The Student/Mentee

Would you like to have a mentor? Do you believe that you will encounter situations that a mentor could provide insight? Do you trust the opinion of others or do you believe that only you can provide solutions which will lead to a successful resolution of your perceived problems? Do you enjoy having the opportunity to choose solutions to a situation, whether they be yours or those of someone else? These are some of the questions that will determine whether or not you would like to have a mentor.

As a prospective teacher you will encounter untold numbers of situations in which you must make a decision, and the decision you make perhaps on only one of the problems will make a direct contribution to the degree of success which you will have as an educator.

Most successful professionals have had someone that they credit as having made a contribution which is directly responsible for much of their career success. A mentor from this program could be the person responsible for making a suggestion that you used which ultimately defined the path for you to become a very successful teacher.

The mentee is responsible with the mentor to make certain that communications is on-going. Communications can be by phone, letters, e-mail or regularly meeting each other for lunch or just to meet to talk. The most direct contact, whether it be face-to-face contact, phone, e-mail, or by mail, the more each participant will be able to determine each other’s talents, traits, opinions, or tendencies.

If you choose to work with a mentor you must meet these responsibilities:

• Initiate and maintain regular communications with the mentor;
• Be punctual when meeting the mentor;
• Must be open and honest about your needs;
• Must realize that mentors are providing alternative suggestions to the discussion, the mentee must select from suggestions offered he/she believes is the suggestion best suited for the situation;
• Must communicate your expectations;
• Must respect the effort the mentor is making to further your career.

Mentoring must be viewed as a partnership. Each party must feel free to contribute to the discussion. The partnership must be a relationship of equal sharing. A healthy relationship can develop not only into a successful sharing of ideas but also a great friendship.

The mentee must be willing to regularly submit an evaluation of their progress and mentor. Questions about the program can be emailed to Student Program Vice Chairperson, Katie Kreis, at kekreis@ilstu.edu

The sign up form must be completed through the IEA website no later than October 3, 2010.

• Complete the Student Mentee sign up form online

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Download the September 2010 Advocate

The competitive grants were to be awarded based on assessments made by consultants hired by the department.

Illinois did not receive any of the grants, which went to nine states and the District of Columbia.

As Bernie Schoenberg reports in the State Journal-Register, IEA President Ken Swanson and Executive Director Audrey Soglin, sent a fiery letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to protest the decision and express their “profound disappointment.

“We are dismayed and disillusioned,” the letter states. “In our view, the process was unfair and fatally flawed.” They likened the denial of the state after a second round of applications to a student who carefully followed a teacher’s instructions for improvement, only to have a different teacher — who didn’t talk to the first one — assess the student as failing again. The fact that the first and second set of federal reviewers were not on the same page led to Illinois receiving lower scores in round two for some things highly rated in round one, which “defies common sense,” the letter said.

“As the secretary of education, you had an obligation to ensure the grants went to the right states,” the IEA officials tell Duncan. The union’s involvement was a large part of why Illinois should have been successful, they add.

“This was not reflected in our point score, and it makes us wonder whether the department truly values and understands how important unions are to successful deployment. …”

“We will remain true to our organization’s mission of effecting excellence and equity in public education, as we advocate for education employees. This was a wasted opportunity.”

Read the letter in its entirety

Want growth and jobs? We’ll need revenue

It’s the worst kind of election year pandering: “The worst time to raise taxes is in the middle of a recession.” Yet we continue to hear that claim from gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady and expect to hear it right up until election day.

Fortunately, there are other, informed, voices, such as that of Ralph Martire, Executive Director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.

Using a formula developed by an adviser to John McCain’s presidential campaign, Martire, points out that cutting $9 billion from the Illinois budget, as Brady has suggested, would cost the state 128,000 jobs!

That’s because those spending cuts would be achieved by firing teachers, health care workers, correctional officers and other public servants, who, having lost their wages, would stop buying stuff in local economies. News flash: Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of all economic activity, so for every dollar state spending is cut, local economies lose $1.36 in consumer purchasing, which in turn causes the concomitant private-sector job losses.

As it is, the state’s long-term economic trends don’t bode well for a quick recovery. In fact, Illinois never fully recovered the 147,609 non-farm jobs it lost during the previous, much shorter and less severe recession of 2001. In the six-year recovery following that recession, from November 2001 to November 2007, Illinois regained just 67,200 non-farm jobs, or less than half the number it lost.

Factor in the 40,000 jobs Illinois must create annually just to keep pace with growth in the labor force, and it’s pretty clear the state’s private-sector economy hasn’t generated adequate job growth for a while. Heck, since 1990, Illinois’ economic performance has significantly lagged the country’s, ranking in the bottom 12 in real, state gross domestic product growth.

Martire acknowledges that while there never is a good or popular time for a tax increase, if the goal is recovery, sometimes you have to say yes to taxes.

Look, no one enjoys championing a tax increase. That said, Illinois, which has been one of the lowest tax and spending states for decades, can’t solve its budget problems or grow its private-sector economy without one.

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“The time for unions has passed. We once needed them, but there are now workplace protections that make unions no longer necessary or desirable.”

It is certainly true that we no longer have sweatshops that employ school-age children in low-paying and dangerous jobs. And, yes, during the 20th century, laws were passed that protect employees from these and other exploitive practices. It is worth noting that it was the labor movement that ended those practices and pushed for the passage of those laws.

The fact that some injustices have become extinct does not mean that there is nothing left to be done by organized labor.

As society has changed, so has the role of the union. Members are focusing on taking responsibility for the quality of their work.

My union, the Illinois Education Association, has embraced change and taken on additional responsibility. We continue to negotiate contracts and advocate to ensure that our members and their students have the best possible teaching and learning conditions. We will always do that.

But, in the 21st century, we know there is more we must do if our members are to realize their professional goal of helping our students develop the tools and skills they need to be successful in life.

For students to succeed, schools and all the education stakeholders — teachers and support staff, administrators, parents and government — must be willing to do their part.
IEA has stepped up to the challenge. We have insisted on not only being at the table wherever and whenever a discussion that will impact our members takes place, but we also have used the expertise of our members to develop proposals that will improve education quality in Illinois.

For example, IEA developed Illinois Priority One, a blueprint for improving education in public schools statewide. In it, you will find many innovative ideas about ways to prepare children to become productive citizens and ensure they are college and/or career-ready.

It emphasizes professional development and mentoring for teachers, principals and administrators; teacher certification, rewarding school success, emphasis on early childhood education, smaller classes, parental engagement, changes in the ways schools are physically structured and other items.

IEA also worked closely with the Illinois State Board of Education to develop the state application for federal Race to the Top funding. While Illinois did not receive one of the competitive grants, we consider the work that went into the application to be useful and the relationships with other involved stakeholders important.

Most significantly, IEA and other Illinois labor organizations have, for decades, advocated for reform of the state school-funding system. Today in Illinois, the quality of education a child receives is greatly influenced by where the student happens to live. That is an injustice that cannot be tolerated.

So, while it is true that the injustices that helped create the labor movement have, thankfully, vanished, there are other injustices and inequities that we, as a labor organization of education professionals, are obligated to fight.

It has been said, “Education is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.” Labor supported the civil rights movement of the 20th century and it is clear that our work continues.

Ken Swanson is president of the Illinois Education Association.

(This column appears in the September 6, 2010 edition of the State Journal-Register)

By now you’ve heard that IEA is backing Pat Quinn for governor against Republican Bill Brady.  Some of the reasons for this can be found here.

But the list of reasons why it is crucial for public schools, public school students and public school employees to defeat Brady and elect Quinn is not etched in stone.

No, like the US Constitution, the list of reasons “Why Bill Brady is bad for Illinois” is a living document.  That is why, from time to time over the next two months, we will highlight the latest Brady comments, opinions and policy decisions that underscore the importance of electing Pat Quinn on November 2.

And here we go:

From Sen. Brady’s hometown paper comes word that while Brady would send fewer dollars to school districts, the districts should balance that loss on the backs of their employees.

While questioned by reporters in recent weeks, Brady said his proposed cuts to the state budget would mean schools will see less money from the state.

“Local school districts could absorb that by maybe not offering the pay raises that they put in place,” Brady said at a Springfield event Wednesday.

You might want to read that over a couple of times.

It sounds as though he thinks districts should stiff employees on their raises, regardless of what the contract says.

What is clear is that Gov. Brady will tell school districts that have been denied adequate state funding that, instead of lobbying for more revenue to preserve and enhance education quality, they can balance budgets by sticking it to the employees and, thereby, the students.

There are some very bad school boards that would love to have Gov. Bill Brady using his bully pulpit to bash public school employees.  Under his leadership, they would be emboldened to try to deny employees reasonable compensation and the resources they need to do their work.

The result would be that attracting the highest quality people to public education would become even more of a chore.  That’s bad news for students, communities and school employees everywhere.

Start spreading the news: Bill Brady is bad news for Illinois.

Photo by Peg McGinness

Two dozen members of the Alton Education Association again marched in the Annual Alton Labor Day Parade, spreading the word for SCHOOL FUNDING. Interacting with onlookers, the members handed out hundreds of leaflets and IEA pencils. This is the second year IEA has made a concerted effort to join our allies in the labor movement in Labor Day events around the State as we continue efforts to build relationships and coalitions essential to the fight for Great Public Schools for Every Community.

State News

Belvidere teachers, School Board to resume talks
Rockford Register Star – Representatives from the Belvidere Education Association will meet with district officials next week to resume negotiations on the teachers contract. The Thursday meeting will be the first for both parties since the Belvidere

Disappointment follows fruitless Danville school talks
Champaign News Gazette – district only has so much money to work with. “I just hope both sides are willing to make some sort of compromise so the kids can stay in school,” Deffenbaugh continued. Danville Education Association members could walk out any time after the Labor Day holiday since filing an intent-to-strike notice last week. “The kids just started back to school. 

Danville Teachers Don’t Strike…Yet
WAND (NBC) 17 Decatur – The Danville school board and the Teachers Association ended their meeting Tuesday night without reaching an agreement. The teachers say they are not striking yet. Instead, the union will decide on if to strike 

Fieldcrest board approves tentative budget
Bloomington Pantagraph -  The final budget will be approved at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27. Union contract The board approved a tentative agreement with the Fieldcrest Education Association. There will be a minimum 1.5 percent pay increase for all employees, both certified and non-certified. There will be no increase to the certified staff’s base pay and a 1.5 percent 

Former 205 teacher questions hiring process, use of substitutes
WREX (NBC) 13 Rockford –  While that’s being done, subs are used. Two positions at Beyer–one for third grade, one for fourth–were just posted. And that decision doesn’t fly with the Rockford Education Association. Leaders say there are dedicated dismissed teachers who deserve the chance to be back with District 205. One of them, Shannon Symonds. “I want to be back in the classroom 

Why Illinois lost the race
Springfield Illinois Times – llinois slipped from a 5th place ranking after round one to a 15th place ranking in round two. Only gaining about 5 points for a total of 427 out of 500, Illinois came in about 14 points behind the lowest ranking grant recipient.  Although ISBE is disappointed in losing out on the grant funding, Fergus says, the state can still use its application as a blueprint for education reform and continue to implement several reforms it’s already moving forward, including a data system that can more adequately track student progress.  

Fresh Fruits, Vegetables For 188 Illinois Schools
Chicago WBBH (CBS) 2 -  Students in 188 Illinois schools will get fresh fruits and vegetables to eat this school year. The Illinois State Board of Education said Wednesday the schools will participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. 

Are Schools Doing Enough To Stop Bullying?
Chicago WBBH (CBS) 2 – For some kids, another school year just means another year to get bullied. Now a local watchdog group is giving suburban and city schools an “F” for not doing enough to stop it. 

Zondra Hughes: Union Prez: “CPS Teachers Are Terrified”
WTTW Chicago – In this blackboard jungle, Chicago Public School teachers are catching spears on all sides, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis tells me.  Truthfully speaking, the Chicago Teachers Union and the Board of Education were never really into playing nice for the cameras. When there was a dispute, John Q. Public knew about it; the on-camera melee would continue for days, as the teachers dubbed the contract negotiations insulting and the Board of Ed dubbed the teachers spoiled. 

Teacher layoffs at CPS leave educators scrambling for new careers
Chicago Defender – When Bradwell Elementary School begins classes on Sept. 7 one veteran teacher will be absent from class. Jacqueline Sanders had taught at Bradwell, 7736 S. Burnham Ave. over two decades. CPS, which slashed 1,000 teacher jobs this year due to low enrollment,

Political News  

Brady: Schools should consider holding off on teacher pay raises
Quad City Times – Illinois Federation of Teachers spokesman Dave Comerford said teachers already are dealing with threats of layoffs because the state is months behind in sending money to local schools.  Competitive salaries, Comerford said, are critical to keep teachers in the classroom instead of leaving the profession.  “And yet now we’re saying we want you to take massive pay cuts?” Comerford said. 

Brady takes heat from union for suggesting teachers forgo raises in tough economic times
Decatur Herald and Review – State Sen. Bill Brady, the Republican candidate for governor, is taking heat from a teachers union over suggestions that school districts could consider forgoing teacher pay raises. Brady said his proposed cuts to the state budget would mean schools will see less money 

Nice guys finish last  Pat Quinn tries to win votes by being honest about bad news

When he’s not governing, one might find Gov. Pat Quinn blowing off steam while shooting some hoops at the Fenwick High School gym in Chicago – the same school he attended as a young man 

Quinn, Brady on Illinois’ minimum wage  The rhetoric in the race for Illinois governor heated up Wednesday when Gov. Pat Quinn accused his Republican rival, state Sen. Bill Brady, of wanting to slash Illinois’ minimum wage. But Quinn overstates Brady’s past comments, while Brady has created confusion by trying to finesse his views. 

Pat Quinn, Toni Preckwinkle Pick Up New Endorsement
Chicago WFLD (Fox) 32 – Chicago – Governor Pat Quinn and Toni Preckwinkle, the Democratic candidate for Cook County Board President, picked up endorsements on Wednesday from the “Independent Voters of Illinois.”   

Want our votes? Give us a few answers …
Southern Illinoisan – Our View: We can’t think of a reason to vote for any candidates who won’t answer the questionnaire created by the Illinois Coalition for Political Reform, CHANGE Illinois!  September is upon us. Next comes October. Then it’s Election Day: Nov. 2.  So here’s a prod to legislative and gubernatorial candidates: Fill out the questionnaire at www.changeil.org and return it by the Sept. 7 deadline.   

GOP playing name game with Madigan  John Kass – It sounds unbelievable, but Illinois Republicans are actually proposing to change the name of Illinois to something a tad more realistic.  They want to call it “Madiganville,” in honor of House Speaker Michael Madigan, the Chicago Democratic boss who runs the state legislature.   

Bernard Schoenburg: Good, bad and ‘interesting’ among D.C. delegation  Washingtonian magazine’s annual “Best and Worst of Congress” is out, and Washingtonian’s lists feature some well-known Illinois folks. 

Former Gov. Ryan wants part of conviction tossed
Rockford Register Star -  agrees to strike the convictions related to honest services altogether, the filing says Ryan should be allowed to go free based on the time he’s already served. Current Gov. Pat Quinn, for one, didn’t want to see Ryan let out early. “If you do the crime, you gotta do the time,” he told reporters today. 

Quinn doesn’t support Ryan bid for charges to be thrown out, says Ryan should “do the time”
Moline WQAD (ABC) 8 – Gov. Pat Quinn doesn’t back a bid by ex-Gov. George Ryan to have some of his corruption convictions thrown out. Quinn said Wednesday Ryan should “do the time” because a jury has decided the case

National News

Unions gearing up to support Dems in November
Washington Post -  Union leaders said Wednesday they will mobilize millions of members in 26 states with a message about “economic patriotism” as they try to help Democrats hold onto their majority in the House and Senate. The nation’s largest labor federation plans to spend more than $50 million leading up to the November elections, targeting 70 House races and 18 Senate races

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories

Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace

Israelis feel prosperous, secure — and disengaged from the peace process. Is that wise?

Tony Blair on Clinton, Bush and the American Character

In an essay exclusively adapted for TIME from his new memoir, Britain’s former Prime Minister reflects on the U.S. Presidents he has known and worked with — and on their country

Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Firebrands: Fueled by Out-of-Staters

Both Governor Brewer SB1070 defense fund and Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s campaign are being supported by a large number of contributions from outside of Arizona

How Can a Democracy Solve Tough Problems?

What if we gave people real choices and real consequences and let them make decisions?

Study: Diet Drug Meridia May Boost Heart Risks

A new study finds that some users of the weight-loss pill Meridia may have an increased risk of heart attack or stroke

Hurricane Earl upgraded as winds reach 140 mph
Earl is again upgraded to a Class 4 hurricane and poses a serious threat to the Outer Banks and other parts of the East Coast.
(By Rob Stein, The Washington Post)

Maryland Sen. Currie indicted on charges of taking bribes from grocery chain
Longtime Maryland Sen. Ulysses Currie, one of the most powerful and popular figures in the General Assembly, was indicted Wednesday on charges that he took more than $245,000 in bribes to use his position and influence to do favors for a grocery chain.
(By Maria Glod and John Wagner, The Washington Post)

Mixed reaction to new FEC rules on candidates, interest groups working together
The FEC has issued rules on when interest groups can cooperate with political candidates, but it’s not clear if either side likes the policy.
(By Dan Eggen, The Washington Post)

Health insurance tax credit likely to affect small part of small-business workforce
Small businesses eligible for health insurance tax credits employ about 16.6 million workers, according to a research foundation’s estimates. But those firms that are expected to make use of the credits employ only 3.4 million workers. For the most part, those firms already offer insurance to their
(By N.C. Aizenman, The Washington Post)

Postal Service seeks concessions in talks with its largest union
The U.S. Postal Service, headed toward a loss of at least $7 billion this fiscal year, opened contract talks with its largest union Wednesday seeking cost cuts that could reshape the nation’s mail-delivery system.
(By Lisa Rein and Ed O’Keefe, The Washington Post)

On Leadership: The Federal Coach
The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and The Washington Post’s On Leadership site jointly produce the Federal Coach, hosted by Tom Fox, director of the partnership’s Center for Government Leadership. The goal is to “engage, inspire and learn from you, the federal worker, whether you are a…
(The Washington Post)

Word of the Day for Thursday, September 2, 2010

bilocation \bahy-loh-KEY-shuhn\, noun:

The state of being or the ability to be in two places at the same time.

One year ago today, the new IEA Website was launched amid promises that IEA members would be served better than ever with more video, more stories and more opportunities to comment and discuss the issues addressed at ieanea.org.

We think it’s been a pretty good year.  We didn’t get one million visitors in the last 365 days, but we came pretty close.  We had almost 25,000 visitors on a single day in March and nearly 147,000 “hits” during that month.

Why the big surge?  We think it’s because we provided variety and regular updates to IEA members about subjects they’re interested in: Innovative programs created by teachers,  retirement issues, activism, training opportunities, lobbying and battles with a major newspaper. We had dozens of videos and stories that garnered more than 1,000 “hits” each, some getting more than 13,000 clicks.

During the year, we posted videos that told stories of the great work IEA members are doing.  We spotlighted the advocacy that IEA members and staff engage in on a daily basis.  We informed members about what the Illinois General Assembly was doing and, when necessary, the Website played a major role in  mobilizing members to pass good legislation and defeat bad bills, such as a voucher proposal that would have diverted $100 million in public money to private schools.

Looking forward, the IEA Website will be an important tool for the November election as we seek to inform our members on key political races.  You will be reading a lot about why, for the good of public schools, education employees and especially the students IEA members serve,  the Pat Quinn-Sheila Simon ticket must win in November.

We’re very happy about the response to the IEA Website, but we’re not satisfied.

We have a question:  How can we get better?

Post your comments below.  Feel free to wish ieanea.org a happy birthday and sing along.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Tentative Agenda for Lisle and Springfield Venues

Day 1, Friday October 29

Morning: On site Registration opens at 11:00 am

Afternoon: Afternoon Skills Sessions 1:00 – 5:30 p.m.

• Negotiating School Improvement
• Getting Your Members Involved in Bargaining Preparation
• Workplace Bullying
• Gripes vs Grievances from Beginning to End
• The Basics Costing the Salary Schedule
• Local Presidents Training
• Writing Online Survey Questions
• Professional Development: CPDU-eligible topics, including RtI, Evaluation, Classroom Management, Communicating with Parents, and more . . .

Evening: Social Events begin at 5:30 p.m.

• Wine and Cheese Reception 5:30 – 6:00
• Dinner 6:00 – 7:15
• Phone Bank Bingo Party (GOTV Phone banks/ Dessert/Games/Prizes/Fun) 7:15 – 8:30

Day 2, Saturday October 30

Morning: Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m.

• Keynote Address 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• Skills Sessions 9:45 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.

Afternoon: Closing Event 12:00 – 12:30

NOTE: The agendas for the Edwardsville CORE Mini-Conference and the CORE Virtual Conference are TBA

Registration is scheduled to open on September 8.