SPTA RA Meeting: 3/25/09

The SPTA RA will meet at SPHS on March 25, 2009 at 3:45 PM. Below is a tentative agenda, subject to revision as people think of things we need to deal with. Email me with all the stuff I've overlooked.

1. Secretary’s Report
2. Treasurer’s Report
3. Negotiating Committee Report & SPSD Budget Update
4. Dues Amendment
5. Scholarships & Scholarship Committee
6. June referenda: Postcard budget (<$300), phone volunteers
7. Payment of officers, etc
   
8. other business

Conclaving with the MEA

MEA hosted a 3.5 hour briefing (okay, but what is the word if it's not brief) for local leaders on the stimulus status and the actions (or lack thereof) by locals. UniServ Director Brian Kilroy and MEA Statewide Bargaining Director Joe Stupak kindly prepared a fat stack of info, emphasized the essential points, replied to all questions, patiently listened while area locals updated each other, and even bought a tower of pizzas.

The only district where layoffs resulted from resistance to furloughs is SAD 57, whose Board and Supt won't accept the reality of stimulus money until they have cash in hand. "Full faith and credit" apparently doesn't mean much there -- be glad you work where you do.

SAD 17 did some voluntary donations and are now figuring out how to return the money. No harm done, but there was really no need to jump the gun either.

One of the university units did the same thing -- raced ahead and then needed to pull back because lay-offs weren't an option. A further consideration on that is that sometimes the numbers demand a lay-off anyway -- the SPHS Social Studies cut is an example. Money's not the issue -- student population is.

The SPTA Negotiating Team will be meeting with the district administration next week and I will report what I can about it at the RA. The members of the school board spoke earnestly and at length about their desire for salary concessions at the last budget hearing. As befits our cooperative relationship, we will continue to discuss their concerns and try to work out mutually advantageous agreements.

School Board Approves Quicksand Budget

The Board and Superintendent keep reminding each other that the budget if built on quicksand. [It's okay -- just stand on the rail, but remember, that handcart is worth $400.) The point is, of course, that much can change, but for now, the Board has passed the budget. It will be presented to the city council in early April. When the Council ratifies a budget (hopefully this one), it will be sent out to voters for a June referendum, along with the $5 million bond to do critical maintenance on secondary facilities.

At the Board meeting last night, Superintendent Godin informed the Board that she will meet with the SPTA Negotiating Team on March 23 to discuss the Board's request for a reduction in next year's salary increase.

At that same meeting, Mr. Eastman referred to a letter from Gail Ryder regarding the position of certification coordinator. He expressed interest in restoring that to the budget at earliest convenience if funds are available. Superintendent Godin said she does not think that could be attached to any of the strings from the stimulus money. The text of the letter is posted as the first comment to this entry.

Legislative Agenda Redux

Intrepid UniServ Director Nancy Hudak sends word of a few legislative items I overlooked, including some that may be of concern to some folks. Add the items below to the list in the prior post.

- LD 817: An Act Concerning Teacher Salaries, Rep Bolduc; co-sponsors: Senator Alfond, Reps. BLodgett, Butterfield, Gilbert, Knapp, Tuttle, Wright
- The proposed High School Diploma requirements (http://www.maine.gov/education/diploma/index.html)
- Review of EPS formula
- Flexible school schedules
- Penalties for non-conforming SAUs (affecting all but three here in the County and amounting to over $1.2 million)

Yes, I could have revised the previous entry to include this, but it seemed a little dishonest to be erasing my errors. Better by far to acknowledge and correct.

Quick Reminder on the $timulu$

I think that folks who were concerned about school budgets across the state felt considerable relief when the stimulus package passed. It has allowed the $27 million cut from General Purpose Aid to Education in Maine to be restored. It will provide millions in federal aid next year and the year after that. And then it is gone.

We need to be very careful not to depend on this money because it is going to end. If we don't, we'll simply be postponing the pain until 2012. True, the Maya say that time will end that year, but if they are wrong and schools need to open in 2013, we'll be sorry if we haven't budgeted wisely in the prior years.

November Referenda

There will be a full ballot this coming fall, even without any statewide elections. In addition to some bonds and a medical marijuana proposal (yeah, we passed it, but this one has enhanced implementation features), there are three proposals of concern to MEA members.

The first, TABOR II, does not directly change school funding. Nonetheless, by placing a spending cap on municipal spending and requiring a referendum on any increase in statewide taxes or any new statewide taxes, education expenditures will be impacted. TABOR was bad news last time; it hasn't gotten any better since.

The second, an act to decrease the automobile excise tax, is also a concern. If adopted, the new rates (as of January 2010) would result in a 40% reduction. The aggregate cut to local governments would be $88 million. The excise tax was instituted to fund roads and bridges -- a cut like that would either shift money from other programs and services or defund Maine's road maintenance.

The third proposal would repeal the school district consolidation laws. MEA doesn't take a position on this because its members are divided. The division seems regional. From where I sit, I continue to marvel that Hawaii can manage a single school district that spans hundreds of miles and sprawls over several islands, but that Maine needs a couple of hundred school districts. Makes no sense to me, but neither does the way we required consolidation and then exempted almost anyone who didn't like the idea.

MEA Legislative Agenda

I attended the MEA Government Relations committee meeting in Augusta today (3/7/09). Legislative Director Steve Crouse briefed us on the legislative agenda.

The only bill to have been heard and acted on by a committee is LD 83, an act to raise the state's contribution of retirees' health care premiums to 50%. It received a unanimous ought-to-pass recommendation from the committee -- who could argue against it? -- but in these times, I can't imagine it being funded. Nonetheless, if you'd like to contact your state rep about it, please do. Use this link.

Nothing very disturbing seems to have been submitted to the Legislature this year.* [Contrast that with the referenda on the ballot for next November.] Other bills submitted include proposals to:

• fairly apply the income tax by eliminating reductions of social security benefits
  
• exclude collectively bargained and job promotion increases from the earnable compensation limitation for retirement
• require state and local governments to make a plan for all employees to be paid a livable wage
• require the convening of a professional standards board
• establish a commission to study teachers' salaries
  
• provide collective bargaining protections for alternative organizational structure employees
• restore the right of public employees to engage in collective bargaining
  
• provide transparency and protection for public employees in the laws governing the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MePERS)
  
• correct inequities for community college employees in MePERS.
  

I can't claim to know what half of those bills refer to, but if you want to know more about one (or more) of them, you can research it on the Legislature's website. Follow this link.

*See the more recent post "Legislative Agenda Redux" for another view.