Building Representatives'
Newsletter
October 14, 2004
"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals of American society."
~ Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)
“The greatest obstacle to those who hope to reform American education is complacency.”
Diane Ravitch
US educator
Supplemental Contracts: As reported in the last edition of the Notes, the Board rescinded its vote of last spring to cut several supplemental contracts. The Human Resources department is in the process of distributing contracts now.
Tell Us About It: You may have noticed in the Beacon Journal recently two very nice articles about Akron schools. Not long ago, education beat reporter Stephanie Warsmith asked us to pass along word of any initiatives going on in the schools that are positive and may be of general interest. Let us know of any such efforts in your building. While we can’t guarantee coverage, we can certainly get your story to Stephanie.
Class Sizes and Transfers: We agreed to a very limited number of fall transfers to equalize class sizes across the city. All of the adjustments were made at the elementary level, and while we took some criticism from a couple buildings that lost teachers, we got just as many “thank you’s” from buildings picking up a teacher. During the last negotiations, we succeeded in eliminating fall transfers. However, it is very difficult to justify allowing a handful of classes well below the average range to remain intact when a few classes are well above the range. We would have no difficulty refusing to allow any transfers in better budgetary times when the district could add more teachers. Our decision to allow a limited number of moves was made in what we believe to be in the best interests of our membership as a whole.
Williams Campaign: We’re looking for volunteers to walk every Saturday between now and Election Day and to make phone calls Monday thru Thursday at the AEA Office each week between now and Nov. 2. This Saturday (October 16), walkers will be organizing at 9:00 a.m. behind the Skyway Restaurant on W. Market (near the Target store). Brian won the endorsement of the Cleveland Plain Dealer this week. He landed the Beacon endorsement several days ago. This is obviously a huge boost for the campaign as we head into the final two weeks of campaigning.
Superstar Deadline Approaches: The deadline for purchasing discounted tickets for the Broadway in Akron performance of Jesus Christ, Superstar is _________. Log on to ___________ to order your tickets.
We hope to see you Sunday at Canal Park for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.
