduction in teacher salary requirements
from the state, especially the requirement for
improved salaries for teachers with degrees above
a master’s. In addition, the new plan allows the
state to ignore the value of teacher experience
beyond 11 years of service. The current plan spells
frozen salaries, especially for those teachers with
an education specialist, doctorate, or a master’s
degree plus 30 hours of additional coursework; flatlining of salaries for career teachers above 11 years
of service; decreased lifetime earnings; negative
impact on retirement benefits; as well as growing
competition among teachers for limited salary
funds.
“The reason Commissioner Huffman made this
radical change was to push for local differentiated
pay based on student test scores,” said TEA Interim
Executive Director Mitchell Johnson. “We know
now that such a plan is creating wide disparities in
teacher compensation within schools and school
systems.”
Considering the recent gutting of the state
minimum salary schedule, Johnson said it’s easy
to remain skeptical about the recent teacher salary
initiative from Governor Haslam.
“The purpose of the state minimum salary
schedule is to ensure that no teacher, regardless
of gender, race, or school system earns less than
the state minimum,” Johnson said. “If we want the
best for our students and teachers, we should go
back to the standard, proven state minimum salary
schedule.”
3
www.teateachers.org
“Don’t Ask for Help from the State”
Unicoi County teachers, superintendent were left to fend
for themselves in wake of the largest sinkhole in history
W
hat happens when nature threatens to
wipe a school building from the face of
the Earth? If the story of Love Chapel
Elementary in Erwin is any indication,
everything will run smoothly when the
teachers, principal and school board work together
as a family, but they shouldn’t pin their hopes on the
state government or the Tennessee Department of
Education under its current leadership.
Love Chapel Elementary School Principal Ben
Evely was in his Bible study class on Saturday, August
18, 2012, when he received news that a sinkhole was
discovered at his school. Evely rushed to 1426 Love
Station Road and found a gaping void in the middle of
the driveway where parents lined up to pick up their
kids less than 12 hours prior.
Founded in 1922, Love Chapel Elementary was
about to break all known records as the site of
the largest sinkhole on public school grounds in
Tennessee history.
“It was massive compared to what I was expecting
to see,” says Evely, who during the next seven days
worked around the clock with his staff and Unicoi
County Director of Schools Denise Brown to transfer
Love Chapel and its students to alternate locations.
After a week-long break, students in kindergarten
through second grade were moved to the
Intermediate School and third-grade students were
transferred to the Middle School as their teachers
prepared to operate from rolling carts in tight spaces.
In hindsight, Love Chapel staff is amazed they
were able to pull it off.
4 October 2013
“We took the whole school and moved in about
five days,” Evely says. “We threw things into boxes—it
was organized chaos. We relocated the same student
body, teachers and staff.”
In a word, no child was left behind at Love Chapel,
except in this case it was not a contrived edu-slogan
but a true testament to the hard work of teachers and
the local authorities who trust them to do their job.
“Our local, UCEA, reached
out to our teachers to see
if they needed anything.
They were very supportive
and positive.”
Ben Evely,
Love Chapel Principal
The sinkhole eventually reached 35 feet in
diameter and took in 100 tons of rock as engineers
commissioned from Florida worked to stop its
expansion. The void was measured at 122 feet deep.
Further seismic testing revealed four other active and
two potential sinkholes on the six-acre property.
“Even the geologists and engineers who worked
on this said it’s one of the biggest sinkholes they
have seen,” says Unicoi Co. Director of Schools Denise
Brown. “The testing we’ve done found one active
sinkhole that was 172 feet deep. I dealt with a lot of
things in 11 years on this job, but it’s the first time
I’ve dealt with a sinkhole. The credit goes to this
staff. If this had happened anywhere else, I don’t
think it would have gone as smoothly.”
As the sinkhole and the news about it spread,
Brown had a leadership team assembled by Sunday
morning.
“We placed nine different teachers on rolling
carts,” Brown says. “All the related arts were moved
out of the rooms, which affected the faculty and staff
at the Intermediate and Middle schools. Everyone
was just amazing. I know it was hard to uproot so
many teachers. We had to improvise with classrooms.
We used the band room for lunches at the Middle
School.”
The Love Chapel librarian weathered rain,
sleet and winter storms as she crossed the road
between school buildings several times a day to get
from one set of students to another. The school’s
secretary contracted pneumonia twice, but none
of the hardships mattered because the faculty
and staff kept their focus. In the end, Love Chapel
won the prize. In spite of the havoc visited upon
the school by Mother Nature, not to mention the
unfavorable regulatory and political winds faced by
all Tennessee’s teachers in recent years, Love Chapel
students scored the highest out of four K-3 schools
on the achievement tests last spring.
“It speaks to the quality of staff and their positive
attitude,” Brown says. “During the week we were
out, we scheduled a meeting with parents to walk
them through all the changes, to let them know where
their children would be. We tried to cover everything we
could. When time came for questions, I was holding my
breath. I think our parents had only three questions, and
they were all very supportive.”
Janie Love, veteran Love Chapel teacher and Unicoi
Co. EA member since 1984, says the school offered
counseling to students and parents, but not many of
them used it.
“I think it’s because we were calm, knowing that our
bosses were taking care of the logistics and letting us
teach,” says Love’s colleague and fellow UCEA member
Renee Lingerfelt.
Last February, the Unicoi County School Board voted
to permanently close the nearly 60-year-old building of
Love Chapel Elementary due to safety issues and relocate
the school to portable classrooms near Unicoi County
High School.
As we discuss the upheaval caused by last year’s
unexpected cataclysm in one of the brand new portables
which will be home to Love Chapel Elementary for the
next three years, one thing becomes crystal clear—the
superintendent, principal, teachers and support staff
at Love Chapel truly mean it when they say they are
family. They are quick to give each other credit for their
success, eager to thank the Unicoi County Education
Association and the network of 17 area superintendents
for support. At the same time, the silence from Nashville
is deafening.
Brown says she has been “pretty vocal about the
things going on at the state level.” She was among
the superintendents who signed the petition asking
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam to rein in Tennessee
Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman. Brown’s
opinion of the goings-on in Tennessee public education
didn’t change for the better after she spent nearly four
months to get a 15-minute audience with Haslam to
discuss the future of Love Chapel.
After a royal runaround, which included being told
that the governor can’t meet with her and there is no
money for Love Chapel, Brown wanted to hear it from
him personally, “even if it took sitting in front of his
office.” Brown has been in touch with other local,
state and federal officials, including U.S. Sen. Lamar
Alexander, Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, and Lt.
Gov. Ron Ramsey.
“They are supportive, but we still haven’t found
the financial help,” Brown says. “The thing with Unicoi
County, 52 percent of our land is federally owned, and
our county commission is almost bonded out.”
Principal Evely struggles to contain his emotions
when he says that the state “didn’t come to offer any
assistance in any of the phases of the move.”
“No one from the state department or their local
people ever reached out or offered any assistance
that I’m aware of,” he says. “No one ever contacted or
emailed our school. We’re not high enough on the list, I
don’t think.”
Even after the school persevered and yielded the
highest scores in end-of-year achievement tests in the
district, everyone in the room laughs at the suggestion
that the State Department of Education would want to
hail their hard work.
“I haven’t received an email saying ‘Man, you did
great after that sinkhole’,” Brown says.
Yet Gov. Haslam’s re-election campaign mailers do
reach Love Chapel faculty and staff.
“For $250 you can attend his reelection kick-off in
Greeneville,” Evely says.
“Or you can take a picture with him and the first lady
for $1,000,” says Amy Lowery, Love Chapel teacher UCEA
Association Representative at the school.
“First and foremost, we’re thankful that nobody got
hurt,” Lowery says. “We know that no one worked harder
than our boss and his boss. At Love Chapel, we know who
delivers on their promises. It wasn’t chaos and we could
focus on our kids because Mr. Evely and Ms. Brown were
taking care of all the other stuff. That’s how we did it.”
Unicoi Co. EA member Amy Lowery reads to Love Chapel Elementary students in one of the new portables which will house the
school for the next three years until the new building is funded and built. Opposite page, left to right: Love Chapel teachers
Renee Lingerfelt and Janie Love, Principal Ben Evely, Amy Lowery and Unicoi County Director of Schools Denise Brown.
Listen to This
Superintendent
Denise Brown: “I said to the parents, God is
gracious and we are blessed. We’re in school five days
a week and out two, and this happened during one of
those two days. It still gives me chills to talk about it.
I have a building sitting out there and we have
to figure out what to do with it. We can’t use it for
school. We’re looking at possible property purchases.
We have found 12 different sites. Then I’ll start
working with the architect and the school board
attorney. I believe with all my heart that we’re going
to be in a new school.
To build a new school for 350 students we need
10 to 15 acres of land and $10-$12 million. Property
development is now part of my ‘other assigned
duties.’
Just knowing that there is support was a big plus.
TEA UniServ Coordinator [Jennifer Gaby] was very
helpful. We have 17 school districts in our region.
By Sunday afternoon, every single one of them
contacted me to see whether I needed any help.
People sent us cafeteria tables and dividers. I even
had to send an email saying we didn’t need that
many dividers.
To sum up what we’ve been through, everything
goes back to relationships, trust and keeping the
focus on our students. Talking about the [State
Education] Commissioner’s office and the Governor’s
office, they have not built those relationships, and
with a lot of things they’re trying to force down on
us, they just don’t have the trust. To be successful,
I don’t care what position you have, you must have
relationships.
Tying teacher licensure to testing is absolutely
absurd.
You don’t have to mess with local control. To tie a
piece of [TVAAS] data that nobody can tell me is 100percent valid to somebody’s life? We don’t do that in
the medical field; we don’t do that in any other field.
We don’t need state officials, most of whom never
ran a school, trying to tell us that we’ve been doing
well. We don’t need anything tied to licensure to
affect strong, capable teachers. It’s just added stress
on our veteran teachers.
Why do [they] want to push these reforms that
are hurting the very essence of public education?
I think private education has its own place, but it
shouldn’t be paid for with public funds. I’m against
school vouchers and charter schools because we
educate everybody.”
5
www.teateachers.org
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



 






     
An active Clarksville-Montgomery
Co. EA member,
 


Brown applies the same attitude to helping his

  


colleagues during summer conferences and in day-to

day struggles.
  



Having watched teachers stress over their TVAAS


scores, Brown is quick to point out that statistics is


probably one of the most used—and misused—subjects

  


in the world.


“I’ve seen a study with graphs and charts proving

 
that
the block is the most effective educational tool,”
  



he says. “The next study said it’s the most terrible


thing. It seems like in education you can find a study


that supports anything you want to be good, and you





  
   



Educating Our Children


Engaging Our Parents


Our Schools
Empowering




 



Montgomery-Central High School teacher
Mike
similar. I try to avoid situations
when students feel
can find another study that would put almost anything

  
Brown is convinced that everyone would 
enjoy math
www.nea.org
discouraged,” Brown says. 
www.teateachers.org
you want in a bad light.”
and science if they had an opportunity to
understand
He doesn’t believe there’s
a
kid
in
America
who

Brown encourages
teachers
upset
withTennessee
their37201-1099
TVAAS
801 Second
Avenue North
| Nashville,


how it’s applied in daily life.
wakes up, looks in the mirror
and thinks, ‘I want to
615.242.8392 | 800.342.8367 | Fax: 615.259.4581
scores to avoid getting wrapped up in a number.


“Welcome to the best class in America!”
was his
be a failure.’ Sometimes students may accept being a

“How can you trust the magic formula of TVAAS?
A Parent's Guide
Take it From a Math Teacher: “Don’t Let a
Number Define Who You Are as a Person”
greeting when we walked into his classroom in early
failure, but a good teacher can build an environment
October.
in which students can keep trying until they are
Brown has earned the right to say that. As a
successful.
finalist for the 2013 Presidential Award for Excellence
“I think kids like school, but it’s really easy to be
in Mathematics and Science Teaching, he makes
discouraged,” Brown says. “I’ve been discouraged.”
explaining mathematical concepts seem effortless as
When he was in college, Brown had a side job as a
he cheers on his students whenever they hit upon a
meter reader for the electric service.
‘eureka’ moment, which
It was a pretty good
happens quite often.
job, and one day he
Brown’s students
decided he would quit
As a finalist for the 2013
respond in kind, hailing
college and continue to
Presidential
Award
for
the longtime Clarksvillemake a living as a meter
Excellence in Mathematics
Montgomery County EA
reader—all because he was
member as their favorite
in a class he was doomed
and Science Teaching, Brown
teacher.
to fail.
makes explaining mathematical
Students say Brown
“I had no chance at
concepts
seem
effortless...
is never cranky, and his
all, so I made up my mind
tireless positive attitude
that I was just going to
allows them to feel
quit,” Brown says. “But my
comfortable when tackling math and science problems. teacher at Austin Peay, Mel Mayfield, I guess he could
They are comfortable asking questions, feel like they
sense it, and he invited me for a Reuben sandwich. He
have the right to be wrong, and they get an emotional
told me I could do anything I wanted in life.”
high when, all of a sudden, a problem presents a
Mayfield, who recently passed away at 92, was
solution.
the founding professor of the physics department at
The classroom atmosphere is positive and relaxed.
Austin Peay State University and the type of teacher
It’s throw-back day, with most of the class donning
who would stay with students at his office, explaining
1980’s outfits.
physics and the science of life.
It doesn’t seem like a long time ago when Brown
Mayfield’s encouragement changed what was going
was discouraged about things he didn’t understand.
to be Brown’s last day in college into a lifetime of
“Do you remember Rubik’s Cube? I tried it a couple
helping young men and women.
of times, but it didn’t take me too long to throw it
“That’s what I try to do. I try to be like Mel
in the trash. I could assemble just one side. Math is
Mayfield,” Brown says. “I feel crazy blessed.”
6

How can you let your sense of self-worth be determined
by a number somebody else gives you?” he asks. “If
they say you’re a ‘two,’ a ‘three’ or a ‘four,’ it’s not a
measure of who you are as a person. You go in every
day and try to make young men and women better than
they were yesterday. And when somebody calls you an
‘ineffective teacher,’ in the overall scheme of things
it’s irrelevant. We’re in the business of helping kids
accomplish their dreams.”
Support Our Member Benefits Partners
Order these
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TEA Parent
Brochures
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free of charge.
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benefits of TEA
membership.
Helping Your
Child Learn to
Read
This guide was developed to provide
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use to help their child become a
successful reader.
A Parent’s Guide
Raising
Scientifically
Literate Children
This guide was developed to provide
information parents can use to support
their children in learning science.
www.teateachers.org
TEA General Counsel: TVAAS too Complex to be Trusted
By Rick Colbert
For some teachers, TVAAS results may be the
basis for half of their overall evaluation (35percent “growth” measure and, for others, 15
percent “other measures of achievement” as
well). For the 60 percent of Tennessee teachers
in subjects for which there is no standardized
testing, 25 percent of their individual overall
evaluations are still based on TVAAS results -- for
some it is school-wide, for some it is system-wide,
and for some it is the results of a completely
different school. Those teachers do indeed get
measured based on standardized test results of
students they do not teach.
But TVAAS is more problematic than this,
because the evaluation results produced by TVAAS
are not really “scores” at all. To call them “scores”
is to attribute some sense of mathematical
certainty to them that is not warranted. TVAAS
results are statistical “estimates” generated
through a complex formula applied to student test
scores that have been transmitted to a company
in North Carolina, SAS, which uses a proprietary
computer program to generate those estimates.
Setting aside the question of whether the
TVAAS statistical formula can accurately isolate a
teacher’s effect on student learning from all the
other factors that affect learning, there is another
more fundamental problem with using TVAAS
What’s more, TVAAS estimates for prior years
results for high-stakes decisions about teacher
are recalculated each year as new data arrives. A
employment, compensation and licensure. As with
teacher with a TVAAS result of “four” in 2012-13
all statistical estimates, TVAAS results may be
could see that result lowered to “three” or raised
affected by measurement error as well as random
to a “five” retroactively, at the end of 2013-14. In
error. Accordingly, every teacher’s individual
other words, recalculation next year could reveal
TVAAS report shows the teacher’s “estimate”
that a high-stakes decision reached this year
accompanied by a “standard
based on TVAAS estimates
error.” The standard error is
was undeserved.
“Inappropriate uses of TVAAS
itself a separate statistical
Of course, a teacher has
‘estimates’ tend to be accepted
estimate to account for the
the right to grieve her or his
precisely because TVAAS is
possibility of measurement
evaluation result, but only
complex and mathematical,
error or random error that may
based on failure to follow
and we mistakenly equate that
affect the TVAAS estimate. If
the required procedure or
one adds and subtracts twoon accuracy of the data.
mathematical complexity with
times that standard error to
Grieving a TVAAS result based
precision and certainty.”
and from the TVAAS estimate,
on accuracy of the data,
the result is a 95 percent
however, is pretty difficult
“confidence interval.” In statistical terms, what
because the underlying data on which the result is
that means is that while we have produced a
based is not available to the teacher.
TVAAS estimate, it is not absolute truth. We can
Because of its statistical complexity,
be 95-percent certain that the real absolute truth
TVAAS remains a mystery to most teachers.
falls somewhere in the confidence interval we
Inappropriate uses of TVAAS “estimates” tend to
get from adding and subtracting two-times the
be accepted precisely because TVAAS is complex
standard error.
and mathematical, and we mistakenly equate
For most teachers, this process produces a
that mathematical complexity with precision and
confidence interval that can span as much as
certainty.
three of the five possible points in the rating.
Rick Colbert is TEA general counsel.
October 2013
7
www.teateachers.org
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 
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 
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
8 October 2013
www.teateachers.org
9
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
  

 
 



 
 


 


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



    

 
 

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
 
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
 
 
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Please post
Join the conversation:
www.facebook.com/TennesseeEA
Tennessee Education Association shared a link:
Knox County teacher and TEA member Lauren Hopson
addressed the Knox County School Board earlier this month,
giving voice to her frustrations and those of many Tennessee
teachers.
“I’m tired of trying to plan five different lessons a day that
hit 61 different indicators on a rubric, and that’s just to score
a rock-solid “three,” Hopson said during her speech. “I am
tired of the public being convinced that Knox County is moving
in the right direction when
I see good teachers at my
school in tears at some
point during the day on
a regular basis… Believe
it or not, during training
we spent one whole day
figuring out what kind of
penguin we were.”
Knox Co. EA member Lauren Hopson
Hopson, a teacher at
Halls Elementary School
in Knoxville and Knox Co.
EA member since 2002, told school board members what
Tennessee’s teachers really think about the evaluation system
and other attacks on public education.
Julie Levine Crowe Let’s be real, the people who can
change this aren’t listening because they are the people who
brought this chaos to public education. If I were a conspiracy
theorist, not just a skeptic, I might even think this is another
attempt at destroying public education, this time in favor of
for-profit charter schools, at the expense of our children.
Letitia Wilson The only way to start to change the climate
and leaders in Tennessee is to ignore your political party. Many
voters will only vote along party lines and that party ignored
their educators.
Maria Orlando Gee I worked hard to elect someone
different for Anderson Co., and he didn’t get elected, but I am
willing to work again.
10
October 2013
Tennessee education in the news
Memphis-Shelby County Teachers
Vote No Confidence in State
Education Commissioner Huffman
The newly unified MemphisShelby County Education Association
(M-SCEA) issued a unanimous vote of
no confidence in Tennessee Education
Commissioner Kevin Huffman during
its monthly representative assembly
on October 15, according to an M-SCEA
news release.
“Enough is enough,” said Keith
Williams, M-SCEA President. “Since
his appointment by Governor Bill
Haslam as Tennessee’s Commissioner of
Education in April 2011, Commissioner
Huffman has shown only a lack of
respect and contempt for Tennessee’s
teachers, our unions and our system of
public education.”
“While framing his initiatives as
‘education reform,’ Commissioner
Huffman has promoted unfair,
invalid teacher and principal
evaluations, lowered most of
the base teacher salary schedule
while converting the state’s
teacher salaries to a pay-for-testscores system, and threatened
teachers’ licenses based on errorprone, inaccurate data.”
Williams said recent reforms
have been based on an unreliable,
unproven TVAAS formula rather
than using more reliable, valid
and useful measures such as pre-test
and post-test measurement of student
achievement.
“In Shelby County especially,
Commissioner Huffman has urged
school closures and state takeovers of
local schools even though local I-Zone
initiatives have had more academic
success,” Williams said. “He has failed
to provide any additional funds for the
transition as has been done in other
districts that merged.”
The M-SCEA vote of no confidence in
Huffman comes on the heels of similar
votes by the Metro Nashville Education
Association and Rutherford Education
Association.
“With his continual words of
praise and support, Gov. Haslam
seems to be extremely happy with
the commissioner’s efforts to destroy
public education in the state and
especially in Shelby County and to
continue demoralizing attacks on
dedicated education professionals,”
Williams said. “Tennessee and its
students will depend on educators
to clean up the mess and to repair
the damage already inflicted by the
policies of Commissioner Huffman, his
department and the appointed state
school board. Commissioner Huffman
is trying to hijack our profession, and
we’re joining the superintendents and
education associations across the state
“Commissioner Huffman
has shown only a lack of
respect and contempt for
Tennessee’s teachers, our
unions and our system of
public education.”
Keith Williams
in fighting back.”
According to Williams, “True
education reform ensures that
education professionals and our unions
are at the table, creating solutions to
achievement gaps, designing reliable
evaluation systems that improve
teacher and student performance,
and dealing with other education
issues. The best way to reform public
education is to make sure we all
respect, fund and support the hard
work of our education professionals
who are dedicated to the children of
our state and who, unlike Commissioner
Huffman, are licensed to teach in our
state.”
Have a Legislative
Idea? Send it to TEA
Since the founding of the Tennessee
Education Association, promoting
legislation to advance public education –
and to benefit students and educators – has
been a major objective of the Association.
In keeping with that objective, we
are asking for your recommendations
of items to be included in the next TEA
legislative program. All suggestions will be
considered by the TEA Legislative Editing
Committee appointed by TEA President Gera
Summerford.
The editing committee will develop a
proposed program to present to the TEA
Representative Assembly next spring. The
legislative program gives guidelines to
leaders and staff as they work to promote
TEA’s legislative concerns in the General
Assembly.
The Tennessee Education Association
is responsive to members’ concerns. If
you have issues you would like for TEA
to submit to the Tennessee General
Assembly, please email them directly to TEA
Government Relations. You can be assured
that your suggestions will be given serious
consideration by the TEA Legislative Editing
Committee.
Please send your feedback no later than
October 31, 2013, to Jim Wrye, manager
of TEA Government Relations, 801 Second
Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201-1099, or
email to [email protected].
Legislative Contact Team members at the ready—TEA held a Legislative Contact Team meeting in October in
preparation for the upcoming legislative session.
Look for your new TEA membership card in the mail in December
Common Core Toolkit
Available Online
The NEA Common Core State Standards
toolkit is available on the TEA website
at www.teateachers.org. The standards
in English language arts/literacy and
mathematics have been developed to
advance the knowledge and skills required for
successful entry into college and careers.
NEA developed this interactive toolkit
with resources and access to forums
to prepare educators to implement the
standards and positively impact student
achievement. The toolkit facilitates a
feedback loop of information about the
standards and corresponding assessments;
informs instructional practice with strategies
and curricular design methodologies;
and provides a continuum of support for
implementing the standards, along with
strategies for advocacy and parental and
community engagement.
11
www.teateachers.org
Feeling the Spark
Blount, Sevier County teachers team up to expand local reach
Two local associations came together in the Smoky
Mountains during the weekend of September 6-8
to advance their cause of fighting for the learning
conditions of students and the working conditions of
teachers and education support professionals.
The leadership team of Blount Co. EA, along with
their UniServ Coordinator Jason White, recognized
the benefit of last year’s leadership training in
Gatlinburg and decided to expand this year’s
program.
“By inviting the Sevier County Education
Association, we were able to further the purpose of
the retreat, which we called ‘Setting a Spark in the
Park’,” White said.
Held at the Park Vista Hotel in Gatlinburg, the
retreat provided a scenic backdrop for attendees
who were trained in emerging leader or advanced
leadership tracks.
“We were excited to hear from TEA President
Gera Summerford about keeping up the fight,” said
Mary Jones, fourth-grade teacher at Boyds Creek
Elementary and Sevier Co. EA treasurer. “We are so
engulfed in what we’re doing inside those four walls
of our classrooms. It was amazing to get outside, talk
and get to know each other.”
White said expanding the retreat allowed his
12
colleague, UniServ Coordinator Tina Parlier, to
present the parallel track alongside his session.
The goals of this year’s program were to increase
membership, bring in members who have never
attended a TEA event before, and help equip local
leaders and Association Representatives for the
ongoing fight for public education.
Courtney Whitehead of Blount Co. EA said the
original idea came from BCEA President Grady Caskey
and the BCEA executive board.
“He called me last summer to ask if I could put
something together,” Whitehead said. “I love to
plan events and parties. Grady gave me the budget
and I just organized the food and rooms. It is really
important to have fellowship in our organization.
I would recommend other locals find a weekend to
plan, organize and talk.”
Caskey said the retreat idea emerged when he
sought feedback from the executive board on how
to engage local building representatives (ARs),
especially among younger members.
“We acknowledged that everyone was busy and
maybe a weekend retreat at a good hotel in a familyfriendly atmosphere would be an incentive,” he said.
“I began investigating the idea and asked Courtney
Whitehead to help organize the event. Every local
needs a Courtney Whitehead.”
Event planners made sure to invite family
members and allow time for family activities.
Caskey said partnering with SCEA was a great idea
which turned out very well.
“Joining with another local allows members from
each association to interact and share,” he said.
“From the feedback we received, the needs of our reps
were met and we have valuable suggestions for our
retreat next year.”
Caskey also strongly encouraged other locals to
host similar events.
“Most building reps do not know each other
outside AR meetings and an event like this provides
an opportunity for reps to meet in a casual
atmosphere with family members and get to know
each other,” he said. “We have young members that
are becoming better educated about the association
and they want to get involved. In my opinion, if a
local is not reaching out to its reps and not doing
something for the members, it is a sure path to
mediocrity. Members, and especially leaders, need to
see that their association cares about them and that
begins with building relationships. An event like this
is a great relationship builder.”
October 2013
13
www.teateachers.org
Celebrated Monroe County Entrepreneur
Calls for Adequate Education Funding in TEA Spot
“Long before I started Benton’s Country Hams and
Bacon, I was a student and later an educator in Monroe
County public schools,” says Allan Benton, owner and
proprietor of Benton’s Smoky
Mountain Country Hams in
Monroe County.
Benton’s company is hailed
as one of the top boutique
operations in the country,
with celebrity chefs and hardworking restaurateurs singing
his praises.
“Allan Benton is the rock
star of American bacon,” writer
Allan Benton
John T. Edge, director of the
Southern Foodways Alliance
LONG BEFORE I STARTED BENTON’S SMOKY
MOUNTAIN COUNTRY HAMS, I WAS Aand a regular contributor to the
STUDENT AND LATER AN EDUCATOR IN
York Times
Philly.com. “There’s just something
MONROE New
COUNTY
PUBLICtold
SCHOOLS.
very
primal
about
his
bacon. It’s assertive. It’s like
OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE PRODUCING
THOUSANDS
OF WELL-EDUCATED
barbecue
and is so distinctive. You know when it hits your
GRADUATES EACH YEAR WHO BECOME
skillet and the first waft of smoke and grease starts to
THE LIFEBLOOD OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
spiral up.”
Allan Benton,
Business Owner, Monroe County
Benton, who has been called the epitome of
the Southern gentleman, stars in the TEA Pencils to
“
”
Visit pencilstopaychecks.org to learn more about the
great things happening in your local public schools.
Award Nominees Sought
If you believe that excellence in education
is both an art and a science that cannot be
reduced to a number, the Tennessee Education
Association invites you to find out how you can
recognize TEA members at all levels of service
and experience through the Distinguished
Educator Awards Program.
Every year, TEA honors educators who
inspire students, parents, colleagues and the
community through their talents, leadership
and service.
This year, all award winners will receive a
14
Paychecks campaign featuring TEA members and small
business owners who graduated from Tennessee public
schools.
The goal of Pencils to Paychecks is to connect local
public schools and educators with the communities they
serve.
Receiving grant money from NEA for the media
campaign provides an opportunity for TEA to combat
the negative rhetoric surrounding public schools and
promote a positive message that Tennessee educators are
doing great things every single day.
TEA knows our public schools are producing
thousands of graduates each year who later become the
lifeblood of our communities, and it is time for business
leaders and community members to know it, too.
“If I could have made a living in education, I
probably wouldn’t be making ham and bacon,” said
Benton, a former teacher, TEA member and tireless
champion of public schools. “Educators are expected
to be the end game for everything and are blamed for
many of our society’s ills. It doesn’t work that way. From
kindergarten to high school and college, teachers are
just not appreciated. They are doing a great job, laying a
great foundation for our economy.”
significant technological gift which they will
find useful both in the classroom and at home.
Awards will be issued in the following
categories:
• Distinguished Classroom Teacher Awards
(9) – All grades with three awards from each
grand division of the state;
• Distinguished Education Support
Professional Award (1)—Any classified
educator;
• Distinguished Administrator Awards (3)—
One administrator from each grand division;
• Distinguished Higher Education Faculty
Member (1)—One faculty member whose
primary assignment is at the college or
university level;
• Distinguished New Teacher Awards
(3)—Honors educators with five or fewer years
of service in the following categories; grades
P-K-4, grades 5-8, and grades 9-12.
The deadline for all the distinguished
educator award categories is February 15,
2014.
The same deadline applies to Susan B.
Anthony, School Bell and TEA Human and Civil
Rights awards nominations.
More details and nomination forms are
available in the Scholarships, Awards and
Grants section at www.teateachers.org.
Benton’s unwavering commitment to public
education comes from his and his wife’s teaching
experience, as well as his observations as a successful
entrepreneur.
“Teachers deserve to be treated and paid better,”
Benton said. “They are absolutely underpaid considering
the superb job they are doing. Show me a company that
cut spending in research and development and I would
guess it’s starting to go downhill. I certainly hope that
education is one place where we don’t cut spending in
Tennessee. I think that would be ill-advised.”
“Visit PencilstoPaychecks.org to find out how you
can be a part of great things happening in your local
public schools,” Benton says in the TEA spot, which is
available on Youtube.
Get Involved in the Campaign!
Join TEA in spreading the word about the great things
happening in Tennessee’s public schools. Share the link to
the Pencils to Paychecks website, PencilstoPaychecks.org,
with your friends and family through social media.
TEA is also looking for more quotes to include on
the website. Ask a local business owner who graduated
from a public school to submit a quote to appear on www.
PencilstoPaychecks.org. Quotes from educators and
business owners may be submitted to Chris Watson at
[email protected].
Nominate a Teacher for 2014
Humanities Award
Humanities Tennessee seeks nominations for the 2014 Awards
of Recognition for Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities. Fulltime public 3rd – 12th grade humanities teachers in Tennessee
are eligible. Any Tennessean may nominate a teacher.
This award is available to teachers who have demonstrated
excellence in teaching the humanities and make the humanities
an important part of their students’ lives.
Up to six teachers will receive a $2,000 fellowship to further
their professional development in the humanities. The teachers’
schools will also receive $1,500 for humanities programs and
materials.
“Teachers often tell us this award is a career highlight,”
says Paul McCoy, Program Officer with Humanities Tennessee.
“Teachers have followed the trail of Lewis and Clark, toured
archaeological sites in Mexico and visited European basilica
mosaics, seeing for the first time what they have long taught.
Simply put, this program changes lives.”
Since the Teacher Awards program began in 1985, Humanities
Tennessee has provided almost $400,000 to Tennessee teachers
and schools. The humanities include, but are not limited to,
the study and interpretation of language; literature; history;
philosophy; archaeology; ethics; and the history and criticism of
the arts.
Draft nominations must be postmarked by December 31,
2013. Final nominations must be postmarked by January 31,
2014. Nomination forms may be obtained by contacting Paul
McCoy at 615-770-0006, ext. 17, [email protected],
or by visiting www.humanitiestennessee.org.
TEA Pink Out to Kick off Advocacy Conference
November 1 event will help raise breast cancer awareness
The Tennessee Education Association’s 2013 Fall Advocacy
Conference will open with the TEA Pink Out, an event promoting
breast cancer awareness among teachers and education support
professionals. All attendees are encouraged to wear pink.
Dubbed “Statehouse, Courthouse, Schoolhouse and You!” the
conference will be held on Friday
and Saturday, Nov. 1-2, 2013, at the
Embassy Suites Convention Center in
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Expected to draw hundreds of
teachers from Memphis to Mountain
City, the conference will connect
urgent battles in the state legislature
with the concerns of school districts
and will equip teachers with the tools
to fight for public education jobs going
forward.
“As we advocate to win back the
rights lost during the last several
years, it’s crucial that we also focus
on our health,” said Shannon Bain,
coordinator of membership and
affiliate relations at TEA. “Breast
cancer could be a fatal illness, but it can be stopped with timely
screening.”
The TEA Pink Out will commence at 7 p.m. and will be followed by
a government relations and legislative town hall meeting.
“With the implementation and pending enactment of various
‘education reforms,’ this is a critical and challenging time for
our profession,” said TEA President Gera Summerford. “The TEA
Advocacy Conference will focus on skill
development and strategies needed
to promote the collective voice of
Tennessee’s teachers as advocates for our
profession and for our students.”
Conference sessions will tackle
childhood poverty and student
achievement, professional rights and
responsibilities within the advocacy
framework, ways to use collaborative
conferencing to advance the Association’s
agenda, instructional issues and social
networking, plus an informative new look
at the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement
System.
On-site conference registration will
begin at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, and will
continue Saturday morning. Hotel checkin will be available after 4 p.m. on Friday. The conference will end at
5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.
Breast Cancer Awareness
• In 2013, an estimated 232,340 new cases of cancer
will be diagnosed among women in the United States.
• In 2013, approximately 39,620 women are
expected to die from breast cancer.
• A woman living in the U.S. has a 12.3 percent (or
a 1 in 8), lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast
cancer.
• Every three minutes, a woman in the United States
is diagnosed with breast cancer.
• Every 13 minutes, a woman in the United States
dies from breast cancer.
• In 2013, about 2, 240 men will be diagnosed with
breast cancer and 410 men will die from the disease.
• Less than 15 percent of women with breast cancer
have a family history of the disease.
• Having a first-degree relative (mother, sister or
daughter) with breast cancer can double a woman’s risk.
• African-American women have a higher rate of
death from breast cancer than any other race.
• Risk of breast cancer increases with age. Seventynine percent of new cases and 88 percent of breast
cancer deaths occurred in women 50 years of age and
older.
Share the breast self-awareness messages: Know
your risk, get screened, know what is normal for you,
and make healthy lifestyle choices.
(Information obtained from the American Cancer Society and
the Susan G. Komen Foundation).
October 2013
15
www.teateachers.org
For new and nearly new teachers
Sharpen Your Teaching Skills
At TEA New Teacher Conference
introduces best practices for
Novice teachers will have a
delivering powerful instruction to
dynamic opportunity this year to
increase student learning. This session
sharpen their teaching skills and
improve their success in the classroom promises to strengthen teaching
in ways that
at TEA’s New
matter when it
Teacher
Comments from last year’s
comes time for
Conference set
enthusiastic participants
observations
for Saturday,
demonstrate the value of this annual
under the
February
conference:
state’s
22, 2014.
evaluation
Participants
• Great presentation! Ideas
process,
can choose to
presented could be used for any
whichever
attend one of
grade
level;
received
many
good
evaluation
two tracks, each
model is used.
of which runs
ideas to take to my classroom.
I Can Do It!
the full day,
• Great attitude! Great teacher
is the highly
from 8:30 a.m.
advice!
acclaimed
til 3:30 p.m.
•
Very
animated!
I
will
use
classroomPowerful
many
of
the
ideas
introduced
in
management
Teaching
training program that addresses one
of the most pressing issues beginning
teachers face. The program covers
classroom transitions, reinforcements,
rules and routines, and dealing with
difficult behavior.
Both tracks offer valuable insights
and practical tips for teachers of all
subjects at all grade levels.
Teachers in their first three years
of classroom teaching are invited to
attend the conference, and will earn
six hours of professional development
credit for doing so.
Registration information for the
New Teacher Conference is available
online, though registration cannot be
confirmed until a check is transmitted
to TEA. A $40 registration fee, payable
in advance, secures a spot in the
training. An early-bird registration
discount of $10 applies for those
who register by December 20, 2013.
The registration fee will be refunded
to TEA members who attend if their
registration fees were paid by personal
or Association check.
More details and registration
information have been mailed to local
presidents, and can be found online
by scanning the QR code below or by
going to
www.teateachers.
org/new-teacherconference.
2013-14 teach publishing schedule
this session.
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Need information, services?
Tennessee Education Association
801 Second Avenue N., Nashville, TN 37201-1099
(615) 242-8392, (800) 342-8367, FAX (615) 259-4581
UniServ Coordinators
District 1 — Harry Farthing, P.O. Box 298, Elizabethton,
TN 37644; phone: (423)262-8035, fax: (866)379-0949;
Assns: Carter, Hancock, Hawkins, Rogersville, Johnson,
Sullivan, Bristol, Elizabethton, Kingsport. District
2 — Jennifer Gaby, P.O. Box 70, Afton, TN 37616;
(423)234-0700, fax: (855)299-0723; Assns: Cocke,
Newport, Greene, Greeneville, Unicoi, Washington,
Hamblen, Johnson City. District 3 — Tina Parlier,
P.O. Box 70288, Knoxville, TN 37938-0288, (865)6881175, fax: (865)518-3104; Assns: Claiborne, Grainger,
Jefferson, Sevier, Union, Scott, Campbell, Oneida (in
Scott Co.). District 4 — Vacancy, Assns: Knox,TSD,
District 5— Jason White, P.O. Box 5502, Oak Ridge,
TN 37831; (615)521-1333, fax: (865)301-8366; Assns:
Anderson, Clinton, Oak Ridge, Blount, Alcoa, Maryville,
Lenoir City, Loudon. District 6 — Jim Jordan, P.O. Box
4878, Cleveland, TN 37320; phone: (423)472-3315, fax:
(855)299-5674; Assns: Bradley, Cleveland, McMinn,
Athens, Etowah, Meigs, Monroe, Sweetwater, Polk,
Rhea-Dayton, Roane. District 7 — Theresa Turner,HCEA
4655 Shallowford Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37411;
(423)485-9535, fax: (423)485-9512; Assns: Hamilton.
District 8 — Chris Brooks, P.O. Box 3629, Chattanooga,
TN 37404; phone: (615)332-2636, fax: (866)483-2514;
Assns: Clay, Cumberland, Fentress, Jackson, Morgan,
Pickett, Putnam, Overton, York Institute, TN Tech.
Univ, Bledsoe, Sequatchie,Van Buren, White. District
9 — Jackie Pope, 2326 Valley Grove Dr., Murfreesboro,
TN 37128;phone: (615)898-1060, fax: (855) 301-8214,
Assns: Bedford, Moore, Cannon, DeKalb, Coffee,
Franklin, Grundy, Manchester, Tullahoma, Marion,
Warren. District 10 — Jeff Garrett, P.O. Box 1326,
Lebanon, TN 37088-1326; (615)630-2605, fax (855)3208755—; Assns: Rutherford, Murfreesboro, Sumner,
MTSU, Macon, Smith, Trousdale. District 11 — Cheryl
Richardson-Bradley, P.O. Box 354, Goodlettsville, TN
37070; (615)630-2601, fax: (888)519-4879; Assns:
Wilson, Lebanon, FSSD, Williamson. District 12 — Miley
Durham, P.O. Box 10, Lawrenceburg, TN 38464; phone:
(931)766-7874, fax: (913) 762-9391— Assns: Giles,
Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Fayetteville, Maury, Wayne,
Marshall, Perry. District 13 — Forestine Cole, Vacancy,
Metro Nashville, 531 Fairground Court, Nashville, TN
37211; (615)726-1499, fax: (855)299-5837 (Cole),
(855)299-4968 (Smith); Assns: Metro Nashville, TN
School For The Blind. District 14 — Rhonda Thompson,
TEA 801 Second Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201;
phone: (615)354-3305, fax: (888)519-7331; Assns:
Clarksville-Montgomery, Robertson. District 15 —
Maria Uffelman, P.O. Box 99, Cumberland City, TN
37050; phone: (931)827-3333, fax: (855)299-4925;
Assns: Benton, West Carroll, Central, Clarksburg,
Huntingdon, McKenzie, Henry, Paris, Houston,
Humphreys, Stewart, Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman.
District 16 — Lorrie Butler, P.O. Box 387, Henderson,
TN 38340; (731)989-4860, fax: (855)299-4591; Assns:
Chester, Hardeman, West TSD, Henderson, Lexington,
Jackson-Madison, McNairy, Decatur, Hardin. District
17 — Karla Carpenter, P.O. Box 177, Brunswick, TN
38014; (901)590-2543, fax: (855)299-4892; —Assns:
Crockett, Dyer, Dyersburg, Gibson, Humboldt, Milan,
Trenton, Haywood, Lake, Lauderdale, Obion, Union
City, Tipton Weakley. District 18 — Zandra Foster, 3897
Homewood Cove, Memphis, TN 38128; (901)377-9472,
fax: (855)320-8737;—Assns:, Shelby, Fayette. District
19 — Assns: Memphis Education Association — Ken
Foster, Executive Director; MEA UniServ Directors:
Susanne Jackson, Terri Jones, Tom Marchand, 126
South Flicker Street, Memphis, TN 38104; (901)4540966, fax: (901)454-9979; Assn: Memphis.
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16
October 2013