ROEA Reporter
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Executive Board Sidney Kardon Uniserv Director
Royal Oak Education Association |
Politics ‘R’ Us There is no getting around it: every politician that we send to Lansing or Washington has direct bearing on our personal and professional lives as teachers. With that in mind, what follows is the MEA’s recommended candidates and positions on ballot questions. CANDIDATES Jennifer Granholm for Governor It is critical to teachers and students to re-elect Governor Granholm. Under Granholm, the per pupil foundation allowance saw its largest increase since its inception. Last year, when the legislature attempted to undermine our rights to bargain for health care and tried to convert our retirement plan into a contribution based plan, Granholm stood up for our collective bargaining rights and our right to a sound pension plan. In stark contrast, Dick DeVos supports vouchers which divert money from public education to private for-profit school corporations; privatization of school jobs, and using money from our retirement fund to cover the two billion dollar state deficit which was created by the early expiration of the Single Business Tax. (Granholm was opposed to allowing the SBT to expire without a plan in place to replace the lost revenues.) Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, I urge you to support our profession and our students by voting for Jennifer Granholm. Debbie Stabenow For United States Senate Senator Stabenow has been an ardent supporter of a secure life for hard working middle class families. This is seen most clearly in her support of social security. Two years ago when President Bush provoked a social security privatization movement, Stabenow was quick to defend our rights to a government insured social security pension rather than a private fund, subject to manipulation by the kind of people who intentionally harmed Enron employees for their own personal gain. Stabenow began a petition drive which included an appearance at the Royal Oak Boys and Girls Club to gather signatures to protect our social security program. Along with our Michigan pension, social security is a critical financial support for our retirement. Challenger Michael Bouchard has attacked Stabenow’s position on social security in his ads. Bouchard supports President Bush who recently proposed a national budget with the largest educational cuts in American history. Bouchard will undoubtedly vote yes to that if given the chance. Nancy Skinner for United States Congress Democratic challenger Nancy Skinner is running for the congressional seat that has been held too long by Joe Knollenberg. Skinner is an advocate of early childhood education, believing that it is the best way to prepare citizens for a rigorous lifelong education. She is an outspoken opponent of the No Child Left Behind act. Here are a few quotes from her website about NCLB: “Under funding doomed NCLB from the start.” “By focusing on a narrow range of subjects, NCLB has forced schools to direct resources away from other areas of study.” And, “NCLB dooms many students to failure, offering no constructive solutions to the problems that affect millions of American students.” Knollenberg has supported cuts in education and recently voted to approve a six billion dollar tax subsidy to the oil companies. (We all know how much the oil companies are in need of government hand outs.) Knollenberg has taken money from former majority leader Tom Delay and Duke Cunningham, a congressman who is now doing jail time for bribery charges. Knollenberg has proven himself to be an advocate for the wealthy, powerful, and criminal. Please vote for Nancy Skinner who advocates the demise of NCLB and high ethical standards in Congress. Andy Levin for Michigan State Senator Andy is a graduate of Berkley High School and now lives in Birmingham. With three children attending the Birmingham schools, Andy understands the value and importance of public education in our lives. Levin is also a union advocate. Prior to deciding to run for the Michigan Senate, he was an organizer for the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union. Levin’s education platform includes early childhood education and programs to strengthen reading skills. Marie Donigan for Michigan State Representative Marie is our incumbent state representative. She has consistently supported a strong education program focusing on early childhood education and an increase in the number of students attending college or post high school training programs. Marie is a strong supporter of the Royal Oak School District. She was an integral part of the coalition of parents, teachers and community members that worked to secure last year’s school improvement bond and hold harmless millage. Donigan also supports Proposal 5 which is strongly supported by the MEA. BALLOT PROPOSALS Proposal 06-2 Proposal 06-2 would ban the use of affirmative action programs thus harming minority students and women. The aim of Proposal 2 and similar proposals in other states is to dismantle progress which has been made towards a culturally diverse society with effective participation by members of all racial and ethnic groups. The primary proponents of Proposal 2 are Ward Connerly, a California businessman, and Jennifer Gratz of Michigan who took her case to the Supreme Court when she herself decided that she was rejected by the University of Michigan. (In actual fact Michigan never rejected Gratz; they asked her if she wanted to be on a waiting list for admissions and she never responded back to the university. Subsequently, all students on that year’s waiting list were granted admission.) A Supreme Court known for its conservative decisions supported the university’s admission policy, citing that a diverse student body constituted a compelling national interest. The entire history of the campaign by the misleadingly named Michigan Civil Rights Initiative is a nefarious one. Allegations from people who signed the petition that Gratz and Connerly fraudulently represented the petition to them as a pro civil rights initiative were upheld by the Michigan board of Canvassers, the Ingham County Circuit Court, and most recently by the United States District Court. Nevertheless, the proposal will be before voters. In California, the effects of Proposal 209 which is the basis for Proposal 2 has been a drastic reduction in Black and Latino enrollment in colleges and graduate programs, a decrease in the percentage of women in traditional male jobs such as the building trades, dropping educational initiatives designed to interest female students in math, engineering, and science, and municipalities unwilling to fund breast cancer screening centers as they advantage females over males. Send Ward Connerly back to California-and tell him to take Jennifer Gratz with him-by resoundingly saying no to this fraudulently implmented and racially divisive proposal. Proposal 06-5 Proposal 06-5 is our proposal, the one that we gathered signatures for last year as part of the K-16 coalition. The proposal will stabilize school funding by instituting inflation indexed increases to Michigan’s annual school budget without the need for legislative action. The purpose of the indexed increase is to help local districts with their upwardly spiraling operating costs. Additionally, Proposal 5 would decrease the disparity between the lowest and highest funded districts by enhancing funding to the lowest funded districts; ease the financial impact of declining enrollment in districts such as ours by using a blended student count; and cap the amount that local districts would have to pay for teacher retirement by having the state pay the costs above the cap. Please vote yes on Proposal 5; it has the potential to provide a stable funding base for ourselves and our students. There you have it. We can stand by and be victimized by politics or we can get out and rock the vote and rock our public schools in the process! Sid |
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Bargaining Update Our full day of bargaining on October 19th was a productive one. We achieved agreement on some issues and took other issues off the table as a trade for some resolutions. We proposed a few ideas for future sessions that seem to have the possibility of leading to further compromise and resolution of outstanding issues. Our next bargaining sessions are scheduled for November 2nd and November 6th. These are after school sessions which have not been as productive as the whole day session. Nevertheless, our bargaining team will avail itself of any opportunity to make progress on our contract. Special Note Bargaining team member Tom Steeby has announced his retirement from Royal Oak due to health reasons. Tom has taught in the district for over 40 years and this was the third bargaining team that Tom had been a member of. Tom’s historical overview of past negotiations was an important aspect of current negotiations. Tom’s knowledge of the district and his great team spirit will be missed. |
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