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ROEA REPORTER

NEW OFFICERS ELECTED

We have elected the following members to represent our union for the next two years:

President: Sidney Kardon
Executive Vice President: Marcia Rauschendorfer
Program Vice President: Chris Baer 
Treasurer: Beth Morrison
Secretary: Jennifer Jump 
PAC Chairperson: Betty Ann Garlak
Middle School Director: Barbara Pollis
MEA Delegate: Tracey Crawley, Kara Daunt
MEA Minority Delegate: Nila Wilson
NEA Delegate: Stuart Asch
NEA Minority Delegate: Betty Ong
Patty Hein and Vince Caruso continue to serve as Elementary and High School Directors, respectively.

Those who are serving in new capacities or who are first time Executive Board members are Marcia Rauschendorfer, Chris Baer, Jennifer Jump, Kara Daunt, and Betty Ong.

Marcia, our new Executive Vice President, teaches science at Kimball. She has done a great job as our Secretary for the past eight years. She will be a capable advocate for our members. Chris is our new Program Vice President. She's taught in the District for several years. She currently teaches at Upton. She has served as an Association Representative and most recently as the bargaining team's crisis chairperson. Jennifer teaches at Longfellow. She has been a very active alternate Association Representative, attending many meetings over the years. She is our new Secretary. Kara Daunt, our newest MEA delegate, is one of our newer teachers, having taught for 3 years in Royal Oak. Kara taught in Kalamazoo prior to working in Royal Oak. Betty Ong is our Minority Representative to the NEA's representative assembly. Betty has several years of Executive Board service and is currently serving on our ESEA committee.

I want to extend special thanks to Sue McLaughlin who ran for Middle School Director. Sue was actively involved in the Association this year. In addition to serving on the crisis team, she was a member of the Constitution and By-laws Revision Committee.

Two of our officers are leaving the Executive Board. Val Grimes, our Program Vice President did a great job in guiding our efforts on the Curriculum Sub-Committee. Val's most recent accomplishment was another thoroughly enjoyable retirement dinner. Val will be the new principal at Mark Twain school. Linda Flynn, our Executive Vice President, has been the heart of our union for several years. Linda's accomplishments on behalf of our teachers are too numerous to be meaningfully listed. It will be very difficult to compensate for the loss of Linda's leadership.

Congratulations to all of our new officers and a fond and sad farewell to Linda and Val.
Sid

Lay Off Benefits Correction

In the April REPORTER we had an article about benefits for laid off teachers. Our Assistant Superintendent, Sandra Standel, noted an inaccuracy in the article and also provided us with more specific information. The corrected information is that laid off teachers receive full medical benefits from the District through September 30th, not August 31st as was reported. Additionally, if you have from 1-3 years of teaching experience, MESSA will provide 3 months of additional benefits. Laid-off teachers will be fully covered for their medical benefits through December 31st. After that point, you can purchase health benefits through the District.
Our thanks to Sandra for clarifying this information.

Dan Champagne for School Board

Recently, members of ROEA, ROESA and ROESPA met to interview Dan Champagne, candidate for the Royal Oak School Board. Dan is a 25-year resident of Royal Oak. 
He has worked in and managed a contracting business. His three children have all attended Royal Oak Schools. He has a history of involvement and interest with Royal Oak Schools. He and his wife, Claudia, have both served on the district's strategic planning committees. He has regularly attended School Board meetings. 
Dan sees his future role on our School Board as one that facilitates open communication, selection of a new superintendent, guidance of the Consolidation Task Force, and development of long term plans relating to budget, School of Choice, ESEA and curriculum. 
We feel Dan Champagne is very aware of current issues in our district, has a realistic view of teacher perspectives, and will work to unite district employees. We recommend Dan Champagne as a Royal Oak School Board candidate in the June 14th election.
Betty Ann Garlak,
First Grade Teacher, Starr School

Free Focal Point Workshop

DAFT (Detroit Area Film and Television) has set aside four openings for Royal Oak teachers to participate in the Focal Point Workshop for FREE.

These four fully paid scholarships valued at approximately $600 each allow teachers to attend and experience FOCAL POINT, the annual summer video production workshop held at Dondero. One can be a novice or an experienced videomaker and will still learn something extra working with a group of media makers that will include Michigan Student Film and Video Festival scholarship winners and other video enthusiasts. 

Focal Point has been in existence for over 30 years and each years brings new ideas and new inspirations. If you're a teacher and you've ever wanted to use video in the classroom, here's a chance to immerse yourself in the process in one intensive week, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m - 4:00 p.m. During that one short week, teachers will learn to script, shoot, edit and then screen their video project in the auditorium to family and friends. 

This workshop will be counted toward continuing education units and arrangements for graduate credits can be earned through an agreement with a Michigan university for an additonal fee. 

Contact Barb Evoe at the board regarding CEU credits.

For more information, contact Dick Rockwell (248) 546-7243

Highly Qualified

Looking Back

This was an eventful year for our union. We successfully bargained a contract which continued to provide excellent medical benefits through MESSA. While the two percent salary increase didn't put anyone in the next tax bracket, it was commensurate with increases in surrounding districts. However, we did more than just obtain a good salary and benefits package. We created considerably better job security by strengthening the seniority language. Having achieved seniority based job security, our bargaining team was able to devise a seniority based bidding system which made it possible for our members to obtain new jobs within the District. All new positions are now being posted and our members have the opportunity to apply. If equally qualified under state and NCA certification standards (rather than the subjective opinion of a building principal or other administrator) seniority becomes the deciding factor in obtaining available positions.

We have protected our members' contractual rights through aggressive use of the grievance procedure when those rights were compromised. Four grievances have gone to arbitration this year. In the fall, we won back a substantial amount of money for Katy West after the Administration docked her salary in a certification dispute. Next, in the Kitty Stone posting grievance, the arbitrator agreed with our contention that the Administration unfairly manipulated available positions to prevent Kitty from applying for a full time position at Dondero.

In the spring, we had arbitration hearings for two more teachers. John O'Brien, a long term successful Royal Oak track and basketball coach, was denied a coaching position at Addams. We are contending that John is qualified for the position and should have the job. We have a salary grievance for Marcia Rauschendorfer. Marcia did not receive salary credits for graduate courses that would have placed her on the Masters + 15 credits salary schedule. The District's position is that in order to receive salary credits, the graduate credits have to be taken after receiving the master's degree. The union is contending that there is no such contract language and courses taken prior to the masters degree which are not used as credits in obtaining that degree should be counted towards the masters + 15 salary schedule. We are waiting for the arbitration opinions in both of these cases.

We sponsored two seminars to help teachers and parents understand the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. (The Act is commonly known as 'No Child Left Behind.' However, the MEA feels that the Act is intentionally designed to leave the entire public school system behind and vulnerable to vouchers so refuses to use that terminology.) In the fall, MEA President Lu Battaglieri discussed the potentially devastating impact that high stakes testing such as MEAP will have upon our schools. In May, Mary Anne Adams from MEA and Dr. Frank Ciloski from the Michigan Department of Education, discussed ESEA's definition of 'Highly Qualified' teachers. Dr. Ciloski noted that districts are able to advocate for their teachers and establish that a teacher with experience in a particular area can be highly qualified even if their credentials do not strictly conform to paper standards.

There will be more challenges ahead. Our first job next year will be to insure that the Administration helps our teachers meet ESEA standards rather than continue the Administration's historical pattern of harming our teachers. As President, I plan on continuing our Executive Board's policies of persistence in negotiations, aggressive protection of our negotiated rights, and continuing education for our members. We want you to be able to do what you do best: Teach. That happens when teachers have strong union protection from unfair management practices.
Have a great summer!

Sid

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, ROEA.com.

All of the people who advertise in the Reporter are connected to the ROEA or ROESA. 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, ROEA.com.