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I received this email today. Might consider spreading the word.
The recommendation is for everyone to get a Republican ballot Tomorrow and vote for Dillard in the Primary. The goal is to make sure Dillard is the Republican nominee for Governor!
VOTE FOR DILLARD IN THE PRIMARY!!!
Mr. Ullrich,
My name is David Giltzow and I am a student at WIU. I am writing you today because in my life, no one has made a bigger impact in than the teachers that have spent their time instilling in me the knowledge and ideals to be successful in life. Currently, a Republican candidate for Governor is threatening those teachers that I care about, as well as every other teacher in the state of Illinois. That being said, there is one candidate, Senator Kirk Dillard, who is willing to take a stand and support our teachers. I could really use your help. Now, I realize that you are very busy and that the primary election on Tuesday may not be the most pressing item on your plate, but coming off of the recent endorsements from Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Education Association and the Retired Teachers Association for Senator Dillard, I’m wondering if you think teachers (even democrats) will turn out at the polls to support him? Also, is there anything that I can do to help get them out to vote? This is our last chance to stop Bruce Rauner as he has pledged to spend $80 million to beat Quinn in the general election in November (to put this in perspective, Pat Quinn and Bill Brady spent a combined total of $55 million against each other in 2010) and further strike out against teachers by attacking an additional $100 billion in teachers’ pensions beyond that of the last pension “reform” proposal. He is also aggressively pursuing an agenda to end collective bargaining rights for teachers. In this race, crossover votes are absolutely vital to the future of our state, and the Illinois Education Association realizes that, so much so that they are asking their democratic members to pull Republican ballots on Tuesday and vote for Kirk. Finally, if you know of any other contacts that I should reach out to, I would also highly appreciate any names.
If we do not stop Rauner in the primary, education as we know it will come to an end in this state.
Thank you for your time.
Best,
David
On July 29th, 2013, the membership of the GEA met to review the Certified Staff Evaluation Plan created by the District 205 / GEA Joint committee. The GEA membership continues to express concern over the lack of recall rights and the number of appeals within the plan. In an effort to move forward, and despite their concerns, the membership voted to approve the plan, but reserves the right to address these concerns in the future.
The GEA continues to hold the position that the lack of Recall Rights and a severely limited number of appeals, will negatively impact our District. Such an impact will only make our District less attractive to prospective employees and families.
The Eval plan was, again, voted down by the membership. Please use the following form to contact ALL the Board members. If you scroll down in the message box you will find a pre-typed message. Feel free to edit or change the message to your liking. Make sure to type the security code at the bottom of the form before you click send.
Below is also the individual email addresses for the Board members if you would like to create a message yourself.
The GEA and Board Administration has a Joint Committee meeting scheduled for June 26th. We may or may not have movement on the Evaluation Plan. As required by the By-Laws I am giving notice of a scheduled Membership meeting to discuss the Evaluation Plan, Contract, and or By-laws modifications. As with any membership meeting there may or may not be a vote.
At the last meeting some individuals chose not to come because they didn’t think there would be a vote but there was. Others at the meeting attempted to contact members not in attendance so they could show up and vote without having heard the discussion. This is a terrible practice. If you want to vote you should be there for the discussion so you can be an informed voter. Remember – only members will be allowed in.
We will plan to have a membership meeting July 10th at the GHS Auditorium at 5:00 PM. If there is no new information to share we will cancel the meeting. We will have you sign in to vote at the beginning of the meeting.
There will be aGEA Membership meeting on May 21st, TUESDAY from 5:00PM to 7:00PM in the GHS Auditorium. Below you will file the entire plan to review before the meeting.
Potential topics and votesmayinclude theTeacher Evaluation planand/or GEA By-Law changes.
We were unable to reach agreement on three issues with the Board Office on the Evaluation Plan. Unfortunately, they are the cornerstones in the employee protection of the plan. We have a serious discussion to have…
Here is a summary of the current issues.
Issue 1: Appeal Process
The District is asking to limit the number of appeals to 12 appeals for the entire District a year. Keep in mind we have nearly 600 members. We in good faith simply don’t see how we can tell members 13 on up that they don’t get to appeal a bad evaluation just because they weren’t one of the first ten. The District has expressed concern that they could get buried in requests for appeals. We are concerned because throughout this whole process they have told us that they can’t think of anyone that should be rated “Needs Improvement” but yet think there will be too many appeals. They seem to be saying one thing but the proposed language indicated an entirely different position.
Issue 2: Built-in Resolution
We have proposed language that puts into place a resolution in the event that the plan is violated. Our proposed language, which the District has said no to, is modeled after the State law and would allow forno less thana “Proficient” rating of a teacherIFit is found that the Evaluation Plan was not properly implemented for that member. We believe it is fair. Without this employees would have no recourse to an improper or bad evaluation.
Issue 3: Recall Rights
We proposed recall RIF rights to those in category 2 as allowed by IL PERA law.. The Board has clearly stated they will not agree to this. Without recall rights if your evaluator manages to find 6 of the 22 components to make as “Needs Improvement” you will be placed in category 2 for no less than four years. During your time in category 2, should the Board decide to RIF you (which is their managerial right), they will not have to recall you and you may never get a chance to pull yourself back out of “Needs Improvement”.
These issues are the foundation of any protection in the plan. You will find the language within the plan below.
If you can’t see the document in the window below, you may use this link to download the PDF file by right clicking on the word ‘link’ and choosing ‘save as’.
On the November Ballot, Illinois voters will be asked if they believe the Illinois Constitution should be amended to require a three-fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system. We say Vote NO on the Proposed Constitutional Amendment.
This Constitutional Amendment would also require that any local collectively bargained agreement be approved by a 3/5th majority if those agreements had incentives or additional compensation increases beyond salary.
The IEA is urging members to Vote NO on the Proposed Constitutional Amendment. Here’s why:
This Constitutional Amendment will make our ability to fight for fair contracts much harder.
This Constitutional Amendment will limit the bargaining power of employers and employees.
This Constitutional Amendment would make it nearly impossible to remedy the Social Security issues with the Tier 2 benefit package.
This Constitutional Amendment will make it harder to attract the best people to the education profession.
The question on the November ballot will ask, “If you believe the Illinois Constitution should not be amended to require a three-fifths majority vote in order to increase a benefit under any public pension or retirement system, you should Vote NO.”
Please Join our Effort to Defeat this Constitutional Amendment by alerting your colleagues and family members! Join us in Voting NO against the proposed Constitutional Amendment on the November Ballot.
Please join us for the Galesburg Labor Day Parade.
We had a great showing last year and would like to continue that tradition.
Plan on arriving no later than 9:30 on Chambers St. to line up.
Feel free to wear your ‘green’ GEA shirts from last year. We will not be ordering new shirts but have GEA buttons for new people or people who no longer have their shirts. If you are interested in a GEA shirt please visit the GEA web site. www.gea-online.org
Family members and friends are welcome to joins us.
Bring your own bags of candy if you would like to hand it out.
(Remember, we are not allowed to throw it.)
The parade ends down by the court house.
Hope to see you there! Please contact me with any questions.
Theresa McGee has earned the Art Education Technology Outstanding Teacher Award from the National Art Education Association. McGee accepted the award at the National Art Education Association conference in San Diego recently, where she also presented a ten-minute spotlight on the work of her Monroe School students and how she integrates technology in curricu
The time is now! The Illinois General Assembly must pass the Fair Tax Act constitutional amendment by May 1, 2014 for it to appear on the November 2014 ballot. We are very close in both the House and Senate. Urge your state senator and state representative to do the right thing by voting to support the Fair Tax […]
Michelle Lewis-Kapp, a teacher at the Gifford Street High School in Elgin, will be honored Wednesday evening as the Elgin area’s winner in the “My Favorite Teacher” contest being run by the nationwide bookstore chain Barnes & Noble. Read her story here.
Jenni Rogers, a fifth-grade teacher at Prairie Elementary School in Naperville, is known throughout her school community for her ability to build connections based on mutual respect with her students, their parents and her peers. Read more.
District 150 to vote on layoffs of about 200 workers, more than three-fourths of them are teachers Peoria School District 150 board members will vote on laying off about 200 full- and part-time employees, more than three-fourths of them teachers, Monday at the first board meeting after spring break. Combine school districts to save […]
The IEA awarded 100 grants to early career members to fund service projects in their schools and communities. Here are a few video updates from some of the recipients. View the videos
“Johnny Science,” aka Lake Zurich High School science teacher Donald Castans, woke the crowd up with a boom a little more than an hour after the science fair began. He also invited students up to the stage to alter their voices using sulfur hexafluoride and touch the glass of a plasma lamp to demonstrate how […]
Bruce Almighty meets Quinnocchio! Entertaining and informative If he were running against anybody else, Gov. Pat Quinn might have received a more lukewarm reception from the teachers union delegates who packed a hotel ballroom Friday to see his first campaign confrontation with Republican Bruce Rauner. Gubernatorial Candidates Disagree on Pension Plan The
More than 1200 IEA members had ringside seats for the first round in what promises to be a brutal fight over who will be the next governor of Illinois. Every Chicago TV news operation was on hand at the IEA Representative Assembly on Friday afternoon, as were dozens of radio and newspaper reporters It was […]
Nine IEA members are included in the finalists for the Golden Apple award. IEA members are: Lori Anderson, Grove Elementary School, Barrington; Mary Benton, Hawthorn Middle School South; Stephen Boeckman, Wilmette Junior High School; Jennifer Ciok, Oliver McCracken Middle School, Skokie; Kimberly Dyer, South Middle School, Arlington Heights; Allessandra Ken
Quinn, Rauner appear together at IEA meeting CHICAGO — Gov. Pat Quinn and his GOP rival, Bruce Rauner are scheduled to appear together for the first time in the 2014 campaign for Illinois governor. School funding formula overhaul clears committee A measure to reform the state’s education funding system passed a Senate committee Thursday and […]
On Friday, April 11, 2014, Gov. Pat Quinn and Bruce Rauner met for the first time for a discussion that was facilitated by IEA President Cinda Klickna. Click to Watch the recorded conversation as it was live streamed
IEA names Unit 5 educator as top teacher NORMAL — Getting a letter congratulating her as the Illinois Education Association’s 2014 top teacher came as a complete surprise to a 27-year-old McLean County Unit 5 educator. “I didn’t even know I had been nominated,” Lindsey Dickinson said Wednesday. “I am just floored that I was […]
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