Message from Sheri Strickland

Dear North Carolina Educator –

We know that public education in North Carolina is important to you. You are concerned about your classroom, your children’s future, and you know that many critical education decisions are made at the North Carolina General Assembly.

An integral part of keeping you informed about important issues facing public school education is NCAE’s Daily Political Briefing. No other daily publication in the state – including newspapers, blogs or tv/radio – keeps you as informed and up-to-date about PK-12 education politics at the North Carolina General Assembly. From floor votes to behind-the-scenes conversations in back-rooms, DPB uncovers what really goes on in North Carolina politics and shares it with 100,000 readers like you each day during the legislative session.

While DPB is a voice for public education advocacy, NCAE’s true effectiveness comes from a strong and powerful membership base that demands change when injustices are revealed and reported. Imagine the strength and effectiveness of 100,000 members of NCAE standing together to fight for public education in a time when classroom resources are being drained and student learning is compromised.

I invite you to join NCAE today so that we can have an impact on the decisions made that will affect public education this year. I am also inviting you to join a dynamic and diverse community of North Carolina educators who share common benefits, best professional practices, and legal protections in the workplace. I am inviting you to join something special – a movement to make great public schools in North Carolina for every child.

To join today, contact Brian Lewis, author of DPB, at brian.lewis@ncae.org or at (800) 662-7924 extension 256. If you want to enroll without assistance using a credit card, you can join by visiting https://sites.nea.org/JoinNea/.

If you are receiving this email and you are a current member, please continue to stay informed through the DPB and encourage non-members to sign up to receive the DPB and to join us in our efforts on behalf of public education and the children of our state.

Thank you again for reading NCAE’s Daily Political Briefing and I hope we hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Sheri Strickland

NCAE President

NCAE President Sheri Strickland Visits Franklin Area Schools

Dear Association Representatives and Officers:

The following will serve as minutes of our training session on September 16, 2009, at the Boiler Room in Franklin, NC. Present at the meeting were the following: President Sheri Strickland, NCAE; Victoria Mahler, President MCAE; Monica Miller, AR; Tracey Shumway, VP; Cathy Tippett, AR; Saul Olvera, Membership Chair; Sandy Keener, Treasurer; Amanda Waldroop, AR; John deVille, Communications Chair; Rena Sutton, Secretary; Michael Waters, AR; and Shelley Marshall, AR.

We had a wonderful dinner and training session yesterday. Pres. Sheri Strickland took our questions and concerns and discussed them or took notes as needed. During the meeting and the entire day, she was very open to member input, out of concern and so she and other staff members of NCAE could voice concerns at various committee meetings such as those held with the NC Board of Education, the governor, meetings with legislators, etc.

Pres. Strickland had spent the day with us. We had her visit the largest schools (South Macon, MMS, and FHS) to maximize the amount of input from members to their elected, highest executive officer in our professional organization, NCAE. She would have liked to have visited all of the schools, but her one day visit was well received where she was able to go.

Rena Sutton, Saul Olvera and John deVille hosted her at several schools. Members and non-members that were able to see her gave her large amounts of thanks for NCAE helping to save so many teachers' jobs and for being able to save our salaries and importantly, allowing us to move up the scale of years of experience. NCAE felt recognition of years of experience on a frozen pay scale were necessary, so we could return to the level of pay we deserve when the economy improves.

The thrust of Pres. Strickland's talk with us concerned member involvement. We have found out that even education is not held harmless by rough, economic times. Up to 20,000 educators could have lost their jobs and many were saved; we are not able to have the final count yet. The veteran teachers could have lost their longevity, because the money was not there even with severe cuts. Education is the biggest cost for our state and educational personnel is about 90% of that operational cost. For those members that have been reading their daily political updates, we saw the crashing of education that was going to take place. Due to the insistence of NCAE to find a more stable (good times and bad economic times) tax base to support the state's needs which include education, and due to NEA's influence on federal policy that includes stimulus dollars, we were able to minimize personnel and program loss. NCAE polled the NC public and found that what they wanted less than more taxes was less quality in public education. NO other "professional organization" has done more to insure quality in public education. It was a difficult summer during difficult times, and our organization and many of its members worked with all shareholders to produce phenomenal results considering the circumstances.

It is impossible to influence legislative results and stay apolitical. Educators that want to make a difference for their students and their profession are needed in our membership to help further empower education, by adding their experienced voices to our voice as an organization. Active membership and new members will help us prevent and or remediate shortfalls, because they can add their frontline voice on policy issues. We not only need NEA/NCAE, but to be our best as an organization, we as NCAE members need current and new members to make their voices heard and their concerns represented by joining and participating in our organization.

Our emails, meetings with legislators, and lobbyists, etc. give those elected government representatives an informed voice. Additionally, more voices in our organization gives the organization the information to be more effective for strengthening public education.

I would like to paraphrase Pres. Strickland's speech: NEA/NCAE needs you! In this day and time, it can not only be seen through the rose-colored glasses of service or what it can do for us, albeit important. Our organization also has to be seen through what we can do to preserve and push forward the cause of public education for the sake of our students and our profession.

The meeting ended about 6:45.

Respectfully submitted,

Rena O. Sutton, MCAE Secretary

September 17, 2009

Does Household Income Impact Test Scores?

Today's NCAE daily brief quoted some research from NC Policy Watch....the numbers are sobering, especially for those who want us to believe it's a fairly simple task to overcome the burdens of poverty in the class room:

Total number of Honor Schools of Excellence, the highest designation in the Department of Public Instruction's end-of-grade testing program, in 2008-2009 results = 121

Honor Schools with less than 20 percent of students eligible for free or reduced lunch = 65

Total number of current NC "Honor" Schools where the free & reduced lunch population is 80% or higher = ZERO

Total number of number of low-performing schools, the lowest designation in the testing program = 75

Number of those low-performing schools with at least 60 percent poor students = 66

Number of those low-performing schools with less than twenty percent free or reduced lunch students = ZERO

Big Plans for 2009 - 2010

We have the most invigorated executive team I've seen in 14 years with MCAE....and they, we, have big plans.

(1) We have a visit right around the corner from NCAE President Sheri Strickland on September 16...stay tuned for details on how to meet with Sheri.

(2) We have a retirement workshop slated for October.

(3) We have calendared a "Make My Classroom Ready" workshop and classroom needs assessment survey for November 5th. The goal for that meeting will be to gather as many Macon County teachers and support staff together as we can to put together a prioritized list of supplies and materials that we need for classrooms and schools. We are determined that our voices will be heard come budget time next spring by the Board of Education, the Central Office team, and the County Commissioners. We are the ones on the front lines of delivery the services to the children and know as much or more than anyone where the increasingly scarce dollars should be allocated.

Please let us know in comments what you think we should be doing and how we can better represent you.