September 5, 2006 Volume 11, Issue 1

Carolyn's Corner

The summer evaporated in an instant and here we are back to a new year in good old PVUSD. The opening of the 2006-07 school year must have been pretty smooth; at least the office phone has been remarkably quiet so far! That usually means that things are going well! At the union, we’ve been pretty busy over the summer which may be why it seemed so short.

PVFT sent a delegation at the AFT convention in Boston in July. The work of AFT took place on the convention floor, and some of the resolutions passed by the body were historic for the national federation which tends to be much more conservative than the California delegates would like it to be.

Boston itself was an amazing experience. Although it is a beautiful and friendly city, what made the biggest impact on all of us was walking on the same streets and sitting in the same taverns as our country’s founders. To sit in the same room in Faneuil Hall where they initiated the Boston Tea Party; to visit a cemetery where Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and Mother Goose are buried; to stand on the exact site of the first public school in the world; to visit a tiny church with eighteen (18!) Tiffany stained glass windows; to walk down the steps to go into Cheers was an experience none of us will soon forget. If you ever get the chance, made sure you visit this grand city which is truly our country’s birthplace!

We didn’t have a second to catch our breath when we returned from the East Coast before we headed to Burlingame for our second annual RSRA Institute. In our great partnership with UFT and AFT, our neophyte district trainers excelled as they presented the four sessions to 140 participants, nearly all from PVUSD. Everyone seemed to be invigorated by the training, and most school teams left with a solid plan to roll RSRA components out at their sites. A huge and grateful thank you goes to our Ann Sisco for all her hard work in organizing the materials and registering everyone. Without her, the event wouldn’t have happened.

No sooner had we cleaned up after the institute than we were busy setting up and co hosting a breakfast for all new certificated employees in the district. Good food, a great Hawaiian décor, lots of goodies and solid information greeted all our new family that attended. Thanks go to our Lisa Massey for organizing the wonderful, welcoming environment that greeted everyone. If any new employees couldn’t attend the breakfast and would like the information and goodies provided to those who did, contact the office and we’ll get the stuff out to your site.

And now we’re all back to work together. This will be a challenging year for all of us. The election in November will be HUGE! Trustees, SCCOE Superintendent and governor’s races could impact us all for years to come. NCLB continues to increase its menacing sanctions while we all need to focus on our students and our sanity. Together we’ll wend our way through the labyrinth believing that the good guys will prevail. Perhaps for once, we’ll be right. Have a great year and keep the faith!

BURLINGAME REVISITED

On August 2 – 4, one hundred fifty-five district personnel, including our interim superintendent, Terry McHenry, and his Cabinet, Trustees DeHart, Gray, Keegan and Yahiro, along with principals and the leadership teams from sixteen district sites attended the second Redesigning Schools to Raise Achievement (RSRA) training in Burlingame.

At this training, our very own PVUSD educators co-presented with the expert trainers from UFT. Our presenters included Catherine Hatch, Ylda Nogueda, Sylvia Mendez, Gary Woods, Jean Gottlob, Peggy Pughe, Gerry Levandoski, Kim Sakamoto and Don Brown. Their work was outstanding earning high praise from the participants. The district and PVFT goal is to train our own cadre of RSRA trainers to help sites facilitate the implementation of this reform model to aid them in moving their programs to the next level.
RSRA is a continuous reform model that was developed through the Teacher Center of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City about nine years ago. It was designed as a means to bring change to schools with the goal of raising student achievement. The model addresses the four key elements that research finds imperative for any type of school reform: Communication, Teambuilding and collaboration, Data Driven decision-making, and Quality Professional Development. It is not a magic bullet, nor is it a new program that promises instant success. It is a set of strategies and tools to help sites and districts plan for and implement a plan for continuous improvement. A key feature of RSRA is that teachers are seen as equal stakeholders and thus given the opportunity to have an equal voice in the restructuring of our schools. It is a partnership of the union and management working together for the common goal of greater success for all students.

NCLB SEEN AS INEFFECTIVE

Edited from a story in Education Week on the WebAugust 22, 2006 by Laura Greifner. (The Phil Delta Kappan poll is online at:http://www.pdkintl.org/)

Almost 70 percent of American adults who say they are familiar with the federal No Child Left Behind Act believe it has had no effect or is actually hurting public schools, says a nationwide survey released today.

The 38th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools surveyed 1,007 adults on issues such as how public schools are evaluated, how school improvement should occur, and the state of current reform efforts.

“The views expressed in this year’s PDK/Gallup poll should serve as a wake-up call to our nation’s policymakers as they begin the process of reauthorizing NCLB in 2007,” William Bushaw, the executive director of Bloomington, Ind.-based PDK International, said in a statement.

More American adults reported being knowledgeable about No Child Left Behind than in previous surveys, but many have an unfavorable view of the law. Forty-five percent of those polled said they knew either “a great deal” or “a fair amount” about the federal law, up from 40 percent last year and 31 percent two years ago.

However, of this group, 31 percent said the law was hurting the performance of public schools in their communities, and 37 percent said it had made no difference. Twenty-nine percent said it was helping their local public schools.

State tests as mandated by NCLB currently require students to be assessed only in reading and mathematics. In this year’s survey, 69 percent of respondents said a single test will not provide a fair picture of whether a school needs improvement, and 81 percent said they believed testing requirements should include assessments of students’ knowledge in subjects beyond just reading and math. The No Child Left Behind law requires states to test students in science at least once annually in each 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 grade span, beginning in the 2007-08 school year.

Upcoming Events Mark Your Calendar

• September 11, 2006 First General Membership Meeting is at Starlight Elementary MPR Room from 4:30-6:30pm—Bring your questions for the SCCOE Superintendent Candidates!
• September 12, 2006 PVFT and CSEA will be sponsoring a forum for the PVUSD Trustee Candidates in the Board
  Room at the District Office from 4:30-6:30pm!
• September 15, 2006 Pajaro Valley’s New Teacher Reception 4pm to 6pm @ El Alteño Restaurant. New Teachers RSVP Louis at: browndog2164@msn.com or call (831) 238-3115

PAYCHECK ALERT
Because of the creative and forward thinking of our PVFT negotiation team two years ago, all certificated staff in the district found a 3.66% increase in their August paycheck. This raise is accompanied by no change in our benefits. We’ve told the district that we’re not finished talking to them about compensation, but it is a great start. In the last couple of years, PVUSD salaries have gone from the bottom of the tri-county area to the top (with the exception of the basic aid districts). A huge thanks goes to our negotiation team for all of their hard work.

POLITICS AND ENDORSEMENTS
At the final membership meeting of the 2005-06 school years, the members voted to change the PVFT endorsement policy in all future elections. Their intent was to give a stronger voice to all members before the union chose to endorse a candidate for office.
The new policy will be used for the first time for the November election. Before PVFT endorses any candidate for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education Superintendent or the PVUSD Board of Trustees, all members will be surveyed for their opinion and the Executive Council will announce the will of the members.
The process will begin with a forum open to all members to attend and ask questions of the candidates. The forum for the SCCOE Superintendent’s race will be on September 11th. The forum for the trustee races will be on September 12th. After the final forum, ballots will be sent to each site to be distributed to all members at the site. These will be returned within the week to the union office where they will be counted. The Executive Council will then announce to all members what the results were and which candidates PVFT will endorse for the November election.

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