AHEM Weekly Updates

AHEM Statement to the School Board on the Respectful Learning Environment Curriculum Policy

2012-02-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

Chair Heidemann, Members of the Board, Superintendent Carlson: My name is Julie Blaha. I am the president of Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota and I’m here to present our organization’s position on the proposed policy.

AHEM’s governing body voted last Monday to support the adoption of the Respectful Learning Environment Curriculum Policy with some small clarifications. We are glad to see the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy go. While we maintain that a replacement policy is not essential, this new policy seems to fit with what we know works for students.

For changes, we suggest:

In the fourth paragraph, adding a word so it reads “Teachers, administrators, and educational support staff…”
In the fifth paragraph, substitute the word “relevant” for the phrase “of significance.”
Modify the final paragraph to make it clear that the terms may apply to students’ families, not just students. That would make categories like “veteran” and “family leave” status more logical. In that same paragraph, changing “marital status” to “family status” and “public assistance” to “economic status” would make those categories more parallel to the others.

We appreciated the chance to meet with board members Heidemann, Sullivan, and Wenzel last Thursday to discuss how we understand this policy. We are on the same page on a number of ideas:

We were glad we agree that the statement about following district approved policy is not meant to hinder innovation or creativity in our lessons.
We understand that the board still values the importance of discussing controversial topics to build students’ ability to understand, analyze, and respect multiple viewpoints.
If there is concern about how a teacher deals with an issue in their classroom, we understand that it will be handled on a case by case basis at the building level, not with time-consuming procedures and paperwork at the district level.
We appreciated hearing that board members respect our professional judgment when it comes to determining which topics we include in our instruction.

The question now is what effect will this policy have?

This could be just another 228 words buried under 154 other policies that govern what happens in our schools.

Or it could be the first paragraphs of a new chapter in our district. One where everyone feels more safe and welcome at school. A chapter where it is clear that every student, staff member, and family is valued for who they are. One full of rigorous conversations between professionals about how to improve our school climate. We look forward to writing this chapter with you.

We urge you to approve the Respectful Learning Environment Curriculum Policy and invite you to meet with teachers regularly to ensure a successful implementation.

Thank you.

Special Update - Rolling Stone Article

2012-02-06T12:16:00.000-08:00

Colleagues:

You may have seen the Rolling Stone article about our district this weekend. (Here’s the link: http://tinyurl.com/6nzrpw9)

It is a difficult read. The description of the suicides in our district is heartbreaking. The description of our district’s response is not flattering.

It is a challenge to respond to an article like this. On one hand, these are stories that need to be told. If we are going to address the challenges our LGBT students face, we need to take a hard look at what has happened in our district. It has never been more clear that we must continue to take these issues seriously and keeping working toward providing our students with a safe and welcoming environment in our schools.

On the other hand, any teacher in our district will see that there is a fair amount of melodrama in the story. The article shows only the worst of our community. Though the public’s response has not focused on teachers, some of the magazine’s depictions of educators will not match what you know to be true of your colleagues.

I wish all of my comments to the reporter were included in the article. I told her how every educator I know takes quick, significant action whenever they see bullying. I told her how teachers have been leading the effort to make sure each of our students knows they are valuable part of our community.

I told her our community had been unfairly characterized by people who focused on the opinions of a small, fringe group - the same group that was the focus of the article. I also told her that we were making real progress this year and that the atmosphere was changing for the better.

As you read the article, remember, there is fact and fiction in every story. Let’s take what is true and learn from it to make our schools better. Let’s take the fiction and make sure it never becomes fact.

Thank you for the work you do. I am honored to be your colleague,

-Julie Blaha

AHEM President

Precinct Caucuses, Meet & Confer, Policy, Wordle

2012-02-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

Precinct Caucuses: Minnesota will begin its political convention season on Tuesday, February 7. Major political parties will hold caucuses to take polls on candidates, do party business, and discuss issues. This is a great opportunity to tell our neighbors what is really going on in our schools. Teachers generally make up a good percentage of attendees, so join your colleagues in your neighborhood on Tuesday. For links to finding your caucus location, general info, and sample resolutions you may want to introduce, visit http://tinyurl.com/6vm62ub .

Meet & Confer: Over 150 educators and five of the six school board members attended Meet & Confer Wednesday to discuss Special Education caseload and the Kindergarten expansion. Your colleagues who took to the microphone were outstanding. They clearly laid out the issues underlying increasing and inconsistent workloads in Special Ed, as well as concrete solutions to begin alleviating the problem. They also expressed how much we value all day every day kindergarten programs, the vital importance of using licensed specialists at that level, and the need to expand the program to all schools. We are compiling the ideas for the school board - if you would like to add a thought you’ve had since the event, our survey is still open at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MeetConfer2112.

Respectful Learning Environment Curriculum Policy: You still have time to give your feedback on the new proposal to replace the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy. Visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RespectfulEnvironmentPolicy to both see the full draft and tell us what you think our position should be. We will be discussing our next steps at our Representative Assembly on Monday.

Good Question: How did you make the word clouds for Meet & Confer? A number of people asked how we made the graphics we used to illustrate our survey responses. We used “Wordle”, a free online application at www.wordle.net. It’s a fun way to illustrate the most common words in a text. Not surprisingly, the largest words in our clouds were “students”.

Meet & Confer, Policies, Coffee & Politics, Scholarships

2012-01-27T07:26:00.000-08:00

Meet & Confer on Special Ed Caseload and Kindergarten Expansion: Our next Meet & Confer with the School Board will be Wednesday, February 1^st, 5:30 – 7:30 pm, at the Staff Development Center. Scheduled topics include:

Special Education and Speech Caseload and Workload
Kindergarten Expansion Proposal

We are getting a lot of interest in these topics – we hope you can join us for what will be a good discussion. If you are interested in sharing a topic or speaking to one of these, contact Vice President LeMoyne Corgard at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us. If you would like to leave feedback on these topics in a more anonymous format, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MeetConfer2112 .

Tell us what you think about the Respectful Learning Environment Curriculum Policy: The school board heard our concerns and those of the community over the past month. Due to general dissatisfaction with the proposal to replace the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy with the Controversial Topics Policy, they went back to the drawing board. The school board is now proposing a Respectful Learning Environment Curriculum Policy. You can read the policy and give us your take on how it will work for your students here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RespectfulEnvironmentPolicy. AHEM will discuss the policy and consider taking a position at our February 6 Representative Assembly meeting. The school board is expected to vote on the policy at their February 13 meeting.

Coffee & Politics: The new legislative session has begun and AHEM is creating opportunities for members to meet with elected leaders. Government Relations Chairs Val Holthus and Lindsay DenBleyker are setting up informal meetings at coffee shops – watch your mail for an invite if we schedule with your representatives. Senate District 48 legislators Jim Abeler and Mike Jungbauer kicked off this year’s program at Caribou this past Thursday with a lively discussion with a great group of educators. We also go to the Capitol with groups of members a couple of times a year. If you are interesting in participating in a lobby day, email us at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us.

Scholarships for Students of Union Members: If you have a high school senior in your family, visit the Minnesota AFL-CIO Scholarship page at http://mnaflcio.org/about/scholarships-awards. Good luck!

AHEM Position on the School Board Policy Change Proposal

2012-01-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Below is our organization's reaction to the Anoka-Hennepin School Board's proposal to rescind the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy and add a Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy. First is our statement to the school board, then a summary of our position, and finally our full position statement.

President Julie Blaha's Address

to the January 9, 2012 A-H School Board Meeting

Chair Heidemann, Members of the Board, Superintendent Carlson:

My name is Julie Blaha. I am the president of Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota and I’m here to present our organization’s position on the proposed policy changes.

To start, let me say on behalf of the district’s teachers that we appreciate the work you all have begun on our policies. This discussion is a good step toward improving the school climate in our district.

You have a copy of our full position and for those watching. Here are the main points:

First, we agree with your proposal to rescind the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy. Despite the good intentions when the policy was adopted, it turned out to be more confusing and limiting than helpful. We teachers have all had that lesson that seemed so terrific when we planned it, but just didn’t yield results when we implemented it. Good teachers let those lessons go, and we’re glad to see you have that same instinct here.

Second, we don’t believe replacing the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy with the Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy is necessary. Our full position statement lays out the other policies, statutes and professional knowledge we believe better describe what we you are trying to accomplish. Redundancy can lead to conflicting policies, which can get confusing.

If you believe some sort of policy is absolutely necessary, the Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy can be made to fit sound educational practices with some changes.

Delete the second paragraph about board adopted curriculum. That will take away the implication that teachers can’t take advantage of teachable moments not spelled out in a curriculum document.
Change the phrase “an atmosphere free of bias and prejudice” to “in an impartial and objective manner” in the fourth paragraph. We believe that is more in line with what is realistic in a classroom. We took this phrase from a similar policy used in Howard County, Maryland.
·Delete the fifth paragraph. That would avoid any implication that all opinion is banned or that our professional duties end when the bell rings.

Third, the word “controversial” in the proposed policy needs to be clarified. We need to clearly differentiate between what is an issue and what is someone’s identity. We agree that teachers should not promote a personal agenda in the classroom – our role is not to tell students what to think, but to help them think more deeply. At the same time, our students’ identities can never be an issue. While we can be impartial on a topic, we value our students for who they are. Issues can be controversial, but our students’ identities can never be an issue.

The decisions you make in the coming weeks will have an impact, but the work we all do in the coming years can make lasting change. We hope everyone in our district will commit to long term work on our school climate. As we laid out last October, let’s use the same kind of approach we use to raise math scores or improve reading comprehension. Let’s start with a full assessment of our school climate. Let’s use the results to see where we are and decide where we need to go. Along the way, let’s regularly check to see if we are on track. Then, let’s come back together to decide if these actions had the effect we hoped for.

Thank you for hearing what teachers have to say on the matter. We invite you to meet with us in the next couple of weeks to discuss this in greater depth. Regardless of what you decide, let’s make sure the conversation continues.

Thank you.

AHEM Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy Position Overview

Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota, the union of educators in District 11, has reviewed the proposed Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy over the past month. We began the process by taking input from our members, other Anoka-Hennepin staff, and community members via an open ended survey. A group of teachers then met to draft a position that was adopted at our Representative Assembly on Monday, January 9, 2012.

Here are some of the basic recommendations from our review:

· We support rescinding the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy.

o “Neutrality” was a confusing term and was applied inconsistently across the district.

o The policy’s phrase “in the course of their professional duties” caused conflict with other policies.

· We do not believe a new policy to replace the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy is needed.

o There are a number of other district policies, state statute, and direction from professional education organizations that better address these issues.

o Enshrining best teaching practices in board policy is impractical - it would take thousands of policies to cover all we do as educators.

· If implemented by the district, The Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy could be changed to better align with effective instructional practices.

o We agree with the goal of providing a safe and welcoming environment for all of our students.

o We do not want educators’ hands tied when it comes to teachable moments because they are not in a formal curriculum document.

o We agree that controversial topics have an important place in student learning.

o The term “controversial” needs clarification. We want it clear that an issue can be considered controversial, but our students’ identities are never a “controversial” issue.

o We agree that an educator’s role is not to promote a personal agenda in the classroom, but to facilitate students’ work to develop their own ideas.

o Our professional duties do not end when the bell rings. We believe the use of the phrase “in the course of their professional duties” takes the proposal beyond the scope of a curriculum policy.

o We suggest deleting the second and fifth paragraphs of the proposal and replacing the phrase “atmosphere free of bias and prejudice” with “in an impartial and objective manner” in paragraph four.

Ultimately, we understand the board is working to balance a number of reasonable interests. Our community is asking that every student and family is valued for who they are and that students are allowed to develop their own conclusions about controversial topics. Educators want to ensure we are able to use our professional judgment to the fullest extent and that our beliefs are respected at work. We do not believe those interests are in conflict. Every day, educators use their expertise to balance these interests. The reason we are able to do so is for all the different beliefs and opinions educators may hold, we value our students above all.

AHEM Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy Position

Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota reviewed the proposed Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy over the past month. We began the process by taking input from our members, other Anoka-Hennepin staff, and community members via an open ended survey. A group of members then met to draft a response. That draft was discussed and approved by AHEM’s largest governing body, the Representative Assembly, on Monday, January 9.

In short, AHEM supports rescinding the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy, but does not support adopting the proposed Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy. With changes, the proposed Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy could be made unobjectionable. Even with changes however, we do not believe the policy would be necessary.

We believe rescinding the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy is an educationally sound idea. This policy is problematic in that the term “neutrality” is not a common term of art in the field of education. As a result, the policies were confusing and interpreted inconsistently across the district. Also, the phrase “in the course of their professional duties” extended the reach of the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy beyond just curriculum and caused conflict with other policies. That overreach is evident in the district’s need to clarify that bullying policies trump the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy.

We believe replacing these policies with a new policy is unnecessary. We currently have 159 School Board policies in our district. The School Board has not set policies to reflect every teaching practice it feels is effective. To do so would swell an already large number of district policies beyond what can be practically implemented. Furthermore, we already have policies that express much of what we believe the school board is attempting to accomplish. For instance, the Multicultural/Gender Fair Curriculum Policy (604.60) describes the importance of multiple perspectives in our instruction and policies which list protected classes describe the importance of respecting our students’ identities.

In addition, the Code of Ethics for Minnesota Teachers, state statute 8700.7500, provides the direction that “a teacher shall provide professional education services in a nondiscriminatory manner. … A teacher shall not use professional relationships with students, parents, and colleagues to private advantage. … A teacher shall not deliberately suppress or distort subject matter.” With all of this direction, five more paragraphs may not add meaningfully to teachers’ understanding of the matter.

The proposed Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy has components that reflect solid educational practices, and components that could cause further confusion. Our reaction can be broken down by paragraph:

Paragraph 1: The Board is committed to providing a safe and respectful learning environment and to providing an education that respects the beliefs of all students and families.

We agree with the sentiment of this paragraph and also strive to ensure every student feels safe and welcome in our classrooms.

Paragraph 2: Anoka-Hennepin curriculum will meet the Minnesota state standards, and teachers shall teach the Board-adopted District curriculum.

While we agree that our role as educators is to work to meet state standards and teach district curriculum, we are concerned that this paragraph implies that we are limited to only teaching to standards and adopted curriculum. The idea that the school board may be trying to convey is better reflected in the district’s current Equal Access, Interpretation, Implementation, and Implications Policy (604.50). That policy describes how curriculum is adopted and includes the statement, “consistency does not imply…there is no provision for teacher creativity and variation in instructional approaches.” The phrase allowing for flexibility is key to ensuring the district does not promote one size fits all instruction or limit teachers’ ability to seize opportunities and teachable moments as they arise. This paragraph would be best deleted from the proposed policy because it is better stated in another existing policy and could be interpreted to contradict the Equal Access, Interpretation, Implementation, and Implications Policy.

Paragraph 3: The Anoka-Hennepin School Board recognizes the importance of providing information about controversial topics in a democracy.

We believe this is statement is an improvement over previous policies because it states not only that teachers can use controversial topics in their instruction, but that the study of controversial topics are a necessary part of a students’ learning.

The word “controversial” needs clearer definition. We believe the term controversial to mean issues around which there is disagreement or multiple differing perspectives. It needs to be crystal clear that our students’ and staffs’ identities can never be an issue. While an issue that arises can cause disagreement, who our students and colleagues are is never controversial to educators – we value everyone in our school communities unconditionally.

The decision about what is controversial needs to be made on a case by case basis at the classroom and building level. Singling out specific ideas as controversial on a district wide level would have a chilling effect on discussion in much the same way the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy’s singling out sexual orientation did. We have structures such as professional learning communities and departmental committees where it would be effective to have discussions about handling controversial topics.

Paragraph 4: The study of controversial topics shall contribute toward helping students develop techniques for examining controversy, be appropriate to the maturity and developmental level of students, be of significance related to course content, and presented in an atmosphere free of bias and prejudice.

The criterion listed in this paragraph makes sense to us. We feel a better statement of the last phrase “presented in an atmosphere free of bias and prejudice” can be found in a similar policy used in Howard County, Maryland. They use the phrase “in an impartial and objective manner” instead. The “free of bias” language is problematic because an atmosphere truly free of all bias cannot be created; bias exists inherently in all presentation. Thus, an atmosphere entirely free of bias is logistically impossible. However, impartiality is about fairness, which does not place an unachievable burden on a teacher, and objectivity designates the use of facts and logic and the relative removal of personal feelings and opinions.

Paragraph 5: Teachers and educational support staff shall not advocate personal beliefs or opinions regarding controversial topics in the course of their professional duties.

The idea that teachers “shall not advocate personal beliefs or opinions” in a classroom setting is already stated clearly in paragraph 4 in the phrase about atmosphere. To restate it is unnecessary. Such redundancy can create the suggestion that the school board does not believe teachers already carefully weigh if and when to share an opinion with students. Overstatement of this idea can lead teachers to believe that the school board is implying that they should leave all opinion at the door. That could cause teachers to avoid opportunities when expressing an opinion makes sound educational sense.

Teachers agree that we must ensure we are not using our influence with our students to promote personal agendas. Not only do we find that kind of behavior unethical, we also believe it is ineffective teaching. Our role is not to tell students what to think, but to help them think deeply. To tell students what to decide on a controversial topic would be akin to doing their homework for them. This is such a widely accepted sentiment that a policy to its effect is unnecessary.

The statement “in the course of their professional duties” carries the same problems it did in the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy. The phrase’s inclusion in a curriculum policy implies that our professional duties end when the bell rings. This is not the case. Part of our work as educators includes advocating what we believe is best for our students when we talk to our building faculty, to district administrators, and to the school board. For the rigorous discussion needed to continually improve education for our students, educators need to be free to not only express our opinions, but to work actively to promote those ideas on our students’ behalf.

This paragraph would be best deleted from the proposed policy.

Policies, Right to Work, School Board Videos

2012-01-13T10:33:00.001-08:00

District Policies: Using your feedback, a subcommittee of AHEM members met last week to put together a position statement about the proposed Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy. Their work was approved by our Representative Assembly on Monday. Here is a summary of our position as stated to the School Board that Monday evening:

Rescind the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy as it caused more confusion and conflicts than provided effective guidance.
Replacing the policy is unnecessary as the key ideas in the proposed Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy are already covered in other district policies, our Minnesota statutes in the Teachers’ Code of Ethics, and basic professional understandings.
If a new policy is inevitable, the Controversial Topics Curriculum Policy can be amended to better reflect sound educational practices.

For our full position statement and our statement to the Board, visit ahemweekly.blogspot.com. The board is considering all the input they’ve received and may vote as soon as January 23^rd.

Right to Work: Some state legislators are considering adding yet another constitutional amendment to next year’s state ballot. The mislabeled “Right to Work” amendment is an attack on unions. It aims to defund unions to the point of nonexistence. Not surprisingly, in states with these laws the average worker makes $5,500 less each year than Minnesota workers. For more information about these kinds of amendments, Sunday’s New York Times editorial “The Continuing Assault on Unions” lays it out well: http://tinyurl.com/88epmnx .

Good Question: Where can I find video of school board meetings? A-H School Board agendas, minutes, and video is posted at http://tinyurl.com/7t62olb . If you pull the video from the last board meeting for instance, you can see me presenting our policy position at 00:44:45. As a bonus, at 00:24:15 Vice President LeMoyne Corgard explains to the board the importance of licensed specialists providing Art, Music, and Phy Ed to kindergarteners.

Happy Holidays, Policy Meeting, Calendar

2011-12-19T13:56:00.000-08:00

Year End Reflection: I’d like to take a moment to end 2011 by thanking you all for what you do. Over the past year, we passed big levies, considered Q-Comp, settled a contract, dealt with a state shutdown, raised test scores, and weathered considerable media attention - all while supporting our students better than ever. That’s quite an accomplishment. On behalf of all of us in the AHEM office, we are honored to have the opportunity to help you in your work. We hope you’ll take this coming break to recharge, reconnect with the people closest to you, and relax. You deserve it. Happy holidays!

Meet January 4^th to Respond to Policy Changes: Proposed changes to district polices, particularly the changes to the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy, have gotten plenty of attention over the past couple of weeks. Many of you checked out the changes at http://tinyurl.com/cqgkfz5 and http://tinyurl.com/d7onufw and gave us your feedback at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AHPolicyChanges (the survey is still open). Early responses indicate that most teachers can find things in the policies that make sense and feel other parts need work. We invite you to meet on January 4, 4:45 pm, at the AHEM office to help put together our union’s response. No reporters or TV cameras will be allowed – just educators coming together to ensure district policies support our work and students.

Calendar proposal: The school board will vote on the proposed calendar for 2012-2013 (below) in early January. AHEM members were part of the committee that put together the proposal. Balancing teacher, community, and district interests with a myriad of testing dates and other mandates was a challenge. Thanks to all who responded to our request for feedback. While we weren’t able to accommodate suggestions like two full weeks for winter break, we were able to protect things like having a full day of planning at the end of each trimester and adding a half day of elementary conferences the second half of the year.

2012-13 Calendar Key Dates for Grades 1 through 12

July 4: School District closed
Aug 21 – 23: New Teacher Orientation
Aug 27 – Aug 31: Workshop Week. Elementary: 3 planning days, 1 building staff development, 1 day ½ collaboration & goal setting and ½ district staff developmentSecondary: 2 planning days, 1 day ½ collaboration and ½ planning, 1 day building staff development, 1 day district staff development

September 3: Labor Day, School District closed
September 4: First Day of School
October 8: Elementary ½ Collaboration and ½ Conferences, no elementary students
October 17: Staff Development, no students
October 18 – 19: Education Minnesota Professional Conference, no school
November 21: Conference conversion day, no students
November 22 – 23: Thanksgiving break, School District closed
November 30: End of Trimester I
December 3: Staff Planning Grading, no students
December 24 – January 1: Winter break, no school
December 24 & 25: School District closed
January 1: School District closed
January 2: School resumes
January 21: Martin Luther King’s Birthday, no school
February 18: President’s Day, School District closed
February 19: Elementary ½ Staff Development and ½ Conferences, Secondary Staff Development, no students
March 7: End of Trimester II
March 8: Staff Planning Grading, no students
March 11 – 15: Spring break, no school
March 15: School District closed
March 18: School resumes
March 29: School District closed
May 27: Memorial Day, School District closed
June 6: End of Trimester III
June 7: Staff Planning Grading, no students

Proposed Changes to Neutrality Polices and Harassment, Violence and Discrimination Policy

2011-12-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

Proposed Changes to Neutrality Polices and Harassment, Violence and Discrimination Policy: Wednesday evening, the school board agenda was posted and it includes proposed changes to the Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy (SOCP), the Religious Activities Policy, and the Harassment, Violence and Discrimination Policy (HVDP). Board members say this is an attempt to clarify these policies for staff like us.

To view the specific proposal of changes to the SOCP and Religious Activities policy, visit http://tinyurl.com/cqgkfz5 ; to view the HVDP changes, visit http://tinyurl.com/d7onufw.

In short, the changes include changing the SOCP and Religious Activities Policy to a Controversial Topics Policy similar to ones used in Wayzata and some other districts. The focus of the policy would shift from being neutral about sexual orientation and religion to being unbiased about controversial topics. In the HVDP, significant changes include adding protections for gender nonconforming behavior, perceived membership in a protected class, and association or advocacy for those who are LGBT.

Your Ideas: The school board will need to hear from those of us who will be working with these policies every day. They may set up opportunities for public comment, but until then, let’s start the discussion ourselves. As a union, we plan set up a time for educators to come together and talk about the proposals – we will figure out the exact date(s) next week. We have set up a survey for you to leave comments at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AHPolicyChanges as well. We will use this feedback to decide our next steps and will share the main ideas with the school board.

Next Year’s Calendar, Meet & Confer, If a Reporter Calls

2011-12-02T13:53:00.000-08:00

Calendar Committee: A committee of staff, administrators, and parents puts together a district calendar proposal each year. The school board has the final say on the calendar and makes the decision in January or February. To help the teacher representatives on the committee, we’d like some feedback as we work to balance testing dates, holidays, and state statutes to create an effective schedule. To share your ideas, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FF7ZN6R .

Meet & Confer: Thank you to all who attended and special thanks to those who spoke at Wednesday’s Meet & Confer with the school board. Speakers Kristin Weidlein, Betsy Quist, Kim Thole, Alecia Pankratz, Doug Bakkum, Ann Erickson, Jay Wilkins and emcee LeMoyne Corgard set a productive and engaging tone. School Board members Marci Anderson and John Hoffman believed the meeting would be helpful to them in making decisions for our district.

Good Question: Can the union help if I am contacted by the media? It could happen to any of us – a reporter calls about something unflattering a parent or student told them, true or untrue. The district Communications Department handles media calls about its staff, and we can help too. If you are contacted by a reporter, let your supervisor know right away and give us a call at 763-421-9110. On the weekends, you can call my cell at 763-438-3527. We’ll be happy to assist you during what can be a stressful experience. We can also walk you through the legalities of talking to press about your work when you want to use the media to help support your students or profession.

Meet & Confer

2011-11-17T13:48:00.000-08:00

Meet and Confer: Now that we have a couple months under our belt, it is a good time to alert school board members about new changes in our district and their effect on our work. The earlier they hear our perspective, the better their decisions will be as board members.

On Wednesday, November 30th, 5:30-7:30 pm join us at the Staff Development Center (Erling Johnson rooms) to meet with members of the school board to discuss:

Changes to Conferences: What worked and what can improved about this year’s conference structure is the focus as we are beginning the calendar setting process for next year.
Staff Development: Using our experiences during workshop week and staff development days so far this year, we’ll share our ideas on district training.
Restraint Policy: Share your experiences with Minnesota’s interpretation of new special education requirements around student restraint and how they are impacting your daily work.
Substitute Policies: After working with the 80 substitute per day limit for about a year, we’ll describe how that is working in our schools and our ideas for prioritizing the sub allocation.
Open Forum: We will set aside time for other topics that members would like share, including opportunities to share both positive developments and concerns not on this list.

If you are interested in speaking, email us at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us and we’ll put you on the agenda and give any help you’d like. Whether you would like to prepare a statement, share comments as they come to you during the discussion, or just listen – we hope to see you Wednesday!

Levy Wrap-Up

2011-11-10T13:52:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to everyone on winning two out of three levy questions on Tuesday! In this economic environment, passing a levy renewal, and even tax increase, is a strong community endorsement of all of our work across the district. As we talked with local residents, we heard accolades for educators over and over. "I support our teachers" was a common comment, even from those who said they were voting no. It was also clear that our residents have increased understanding of the inadequacy of state school funding. We can be happy that our future looks more stable and we will be able to improve technology for our students. We can also be happy that our community has a better feel for what is happening in our classrooms and appreciates our work with students.

398 Votes: When an election is close, like the 398 vote margin on question 2, the importance of campaigning is crystal clear. Every little bit counted so huge thanks to all of you who helped get the word out. Together, we sent out over 2000 personalized postcards, called about 10,000 residents, ran almost 100 phone bank shifts, and sent out over 12,000 fliers. Other groups stepped up to help us as well, particularly the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, Working America, Education Minnesota's Political Action Fund, America Votes, and TakeAction Minnesota. Efforts at the district (particularly the Communications Department), and building level were very effective. Even though they weren't aimed at saying "yes", those efforts built the strong base of understanding essential to any campaign. Special thanks on our end go out to AHEM Governmental Relations chairs Val Holthus and Lindsay DenBleyker and Education Minnesota staffers Emily Peterson and Janie Hemmelgarn for pulling this whole plan together.

Good Question: When does the technology levy start? These taxes will start to be collected during the 2012 calendar year, and available to the district for the 2012-2013 school year.

Levy Survey Results and Opportunities

2011-10-27T08:24:00.001-07:00

What People Are Saying About the Levy: Based on recent surveys, levy support is strong and growing. Question 1 (Renewal) has the most support, Question 2 (Technology) follows, and Question 3 (Protection Against Funding Shortfalls) is even in play for passage. Question 3 in particular seems to benefit from discussion – the more people hear about it, the more likely they are to support it. The support is there, but the key factor will be who shows up to vote. That’s where we come in…

AHEM Levy Efforts: You are invited to tell our community about the levy in a few different ways. We’ve been successful over the years with a lot of small efforts spread out over our membership – we hope you’ll be part of those efforts this year:

Phonebanks: We are using the latest technology to make short, informational calls to undecided voters and supporters who need a personal ask to get to the polls. We call from 5-8 pm (partial shifts are an option), Sunday through Thursday (not Halloween) until the election on November 8^th. We call out of our office in Coon Rapids, provide training, snacks and support. Phoners who’ve already tried it report it’s easier than expected and they felt the calls made a difference. Email us at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us and tell us when you’d like to call.

Postcards: We are sending personalized postcards to residents who have a direct interest in education. We send you labeled, stamped postcards and you write a sentence or two to personalize them based on our suggestions and pop them in the mail. It’s as quick and easy as it is effective. Let us know how many you’d like by emailing us at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us.

Social: If you are on Facebook, consider liking and sharing our page about the levy at http://tinyurl.com/628y7up. Simple social acts like this and one-on-one discussions with neighbors are so powerful. And given our community’s level of support this year, these efforts have been easier and more positive than ever.

Tentative Agreement and Contract Vote

2011-09-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

Negotiations: The AHEM and District negotiations teams came to a tentative agreement on a new contract the afternoon of Tuesday, September 27. Given the current state of district finances and the economy, our negotiations team feels we have an acceptable offer.

From here, we follow a process outlined in our organization’s bylaws and rules to conduct a vote. Here are the steps:

Organizational Meetings: The next step is for the AHEM Executive Board to decide to send the tentative agreement to the membership for a vote. Our Board will meet on Monday, October 3rd at 4:30 pm to consider this. A Representative Assembly will follow at 6:00 pm to hear the specifics of the proposal and approve election rules.

Member Meetings and Information: Members will receive written details in their buildings by mid week. AHEM Negotiators will hold informational meetings on

Thursday, October 6, Champlin Park High School (North Lecture Hall), meetings at 3:45 pm and 4:45 pm
Monday, October 10, Coon Rapids High School (Auditorium), meetings at 3:45 pm and 4:45 pm

Voting: If approved by the Executive Board, a vote will be held on October 12 and 13 at central locations. After the Representative Assembly approves election rules on Monday, we will send out the details of the voting procedures, including where and when to vote, how to vote absentee, and when the vote will be tallied.

Good Question: Why won’t you answer my question about the specifics of the tentative agreement? According to our bylaws, our Executive Board needs to decide whether to send the agreement to the membership for a vote before we discuss details of the settlement. This helps us get the information out more consistently and accurately by ensuring the agreement has been checked over by a number of people before it is made public.

Negotiations, Taskforces, Levy Videos, Online Contract

2011-09-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

Negotiations: For details on Thursday’s bargaining session, check the hotline (651-695-2029), the blog (ahemnegotiationsnews.blogspot.com), Facebook or Twitter for our progress.

Opportunities: In the coming year, AHEM and district administration will be putting together a couple of taskforces. One will come up with plans regarding the new annual teacher evaluation law that goes into effect in 2014 and another will develop recommendations around corrective actions required by the federal NCLB law. We aren’t asking for specific volunteers yet, but start thinking about if you’d like to be part of these processes.

Levy Videos: If you would like to share videos explaining the impact of the upcoming levy, here are their YouTube links:

Levy Overview: http://youtu.be/RYiCiNLPaKQ
Technology Issues: http://youtu.be/Tbr8MRFIGZ8
Class Sizes of over 50: http://youtu.be/AplIpZ-q7WQ

Consider putting them on your Facebook page, Twitter feed, or emailing them to friends from your home email account.

Good Question: I can’t find my contract – can you send me another one? Our goal is to be able to throw away those purple books in favor of a new contract, so rather than send you one of those, you can find our contract online at http://ahem.locals.educationminnesota.org/Contract%20Rights.aspx (we do have some extra though if you want a hard copy – send us an email at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us).

Negotiations, Levy Rumor, Candidate Forum, Traveling Teachers and Duties

2011-09-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Negotiations: Our next bargaining session will be this Thursday, September 22 in the afternoon. We will update the hotline (651-695-2029), the blog (ahemnegotiationsnews.blogspot.org), Facebook and Twitter that evening with our progress.

Levy Rumor Alert: Some legislators are circulating an inaccurate piece that makes it look like our district got significantly more money this year than it did. The numbers include Q-Comp money and levies that we voted down and says nothing about the funding shifts. This article goes into greater detail: www.minnpost.com/learningcurve/2011/09/08/31425/accounting_trick_explains_minnesota_schools_so-called_windfall

Meet the Candidates Forum: The League of Women Voters ABC, a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, will host a forum for candidates running for the Anoka Hennepin School Board on Wednesday, September 21, 7:00 p.m., at the ESC. There are six candidates on the Tuesday, November 8th ballot:

Tom Heidemann, Anoka (District 1)
Darin Rorman, Ramsey (District 1)
Marci D. Anderson, Blaine (District 2)
Randy Kolb, Blaine (District 2)
Mary Nelson, Blaine (District 2)
Scott D. Wenzel, Brooklyn Park (District 5)

Good Question: Do traveling teachers (those who go between buildings) do hall duty before or after school? The answer is no – traveling teachers are not required to do before or after school duties, as is laid out in our contract in Article X, Section 11, Subdivision 2 (page 16 in the purple contract book). As always, if you are being asked to do something that goes against our agreement, give us a call at 763-421-9110.

Welcome Back, Negotiations, Lawsuit, Reps

2011-09-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! All of us at Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota are excited about what we’ll do together this year. Remember, you can contact your union by emailing us at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us or calling our office at 763-421-9110. This is the first of our weekly updates where we’ll work to keep you informed and connected.

Negotiations: We generally don’t send negotiations details out on our school email system, instead, we post it on our website at www.ahemnegotiationsnews.blogspot.com and our phone hotline at 651-695-2029. We just put up an update, so click or dial over to see how things are going.

Lawsuit: As you have heard, our district is facing lawsuits on behalf of six students concerning our Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy (also known as “the neutrality policy”). As a union, our role this summer has been to connect with our members whose names appeared in the complaint and support them through the process. Please note that no teachers are defendants in the suit, their names show up as people who may have knowledge about the incidents that are part of the complaint. Our support included meeting with these members to discuss how a suit like this works and accompanying them if they were interviewed by lawyers. Remember – if you find yourself part of an investigation at school, even if the investigation is not about you specifically, give us a call at 763-421-9110.

Who’s My Rep? If you are wondering who the head rep is at your site, check who forwarded you this email. At most sites, the person who forwards these is your Head Building Rep.

Good Question: This week’s question is “Why is there a listing for an 8^th year day on the orange sub forms we fill out in our buildings?” A number of people noticed this space on the forms and knew that in our contract (and the para’s contract as well), we get an additional personal day our tenth year. This space on the form is for interpreters, who have an 8^th year day in their contract.

Negotiations, AVMR, SOCP, Summer Contacts, Thank You

2011-06-03T11:39:00.000-07:00

Negotiations: We held our first formal negotiations meeting with district negotiators last Thursday. The teams introduced themselves and shared their main objectives for this round. We did not discuss large financial items like steps and lanes as the legislature has not come to agreement on what our funding will be for next year. Our next meeting with district negotiators will be June 16^th. You can follow our progress over the summer by listening to the Negotiations Hotline at 651-695-2029 or visiting our website at ahem.locals.educationminnesota.org. If you would like us to send updates directly to your home email account, send us your home email address at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us.

AVMR Survey Results: We had a great response to our survey of elementary teachers who work with the Advantage Math Recovery intervention curriculum. The survey yielded some interesting results and showed our members have a thoughtful, nuanced understanding of how to improve this program. Check out a summary and the results at http://tinyurl.com/3u8zl6o.

Sexual Orientation Curriculum Policy: You may have seen in the media that there are groups considering legal action against our district based on the policy about being “neutral” when it comes to homosexuality. From a teacher’s perspective, we have heard significant confusion around how this policy actually plays out in a classroom. AHEM has been working to clarify the specific classroom implications of this policy for our members throughout this past year. Over the summer, we will put together what we have learned so you can better understand what the district expects of us and decide what our next steps should be to create safe and welcoming classrooms for all of our students.

Summer Contacts: The AHEM office is open throughout the summer. If you need to contact us, call us at 763-421-9110, email us at ahem@anoka.k12.mn.us, follow us on Twitter at 7007, join our page on Facebook at Anoka Hennepin Education Minnesota, or check out our website at ahem.locals.educationminnesota.org.

Thank you! During back to school workshops last August, we shared national survey results showing that the public respected and trusted educators. We have recent local survey results that show that our public’s respect and trust in you has grown. Despite all of the changes and turmoil this past year, you all have clearly exceeded “adequate yearly progress”. You have done right by your students and maintained the trust of our community. I hope you are as proud of that as we are of you. On behalf of all of us at AHEM, thank you for all your work and have a restful, rejuvenating summer.