still under siege public education aea members vie for...

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION ��

ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

“Reformer” Rhee Aware of Widespread CheatingMichelle Rhee has finally

been discredited by new

information showing she was

fully aware of widespread

cheating that she glossed over

in her first year as head of

Washington, D.C. schools.

Rhee, along with her

Sacramento-based

StudentsFirst, was actively

involved in the recent passage

of the private school voucher

act in Alabama. John Merrow,

an investigative reporter for

PBS, has uncovered a 2009

confidential memo that

pointed out troubling test

score erasure concerns that

were not investigated by top

officials in the district.

The long-buried memo

strongly suggests that Rhee

knew in 2009 of widespread

allegations of cheating in

D.C. public schools and

failed to act. And it indicates

that rather than conducting

a full investigation of the

allegations, a strategy was

devised to conceal them.

The memo from Rhee’s

outside data consultant

suggests that the problem was

far more serious than students

copying off other students’

answer sheets.

Twice in just four pages in the

memo, the consultant suggests

that Rhee’s own principals,

some of whom she had hired,

may have been responsible for

cheating.

In calling for a renewed

investigation of the cheating

scandal first uncovered by USA

Today, critics of Rhee say she

made no attempt to discipline

the cheaters.

While only a single teacher

was let go for cheating, Rhee

fired more than 600 teachers

for low test scores, sending

a strong message that her

priority was for higher test

scores at any cost.

In the memo obtained by

Merrow, consultant Sandy

Sanford said erasure data

from D.C. showed “191

teachers and 70 schools . . .

implicated in possible testing

infractions,” and added that

he needed more information

to “come up with confident

recommendations.”

When he first wrote the

memo, Sanford intended for it

to be kept confidential.

At the top and bottom of

each page he wrote “Sensitive

Information -- Treat as

Confidential,” and he urged,

“Don’t make hard copies and

leave them around.”

The gist of Sanford’s message

was the many ‘wrong to right’

erasures on the students’

answer sheets suggested

widespread cheating by adults.

Sanford analyzed the evidence

from one school, Aiton

Elementary School, whose

scores had jumped by 29

percentiles in reading and 43

percentiles in math and whose

staff -- from the principal down

to the custodians -- Rhee had

rewarded with $276,265 in

bonuses.

Answer sheets revealed an

average of 5.7 wrong to right

erasures in reading and 6.8 in

math, significantly above the

district average of 1.7 and 2.3.

Sanford noted that a cheating

scandal could compromise the

Public education still under siegeDr. Graves explains latest attacks.

pg 3

Protecting public educationUA’s Blackburn Institute fellows learn about AEA’s mission.

pg 4

Best teachersAEA members vie for Alabama’s top teacher award.

pg 6

Be a leaderDeadline nears for AEA’s Emerging Leaders training registration.

pg 7

RIF bill creates new criteriaAn Alabama Senate

committee has approved

a bill that would prohibit

school boards from

considering seniority in the

event of teacher layoffs.

An earlier version of the

bill by Sen. Bryan Taylor,

R-Prattville, would not have

allowed a school board’s

consideration of teachers’

advance degrees in making

decisions about layoffs, but

that was later reversed in a

committee substitute.

However, the bill that was

reported to the full Senate

would set “demonstrated

experience” as no less than

50 percent in determining

whether a teacher would be

retained.

That would be based on

an employee’s annual

performance evaluation

reports under a statewide-

standardized reduction-in-

force policy to be developed

by the State Department of

Education by the 2015-16

academic year.

“Seniority is not itself a

substitute for or indicator

of experience in providing

quality instruction,” the

legislation says.

“This is just more of playing

politics with our education

professionals,” said Dr.

Henry Mabry, executive

secretary of the AEA.

“They’ve worked extremely

hard to better their skills

in the classroom, and that

translates into improving

their profession year after

year for the benefit of

Alabama’s school children.

Now, we want to punish

them for that?”

An earlier version of the

bill contained language that

would have based layoffs

by 50 percent on student

achievement, based on an

evaluation system adopted

by the state school board.

That language was removed,

however.

Meanwhile, the National

Education Association and

its Florida affiliate are suing

the state of Florida over a

Michelle Rhee, former Washington D.C. superintendent, tied to cheating scandal.

– continued on page 3, “Rhee knew of cheating”

National board certified teachers meet legislators

Members of the Alabama National Board Certified Teacher Network were in Montgomery on April 17 to meet with legislators to provide information about the importance of having a national board certified teacher in the classroom. Alabama has 2,202 national board certified teachers, which gives the state a ranking of 15th in the nation. Numerous studies have shown that students of NBCTs outperform students of non-NBCTs on achievement tests. Certification can take as long as three years and can cost the applicant close to $5,000 with a time investment of than 400 hours. In years past, funding was provided to national board candidates who successfully completed pre-certification components of the process. National board certified teachers qualify for a $5,000

stipend when the Legislature includes funding in the Education Budget. To maintain certification, teachers must repeat the certification process every 10 years.

The delegation met with several Democratic legislators including (fourth from left) Reps. Joe Hubbard and Marcel Black. The Alabama NBCT Network representatives include (from left) Cara Whitehead (Etowah County), Julie Ramsay (Jefferson County), Pamela Harman (Hoover), Melissa Dameron-Vines (Hoover) and Michelle Hunt, Myra Hand, Melissa Shields, Lisa Richards, and Bryan Upton all of Etowah County. NBCT Valerie Johnson of Mobile (not pictured) was also with the delegation.

Bill Proposes Merger of PEEHIP Controlled by Political AppointeesThe state senator leader who

spearheaded the controversial passage

of the private school voucher bill is now

pushing a bill to merge the boards of the

PEEHIP (Public Educations Employees

Health Insurance Board) and the State

Employees’ Insurance Board (SEHIB).

Political appointees would control the

new board.

Senator Del Marsh successfully pushed

Senate Bill 439 through a senate

committee last Wednesday proposing

to put the health plans of all education

employees, all education retirees, and

all state employees and retirees under

the control of a board with majority of

appointments by the governor, lieutenant

governor, speaker of the House, and

the president pro tem of the Senate, a

position Marsh now holds.

Members of PEEHIP presently elect

10 members who have the controlling

majority of the present PEEHIP Board.

Marsh’s bill would allow political

appointments to eight positions while

reducing the elected members to five

positions.

The PEEHIP board dominated by elected

members has been a success. PEEHIP cost

to the state is significantly lower at slightly

more than $700 per member while

recent state budget requests by the state

employees insurance board ((SEHIB)

called for more than approximately

$900 per state employee member. The

state employees board is controlled by a

majority of political appointments by the

governor along with the state treasurer as

an ex Officio board member.

Approximately 145,000 education

employees and education retirees

participate in PEEHIP and have the right

to vote for their representatives to the

PEEHIP board.

AEA is asking all education employees

and all education retirees to contact their

legislators to vote against SB439 or any

attempt to combine the PEEHIP Board

with the state employees’ insurance

board.

– continued on page 2, “New RIF eliminates experience”

10 members who have the controlling more than $700 per member while board.

Chair of the House Education Ways and Means Education Committee Rep. Jay Love is bragging about the two percent pay raise to teachers via email in some school systems while claiming it’s not circulated at taxpayer expense. Love’s email blames Democrats for revenue shortages (caused by the worldwide recession), then says Republicans will never again have proration.

The good thing according to Love is “the Republican majority refuses to play political games that would put educators in a position to worry.” Love says: “So now and in the future when Republicans vote to give you a pay raise, you can count on it.” He neglects to say that education pay raises have never been prorated. The email was addressed “Teachers.” The

reason Love addresses teachers is because, with the diversion of ETF funds, the $5 million allocated for liability insurance rather than books, and $60 million for private schools, there was nothing left for a raise for postsecondary employees and retirees. Love doesn’t mention his role in appropriating more than $60 million from the ETF to go to students already in private schools regardless of family income.

In fact the leadership has passed a series of bills attacking public education – cutting pay checks, hurting tenure rights, killing DROP, diversion of education money, and banking millions in a rolling reserve to name a few – but Love says that education employees deserve more. The question is how much more can education employees take from this Legislature.

House leader circulates pay raise “praise” email to school systems

2 ALABAMA SCHOOL JOURNAL | ��

Dorothy Strickland, AEA President

Dr. Henry C. Mabry, AEA Executive Secretary

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AEA Board of Directors

President Dorothy J. Strickland

Vice President Anita Gibson

Past President R�� %��

NEA Directors Sherry Tucker,

Dr. Susan C. Brown, Sheila Hocutt-Remington,

Ashley Strickland

Administrator President ��<�� $Y��

Postsecondary President Dr. Susan W. Brown

ESP Representative Cassandra Childress

ACT President Bonita English

AERA President John Paul Jones

SAEA President ��;��

District 1 Directors Stephanie Lindsey, �$��H�%��

Pam Baker

�� Tammy Sims, JoAnn Wilson,

Theresa Leonard

District 3 Directors Amelia Couch, Shannon Clark,

Vivian Crosby

District 4 Directors <�� $<��<��

David Holt

District 5 Directors �� $��

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District 6 Directors Darryl Traylor, Charlotte Wilson,

Bernard Sanderson

District 7 Directors ��H�� >��>��

Dr. Donna D. Strong

ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATIONIO SOCON ASS

Each day, we, the education

family, are under attack for

whatever reason. We are

being criticized for asking

for appropriate funding for

our schools, for being AEA

members, for asking for

compensation for the job that

we do to

ensure that

our future

leaders are

prepared

and that we

can support

our families.

There is

so much

negativity

about

education

that it is unbelievable. I

recently read articles in

the Decatur Daily that were

mystifying. We are not out

to destroy the community,

parents or students as some

would have you believe.

We are in the business of

educating both students and

parents.

There are those who would

like to see AEA disappear.

The liability insurance clause

in the Accountability Bill is

just another way to try to ‘put

us out to pasture” but we are

fighters and will fight for

what we believe is right for

the students of Alabama. We

are TEAM AEA and work for

the good of all the students in

our care. It is time to stop the

bickering and back-stabbing

and look for ways to make

improvements to what we

have. If there is a problem in

a system: fix it. Don’t flag it

as “failing” because you want

to accommodate your own

agenda and those of your

“for profit” friends. Get to

know us. You will be pleasantly

surprised at what you learn.

As in the past, I have used

some of Dr. Earl Reum’s words

of wisdom because they tend

to hit home on a lot of things

and the following is another

example with a few words (in

parenthesis) of my own added.

Do you really know who we

are? Well, this might help.

We are the Caring-Committed, led by the Unaware…seeking to achieve the impossible for the unknowing..unfeeling…

We are equipped with almost nothing and don’t even know it..

We have been enormously successful!! We achieve miracles out of minutiae…

Perhaps we should learn to laugh with ourselves…. And besides – we walk with Greatness..with kids! (with

future leaders of this great

country)

We positively influence the destiny of the Universe!

We are the sponsors of Student Activities…..Student Learning! We are educators.

Life is easier to take than you’d think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable and bear the intolerable…(in spite of the cost

of living, it’s still popular.)

We are the overworked,

underpaid employees who pay

taxes out of our salaries just

like every other Alabamian

in the workforce. Those who

criticize, take the time to

join with us to make public

education as great as it can be.

This week is no different than

others concerning the current

legislative leadership. Now they

are bringing an anti-teacher

Reduction in Force (RIF) bill

that weakens experience and

seniority as a deciding factor

during a RIF. This opens the

door for student test scores to

be the most heavily weighted

factor when there is a reduction

in staff.

This is gratitude for you.

They plan to give PEEHIP to politiciansSuch bill was passed out of

committee just like another bill

to eliminate the PEEHIP board

and replace it with a politically

appointed board. Further, the

accountability act “correction

bill” came to light, and as

anticipated the “corrections”

ignore entirely the private

school voucher elephant in the

room.

Small raise belies losses to educatorsWe hear from the Republican

leadership propaganda

machine that lawmakers are

oh-so pleased to be proposing

the generous, fabulous,

splendiferous, huge, huge,

huge two percent pay raise

for the oh-so well-deserving

teachers and support

personnel. The Republican

leadership team act as if all

is wonderful and this piddly

amount is better than inventing

air conditioning.

The Republican leadership

entirely ignores the fact that

they CUT pay 2.5 percent a year

and by the time the “pay raise”

is to take effect, 7.25 percent

will have been CUT and they

will only be giving back not

even a third of what they have

taken from every teacher and

education support professional.

They are praising themselves

for giving you back LESS

THAN A THIRD of what they

have taken from you. When

they take over PEEHIP look out

for a extra $100 a month out of

every teachers and ESPs pocket

like is being proposed for state

employees.

It’s attack after attackThou that givest can taketh

away, and this crowd has

worked

feverishly

to strip

education

on pay,

benefits,

working conditions, and job

security as they have been

consistently trying to do since

they were crowned in 2010.

The agenda is to cheapen educationThese politicians are

shameless. The thugocracy,

led behind the curtain by

Billy Canary of the Business

Council, is only interested in

exploiting labor and gaining

complete political control at all

costs. Top on their list, these

cheap labor conservatives want

to swap our seasoned teachers

and support workers with brand

new teachers and farmed out

support services.

It should be abundantly

clear to every educator in the

state who is a pro-education

lawmaker and who is not. The

Republican leadership works

hard to hurt educators. Our

educators need to repay the

favor at the appropriate time.

The anti-education agenda continues

Stop the education criticism

On spring break I was called

to jury duty. The process

was interesting. The wait

gave me time to read a book

called, “Why Unions Matter”

by Michael D. Yates. Yates’s

book had a lot of vivid points

for member professional

associations such as AEA.

Everything he stated is exactly

the way organizations are

supposed to function by

helping their members.

I joined the AEA because

of what the association

represented: dignity, justice,

fairness, wages, job security,

and benefits for all employees.

Never has AEA believed one

group is better than the other.

We are all working with one

goal in mind and that goal is

helping our children excel in

their academic achievements.

Yates goes on to remind us

that an important goal of an

association like AEA is to be a

partner in mediation between

those who are working in

schools and management.

Most raises, benefits, and off

days come

from the

association

leaders

representing

our members.

Some

legislators

attack public

schools

because AEA

fights for

members and advocates for

proper funding for our local

schools.

Non-association members,

stakeholders, and retirees are

watching what we do as AEA

members. How active we stay

helps reinforce what our foot

soldiers did before us. It is not

someone else’s responsibility

to speak up for your rights.

It is your responsibility. We

are almost 100,000 members

strong. When a call comes

from an association leader that

time and energy is needed on

key issues, you should be the

first one to take a stand. Your

neighbors! Your neighborhood!

Your schools! Your jobs!

Your benefits! All are being

threatened. What are you going

to do? I am going to stand

with the association and help

members get through these

unfair days of attacks.

As I walked to my car on the

end of the first day of jury

proceedings, a man introduced

himself as a friend of Dr.

Hubbert, AEA’s executive

secretary for more than 40

years. He said he couldn’t

understand why this set of

legislators is attacking AEA. He

stated he would be glad when it

is time to vote for a new group

of representatives because

his wife is a retired educator

and AEA member and the

legislator’s in office now are

hurting our public schools.

For all of us who have

dedicated our lives to teaching

and working in our schools

for the children of our state, it

is time to stand up and stand

together to be active in the

election process in 2014.

Sherry TuckerESP President

Time to stand together and stand up

new teacher rating system that

uses test scores of students to

base their job ratings.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday

in U.S. District Court in

Gainesville, Fla., and names

Tony Bennett, the new

Florida state commissioner of

education, the state board of

education and three county

school boards, as defendants.

It says the new system,

approved in 2011 by the

Florida Legislature and used

for the first time last year,

violates the U.S. Constitution’s

equal protection and due

process clauses. The teachers

want the new system thrown

out.

According to a joint press

release by the NEA and the

Florida Education Association,

“Teachers who are rated

unsatisfactory (the lowest of

the four performance ratings

under the law) two consecutive

years or two out of three

years in a row are subject to

termination or non-renewal.”

In turn, teachers’ transfers,

promotions, and layoffs are

based on the rating. Starting

July 1, 2014, salaries will

be based on the assigned

performance rating.

Senate Bill 736, as it’s called,

makes student math and

reading test scores 40 percent

to 50 percent of a teacher’s

evaluation.

But because the tests are only

given to students in third

through eighth grades in

math and third through 10th

grades in reading, schools must

broadly assign these grades to

most other teachers as well.

The seven teachers named as

plaintiffs in the case say the

rating system is “arbitrary and

irrational.”

“This lawsuit highlights the

absurdity of the evaluation

system that has come about as

a result of SB 736,” said FEA

President Andy Ford. “Teachers

in Florida are being evaluated

using a formula designed to

measure learning gains in the

FCAT math and reading tests.

But most teachers, including

the seven in this lawsuit, don’t

teach those subjects in the

grades the test is administered.”

NEA President Dennis Van

Roekel said the ratings are part

of a larger evaluation system

that doesn’t give teachers

practical feedback.

– continued from page 1, “New RIF eliminates experience”

RIF bill creates new criteria

APRIL 22, 2013 | ALABAMA SCHOOL JOURNAL 3

More special ed teachers neededBig changes in education,

driven by changing curriculum

standards, demographics, and

diagnoses of children with

special needs, are creating

opportunities for graduates with

the right skill sets.

Around the country, many

school districts are adding staff

in response to the burgeoning

number of students diagnosed

with special needs; the Bureau

of Labor Statistics projects hires

will grow 17 percent between

2010 and 2020, according to US News and World Report.The increasing prevalence of

autism (affecting one in 88

children in 2008 versus one

in 150 in 2000, reports the

Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention) and attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder (nine

percent of five to 17-year-olds

in the CDC’s latest survey, up

two points since the late ‘90s)

has contributed to the sudden

surge.

P.E. at school has medical backersNew research suggests that recess isn’t only important for kids in terms of kickball games and note passing, but for developing in a variety of ways. Physical activity is one of the most obvious reasons people lobby for recess, especially given that more than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese in 2008, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the American Academy of Pediatrics says recess can also help students develop cognitive skills, extend their attention spans in class, and enhance social and emotional development.

Citing two decades worth of research on unstructured playtime, the authors of the policy statement said that the AAP “believes that recess is a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development, and, as such, it should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons.”

Common Core under fire across the nationU.S. Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan says business

leaders must step up their

political advocacy to defend the

Common Core State Standards

and other changes to K-12

policy.

He told a U.S. Chamber of

Commerce event on Tuesday

that he did not want to see a

repeat of when the business

community went silent after

the passage of the No Child

Left Behind Act and states

responded by “dummying

down” their standards. “I don’t

understand why the business

community is so passive when

these kinds of things happen,”

he said.

The common core was a

big topic at the meeting.

Before Duncan spoke, Idaho

Superintendent of Public

Instruction Tom Luna said

he was “very concerned”

by the recent decision of

the Republican National

Committee to officially oppose

the common core, and said

governors up for re-election in

2014 might start to get nervous

about supporting it.

The RNC voted to oppose

the common core, which is

under attack in the Alabama

Legislature, at an April 12

meeting in Los Angeles.

Dr. Gregory T. Graves, Associate Executive Secretary

The onslaught of bills

targeting public education,

public educators, and AEA

continued unabated in

Montgomery this week. At

this point, to be brutally

honest with you, if you’re not

outraged you’re not paying

attention or you don’t care.

HB84 “fix” does more damageSB360 is supposed to be

a “fix” for HB84, what we

know as “Vouchercare.” As

it was originally introduced,

it was purely an amendment

to make sure that affluent,

suburban, predominantly

white school systems would

not have to enroll poor

inner-city kids from “failing”

schools. As is par for the

course with the bunch in

charge, a dramatically larger

substitute was circulated the

afternoon before the public

hearing on the bill. They

doubled the amount that

corporations can deduct from

their taxes for donations to

these “scholarship granting

organizations.” They also

raised the income limit on

families to receive these

scholarships by nearly

$10,000. With the change, a

family of four with an income

of over $70,000 can receive

“scholarships” for their kids to

go to private school.

Bill is corporate welfareIf there was ever any doubt

that the true intent of this

law was

corporate

welfare and

welfare

for upper

middle class

and wealthy

families

that live

in large

cities, this

just made it

crystal clear,

especially in light of them

deleting any requirements

that scholarships go to truly

poor students. That bill has

been carried over for a week,

but will be back before the

committee next week.

RIF based on student test scoresSenator Bryan Taylor of

Prattville is continuing his

crusade to make RIFs as

subjective as possible by

making it illegal to consider

seniority and credentials like

National Board Certification

in reduction-in-force (RIF)

situations. His SB227 was

approved by the Senate

Education Policy Committee

on Wednesday.

When you read through all

the legalese you get down to

the point that he wants RIFs

based on student test scores.

If your principal sees a RIF

coming and doesn’t like you,

he can assign all of the lower-

performing children to you

and assign the gifted children

to the cute new hire or the

coach or whomever else he

or she prefers. They will have

good test scores; you won’t;

so you will be shown the door

with no recourse. Advanced

degrees would only be allowed

to be considered if they are

“in-field.”

This law would go into

effect in 2015 after the State

Department of Education

finishes its new state-wide

evaluation model. Those of

us who’ve gone through prior

evaluation models know how

faulty, flawed, and unreliable

these are, and how easily an

unscrupulous administrator

can manipulate them.

No flexibility hereCall your senator at (334)242-

7800 and tell him or her that

all you’ve heard all session

is how school systems need

“flexibility” and now they are

proposing to take flexibility

in a crucial area away from

school systems.

PEEHIP board to be politicalA new bill to take away

your representation on

the PEEHIP board passed

out of committee as well.

Senate President Pro Tem

Del Marsh, who brought you

Vouchercare, is proposing to

take PEEHIP away from the

TRS board elected by you and

put it, and the insurance plan

for state employees, under

a new board that looks a lot

like the PACT board. We all

know how PACT was one of

the best programs of its kind

in the country until political

appointees got involved and

started pushing an agenda.

It went bankrupt shortly

thereafter.

We cannot trust our health,

and our health insurance, to a

bunch of politically-appointed

ideologues. This is nothing

but a back-door pay cut, as

this board would be able to

make you pay more for your

insurance without being

accountable to anyone but the

legislators who appoint them.

PEEHIP is being run just fine

by people who have “skin in

the game,” to use the phrase.

When you call your Senator

about SB227, tell him or her

to vote no on SB439 while

they are at it.

They don’t love educatorsPublic education has been

under attack since the 2010

election. We are now basically

under siege. They know that

the next session comes right

before the election, so they

are trying to push as much

anti-educator legislation in

this session as they can. Then,

they’ll come back and smile at

you and talk about your two

percent raise (which doesn’t

even offset your 2.5 percent

pay cut) and about how

much they love teachers. Our

mantra must reflect what was

printed on t-shirts I saw at our

rallies last week: “Yes, we are

mad and no, we will not get

over it!”

Public education and educators remain under siegeT

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It has been a rough year for

public education in Alabama.

In fact, for the past three

years, the Republicans in the

Alabama Legislature have

been waging a war on public

education.

And because of the education

budget that passed the House

of Representatives last week,

next year isn’t looking much

better.

Particularly, there are two

proposals included in this

budget that are nothing more

than a slap in the face to

educators, state employees,

and the taxpayers. The first

of these is a two percent pay

increase for some educators.

Now a two percent pay

increase may sound like a

good deal, but there are

problems with this proposal.

First, this pay increase was not

given to retirees (who have

not had a cost-of-living pay

increase since 2006) or those

who work in higher education

and post-secondary education.

Secondly, while some are

calling this pay increase a

pay raise, it actually is not a

pay raise. This is a partial pay

reinstatement. Over the past

three years, the Legislature

has cut all educators’ pay –

including retirees and higher

education employees – by 2.5

percent. So all this budget

is really doing is giving

educators back some – but not

all – of what was taken from

educators.

Furthermore, a two percent

pay increase is a slap in the

face to educators because the

cost of living has increased

7.5 percent since their last

pay increase. So we should be

giving educators a 10 percent

pay increase in order to keep

up with the rising costs of

expenses.

This pay reinstatement is

also a slap in the face to state

employees. In the past, every

time the Legislature gave

educators a pay raise, we

also gave an equal pay raise

to state employees. But this

year, state employees will get

nothing. Their pay was also

cut when the Republicans

cut educators’ pay. And state

employees have also seen

their cost of living go up.

Do state employees, those in

higher education, and retirees

not deserve a pay increase

as well? If we can find $50

million for vouchers to send

kids to private school, can we

not find the money to at least

give an equal pay increase for

all educators, retirees, and

state employees?

The second proposal that

is a slap in the face to

educators and taxpayers is an

unnecessary

line-item

expenditure

for liability

insurance for

educators.

This new

expenditure

will cost

the state $5

million a year to provide

insurance that teachers and

support personnel are already

getting through their local

school boards. They also get

liability coverage if they are

members of AEA.

So why is the state spending

$5 million dollars to provide

a third source of liability

coverage?

And what if the employee is in

arbitration with the state over

wrongful termination? Isn’t

that a conflict of interest if the

employees’ representatives are

paid by the state?

A better use of that $5

million would be to buy new

textbooks or to pay for class

field trips and other learning

tools. Spending this money

on liability coverage is a slap

in the face to the taxpayers

who are paying for it and to

the educators who could be

undermined by it if they find

themselves in arbitration

against the state.

The education budget

that passed the House of

Representatives is a slap in the

face to Alabama’s taxpayers,

educators, state employees,

and retirees. While a two

percent pay increase is better

than nothing (and that is why

I voted for it despite its flaws),

it does not even replace the

2.5 percent that Republicans

took from educators and state

employees over the past three

years. Furthermore, this pay

increase is not being given to

retirees or those who work in

higher education. And the

liability insurance program

is an unnecessary diversion

of $5 million tax dollars that

could be put to better use in

the classroom.

Alabama’s educators and

taxpayers deserve better than

what they are getting from

their elected representatives

in Montgomery. I only hope

the state Senate will fix these

problems and do what is right

before it is too late.

(Representative Craig Ford is a Democrat from Gadsden. He has served in the Alabama House of Representatives since 2000. In 2010, Representative Ford was elected House Minority Leader by the House Democratic Caucus. He was re-elected Minority Leader in 2012.)

Education budget a slap in the face

Rep. Craig Ford

state’s standing under the

federal No Child Left Behind

Act. And he questioned what

would happen to the hefty

bonuses Rhee had already

awarded to the principals and

teachers at high-achieving

schools with equally high

erasure rates and what legal

options the system would have

with teachers found guilty of

infractions.

Experts have interpreted

the new memo as additional

evidence that Rhee had been

forewarned of widespread

cheating, and that she had

summarily discarded the

evidence.

The document paints

a picture of confusion,

and possibly negligence,

surrounding the

consequences of increasing

the stakes of student testing.

The D.C. City Council has

been asked to investigate

DCPS and Rhee with its

subpoena powers.

Since leaving the D.C. system

under fire, Rhee founded

StudentsFirst, a Sacramento,

California-based organization

that lobbies state legislatures,

including Alabama’s,

for charter schools and

privatization of public schools.

With the establishment of

a lobby team in Alabama,

Rhee’s group was behind the

forced passage of the private

school voucher bill that will

cost public schools upwards of

more than $350 million a year.

Andrew Solon of Sacramento,

California, was appointed by

Rhee as the Alabama state

director of StudentsFirst. Tim

Melton, also of Sacramento,

and Charlotte Meadows, a

member of the Montgomery

County Board of Education until November 2012, also represent StudentsFirst at the State House.

Meadows, the former District 4 director of the Alabama Association of School Boards, was named on Feb. 8 by StudentsFirst as its new outreach director for Alabama.

And on April 10, Duncan Kirkwood of Montgomery was appointed by Rhee as the group’s new state field

coordinator in Alabama.

– continued from page 1, “Rhee knew of cheating”

Superintendent Rhee knew of cheating in D.C.

4 ALABAMA SCHOOL JOURNAL | APRIL 22, 2013

AEA members who are practicing

administrators, a great professional development opportunity awaits you and it is free! An academy to leverage leadership in school reform has been designed by the Education Policy and Professional Practice Department as a means to support school leaders in their roles as change agents. Realizing that formal education in school administration does not generally include a structured plan for facilitating school reform, the proposed academy will provide participants with coursework, collaborative planning opportunities, mentoring/executive coaching, and action research projects as the foundational tools to build sustainable reform in a school or school system.

Building upon the works of Dr. John P. Kotter, who is an internationally known expert on change management, the leadership academy will include on-site executive visits, collaborative forums/think tanks, and print or electronic resources for professional development. Texts for the EPPP-designed leadership academy will include the following Kotter trilogy: Leading Change, The Heart of Change: Real-life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations, and Our Iceberg is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions. Including the provision of these texts and other sources of professional learning, the academy design represents an

investment of $1,500 per participant but

it is free to AEA members.

Twenty-five administrators representing

the state’s eight Alabama School Board

Districts will form a cohort to include

leaders of priority and non-priority

schools.

Practicing school administrators who desire to move to the next level of

change management impacting school reform are invited to apply for the leadership academy. Please complete the AEA Leadership Academy application below.

Applicants will be assessed on the following criteria:

Alabama public school

Association

change management in his or her

school, including an explanation

for desired outcomes that impact

the urgency of change for the

specific learning environment. (The

submission of the vision statement

should include name, name of school,

school board district number, and an

email address and telephone number

as contact information.)

The deadline for submission is May

3, 2013. Approved applicants will be

notified by May 10, 2013.

The scheduled start date for the

leadership academy is June 1, 2013.

Leadership Academy focuses on change management

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Deadline to submit application is May 3, 2013.

Student members of the

Blackburn Institute, which is

housed within the Division

of Student Affairs at The

University of Alabama and

funded through contributions

from private donors, visited

AEA Headquarters recently

to learn about the association

and its work to protect public

education in Alabama.

The Blackburn Institute,

founded in 1995, is

developing a network of

leaders, the Blackburn Fellows, who have a clear understanding of the challenges that face the state.

The Institute, widely

considered to be one of the

most dynamic leadership

development organizations

in the country, provides

the fellows opportunities to

explore issues and identify

strategic actions that will

improve the quality of life for

Alabama and the nation.

While traditional collegiate

leadership experiences center

on individual competency-

building, the Blackburn

Institute has a three-tiered

focus that seeks to make a

personal and meaningful

impact on student fellows,

alumni fellows, as well as the citizenship of Alabama as a whole. Each year, approximately 25 student fellows are selected after a faculty nomination process and intensive interviews.

The Blackburn Institute is not an honor society, though fellows often have remarkable records of academic and service achievement. Selection to the Institute is focused on identifying

those students who are most

interested and best able

to sacrifice individual gain

for the sake of community

improvement. Not only

do fellows participate

in a range of sponsored

activities, but the Institute

also helps connect them to

opportunities within the

state and beyond where their

personal talents can best be

used to positively impact their

community.

An advisory board made

up of national community

leaders provides support,

direction, and mentorship for the Blackburn Institute and its fellows. To date, there are 366 Blackburn fellows living in 26 states and five foreign countries. The Blackburn

Institute is named in honor

of Dr. John L. Blackburn, a

nationally renowned leader

in higher education who

served as dean of students at

The University of Alabama

and was instrumental in

the University’s peaceful

integration.

UA leadership group learns AEA’s mission

Members of The University of Alabama’s Blackburn Institute met recently with AEA Executive Secretary Dr. Henry Mabry to learn about AEA’s role in protecting public education and its funding. More

than 20 students made the trip including (from left) Jonathan Speer, Genie Smith, Dr. Mabry, Peter Inge, Ally Martin, Caroline Shook, Rashmee Sharif, and Dr. Philip Westbrook director of the Institute.

The U.S. Department of

Education is not giving up on

efforts to hold for-profit colleges

accountable for their students’

employability and to force states

to step up their oversight of

distance education.

The agency announced April

16 that it would conduct new

public hearings on the “gainful

employment” rule, which is

aimed at curbing the abuses of

predatory for-profit colleges.

The department said it would

also revisit the requirement that

colleges seek approval from

each state in which they enroll

students in online programs.

There are eight for-profit

colleges, some with multiple

branches, operating in Alabama.

The new rules pushed by the

Obama administration would

prevent career-training programs

at for-profit colleges – many

with expansive online programs

– from leaving students with

unaffordable debt and limited

employment options.

The rules were first proposed by

the administration in 2009 after

growing evidence showed that as

the for-profit college sector grew

– bolstered by the easy access of

web-based courses – completion

rates remained dismally low

at many schools and students

proved unprepared for jobs.

The for-profit college industry,

which was growing extremely

wealthy off taxpayer dollars,

yet appeared to be providing

exceptionally poor value for

students.

Most for-profit colleges

charge higher tuition than

comparable programs at, for

example, Alabama’s community

colleges and flagship state

public universities, such as

the University of Alabama and

Auburn University.

Big companies, such as the

University of Phoenix, EDMC,

Kaplan, etc., dominate the sector

and receive about 86 percent of

their revenue from taxpayers.

Many for-profit colleges have

been engaged in deceptive

recruiting of veterans, single

parents, immigrants, and others

struggling to train for a decent-

paying career.

These deceptions, and phony

reporting to government

authorities, have masked that

many for-profit colleges offer

high-priced, low quality programs

that leave students with worthless

credits, without good jobs, and

buried in student loan debt.

For-profit colleges have 13

percent of the students in higher

education, but 47 percent of

student loan defaults.

For-profit college enrollment has

taken a hit recently. Government

figures released in October 2012

showed that total enrollment

in higher education dropped

nationally in the fall of 2011 for

the first time in at least 15 years.

The overall decline was just 0.2

percent, but it was driven by a

2.9 percent drop in the for-profit

sector, which offset an increase at

four-year non-profit colleges.

The for-profit with the highest

visibility in Alabama, Virginia

College, has campuses in

Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile,

and Montgomery.

The other for-profits operating

in Alabama are Brown Mackie

College in Birmingham;

Milwaukee-based Herzing

University in Birmingham;

ITT Technical Institute, with

operations in Bessemer, Madison

and Mobile; and South University

in Montgomery.

U.S. Dept. of Ed continues its quest to curb abuses by for-profit colleges

Conference information will be mailed to local presidents and vice presidents in the next few weeks. Watch for information in upcoming editions of the Alabama School Journal and at the AEA website @ www.myAEA.org.

This will be an exciting, informative conference - you don’t want to miss it. Bring all the local members and we’ll

June 12 - 14, 2013Renaissance Riverview Plaza Hotel

Mobile, Alabama


J 12 14 2013

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

See You in Mobile!


Counselor Education (EdS)

Educational Leadership (MA)

Educational Psychology (MA)

Gifted and Talented (Alternative MA, MA, EdS)

Health Studies (MA)

Reading (MA in Secondary Education with P-12 Reading

Specialist Certification)

Secondary Education Science (EdS)

Special Education (Alternative MA & MA Collaborative 6-12) DIST

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FLEXIBILITYEducators’ lives are hectic - we know because we’re educators, too.

That’s why our degree programs are delivered online, evenings, and

weekends. Contact us today to find the

degree of flexibility that you’ve been seeking.

www.BamaByDistance.ua.edu/aea 1-800-467-0227

Read Across Alabama 2013ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION RR

Albert Turner Elementary, Perry CountyStudents enjoyed green eggs and ham and guest readers like Willie “the Cat” Vaughn.

Fonde Elementary School, Mobile CountyFonde pre-k and kindergarten teachers, Kara Howard, Amy Jones, Marin Muncaster, Kathy Tuttle, Carolyn Dickenson, Frankie Daughtry, Suzanne Wilkins, and Elizabeth Partsch enjoyed dress-up day.

Hamilton Middle School, Marion CountyIn order to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ contribution to reading, Brenda Warren read “Cat in the Hat” to Patsy Ray’s fifth grade class.

Maryvale Elementary School, Mobile County Several guest readers helped Maryvale students celebrate (above) including the famous Cat (right) better known as Caroline Newman.

Spring Garden School, Cherokee CountyStudents read lots of books and then got to show off their hard work by entering their floats in a parade. Prizes were awarded in different categories, which were related to a book.

Union Springs Elementary, Bullock CountyKindergarten students dressed in green.

Tallassee Elementary School, Tallassee CitySeveral celebrity guest readers helped celebrate reading including (left) Aubie the Tiger and (below)Montgomery Biscuits’ Big Moe.

This concludes the Journal’s coverage of Read Across Alabama. Just keep reading!

Barbour County Intermediate, Barbour CountyReading Coach Joy Hatcher helped third grade students celebrate a fun day of reading with Dr. Seuss book characters.

The following lists contain the names of

local associations and the reasons their

votes were not included in the election.

If you have any questions concerning

your local’s returns please contact Tina

Collins at 1-800-392-5839.

No Returns ReceivedDistrict 1: AL Southern Active/ESP, Andalusia

City Active, Andalusia City ESP, Bishop

State Active, Bishop State ESP, Clarke

County ESP, Covington County ESP,

Escambia County ESP, Faulkner CC

Active, Faulkner CC ESP, Jeff Davis CC

Active/ESP, L B Wallace CC Active/

ESP, Monroe County Active, Opp

City Active, Opp City ESP, Reid Tech

Active/ESP, Saraland City Active/ESP,

Thomasville City Active, Thomasville

City ESP, Washington County Active,

Washington County ESP

District 2: Alabama State Univ Active, Alabama

State Univ ESP, Barbour County

Active, Bullock County Active, Bullock

County ESP, Crenshaw County Active,

Crenshaw County ESP, Dothan City

Active, Dothan City ESP, DYS Mt

Meigs ESP, Elba City Active, Elba City

ESP, Enterprise Jr. College Active,

Enterprise Jr. College ESP, Enterprise

Ozark Aviation Active/ESP, Eufaula

City Active, Eufaula City ESP, Geneva

City Active, Geneva City ESP, Geneva

County Active, Geneva County ESP,

Henry County Active, Henry County

ESP, Houston County Active, Houston

County ESP, Pike County Active, Pike

County ESP, Sparks Tech Active, Sparks

Tech ESP, Trenholm Active/ ESP, Troy

City ESP, Troy Univ Dothan Active/ESP,

Wallace CC Dothan Active/ESP

District 3: AIDB ESP, Anniston City ESP, Auburn

City ESP, Calhoun County ESP, Central

Al CC ESP, Chambers County ESP,

Chattahoochee Valley ESP, Cleburne

County ESP, ACESEO ESP, Ingram

Tech ESP, Jacksonville State ESP, Lee

County ESP, Macon County ESP,

Opelika City ESP, Oxford City ESP, Phenix City ESP, Piedmont City ESP,

Roanoke City ESP, Southern Union

ESP, Talladega County ESP, Tallapoosa

County ESP

District 4: Albertville City ESP, Arab City ESP,

Bevill Sumiton ESP, Boaz City ESP,

Cherokee County ESP, Ft. Payne

City ESP, Franklin County ESP, G C

Wallace/Hanceville ESP, Gadsden City

ESP, Guntersville City ESP, NW Shoals/

Phil Campbell ESP, Russellville City

ESP, Snead State ESP, Winston County

ESP

District 5: Alabama A&M ESP, Athens City ESP,

Athens State ESP, Decatur City ESP,

Drake Tech ESP, Florence City ESP,

Huntsville City ESP, Jackson County

ESP, Madison City ESP, Madison

County ESP, Muscle Shoals City ESP,

Scottsboro City ESP, Tuscumbia City

ESP, Univ North AL ESP

District 6: DYS Chalkville ESP, DYS Vacca ESP,

Homewood City ESP, Jefferson State

CC ESP, Lawson State ESP, Leeds City

ESP, Midfield City ESP, Mt. Brook City

ESP, Pell City ESP, Tarrant City ESP,

Trussville City ESP

District 7: Bessemer State ESP, Bibb County ESP,

Chilton County ESP, Dallas County ESP,

Demopolis City ESP, Greene County

ESP, Hale County ESP, Lamar County

ESP, Linden City ESP, Marengo County

ESP, Marion Military ESP, Pickens

County ESP, Selma City ESP, Shelton

State ESP, Univ Montevallo ESP

Ballots Received after DeadlineOneonta City ESP

Talladega City ESP

Wilcox County ESP

No Ballot AffidavitBaldwin County ESP

Clarke County Active

Cullman County ESP

Lanett City ESP

Only One Signature on Ballot AffidavitDaleville City A&E

OtherTallassee City Active

Report on 2012-2013 AEA Runoff Election ReturnsAlabama Education Association

Summary of Run-Off Election 2013

Grand Percent Candidates Totals Vote

Stephanie Craig Lindsey 1,248 56.99% Winner AEA District 1 Director

Keisha D. Smith 942 43.01%

Elaine Carter 825 61.38% Winner AEA District 2 Director

Jo Ann Wilson 519 38.62%

Tommie Scott 301 59.84% Winner ESP District 2 Director

Linda Harris 202 40.16%

Kenneth Dukes 2,490 54.15% Winner ESP Member At Large

Cassandra F. Childress 2,108 45.85%

The Education Policy and Professional

Practice (EPPP) Department of the

Alabama Education Association (AEA)

has launched its second semester of

professional studies for educators who

want to earn Professional Learning Units

(PLUs) for the year.

The professional studies presented by the

EPPP Department have been approved

by the Alabama Council for Leadership

Development (ACLD).

PLU requirements are based on the

instructional leader certification held,

not the position or role in which an

individual serves.

Persons who wish to begin a professional

study to earn a PLU in Standards 1, 2, 3,

4, 6, or 8, must attend two conferences

for each standard.* After attending two

conferences for a standard, participants

must complete all online PLU

assignments, engage in interactive online

discussions, and collaborate online in

AEA’s Instructional Leaders’ Forum for

that standard.

PLUs will be awarded when all online

PLU assignments, discussions, and

collaboration are complete.

Persons who wish to earn professional

development clock hours for CEUs may

also participate in these conferences.

Professional development certificates will

be awarded at the conclusion of each

conference.

Persons who are unable to collaborate

with others to complete assignments

in their schools and/or school systems

or who do not work in a school system

may attend the AEA PLU Collaboration

Camps to collaborate with colleagues and

complete assignments.

Participants also have options of

beginning a professional study to earn

a PLU or attending training sessions to

earn professional development clock

hours for CEUs at AEA’s Collaboration

Camps.

AEA members may attend regional

conferences at no cost.

The fee for non-members is $500 for

PLUs and $150 for CEUs.

Please complete the registration

form attached and send it to AEA,

Attn: Kynesha Brown, PO Box 4177,

Montgomery, AL, 36103-4177 or fax to

334-262-8377.

The form is also available on the AEA

website at www.myaea.org

*Standards are subject to change.

Regional PLUs conferences scheduled for May and June

6 ALABAMA SCHOOL JOURNAL | ��

ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 2013 CEU/PLU PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCES

Name : ________________________________________________________ System: __________________________ AEA Membership # _________________

(located on ASJ Label)

Address: _______________________________________________________City: _________________________ ST: __________ ZIP: ________________

Phone: _________________________ Email: ________________________________________________________________________________________ ___ �

CEU REGISTRATION:

Registration Fee (AEA Member) � FREE FOR MEMBERS Registration Fee (Non-AEA Member) ��Enclosed ($150.00)

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING UNIT (PLU) REGISTRATION:

Registration Fee (AEA Member) � FREE FOR MEMBERS Registration Fee (Non-AEA Member) ��Enclosed ($500.00)

PLEASE SELECT A LOCATION AND PLU STANDARD (CEU participants do NOT have to select a standard):

� May 4—Renaissance Riverview Plaza, 64 South Water Street, Mobile, AL 36602 ��

� May 18—Lincoln Professional Development Center, 901 9th Avenue, North., Birmingham, AL 35204 ��!�"��#��$�$��%� ��

� June 8——Marriott Legends, 2500 Legends Circle, Prattville, AL 36066

��

Members request sick leave donations

AEA members vie for Alabama Teacher of the YearFinalists have been selected

from a group of dedicated

elementary and secondary

educators who were chosen

by their school districts as

candidates for Alabama’s

2013-2014 Teacher of the

Year. The field will soon be

narrowed down to the “Final

Four,” with the Teacher of the

Year winner being revealed

at a ceremony hosted by the

Alabama State Department

of Education on Wednesday,

May 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the RSA

Plaza Terrace.

“The educators nominated

for this prestigious award

nurture the character,

intellect, and talent of

Alabama’s students,” said

State Superintendent of

Education Dr. Tommy Bice.

“They exemplify teaching at

its best and we are proud to

have them teaching in our

state.”

According

to Meghan

Everett,

Alabama’s

2012-2013

Elementary

Teacher of

the Year and

Alternate

Teacher

of the

Year, “This

year has

confirmed what I already

suspected; there are far too

many amazing educators

in Alabama to give this

title to just one person. It

is wonderful to see first-

hand so many dedicated

individuals looking out for

my students and for fellow

teachers.” Everett is a fourth

grade teacher at George Hall

Elementary School in Mobile.

Alabama’s Teacher of the

Year spends the majority of

the school year serving as the

spokesperson for education

and the teaching profession

as well as presenting

workshops to various

groups. Additionally,

Alabama’s

representative is a

candidate for the

National Teacher of

the Year.

The following AEA

members are District

Teachers of the

Year and are in the

running for the final

four leading up to

the announcement

of the 2013 Teacher

of the Year.

Elementary

District II – Tracy Pruitt, Third

grade - Montana

Street Academic

Magnet, Dothan City

–“One of my greatest achievements will come in a few years when my daughter goes to college to become an educator. I see the same passion for children in her that I saw in myself. I love my job. She sees that and she wants to be a part of it.”

District VII – Kathy Perkins, Fifth grade,

Verner Elementary School,

Tuscaloosa City – “I am passionate about teaching because I believe education is essential for developing responsible citizens who respect one another, work together, build upon existing knowledge, and look for new ways to solve problems.”

District VIII – Farrah Kilgo, Fourth Grade, Ivalee

Elementary, Etowah County –

“I believe that education should be meaningful to students, engaging, relevant, and fun. Every lesson I plan has elements of active participation and writing to ensure that all my students are engaged. I have extremely high expectations for myself and strive to do better each day than I did the day before.”

Secondary

District II – Barbara Nelson, Special Education, Northview

High, Dothan City – “I have created a classroom that focuses on the four ‘L’s – Living, Loving, Laughing, and Learning!’ I have taught my students to work hard and to attain the goals that many people thought were impossible. I have encouraged them to celebrate their differences and to reach their full potential.”

District III – Jeff Johnson, Physics Grades 11-12, Hoover High, Hoover City – “Two very special teachers made me believe it was well within my power to overcome one of the most insidious factors perpetuating this cycle of poverty my family existed in – the pattern of low expectations that had been placed on me. I was lucky enough to have teachers that saw my gift, even when my parents did not. They taught me to stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibilities.”

District V – Donna Hughes, Eighth grade, Saraland Middle, Saraland City – “It

is not enough that I know my content, but I must also know my students. One way I have done this is through reading my students’ journal entries… I have heard the voices of some who will never say a word in class and have heard the real hearts of others who speak out all the time but never express what is really on their minds.”

District VI – John Griffin, Grades 9-10 Mathematics, Wellborn High School,

Calhoun County – “Every day I walk into school with one thought in mind: How can I help my students succeed today? This is my goal, my monument, and my greatest contribution.”

District VII – Beth Fulmer, Tenth Grade English, Fayette

County High, Fayette County

– “The goal of every lesson is to reach 100 percent of the students in the room. I do not want schooling to interfere with the education of my students. I want each of them to feel respected, rewarded, and exposed to resourceful planning and opportunities.”

Tracy Pruitt - District II Elementary

Kathryn Perkins - District VII Elementary

Farrah Kilgo- District VIII Elementary

Barbara Nelson - District II Secondary

Jeff Johnson - District III Secondary

John Griffin - District VI Secondary

Donna Hughes- District V Secondary

Beth Fulmer - District VII Secondary

Meghan Everett, 2012 Alternate Teacher of the Year

Tuscaloosa County

at Northport Elementary School,

is in need of donated sick leave

days. She had surgery in February

to remove two tumors on her left

foot and was planning to return to

work until she fell and broke her

right foot and left arm. Rebecca is

in rehabilitation therapy and will

be out for the remainder of the

year. She has exhausted her sick

leave and requests donated days

from her fellow AEA members.

To donate days to Rebecca

Swindle, please send the

donation form to Attention

Sharika Rutledge, Tuscaloosa

County Schools, 2314 9th Street,

Tuscaloosa, Al 35401.

Thank you in advance for any days

that you can donate.

William Tunnell, AEA UniServ Director District 16

Birmingham City

at Wilkerson Middle School, is

in need of donated sick leave

days. He has exhausted his

sick leave. He is a member of

the Birmingham Education

Association. If you can donate days

to Lawrence C. Joseph, please send

the form to Attn: Valerie Bishop,

Payroll, Birmingham Board of

Education, 2015 Park Place North,

Birmingham, AL 35203. The

phone number is 205-231-4600.



Brenda Thompson, AEA UniServ Director District 12

a secretary at Central Park

Elementary School, is in need of

sick days. She has suffered a minor

stroke and is in need of donated

sick leave. Send the donation

for to Attn: Valerie Bishop,

Payroll, Birmingham Board of

Education, 2015 Park Place North,

Birmingham, AL 35203. The

phone number is 205-231-4600.



Brenda Thompson, AEA UniServ Director District 12

Winston County

worker at Winston County High

School, had disk replacement

surgery and will be out of work for

the remainder of the school year.

She has exhausted her sick leave

and is in need of donated days.

She is expecting a full recovery

and plans to return to work in

the fall. If you can donate a day

to Stephanie Moomey, please

send the donation form to Sandra

Lester, Winston County Payroll

Clerk, Winston County Board of

Education, P.O. Box 9, Double

Springs, AL 35553.



Gloria Johnson, AEA UniServ Director District 5

The Alabama Humanities will offer

several free institutes for teachers

this summer and the deadline for

applying is May 10.

All multi-day institutes are

residential and include free

lodging and meals.

More information about the

School and University Partners

for Education Renewal (SUPER)

program and application

information can be found at www.

alabamahumanities.org.

AH offers free summer institutes


The Alabama Education Association

will offer its twenty-fourth version

of the Emerging Leaders School

in conjunction with the 2013 AEA

Leadership Conference to be held June

12-14 in Mobile.

The Emerging Leaders School will start

a day earlier -- June 11. Application

forms must be received at the AEA

Headquarters by 4:45 p.m., Friday,

April 26, 2013.

Again this year, the school will be open

to individuals who have been members

of the AEA for no more than ten years

and who have not held a local, state,

or national office (president, vice

president, secretary, treasurer, member

of local executive committees, board of

directors) and who have not attended a

state or local Emerging Leaders School.

The individual must be a newly

elected or appointed Association

Representative or be willing to

commit to serving as an Association

Representative, or in some other

leadership role for the 2013-2014 year.

The purpose of the school is to

introduce potential leaders to the

Association and provide experiences

and training to prepare them for future

leadership roles in the AEA, NEA and

their local affiliates.

The program is also designed to

discover leadership talent and help

potential leaders become involved in

upgrading the organization at the local,

state, and national levels.

The AEA will provide scholarships to

selected potential leaders to assist them

in paying conference expenses.

Each scholarship will provide a

participant with a non-smoking hotel

room at the conference to be shared

with another Emerging Leader (if a

participant prefers a single room, the

participant must remit to AEA one

half the cost of a single room with

their completed contract); round-

trip transportation costs at a rate of

.45 cents per mile (car pooling is

encouraged to lessen the total cost of

this project); and an allowance up to a

total of $70 for meals not provided at

the conference and all materials.

A registration fee of $50 will be

required for those who are accepted

into the school. This fee will be

reimbursed if the participant attends

and completes the three days of

training.

Members who meet the eligibility

requirements will be notified

by mail that they have been

selected for this school and will

be asked to complete contracts

which will clearly describe their

responsibilities during and

after their training, including

their long-term commitment

to involvement in the United

Education Profession.

The selection process will provide

for equitable representation from

the various constituencies within

the AEA.

If all other factors are equal,

participants will be selected on

a first-come, first-serve basis

according to the date applications

are received at the AEA.

AEA will provide up to 30

scholarships for the school. State

leaders, local presidents, and AEA

UniServ Directors are encouraged

to identify potential leaders and to

encourage them to apply for one

of these scholarships.

The application form, included

on this page, must be submitted

by the individual applying for the

scholarship.

Any questions about the

application process may be

directed to Terri Walker at 1-800-

392-5839, [email protected] or fax

-334-263-5913.

2013 EMERGING LEADERS SCHOOL APPLICATION NOTE: This application form should be received by the AEA by 4:45 p.m., Friday, April 26, 2013. PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE: Dr. ( ) Mr. ( ) Mrs. ( ) Ms. ( ) Name: __________________________________________________________ Local Association – do not abbreviate: ________________________________ ( ) Active ( ) ESP ( ) Postsecondary ( ) Administrator UniServ District # ___ Name of UniServ Director:________________________ Your Mailing Address: ______________________________________________ City: ___________________ State: ________ Zip Code:_________________ Home Phone ( )________________ Work Phone ( ) ___________________ Cell Phone ( )________________ E-mail Address _______________________ Name of School/Work Site:___________________________________________ Work Position: ____________________________________________________ Specifically, for my Association this coming school year, I plan to_____________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ I certify that I have been an AEA member for no more than ten years and have not held a local, state, or national office (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, member of local executive committees, board of directors) and have not attended a state or local Emerging Leaders School. If selected for this training, I definitely plan to attend the Emerging Leaders Training Program and will assume a leadership role upon returning to my local association. Signature: ______________________________________________________ Date: ____________________________ Return to: Darryl Sinkfield, Assistant Executive Secretary for Field Services, Alabama

Education Association, P.O. Box 4177. Montgomery, AL 36013-4177 Or by Fax to: 334-263-5913

Emerging Leaders School offers training for aspiring local, state leaders

Application for Building Effective Local Leadership Teams

2013 Leadership Conference

PLEASE PRINT: Association:___________________________________________________

Type Association - check one: Active _____ ESP ____ Merged _____

Team Members – Four to six team members are required for this training:

Name Position in Local Association

1._____________________________ _________________________

2. _____________________________ _________________________

3. _____________________________ _________________________

4. _____________________________ _________________________

5*. ____________________________ _________________________

6*. _____________________________ _________________________

*Optional

President’s or Team Contact’s Name:_______________________________

Mailing Address: ______________________________________________

City: __________________________State: _______Zip: ______________

Telephone Number (include area code): Home:_______________________

Work: __________________________ Other:_______________________

Email – if applicable: ___________________________________________

President’s Signature: __________________________________________

Training for Building Effective

Local Leadership Teams

(BELL Teams) will be held in

conjunction with the annual AEA

Leadership Conference.

Would you like your local

association to be more effective

in recruiting and engaging

members? Would you like your

local to be able to really make

a difference in solving the

problems that face your members

each day?

Well, AEA feels the same way!

The BELL Team program will

utilize a new approach to building

a strong leadership team for

each local that participates. This

special training will be highly

interactive and will involve team

members gaining new knowledge

and working for three days to put

together a strategic plan that will

build a more effective local to

meet the needs of its members.

To be accepted to this special

training during the AEA

Leadership Conference (June

12 - 14, 2013) in Mobile, a local

must be willing to send a team

of four to six local association

leaders (example: president, vice

president, secretary, treasurer,

executive board members,

association reps). From the teams

that apply, AEA will select up to

five teams to participate in this

special training.

If your local is selected and

participates, AEA will pay room

and tax for up to two rooms for

two nights. AEA will waive the

usual Leadership Conference

registration fee for each member

of the team who is selected and

participates.

If you are interested in having

your local participate, please

complete and return the

application on this page to:

Darryl R. Sinkfield, Assistant

Executive Secretary for Field

Services, Alabama Education

Association, P. O. Box 4177,

Montgomery, AL 36103

All applications must be received

by 4:45 p.m., April 26, 2013 to be

considered.

Training to build strong local associations featured at AEA Leadership Conference

2012 Autauga County Education Association BELL Team

Members of the 2012 Emerging Leaders Class

Patricia JacksonBirmingham EA

Darlene McManusShelby County ESP

Joseph MorrisMarshall County ESP

Sandra PearsonMadison County EA

Antoinette RobinsonPhenix City EA


Heard a peep from your Investment Advisor lately?

Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Visit tiaa-cref.org for a current prospectus that contains this and other information. Read it carefully before investing. Investment, insurance, and annuity products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, may lose value, are not bank deposits, are not insured by any federal government agency and are not a condition to any banking service or activity. Retirement Advisory Alliance is a program offered through TIAA-CREF where TIAA-CREF provides recordkeeping services and a local independent Registered

Investment Advisor firm selected by the plan sponsor provides general communication and education services and investment advisory services to retirement plan

participants. The Registered Investment Advisor firm and their affiliated advisors are not employees or agents of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA),

College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF) or any of their respective affiliates or subsidiaries. TIAA-CREF acts as record keeper for institutional plans and is not a fiduciary

to any plan or its respective participants. TIAA-CREF is not making a recommendation or acting as a fiduciary when plan sponsors or participants select an Advisor, nor

is it responsible for the investment advice or other services offered by or provided by participating firms or their advisors.”

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products. C5427 © 2012

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Whether you just started investing or you’re only a few years from retirement, your Investment Advisor should be hard at work helping you make important moves to better protect your nest egg.

If you’re not hearing about things like budgeting your retirement spending or how to start a college fund, you may not be aware of all the ways you can increase your financial wellness.

Collateral Financial Advisors invite you to find out more about our higher standard of service. Every day, our investment plans and services are helping AEA members prepare for retirement.

Transfer in, get 3% of the transfer amountTo help boost the potential of all your retirement assets, we teamed up with TIAA-CREF who is providing the 3% for AEA members who move their assets to the new TIAA-CREF supplemental retirement program. This account credit is designed to offset any costs other firms may charge you just for bringing your account to us.

Here’s how it works: bring any or all existing retirement money to TIAA-CREF and receive a 3% account credit of that total asset amount. It’s that simple. Of course, before you move any assets, think about differences in features, costs, charges, services, tax issues, and other important considerations.

Get started todayThis special program is only available for a limited time and is set expire on 10/31/13. Act now to get the facts and see how you could benefit from an additional 3% in your retirement account. Contact an advisor at 1.877.402.6425 for a free consultation.


1 To take advantage of the TIAA-CREF transfer-in credit, your school district must be participating in the program.

Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Visit tiaa-cref.org for a current

prospectus that contains this and other information. Read it carefully before investing. Investment, insurance, and annuity

products are not FDIC insured, are not bank guaranteed, may lose value, are not bank deposits, are not insured by any federal

government agency and are not a condition to any banking service or activity.TIAA-CREF products may be subject to market and other risk factors. See the applicable product literature, or visit www.tiaa-cref.org for details.

The TIAA-CREF Retirement Advisory Alliance is a co-branding arrangement between TIAA-CREF and an RIA Firm that provides general plan education and communication services and/or participant investment advisory services to the plan and its employees. The TIAA-CREF Retirement Advisory Alliance is part of the TIAA-CREF Advisor Network (Network). The Network is a service that provides plan sponsors and retirement plan participants with information to assist them in selecting independent investment advisers (Advisors) to provide communication, education and participant level advisory services. Participating Advisors are not employees or agents of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA), College Retirement Equities Fund (CREF) or any of their respective affiliates or subsidiaries. TIAA-CREF acts as recordkeeper for institutional plans and is not a fiduciary to any plan or its respective participants. TIAA-CREF is not making a recommendation or acting as a fiduciary when plan sponsors or participants select an Advisor from the Network, nor is it responsible for the investment advice or other services offered or provided by participating Advisors.

TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services, Inc., members FINRA, distribute securities products. C6367 © 2012 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

TIAA-CREF is helping you focus on the most important economic development this year.Yours.See how you can use the AEA retirement plan to prepare for your financial future.¹

TIAA-CREF is pleased to provide retirement investment choices for Alabama Education Association members. We’ve partnered

with the AEA to provide a plan that gives you choice, flexibility and potential in creating a customized retirement portfolio. In fact,

for nearly a century, people across Alabama have relied on us to help them prepare for the kind of financial future they want

and deserve.

Take an hour to focus on your economic developmentTIAA-CREF has teamed up with Collateral Financial Advisors to provide you with financial consultation on your choices under

the AEA retirement plan. Your personal advisor will ask about your goals, your investment strategy, and offer some ideas on how to

bring both closer together. It’s guidance that’s private, personal—and best of all, there’s no additional cost or obligation whatsoever.

Any way you look at it, it’s worth 60 minutes to see how the AEA retirement plan can help you prepare for the most important

economic development this year—yours.


What should your portfolio look like? To find out, call Collateral Financial Advisors at 877 402-6425, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

TIAA-CREF Retirement Advisory Alliance

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