Rialto Education Association/CTA/NEA/AFL-CIO
President Bill Hedrick Vice President Lisa Lindberg, Morris Secretary Deb Bunger, RHS Treasurer Shannon McCreight, Myers High School Directors Suzan Pechinko, RHS
An issue has been raised regarding sign -in sheets currently used at some campuses. Our contract requires that "unit members shall be required to report to school thirty minutes before the commencement of the first class..." This is also an Ed Code provision. However, employees are not required to sign in, much less note a time. Sign-in sheets are not supported by Board policy. Circumstances may arise that would prevent an employee from signing in exactly thirty minutes early at a school office. For example, he/she may have an early conference with a parent, student, or colleague. While we can agree that teachers need to be on campus thirty minutes early, they may not be docked simply for failing to sign in at the office. Signing in may be justified if an administrator wishes to have a posted daily bulletin read and initialed, but can not be used in place of a time card, to . REA opposes any discipline based solely on sign-in sheets. If an administrator has reason to believe that a teacher is, in fact, late, we encourage an informal conference to explain the incident or to remedy the problem. If that is unsuccessful, we support documentation of the incident. necessity or leave without pay--depending on the circumstance. However, the most appropriate administrative recourse is to use the disciplinary arti1 cle of the contract.
Middle School Directors Carolyn Lacy Kucera Tobin Brinker, Frisbie Elementary Directors Melissa Perkins Deb McKenzie, Dollahan Non-Graded Director Mark Clark BTSA State Council Rep Tobin Brinker Deb Traugott Penny Robinson
Perhaps you were as surprised as I was to open my district email and find a message from newly-elected board member Joe Martinez. Mr. Martinez, as you know, is requesting input for employees. It has been so long since input was asked of teachers, that I just stared at the message, really savoring the moment. (I hope that you will respond to his request!) I do not expect miracles from the Rialto School Board. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that an attitudinal shift is occurring as it relates to employees. An old-fashioned spirit that values individual employees is in the air, and it seems to be coming from Walnut Avenue. While not every site seems to have gotten the message that certificated and classified employees merit respect, I think they may soon enough. Perhaps I am just intoxicated with holiday cheer, but I am cautiously optimistic that, despite serious statewide economic problems, things will be improving in Rialto Unified. We all have an opportunity for a fresh start and a chance to forge new relationships with board members, administrators, and colleagues. If reconciliation is to occur, we need to look at the past and let it go. REA has never asked for, nor sought, control of the district. We have, however, wanted inclusion and consultation in areas of which our members have special knowledge instruction, assessment, programs, etc. We have a Board that seems ready and willing to listen. We soon will have the best we can offer. It has been said, "
down the shade." A window of opportunity has opened in Rialto. REA Have a great holiday!
Loca News
Classroom Peer Observations
A number of questions have been forwarded to REA from several schools regarding peer observations. As you may know, administrators have the right to visit and observe your classroom. However, this administrative right does not extend to peers and includes other teachers as well as coaches literacy, math, ELD, etc. Other teachers who are sent to visit/observe your classroom are guests. As with all guests, they technically visit at your invitation. In other words, if you do not wish to have teacher observers in your classroom, you may decline to participate. Inform your administrator that you prefer not to have peer visits. Do, however, expect administrative visits instead. Clipboard-wielding groups of visitors walking unannounced into classrooms can raise questions among those being observed. It is always considerate for guests to explain their presence, but occasionally this may not take place. Nevertheless, although few may choose to exercise the option, you do control whether to participate in 2 peer observations by teaching colleagues and coaches.
National News
Obama Names Arne Duncan Next Education Secretary
Duncan has called for doubling NCLB funding and adding more flexibility into the law
WASHINGTON President-elect Barack Obama has named Arne Duncan, the superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, as the next secretary of education according to reports by The New York Times and Washington Post. Dun-to-the-test rigidity with more flexibility. five years, and that the law must be amended to give schools the maximum amount of flexibility possible. For too long, federal education policy has been about teaching to the test, and Duncan could use his new position to move beyond those failed policies, and provide every child with 21 st In Chicago, Duncan set his sights on reducing the dropout rate, reducing school violence and creating successful new schools. His efforts have shown his commitment to quality public schools, Van Roekel said, and willingness to make decisive, bold changes. "We applaud President-NEA, we have worked collaboratively with Arne Duncan on a number of ways to improve all Illinois public schools, including increased funding. In our experience, Arne Duncan is committed to working with others including the unions to promote excellence and equity in public education." Duncan will inherit significant baggage from the failed policies of the Bush administration. NCLB is underfunded by $71 billion, and in economic downturns, school funding suffers.
STATE NEWS
CTA Joins School Boards and Administrators in Algebra 1 Lawsuit Teachers say State Board of Education acted improperly, exceeded authority
Burlingame graders take an Algebra 1 assessment test, whether or not they have taken an algebra course, the California Teachers Association has joined the California School Boards Association (CSBA) and the Association of California School CTA believes the State Board of Education did not properly notify the public that it was reversing its prior decision -graders and that it overstepped its authority in designating Algebra 1 as the sole eighth-grade math assessment because it is not aligned with existing content standards. our schools to begin now to prepare all eighth graders to take the Algebra 1 exam, they must immediately hire about 3,000 more teachers and properly train about a thousand more who are either underprepared or teaching in another field. And this is at a time when the governor is proposing to cut another $2.5 billion on top of the $3.5 billion that has -grade students to take a standardized algebra test is another one-size-fitsall approach that will punish students and public schools. It is never fair to force students to be tested on information dards and accountability system and another example of the No Child Left Behind Act and the federal government California has some of the highest academic standards in the country, and our state has been working hard to ensure that our instructional materials, textbooks, assessments and teacher readiness are all aligned with those standards.
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Why Consider a Career in Public Education?
Ed Sibby Citrus Belt Executive director Despite its challenges, public school teaching remains a viable and exciting career option. I began my own foray into the ranks of California educators in 1984, fresh out of college and full of altruism. It was an inauspicious beginning. At twenty-one and still unsure of myself, I craved acceptance and affirmation from my young charges. Sharing a story I had overheard of two eighth graders in a neighboring school that had been discovered in an otherwise empty classroom in a compromising
very students was transferred to our campus was both humiliating and enlightening. I learned an early lesson about the distance one must maintain to successfully navigate the sometimes rough sea of appropriate student interaction.
and email have made instant communication a mine field for our young educators and their students. Yet, in the midst of the blurring of social and professional lives caused by this technology, they are exscores are regularly produced in their classrooms. All this while they face the looming threat of budget cuts so severe that it threatens the very fabric of the institution itself. So why am I optimistic about the future of public education as a career? Here are just a few of the reasons: Despite the current economic crisis, the American public still supports the mission and purpose of its local public schools. Millions of PTA participants, athletic boosters, and concerned parents are actively engaged in ensuring the success of their children through their supportive involvement each day. successful educator, it is a regular and ongoing occurrence. Opportunities abound in the profession. College students need not major in math to calculate that baby boomers, the largest teaching force in the history of the U.S., have already begun to retire. The U.S. will replace over 700,000 teachers in the next 10 years, and over 100,000 of those positions will be in California alone.
thrust schools to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement, where they played an integral role in tear-
erated their battle to win rights for special needs students, and they continue in that struggle today. Proposition 8 whose supporters made the teaching of Gay Marriage a lynchpin of their campaign, schools are and will always be a part of these issues and trends.
4 For those who want to engage in a place where history is not only being taught, but shaped and remade, what better place to work?
Rialto Education Association/CTA/NEA /ALF-CIO* 437 N. Riverside Ave #2. * Rialto * CA * 92376 * (909) 562-0850 /ALF562-
www.reaonline.org
Email: trpenna@msn.com or hedrick23@prodigy.net
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