http://www.ramonateachers.org/ My Dragonfly Site en-us Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:18:15 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly Ramona Teachers Association News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.ramonateachers.org/images/themes/Azul/images/logo.jpg http://www.ramonateachers.org/ http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=130 On Thursday, May 19, District Teachers of the Year were honored along with Classified Employees of the Year and Retirees. The ceremony took place before the May RUSD Board Meeting in the Wilson Gym at the District Office. Teachers of the Year were presented with a Certificate and a rose from RTA. Retirees were presented with an engraved crysta apple from District Administration and an engraved desk set from RTA. RUSD's Teacher of the Year is Robin Koch, a first grade teacher from Barnett Elementary. She has been teaching for 26 years and has taught all elementary grade levels K-6, with the exception of 2nd grade. She has taught first grade at Barnett for the last 14 years. She believes that teaching is one of the most important and rewarding jobs one can do for the benefit of all children. The site teachers of the year are: Joyce Schildhouse, Hanson Elementary; Deborah Brisendine, James Dukes Elementary; Kim Wilson, Mount Woodson Elementary; Laura Myers, Ramona Elementary; Stacey Gill, Ramona Community School; Jaime King, Olive Pierce Middle School; Michael Ernst, Ramona High School; and Sue Ketterer, Montecito High School. Former teacher, RTA member and current Assistant Superintendent, Joe Annicharico is retiring this year after 35 years with RUSD. Long time Ramona Elementary teacher, Guy Hanford, is also retiring after 39 years of teaching in Ramona! He is also a long time supporter of RTA/CTA, stating "The union makes us strong and helps all of us to stay in our job and do our very best." The four other teachers who are retiring this year are Cece Byrne, Ramona Elementary; David Sojourner, Laura Swauger and Cynthia Bedwell from Ramona High School. All of these exemplary teachers will be missed by fellow teachers and students alike. Mon, 13 Jun 2011 21:18:15 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=129 Ramona High School is the proud recipient of two prestigious awards. They have been named a 2011 California Distinguished School. Along with this award, they have been recognized for having an Exemplary Career Technical Education Program (CTE). In a letter to the RHS Teachers and Staff, Dr. Graeff states “As you know, these two awards are a recognition of excellence and data-driven results that can only be achieved when teachers, support staff, and administrators are focused on providing students with a high-quality educational experience. Even after our initial disappointment with this process three months ago, your administration’s tenacity and perseverance in the process must be acknowledged as an important part of this year’s celebration.” Assistant Principal, Kathyn Gunderson, states “For our Distinguished School application we were asked to highlight two Signature Practices. We wrote about our comprehensive CAHSEE preparation and test program, to which the entire staff contributed, and also our Ready to Learn program, in which our counseling team takes the lead." Of the Exemplary Career Technical Education Award, “Our staff does a fantastic job of drawing kids into their programs and preparing them for vocations and professional careers,” RHS Principal, Tony Newman said. “The quality of the program is driven by the labor market, and we can give a lot of kids a direction about what they might want to do with their lives.” Newman stated that these awards are the result of a “partnership” between the school’s 1,850 students and “our wonderful staff,” and expressed the hope that the community “will be very proud that their high school has received this distinction,” which is shared with six other high schools in San Diego County. Last year, Mount Woodson Elementary was the recipient of this award. Two schools in as many years is a testament to the high quality of education that we have achieved in this district because of our highly skilled and dedicated teachers. Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:49:15 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=128 The Negotiations Team thanks all teachers for their support during the negotiations process. The team was able to come to a Tentative Agreement with the District on Tuesday evening November 30th. There was compromise on both sides and the agreement will have minimal impact on educators at this time. Teachers will not be taking furlough days nor contributing monies to benefits. The team also came to an agreement on some of the contract language, which includes bereavement leave and a change in definition of immediate family. Teachers were given a copy of the Tentative Ageement documents on Friday, December 3rd. A meeting to discuss the TA and to review the details of this agreement was scheduled for December 7th on the RHS campus. Teachers will vote on ratification of this agreement on Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 8 & 9. The results of this vote will be approved by the RTA Executive Council meeting on December 16th. RTA President, Donna Braye-Romero will present the results of the ratification vote to the RUSD School Board at their meeting on December 16th. Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:18:17 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=127 The Ramona Teachers Assn is thrilled that RUSD Board member Bob Stoody has been re-elected. RTA also endorsed Kim Lasley, an RUSD parent who is very active in PTA and other school related organizations. She, too, was elected to the RUSD School Board in the November 2nd election. Board member Roger Dohm was also re-elected to the RUSD Board. A group of teachers (elementary, middle, and high school) got together to interview the candidates running for the RUSD school board. After these interviews, the team of teachers decided on the three candidates who they felt would do the best job for our district: Bob Stoody, Kim Lasley and Roger Dohm. From there, the RTA rep council voted on who we felt should actually get an endorsement from our Teachers Association. The site representatives and RTA board felt that two candidates should receive that endorsement. With the financial situation the way it is, we decided not to contribute any money to the candidates, but still felt it was important to endorse Bob Stoody and Kim Lasley. Bob Stoody has obviously been on the board before and has proven time and time again to be supportive to teachers and most importantly, he has put students and education first. We truly feel he is an asset on our RUSD school board. Kim Lasley is a known member of the community who is present in our schools on a regular basis. She is involved with PTSA, site councils, and many more aspects of our district. We feel that she has the potential to be a good board member. She wants open communications and honesty which is much needed in our district. Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:46:12 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=126 In the last few years, there has been a coordinated effort district-wide toward the development and implementation of professional learning communities (PLC). A component of these PLCs is the ongoing analysis of district test results, such as MAP scores and CST results, to set specific individual and classroom goals. In addition, the ongoing analysis of the data derived from assessments has assisted teachers in the streamlining of teaching practices to further enhance student learning. Ongoing collaboration, whether it be grade level, subject area and/or cross-grade collaboration, facilitates the process of “spreading the wealth” of years of teaching experience within a school site and across the district. A result of these hours of hard work has been the record-breaking 22 point increase in the API scores for the Ramona Unified School District. The Ramona Unified School District, as a whole, is a high-performing district with an overall API score of 809. Our district made the largest growth of any of the school districts in the north county. This is an accomplishment we can all celebrate. Special kudos go to the staff at Ramona Elementary for their 41 point increase. This school site demonstrated the largest increase in the district. Of particular note is the fact that the student body population at Ramona Elementary is comprised of a large number of students who are socioeconomic disadvantaged students. In addition to working in collaboration with each other, the teachers at RE are also dedicated and caring professionals who have done everything they can to provide their students with a safe and nurturing environment. With their API score at 806, these educators can now brag that they are a high-performing school, especially since they have surpassed the state standard API score of 800. Ramona Elementary was not the only school to experience significant gains. Ramona High School moved its API score up by 32 points. This level of growth is indicative of the positive collaboration among teachers to better educate students at the secondary level. Olive Peirce Middle School also raised their score by an impressive 27 points. Principal Linda Solis attributes this gain to the ongoing focus on professional learning communities that her school has pioneered within our district. With an increase of ten points, Ramona Community School also joins the ranks of schools within the district that increased their API. Principal Carol Tennebaum attributes the school’s current API score of 838 to both the creative short and long term planning implemented by all of the teachers at her site. Also impressive was the 897 API score earned by James Dukes Elementary, as well as Mt. Woodson’s score of 888. Well done! It is common knowledge that education is not just about the scores on particular high-stake assessments. However, these scores are tangible evidence of the hard work and passion for learning by teachers, staff and students alike. Without this level of dedication, scores won’t rise and the miracles that occur in the classroom each day would not occur. All educational achievements, however they are measured, are worth celebrating. Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:35:06 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=125 A number of changes have taken place in RTA's Executive Council. Goldie Kakacek, RTA Vice President, resigned her position but is staying active on the Negotiations Committee. In early September, as Special Election was held and Mike Jordan II, a Site Rep at RHS, was elected as our new Vice President. RTA is serching for a Site Representative to replace Mike Jordan at Ramona High School. Goldie Kakacek will replace Bill Clark as our Chief Negotiator. We have three new Site Reps: Ashley Mathews at Barnett Elementary; Peggy Powell at Mount Woodson and Carrie Tompkins (formerly Budd) at RCS/MVA. A Site Rep training is planned for our new site reps and any other site rep who needs a 'refresher'. During the Special Election in September, the RTA revised Bylaws were put to membership for approval. They were passed by an overwhelming majority. The approved Bylaws were sent to CTA. A Political Action Committee is being formed to interview School Board Candidates and make recommendations to the RTA Executive Committee as to the candidates for RTA to endorse for the upcoming state election in November. Cori McDonald is the Chairperson of this committee. Thu, 23 Sep 2010 22:56:22 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=124 Summary of Negotiations So Far The District has not made any movement off of their initial proposal of demanding 2.75% in concessions from teachers, even with the gift of the “Jobs Bill” money from the Federal Government. As of this meeting monies coming to the district as a result of the State budget settlement have not been taken into consideration. The District has offered teachers to pay a portion of their insurance package. With the amount increasing each month it takes us to settle our contract. The District has also offered 4 unpaid furlough days this year and 5 unpaid furlough days next year. The furlough days offered for this year include 2 student contact day and 2 non-student contact days. Next year’s offer is 1 student contact day and 4 non-student contact days. RTA agrees there does need to be some concessions made in order to keep the district financially healthy, however we feel the district needs to reconsider the amount of concessions necessary. RTA has offered 3 furlough days, all of which would be student contact days. We have offered 1 non-paid day and the SAFE matching contribution to cover the other 2 furlough days for 2010-2011 only. Goldie Kakacek Chief Negotiator, RTA Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:28:22 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=123 June 13, 2011 This week, your site rep will be passing out information on the ‘State of Emergency’ Phase 2. CTA has outlined actions we can take over the summer to keep pressure on the State legislature to pass a responsible budget. We will send out important updates via ‘HEART’ (our home e-mail system), over the summer. If we don’t have your home e-mail, or your home e-mail address has changed this year. Please get it to me this week. The results of the CTA State Council Representative election are in. Although two Ramona teachers were on the ballot for State Council, Jerry Fenton from Valley Center (who finished out Mike Harrelson’s term after Mike retired) received more votes, as the result of an aggressive write-in campaign, than either of the other two candidates, and was elected to the position. Stephanie Hurst was elected as alternate. June 9, 2011 RTA wants you to know . . . The district is sending out to each employee a document that shows your "total compensation profile" for the 2010 school year. This is an informational document that shows graphs indicating how your salary, benefits and various other "allocations" are divided. Please look over this document and call the payroll department if you have questions or concerns about what you are contributing to per this document. Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:12:03 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=121 CTA Endorses the Following Candidates State Constitutional Offices Governor: Edmund G. Brown, Jr. Lieutenant Governor: Gavin Newsom Attorney General: Neutral Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones Secretary of State: Debra Bowen State Controller: John Chiang State Treasurer: Bill Lockyer Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson State Board of Equalization, First District: Betty Yee State Board of Equalization, Second District: Chris Parker State Board of Equalization, Third District: Neutral State Board of Equalization, Fourth District: Jerome Horton At its January meeting, the CTA State Council took positions on the following ballot initiatives: Support The Repeal Corporate Tax Loopholes Act The Corporate Political Accountability Act Oppose The Public Employee Payroll Deduction Act The New Public Employees Benefits Reform Act Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:44:10 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=120 Backroom Maneuvers Keep SB 955 Alive Updated: May 14, 2010 by CTA A CTA-opposed bill that should have to gone to the Senate Labor Committee has been sent to the Senate Rules Committee to keep it alive. After SB 955 secured the approval of the Senate Education Committee, Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg sent the CTA-opposed bill to the Senate Rules Committee, instead of the Senate Labor Committee where it would have received a fair hearing. Senator Mark DeSaulnier, Chair of the Senate Labor Committee, asked Senator Steinberg to send SB 955 to the Senate Labor Committee, but Sen. Steinberg refused. Holding the bill in the Rules Committee allows Senator Steinberg to keep the bill alive. By so doing, Senator Steinberg has given into the governor and Senator Gloria Romero’s agenda of taking back teacher rights. Senator Romero even thanked Senator Steinberg for his leadership on this issue from the dais during the vote on SB 955. Now is the time that lawmakers should be figuring out how to hire more teachers and restore teaching jobs, but Senator Steinberg is pursuing easier ways to lay them off. Call Senator Steinberg and tell him to stop blaming teachers and start finding real solutions to fund our schools and students. Email address: Senator.Steinberg@senate.ca.gov Office phone: 916-651-4006 Tue, 18 May 2010 23:46:04 GMT