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C.V. Educator

A Publication of the Central Valley Education Association

Newsletter Archive

April 2010

STATE BUDGET SETTLED

It is not pretty but it could have been worse. Our district will face a budget cut just a pinch over 2 million dollars. This was at the low end of an estimate a few months back that ranged from 2 to 3.3 million dollars. The I-728 funding elimination alone should account for 1.5 million dollars worth of the reduction. The remaining 500,000 will come from a combination of cuts and the use of a portion of the one million dollars of unexpected additional levy capacity from the governor’s bill.

It is important to know at this point that the number of retirements and transfers expected should balance the positions lost because of the I-728 cuts. Reassignments will have to be made and everyone will be affected by the reductions. Through the budget process our administration and school board will determine what remaining reductions must be made. The possibility of facing even more cuts a year from now is very real and planning for that will be a big part of the decisions that will be made this spring. I encourage your attendance at the school board meeting on Monday, April 26 at 6:30 where this will be discussed.

Negotiations Continue

It often comes down to working together to find shared philosophies and beliefs by which common goals can be discussed, directions planned and agreements made. Discussions of philosophy and beliefs are much like discussions involving religion and politics. These are difficult endeavors that need to be dealt with carefully. A couple of examples where we are historically at odds with the district are collaboration and special needs students.

I am reminded of a high-ranking official who was involved in the Larry Flynt trial many years ago. He said, “I can’t define pornography, but I know it when I see it.” Well, we can define collaboration and we know when we see something that is masquerading as collaboration. Is collaboration simply groups of teachers working together on the same goal? If teachers are assigned to groups and given goals to work on, is this really collaboration? When the district classifies a student as someone who has special needs we realize that they will get the special care they deserve. Class sizes for them are smaller by necessity, programs are adjusted, access to para professionals is given, accommodations are made for a variety of needs and extra staffing to support them is provided. Placing special needs students into regular ed classes has a way of blurring this focus. Take 8 students from a resource room with a maximum size of 13 and move them into one regular ed class with a limit of 29. What happens to the support for the special needs students?

So, what do we really believe collaboration should be? Is this a question about philosophy and belief or does it have more to do with the professional trust in our staff? How do we address the special needs of our most compromised students as they move out into the general population? If we believe that they deserve special attention then should we confine it just to the resource rooms and self-contained rooms in our schools? Ah, philosophy and beliefs, religion and politics, sticky wickets all.

WEA REP ASSEMBLY IN SPOKANE, May 13-15

At the February meeting, the CVEA Rep Council selected the following members to serve as our representatives to the WEA Rep Assembly. It begins Thursday night and runs all day Friday and Saturday. Please thank our reps as they work to establish the goals and direction the WEA will follow in the coming year.

CVHS KNOWLEDGE BOWL PLACES 2ND IN STATE

Under the direction of Eric Akins, the CVHS Knowledge Bowl team placed 2nd at the state competition this spring. The team of Adam Bernbaum, Janni Sun, James Ganas, Zach Fitting, Cameron Allen and Mitchell Dumais were tied after 50 questions but lost when the opponent challenged the ruling on an earlier question. Congratulations CV for such an awesome job representing all of us.

COP GRANT WINNERS FROM CVEA

Debbie Knowlton from Ponderosa and the CV School Nurses were awarded COP Grants from the WEA Eastern UniServ Council.

Ponderosa will involve the 4th graders in collecting books, stuffed animals and blankets to be presented to the Vanessa Behan Crisis Center. The 55 4th grade students will select the books, make the blankets and attach tags recognizing the WEA and CVEA.

The CV Nurses will organize a health careers fair for students and community members who are interested in a career in the health care field. The purpose is to provide a venue for community members, school staff and students to meet in one location to learn about what health careers are available locally and regionally.

CALENDAR

CVEA OFFICERS

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