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Executive Board
Sidney Kardon
President
Marcia Rauschendorfer
Executive
Vice-President
Christine Baer
Program
Vice-President
Dave Stafford
Secretary
Nicole Murawski
Treasurer
Karen Christian
Elementary Director
Jennifer Browne
High School Director
Tracy Crawley
MEA Delegate
Todd Noonan
MEA Delegate
Barbara Pollis
Middle School Director
Betty Ong
NEA Minority Delegate
Betty Ann Garlak
PAC Chairperson
Uniserv Director
Laurie Moore
Royal Oak Education Association
26111 Evergreen, Suite 225Southfield, MI
48076
Phone: 248-358-4770
Fax: 248-358-4758
www.ROEAonline.org |
BARGAINING
As you probably
know, we will be bargaining this spring for our 2008/09 wages, benefits and
calendar. Bargaining a calendar will be a different process this year as
Public Act 101 allows the intermediate school districts to mandate when
Christmas and spring breaks will occur. Christmas vacation will be from
December 22nd through January 2nd; spring vacation will be from April 6th
through April 10th. Christmas is a full two weeks while spring break is one
week and incorporates Good Friday.
While the times
mandated by the ISD are probably convenient for most of us, the long term
problem is that we have lost in part our ability to bargain calendar. An
example of how this may work against us in the future is the February break.
The law recommends a uniform February break. Undoubtedly, the ISD will
encourage district superintendents to eventually adopt a standard for
whether we get a winter break. This will create problems in bargaining for
us and all other local districts as breaks have bearing on the length of the
year. If the county superintendents feel that mandated decisions are better
for local districts than collective bargaining (and believe me, they will),
our ability to bargain other calendar issues such as the number of staff
meetings, professional development meetings, and professional learning
community hours is in potential jeopardy. There are appropriate union
responses to the superintendents working collectively such as the
possibility of collectively bargaining with the county in unison with other
local school districts. We need to begin to work together in this regard as
an amalgamation of local districts. The ROEA Executive Board has asked
Laurie to petition the county to bargain calendar with us. We have yet to
hear from the county. We hope that this action will begin the process of
local districts working together to maximize our union’s influence and
strength.
At this point,
however, we are still able to locally bargain important calendar issues such
as the inclusion of professional learning communities into the day. Our
survey will be very important this year in the area of calendar. (The
bargaining team always assumes that everyone would support us in demanding
an adequate cost of living increase and fully paid health benefits.) As a
result of last year’s bargaining a committee of teachers who represented the
ROEA met with district administrators to discuss professional learning
communities. You will be receiving the recommendations of the PLC committee
as an e-mail attachment.
The survey will most likely have several questions about your thoughts
regarding PLCs.
We are expecting 100% participation in the survey. It is a critical part of
the ability of the bargaining team to work towards what our members want.
Successful participation in the survey is our first action in securing
another strong contract. So, be a part of the team!
In solidarity,
Sid
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Survey Committee
The members of our survey team worked hard to compile meaningful
questions. They will meet again to tabulate the survey results. Many
thanks to survey committee members Jennifer Browne, Tracy Crawley,
Nancy Dreyer and Mary Kosnik.
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PAC is Political Insurance
By Betty Ann Garlak
Auto insurance,
life insurance, health insurance—all
are imperative to provide security in times of need. When you give to PAC
(Political Action Committee), you are ensuring our legislators will
support you in these critical political times. Don’t overlook this
opportunity to have a voice in the issues that support education. Your PAC
dollars go towards Republican and Democratic leaders to promote
legislation that affects you—your
health care, retirement, bargaining rights, class size, just to name a
few.
If you have
contributed to PAC this school year, THANK YOU for doing your part.
If you have not yet done so, it is not too late. Email me and I will
gladly send you a contribution envelope for a cash or check donation.
Join your ROEA
members in solidarity to send a message to our legislators to protect our
career. To date this year, our PAC contribution includes 61% or our
membership. That is 209 out of 338 members. $7,845.00 has been sent to
Lansing.
CONGRATULATIONS
to the staff at Upton School! They had 100% participation. Way to show
your support! Here are the other building percentages:
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Betty Ann Garlak |
Addams -
92%
Oakland - 92%
Northwood - 73%
Churchill - 66%
Oak Ridge - 66%
RO High School - 64%
Addams ECC - 63%
Keller - 45%
RO Middle School - 42% |
This past
January, a PAC participation raffle was held at the ROEA midyear party.
Twenty winners received $10 gift cards to be used at Royal Oak businesses.
The raffle winners were Bonnie Attan, Gail Zipser, Anna Falkiewicz, Rhys
Dwelley, Bill Dionne, Leslie London, Kelly Sebastian, Gail Kearney, Carol
Burke, Tom McLeod, Jill Ex, Susan Ruttenburg, Derek Miller, Trudie Connor,
Rebecca Bates, Michelle Daane Gumbleton, Lynn Legg, Kristin Ryan, Lisa
Shannon and Nancy Mayhew. The winners of the door prize raffle were Dick
Rockwell, Lisa Vitale, Tim Jankowiak and Jennifer Browne. |
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Screening and Endorsement
By Betty Ann Garlak |
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Gary Peters |
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I had the
opportunity to work with a committee of SOMEA representatives this
past January to interview three candidates for the 9th Congressional
District. We interviewed Gary Peters and Nancy Skinner. Incumbent
Joe Knollenberg chose not to attend the interview. After screening
and discussion, our committee came to the unanimous decision to
recommend Gary Peters. This recommendation was passed on to the MEA
and NEA. Gary Peters is the former Lottery Chairman and State
Senator. He has a history that strongly supports education. He
supports the NEA’s position on school vouchers, NCLB, funding, and
protecting social security, pensions, health care and salaries. He
is a proponent of smaller class size, funding for up-to-date
technology and Head Start programs. Our committee felt that he will
represent us well in the U. S. Congress. His opponent, Joe
Knollenberg, has not been a friend to education. This is an
important race that has been targeted by the National Democratic
Party. Please consider spreading the word about supporting Gary
Peters, helping out in his campaign and voting for him in the
upcoming November election. |
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Item of Interest
By Nancy Dreyer
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This is a "FYI" to inform all Royal Oak teachers that Verizon
offers teachers a 20% discount off their basic cell phone service.
If you are not already receiving the 20% discount there are several
ways to get the 20% discount added to your monthly bill. One way is
to take a pay stub or your ID badge to a Verizon corporate office
(the place that sells the phones). They will do it there for you.
Also, you can do it online by giving them your school email address.
If you are getting new Verizon service, just give the salesman your
school email address and they will take care of it.
I just recently started using Verizon and got my discount. My
girlfriend who teaches in Livonia has always had Verizon and didn't
know about the discount until I told her. (She's probably lost $500
by not having it!) It's not something they advertise, but they have
been doing it for the past 2 years. |
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Classified
All of the people who advertise in
the Reporter are connected to the ROEA, ROESA or ROESPA. They are either
members of the union, spouses of members, or retirees. You can expect a
high quality of service and commitment to the needs of fellow union
members as a result. Classified ads are also posted on our web site,
ROEAonline.org.
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For Sale...
Year-round mobile home on Lake Huron
in private co-op park in Lexington, Michigan
with expando and Michigan room
14 feet by 70 feet, with 3 bedrooms
and 2 full baths. $93,500
Contact Betty Ann Garlak at 248-546-4104 |
Terrie's Airport Transport
Also
shopping, doctor appointments, errands
Reasonable Rates
Terrie Prokopius
248-280-1289 |
Need an editor for college paper, thesis, or other documents?
Call Sid.
Editing for grammar, punctuation, and content clarity.
Home: 248-544-0392
beckieandsid@wowway.com |
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Real Estate Agent
Chuck Cox
Century 21 Town and Country
248-608-3549
248-252-4531
ccox@tcagents.com |
Residential Painting
Latex or
Oil Paint
Gary Friedman
248-643-9335
gfriedman@wowway.com |
Pairadime Publications, LLC
June, July, & August—A
look at a year in an elementary classroom
Thinking of Dying? Food for Thought—Comforting
recipes and thought provoking quotes
Cold Icy Grip
Cathartic reflections through letters on the dynamics of a family's
relationships
Noel and Steve Poissant
734-420-1731
noeste@sbcglobal.net |
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Invest in Your Future Today…
Merrill Lynch - Strong Group of Advisors
Over 17
years at Merrill Lynch
Call to schedule a consultation or seminar; 877-247-4239
Jonathan Strong
jonathan_strong@ml.com
Andrew Strong
andrew_strong@ml.com |
Repairs, Remodeling, Improvements, Small Jobs
David
Albright - Construction
Licensed Residential & Commercial
586-784-9334 Cell: 248-229-0428 |
Screen Printing
by Progress
of Design
Quality custom designs and printing
by Dave and Steve McCrumb
248-982-4247 |
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Elementary Tutor
MA in
Reading and Literacy, K-5, all subjects
Experienced elementary teacher
At your house or mine
Call Robin: 248-302-4024 |
Busia’s Angels
(The work
of Mary Ellen Reid)
Individually sculpted and signed miniatures:
angels, bears, nuns, monks, and specialty items.
Visit www.busiasangels.com
Contact: Karen Erwin at KJErwin2000@aol.com |
Semlow Chiropractic
Come see Dr. Rick!
Messa covers chiropractic care
Family and sports chiropractic
Infants & children welcome
6780 Rochester Rd. (just south of South Blvd.)
Troy, 48085 248-879-8144 |
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Reading Tutor in Royal Oak
Sharon
Zipser
Trained in Orton-Gillingham and other phonics approaches
Successful with the struggling reader
Involved in an Early Intervention Program
One hour session - $50.00
248-269-9599 |
Imprinted T-shirts, sweats, hats, pens, key tags, executive gifts,
trophies, plaques, etc.
Gail Ryder
Alex Delvecchio Enterprises
Office: 248-619-9600 X229
Home: 248-932-8813 |
Professional Web Design
WorldWise,
Inc.
Jerry Kocis
248-318-5055
jkocis@worldwise.net
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Mary Kay Consultant
Kathleen Knapp
248-608-1533 or
knappkidsmom@aol.com |
Main Street Auctions
Getting rid
of items around the house?
Let us sell them for you on eBay!
Scott Simpson, President
248-813-9300
www.mainstreetauctions.com |
Learn Why an ABSENTEE OWNED Speed Queen Coin Laundry Is So
Profitable
Attend our
free Saturday morning informational seminar.
Universal Coin Laundry Machinery, LLC
Stephen Bean: 248-435-6200
www.universal-laundry.com |
Advertise your service or product free of charge in the Reporter and
on our web site, ROEAonline.org.
E-mail Cadine Nicholson at Cadinen@aol.com to be included.
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