December 2012
VOICE
Issue 2
12/13 school year
MVEA PO Box 471, Mount Vernon, WA 98273
MVEA President’s Half-Year Reflection
In this Issue:
I Am A
Teacher……….pg 2
WEA R A……...pg. 3
Election
Aftermath…..…pg. 4
Time passes quickly when you’re having fun, or when you get older. You can read
my reflection and come to your own conclusion about the one that applies to me.
It is hard to believe that at the end of the next month, half my term as president of
MVEA will have passed. I thought I’d take this chance to look back over the five
months since July 1 and relate highlights of what MVEA has accomplished.
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•
Skagit County Fair – MVEA had its first booth at the county fair in
August. Over 20 members worked the booth handing out literature and
letting our community see who makes up the MVEA. Paul Hope (MVHS)
and Greg Doud (LaVenture) had their picture taken with then gubernatorial
candidate Jay Inslee.
•
New three-year contract – The bargaining team (Paul Hope, MVHS,
Rachel Hodgson, MVHS, Rene Avery, Jefferson, Ken Obeso, Mount
Baker, Lori Stiles, Special Services, John Sadzewicz, MVHS, and Dave
Willer, MVHS), negotiated a new three contract with the school district,
which the membership approved on August 30. Highlights: TRI – Total
Increase: 5.75% over three years (Note –The average salary improvement
over the last 10 years due to TRI will be around $11,000. We have also
negotiated nearly $1000 in improvements to health care costs). Class
Size – The average class size for kindergarten will be under 21 in our
district. Personal Leave – We will be allowed to accumulate personal
leave to 5 days. Health Care – Pooling increased by $4 / member/month
in year 3. Planning Time – Elementary planning time lost to early release
planning days to be replaced by equivalent time or pay at per diem.
Conferences - Time spent in conferences beyond released time provided
to be replaced by equivalent time or pay at quid pro quo.
•
Health insurance changeover – Last spring MVEA voted at a general
membership meeting change our health care insurance. This resulted in
dropping the Regence plans and one of the Group Health insurance plans.
Every one of our members was signed up for a new health insurance plan
by the deadline. (Just a reminder, we need to approve health insurance
plans every year. If you are interested in being on an insurance committee
to review our insurance coverage, let me know by December 7, 2012,)
Tale of Two
Countries……..pg. 5
Leaves………..pg. 6
Continued on Page 3…
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I Am A Teacher
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Ricky Knue:
Page 2 of 7
Page 2 of 6
I am a teacher. Ich bin Lehrerin. Yo soy profesor. Kahuna. Som u_ite_. Mwen se yon pwofesè. Je
suis un enseignant. Magister sum. Mimi ni mwalimu. 
How often at a gathering such as reunion, wedding, memorial service, restaurant, sporting event,
concert, or even participating in any kind of activity while traveling or visiting others, and the
introductions begin, are you asked, “And what do you do?” Polite conversation it is.
I am reminded of a conversation with a dear wise young man last summer (2011) when he stirred an
awakening I have cherished since. We were seated in a room, facing each other, and he asked me,
“What do you do?”, to which I responded as I do, “I am a teacher.” He then closed his eyes, breathed
in, settled back into the chair, opened his eyes, and said, “That is not what you do. That is who you
are.” It is how I want each of us to recognize that we all work with others here in the district in some
capacity to guide students, and each other toward a preferred future, discovering gifts and talents,
using our uniqueness and inspiration by being who we are.
Teaching is not what I do, it is who I am. To teach is to fulfill the deepest desire within me to make a
difference, to share a gift I have come to understand is my purpose. To teach is to connect with each
student in my classes. Their dreams become my dreams for them. Their search for meaning and how
to fit in is my motivation. Their stress about daily life becomes my creative challenge, and my desire for
a better ‘now’ for them.
I wrote down a quote for the students to respond to: “Do not judge me until you know me, do not
underestimate me until you have challenged me, and do not talk about me until you talk with me.” One
of my students wrote in response, “We are born to be real, not to be perfect.” English is her third
language, I think. And here comes the conflict. We are connected to our purpose, our focus, our calling
if you will, and our deepest desire when we are expansive and generous and speak from our inner
truth, and work from the authenticity that makes each of us so special, so perfect in our own way. The
conflict arises when we are incessantly reminded that we are not enough, just as we are, for our
purpose. Our work with others seemingly places us into a box, and we are then asked to be authentic
from that darkness. After being boxed in, when we venture out on our own being confronted by the
weather storm that is reform and improvement and standardization, we do so at our peril. We begin to
look at who we are, teachers all, no longer from an expansive space, but from a standpoint of overall
lack. This includes but is not limited to competition for budget money, discussions of implied priorities,
particular students for our classes, and support for our efforts. Just as with our students and the
messages they often take away for themselves daily, the conversation seems to be continuously what
we are not capable of, rather than celebratory of who we are and how we contribute to the rich tapestry
of what education is, right now. Whether we work with students from a ‘label’ of counselor,
administrator, teacher, bus driver, maintenance crew, coach, nurse, cook, custodian, advisor, mentor,
and so on, each of them benefit from our desire to fulfill our purpose by being who we are. After the
label is dropped and we step out of the box, we are all teachers. This is not what we do, it is who we
are.
I am a teacher, and I celebrate you!
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MVEA President’s Half-Year Reflection continued…
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•
Phone banking in support of WEA – Over 20 members volunteered
to help WEA carry out its commitment for phone banking to the Inslee
campaign. Whichever candidate for governor you supported, it’s great
to see our members actively supporting their political choices.
•
Grievances – we haven’t filed any official grievances so far this year.
We’ve had a few issues come up, but we have been able to work
through the Labor/Management process to resolve the issues without
going to the grievance procedure.
That’s pretty much it for now. Have a happy holiday season.
WEA Representative Assembly Nominations
MVEA so far:
• New 3-year
contract
• Phone
banking for
WEA
• Booth at
the Skagit
Fair
• Insurance
changeover
Dave Willer:
This year’s WEA Representative Assembly (RA) will be held April 25-27 in
Bellevue. The RA is the WEA’s legislative body. It make decisions and sets
policies which are carried out by the WEA President and Chief Executive
Officer. RA is democracy in action. It can be exciting, tedious, and preposterous.
Last year – we heard from Jay Inslee, listened to innumerable credentials
reports, and debated the color of a tee shirt (did you know red is a violent
color?). I’ll let you decide which of those was exciting, tedious, or preposterous.
This year’s RA will elect a new WEA President, Vice President and NEA State
Director. These positions are open to any member of WEA. If you are interested
in running for one of these spots, and wish to be included in the WEA RA’s
nominee web pages, nominations are due to WEA headquarters by 4:00 p.m.
Friday, February 8, 2013. Nominations will also be taken from the floor of the
2013 WEA RA. If you would like to run for any of these positions let MVEA
president Dave Willer know, and he will provide you with more information.
WEA requires local affiliates to include ethnic minorities in the local’s
representatives at RA at the same proportion as the state as a whole. MVEA is
required to have at least one ethnic minority member.
MVEA will be opening nominations for delegates to RA at our December
Representative Council meeting. If you, or anyone you know, are interested in
attending RA, let contact your building rep or MVEA president Dave Willer.
Being a delegate to RA is important work, democracy in action is not always
pretty, but it’s better than the alternatives.
“…democracy
in action is
not always
pretty, but it’s
better than the
alternatives.”
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Election
Aftermath…
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Page 4 of 6
Paul Hope:
The 2012 Election season has come and gone, with outcomes both
expected and interesting. And as always, elections matter, and have
potential impacts for public schools.
On the national level, Barack Obama has been elected to a second term,
the Democrats maintain control of the Senate, although not a filibuster-proof
60% majority. The House is still controlled by Republicans, with a large Tea
Party contingent.
“In other
words,
nothing
much has
changed on
the political
landscape.”
In Washington State, we will have a new Democratic Governor in Jay Inslee,
a clear Democratic majority in the House and a weak Democratic majority in
the Senate, which can be compromised at any time by the willingness of the
"Road-Kill Democrats" to cross the isle and caucus with the Republicans on
critical votes - especially those pertaining to budget issues.
In other words, nothing much has changed on the political landscape.
As far as ballot measures go in Washington, it was an interesting mix.
Tim Eyman's initiative passed with a resounding majority, making it
effectively impossible to enhance revenue in Washington State. This makes
the practical implementation of the mandated funding of public education as
determined in the McCleary ruling a real challenge. It remains to be seen
how we are going to get out of this mess.
Charter Schools passed, by a very small margin. One is left to wonder if
there might have been something that could have been done to persuade a
small number of voters (an 0.8% swing in the vote would have defeated
charters.) I feel that I could have done more... should have done more.
But, done is done. It remains to be seen if charters, as envisioned in the bill
will have a significant impact on public education. Perhaps the law won't
withstand legal challenges. At any rate, we will have to create a plan to
prevent the negative impact seen in other charter states from coming to
Washington. We have to decide how to move forward with what we have.
Gay marriage is now legal in Washington. This is a victory for civil liberties,
and it reflects a growing change in the American sentiment toward the LGBT
community. While the decision to support gay marriage was not met well by
some of our members, it was consistent with directives given to WEA
Continued on Page 5…
Page 5 of 7
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Election Aftermath Continued…
at Rep Assembly, and was advocacy on behalf of our many LGBT members. Editorial
opinion: civil liberties are at the core of unionism. It was our duty to support this bill.
Pot is now legal in Washington State. It has yet seen how the conflict between federal and
state law will be resolved. This promises to be an interesting issue.
So, there we have it. So, what now?
A new legislative session fast approaches, with the new/not so new actors pursuing their
various agendas. It is safe to say that the continuing attack on public education, will continue,
through proposed legislative action. It is likely that there will be proposed modifications to the
salary schedule. In addition, modifications to the evaluation system and perhaps health care
may come to the attention of legislators again.
Beyond that, it is likely that other legislation that is hostile toward collective bargaining will be
imagined again. It is difficult to predict just what this will look like, but it is hard to imagine the
assault against our organization is over.
Clearly, there will be plenty for us to do in the next legislative session. Let's plan on being very
active in brining our case before the legislators, and the public this spring. There will certainly
be plenty for us to do.
A Tale of Two Countries
Greg Doud:
The passing of Initiative 1240 (charter schools), and its paving stones on the road to privatization, has led
me to reflect on what works - and what doesn’t - around the rest of the world. Two countries provide a stark
contrast in the area of privatization of education: Chile and Finland.
Beginning in the 1970s, Chile began a privatization program of its public schools, especially its universities
and colleges. Chile’s schools were privatized during Pinochet’s regime, between 1973 and 1990. Now,
Chile’s “public” education system is intertwined with for-profit corporations that make millions off of the
national education system. This has made reforming Chile’s education system very difficult.
In recent years, sit-ins and protests have rocked the country, and Chile’s president Sebastian Pinera had to
meet with striking students last year. The education situation became so bad that even the labor unions
joined with the protesting students (600,000 workers staged a two-day strike in 2011). Students and
protesters also battled with police as they occupied campuses. Over 75% of Chile’s population agrees that
the system is unfair - 200,000 people were at one protest in Santiago alone.
The main complaint of the students and their families is that education has become virtually unaffordable
Continued on Page 6…
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A Tale of Two Countries Continued…
for all but the wealthiest of Chile’s families. According to PBS.org, "The richest go to the excellent
universities and the poorest go to the third class universities." The article continues, "education is very
segregated, from your birth until you become a professional." The segregation goes beyond just
schooling. Even though Chile’s economy has grown at an impressive 6% in recent years, the mass of
Chileans do not benefit from this economic growth. Education privatization in Chile has segregated the
population into the haves, and the have-nots.
Beginning in the 1980s, Finnish schools began a national transformation. In Finland, private schools were
essentially banned (a very few still remain). The government’s focus was on equity, not on competition, or
even on educational excellence. They wanted every Finnish student to receive the best education
possible, but on an equal opportunity basis. School choice was de-emphasized, and the children of mixed
economic classes were put in schools together. Excellence was a byproduct of equity.
The results have been fantastic. Finland leads the world in educational outcomes, and is in the top tier
annually when its students are assessed (results vary by year – but Finland is consistently in the top
three). Anu Partanen, a Finnish journalist, writes in The Atlantic that “Finnish schools assign less
homework and engage children in more creative play.” Also, “Finland has no standardized tests,” except
during their version of high school. “Instead,” she continues, “the public school system's teachers are
trained to assess children in classrooms using independent tests they create themselves.”
Imagine…trusting teachers to do their jobs.
Partanen’s article further asserts: “the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every
child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or
geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers,
but as an instrument to even out social inequality.” Schools are a driver of societal equity, not of societal
segregation.
I’m not sure that Americans are ready for the full-boat Finnish model of equity over competition. But I am
sure that our push toward privatization will end in a disaster greater than what has enveloped Chile. Our
public schools are and have been great economic and societal levelers. We see it every year as students
we helped through struggles work their way to college and beyond. We do great work in building equity in
our community, and in American society. That our state is moving away from equity is heart-breaking.
Now, imagine public schools in Washington State that were populated by the children of Bill and Melinda
Gates, and other Microsoft executives; the Boeing elite’s children and grandchildren, and so on. These
would be public schools that would lack for nothing; their powerful and influential parents would see to it.
These schools would gleam so brightly that you could see them from space. We may never get there,
even knowing the payoff for our society. Yet let us hope we can avoid the opposite scenario, like in Chile,
where our students occupy the schools not for learning, but as a protest because their chance at the
American dream has been privatized away.
Leaves
Dave Willer: The November staff newsletter contained an article asking employees to
let payroll know as quickly as possible if you are going on leave. Please also check
with your MVEA leadership if you are contemplating asking the district for leave. We
can help clarify your options. This works much better if we are proactive about it.
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Executive Board and
Building
Page
7 ofReps
6
Executive board meets the first Friday of every month. Your
executive board members include:
Dave Willer (President)
Missi Chalfant (Vice-president)
Carolyn Anderson (Secretary)
Adam Sager (Treasurer)
John Sadzewicz (Grievance chair)
E-MAIL:
MVEA PRESIDENT:
DAVE WILLER
Paul Hope (Head bargainer)
Laurie Kerley (Membership chair)
Diana Ermi (Clock hours chair)
Greg Doud (Web site, email and Voice editor)
[email protected]
Building Reps meet the second Wednesday of every month.
Meetings are at MVHS library at 4:15.
Here is a list of building reps as they stand at the moment. Please email
the editor if you notice a change needed:
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
http://mountvernonea.org
Special Services: Nichole Carubia
Centennial: Chuck Dooley , Katie Ellis
Jefferson: Monica Hodges, Marla Egbers
Lincoln: Teresa Vaughn
Little Mountain: Debbie Willer, Ashley Young
Madison: Sharon Sackett, Lori Stiles
Washington: Lori Sadzewicz, Cindy Lint
LaVenture: Mike McManus, Greg Doud
Mt. Baker: Geri Cleve, Monica Nosky
MVHS: Bonnie Killion, Missi Chalfant, Paul Hope
John Sadzewicz, Heather Farren
Northwest Career and Technical Academy: Kathy Hulbert