Maine Educator June 2016

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June 2016 Vol. 76 • Number 6

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IT’S YOUR ASSOCIATION. READ ALL ABOUT IT. contents 5 6 19 30 31

Editor’s Note President’s Message Fast Facts Events & Deadlines Just for Fun

Super Lice

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Supporting Special Needs While special education teachers have training to deal with special needs students the regular classroom teacher, other educators and school staff may have no training at all. This article shares specific advice on how everyone can help students with special needs, based on best practices and indepth research.

A strain of so-called ‘super lice’ hit Maine and more than two dozen other states, causing concern for parents and even some educators—which begs the question, should schools have a “no lice” policy? Members weigh in on both sides of the issue. See page 11.

District-by-District Salary Guide

We’ve all asked the question—I wonder what they make?

You don’t need to wonder anymore. Use the MEA’s districtby-district salary guide to answer your questions. You’ll find the most up-to-date information based on the most recently negotiated contracts. See page 20.

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Medical Marijuana in Schools State law now allows medical marijuana to be administered to patients during school hours.

Find out what you need to know about the law and what it means for students and educators in Maine schools.

18 Behind the Scenes

The MEA is actively working on a media campaign to promote the great work of our members in schools. Take a closer look behind the scenes at the work being done to promote MEA’s Inspiring Educators.

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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*Minimum loan amount $10,000 to qualify for this offer. Offer does not apply to loans currently financed with Connected Credit Union. Membership eligibility required.

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Educator

Volume 76 Number 6 - Copyright 2016 Editorial Staff Managing Editor - Robert Walker, Executive Director Editor - Giovanna Bechard, Communications Director Layout/Ad Manager - Allison Coombs, Communications Assistant

MEA Leadership President - Lois Kilby-Chesley Vice President - Grace Leavitt Treasurer - Denise Simoneau NEA Director - Michael Thurston 4

Maine Educator • June 2016

Medical Marijuana in Maine Schools Educating Students with Special Needs The “Hot” List - Special Education Perspectives: Lice Policies What I Love About Maine Art Contest Lessons Learned on the Hardwood Tech Talk: Online Lesson Plans

16

Advocacy

16 New Assessment, Same Problems 18 Reach. Teach. Inspire. Campaign 19 Fast Facts: Teacher Salaries

Your Association 20 24 28 29

MAINE

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News You Can Use

Board of Directors Phyllis Hunter Steven Knowles Jesse Hargrove Cyndy Fish Ken Williams Jill Watson Robin Colby Jim Thornton Samantha Garnett Sias Terry Martin Bob McCully Amanda Cooper Jill Kehoe Deborah Butler John Messier Neil Greenberg Crystal Ward Bob Calderwood

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District-by-District Salary Guide MEA Representative Assembly 2016 Spring Conference I Am MEA

Maine Educator (ISSN #1069-1235) is published by: Maine Education Association 35 Community Drive, Augusta, ME 04330-8005 207-622-4418; fax 207-623-2129 POSTMASTER: send address changes to: Maine Educator 35 Community Drive, Augusta, Maine 04330-8005 Non-Profit US Postage paid at Augusta, Maine and additional mailing offices.

For advertising rates and information please contact: Allison Coombs, 35 Community Dr., Augusta, ME 04330, acoombs@maineea.org 207-622-4418 ext. 2206

Send letters to the editor, questions, and comments to gbechard@maineea.org

Editor’s Note The More You Know I can’t stop thinking about summer. I know—I’m not breaking any news here I’m sure plenty of you are in the same frame of mind. The thoughts of the warm sun on my face and bare feet on the grass in my backyard with my kids playing on the swing set just puts me in that “happy place.” I’ve found myself this spring (if you could call it that) turning into a family travel agent, planning for what we’ll do each weekend and making sure we maximize our summer.

I believe attitude is more than half the battle, and research and planning are the second half.

It’s a philosophy that can be applied to just about anything in life, whether it’s mapping out the weekend at the beach or negotiating a new salary scale. As that 80’s commercial always used to say—”the more you know.” So, with that in mind, the MEA felt it would be helpful to again share with its members a district-by-district salary scale so you can better negotiate any contracts in the future. The work you do should be valued, and understanding what districts in your surrounding communities pay educators is the kind of knowledge that gives you power—to use yet one more cliché. You can find our district-by-district salary guide on page 20.

As you head into the summer months, save this magazine. We added some great content to help you in the next school year, I know you may not be able to think that far ahead, but that’s why you have the MEA. Inside, you’ll find some new online lesson planning guides (page 15) some techniques to help students with special needs (page 8) and a breakdown of the new law that allows for medical marijuana use in school (page 7). Hopefully this information will help you as you finish out the year and going forward as well.

With this final Maine Educator of the school year, as your editor and more importantly as a parent, I want to take a minute to thank you. Thank you for reading, and thank you for the work you do. Before having children and working at the MEA I really had no idea how much went into educating a single child. Sure, I respected teachers, my sister is a high school teacher, but I didn’t have a sense as to what you really deal with day to day. But now, I’ve seen my son’s teacher tie his shoes, put on his snow pants, help him wipe his nose, and that’s just the beginning. The amount of effort given daily continues to amaze me, and I’m proud to work somewhere that is helping to share that message with the general public. Read about MEA’s new media campaign on page 18.

As a parent, I’ve turned into a true advocate for our public schools, less because of where I work but more because I’m a parent now who’s seen this work in action. So, this summer, think about the parents and guardians who are on your side and remember that the relationships you have with them are crucial, because if the “you know what” hits the fan…they’ll be the first ones to step up to support you and your work. You’re appreciated more than you may realize. So with that, enjoy your summer and make sure to plan a few things that will put you in that “happy place”—you’ve all earned it.

Giovanna Bechard Editor

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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President’s Message

Lois Kilby-Chesley MEA President

Do you have a question for Lois? Send it in an e-mail to lkilby-chesley@ maineea.org

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Maine Educator • December June 2016 2015

LOIS KILBY-CHESLEY PRESIDENT

THE VALUE OF HIGHER EDUCATION I am a proud product of public schools and universities in Maine. I graduated from Freeport High School (1972), University of Maine (1976, BS Child Development) and USM (1996, MS Educational Leadership). At the time there were clear delineations between high school expectations and college. I knew as I progressed through classes that I would have higher expectations, and I knew that once accepted at college I would need to “buckle down” to be fully prepared for my career. I enjoyed my freshman year at UMF immensely and, once having transferred to UM, was able to concentrate on the progression of coursework in my major.

Fast forward 40 years and let’s look at the landscape. My friend’s daughter, Emily, is also considering becoming a teacher. She is a pretty talented student so she can take AP courses at her school to get credit. She can participate in classes in high school that she can count toward credits for college through dual enrollment. In fact Emily has the possibility of taking enough courses to fulfill her first year of college credits.

So many times we talk about “developmentally appropriate” programming for younger students, but it isn’t often we include high schoolers. Are the students who are enrolling in dual courses developmentally ready to delve deeply enough into a subject at 14, 15, or 16 to absorb and integrate the lessons being taught?

What is the value of taking courses in high school instead of at the University as a freshman?

One reason I hear is cost. It can save the family a year’s tuition.

But in talking to some of our higher education members, I recently learned that the coursework taught in high school for college credits isn’t necessarily the same level taught on college campuses. So Emily may enter the UMaine System with physics credits but not be ready for the second tier of physics classes. Where does that leave her? Maybe she will take the basic class, or maybe she will make it through the tougher class with a less than stellar grade. Would she have benefitted from the sequence of high school physics class followed by college courses? One has to wonder.

For me, taking the 101 classes was the appropriate transition. At 17 I needed to adjust to college and take on responsibility for learning in an environment with many distractions. When Emily starts her coursework in higher level classes I worry that she will run into difficulty and struggle, not from a lack of ability but from a background that in some ways bypassed the progression.

At the same time we are offering dual enrollment college courses down into high school, the effects are felt on college campuses.

Ultimately fewer college professors may be needed because high school teachers will be hired to take on the dual enrollment classes.

Added to that we know that on-line courses also impact colleges and universities, so the final impact may be a reduction of academia on college campuses. Seems ironic.

Four years of high school and four years at UMaine (supplemented with summer courses at USM) together with the natural maturation during those eight years, set me up for a successful career. I wasn’t ready for a load of college courses in high school but by 18 I had matured enough to focus on the courses at UM I value higher education and the classes I took back in the ‘70s. My wish is that all students be given the same opportunities to experience learning for learning’s sake and to move through academic halls in the most valuable way, which may indeed, mean slowing down the process of acquiring course credits for the purpose of acquiring knowledge and a love for life-long learning. As someone who studied Human Development, I certainly hope we don’t lose sight of allowing students appropriate time to master skills in contrast to saving tuition money and gaining college credits prior to college. I hope we continue to help our students learn how to learn and find enjoyment in seeking out answers.

As we move to the end of another academic year I wish all of you the best and hope you have a summer full of learning. My best to you.

In Unity,

An estimated 1,700 registered patients in the state have prescriptions for marijuana—some of those are children in Maine schools. Smokeless medical marijuana is now legal for Maine students to use during school hours, with some conditions. (see box) For educators, the law brings a need to understand the rules surrounding the use of smokeless marijuana, and its impact on students. Medical marijuana is used for certain qualifying conditions including, cancer, epilepsy, Crohn’s disease, and severe pain associated with certain illnesses such as multiple sclerosis.

Becky DeKeuster with the Wellness Connection, the largest statelicensed medical cannabis dispensary in New England, says the misconception around the use of prescribed medical marijuana in children comes from a lack of education on the issue.

“I think there might be a lack of understanding on how the medicine will affect a pediatric patient. I think it will be helpful for educators, and others to understand that kids are using this in order to function better.

This is not something that is going to dull them or put them to sleep.

With the right dosing educators should see improvements in these kids,” said DeKeuster.

Individual school districts have also created policies regarding medical marijuana on campus to further clarify the rules, which the law outlines very clearly.

According to the law, medical marijuana in schools follows what’s been called a “carry in-carry out” policy where only the parent or primary guardian, not a school nurse, can administer the drug. Some school district policies go so far as to outline specifically where the parent or guardian must administer the medicine, for example, the principal’s office.

u News Yo

Medical Marijuana in Maine Schools

Can U se

“The way the law is written should quell some concerns. The cannabis doesn’t stay on school property, so that takes away the idea that someone is getting their hands on something that isn’t right for them. For pediatric patients who are seriously ill and use medical marijuana, they have debilitating epilepsy other problems that are very impairing, and when you see seizures lessen, students becoming more alert or tremors from MS stop, that is a very powerful moment.”

“The purpose of a child using medical marijuana is to help a child function better—this is something that should make that child a better playmate an active participant in class and better function in general.”

- Becky DeKeuster, Wellness Connection Several school districts, including AOS 92 have included detailed language to a district-wide policy on an issue that, at times, has been controversial. “The board recognizes that there may be some students in the Winslow public schools who rely on the use of medical marijuana to manage a medical condition and who may be unable to effectively function at school without it,” the policy reads.

While the use of medical marijuana is now legal in Maine schools, marijuana remains illegal under federal law. Still, 23 states have laws permitting medical use of the drug.

Rules Around School Use •

Minor must have written certification for marijuana from a medical provider

•

Certification must specify that the drug has to be administered during the school day, rather than before or after school

•

Only non-smokable forms of marijuana are permitted

•

Marijuana must not be stored on school property

•

Parent or guardian must administer the marijuana, school personnel are never allowed to store or administer it

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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News You Can Use

Supporting

Special Needs S

ocioeconomic status, race, culture, ethnicity—none of it makes a difference when it comes to diagnosing a child with special needs.

Learning disabilities can affect any child or adult and those disabilities impact how educators work with students to best meet their special needs. According to the US Department of Education’s most recent data, 13% of all public school students in the United States receive special education services with Autism Spectrum Disorder representing the fastest growing diagnosis within the disability category of Pervasive Developmental Disorders. With the increase in student diagnoses, we asked special education teacher Kelly Kelley, who has worked with students with varying abilities through her career, to share her thoughts on how general education teachers and other educators can best help educate students with learning disabilities, including Autism.

Brain Research I’m a huge fan of brain research—understanding how the brain works, and how it can also cause problems with literacy and learning. If you can identify how they’re learning, and what specific issues they’re having, then you can kind of “program” what they need to focus on next and how to teach it. The brain is neoplastic—it grows and changes.

Identifying specific areas of struggle and targeting interventions for those deficits will help to correct misconceptions and to fill in gaps, changing how the brain codes information—it works with most disabilities including Dyslexia and Autism. Effective programming can rewrite brain patterns to lessen deficits and improve lifelong learning.

Build Relationships Relationships are important in all levels of education, but especially important with students with special needs. It’s important to look for patterns in their behavior in order to find any possible triggers and to identify what motivates or impedes student learning. Many times students will have something really specific they’re interested in, and the more you can base lessons around these interests, the more you’ll have their attention. It’s important to respect their comfort zones and talk to them at their level, about things they’re interested in. It shows you care and are truly interested in what they have to offer.

Inclusion Strategies for students with Autism in the general education classroom

Each Learning Disability is Different Discovering how a student learns, understands and sees the world is the key to determining the best way to teach, no matter the disability.

It is about starting from what they know and building from there. A student with Autism sees the world from his or her own perspective or point of view, a student with Dyslexia struggles with decoding, fluency, comprehension and memory, Dyscalculia struggles more with numbers, calculations and math concepts. Students with Anxiety or an Emotional Disturbance struggle with any or all of these as well as social and emotional interaction. Understanding the student and how he or she thinks and learns is the key to finding the appropriate intervention. Teaching to student strengths and strengthening areas of deficit will provide the tools the student needs to translate information into a form that makes sense to them and that they can apply to their learning. Once they “get it” the neural connections change and adapt to the new learning, and continues to change as the student continues to learn. This is why the “one size fits all” philosophy does not work.

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Maine Educator • June 2016

• • • • • •

Use consistent classroom routines as much as possible.

Stay alert for high anxiety levels and signs of sensory integration and/or emotional regulation.

Difficulties and other signs of stress.

Structure the physical space in the room.

Understand the need for transition time and plan for it.

Designate a peer buddy.

Source: The Puzzle of Autism, National Education Association

FOR FURTHER TECHNIQUES AND INFORMATION:

https://www.nea.org/assets/img/pubToday/0802/autismpuzzle.pdf

News You Can Use

The H t List

Discover these educator recommended tools and be inspired to reimagine your day Special Education educators encounter a different set of needs in the classroom, and therefore require a different set of tools to best serve students. Here are some of the things educators say are working for them and for their students.

Reader Strips E.Z.C. Reader Strips feature a tinted transparent "window" that helps pop print into view. These strips also help block distractions surrounding targeted words, so eyes are easily guided to the desired print.

Online reviewers love the product saying, “Some of my students struggle with reading and staying in line. This is a great tool to use to assist then in reading.”

Reading Cubes Boost reading and listening comprehension with these 6 foam cubes that target after-reading skills while encouraging creativity. With a unique storyretelling suggestion on each side, cubes feature 36 different activities.

Recordable Answer Buttons You just tap, record and listen with these buttons. You can record sounds up to seven seconds per buzzer. Special education teachers have used them to help with students who are non-verbal and parents also rave about the use of the buttons in helping children interact. One online reviewer wrote, “My daughter has a disability that doctors thought she would never be able to interact with others. She really loves working with these buttons. I was able to record my voice, and when I'm working she can hear my voice when she presses the buttons.”

Ankle Dangle

Pencil Fidgets

Ideal for children who crave vestibular motion from bouncing and jumping, the Ankle Dangle loop attaches to the ankle and kids swing the plastic ball in a circular motion jumping over the ball as it moves around on the tether.

These pencils are great for students who love to fidget. Students can slide, spin, pull or bump the pencil fidgets.

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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FINAL EXAM Question 1 reaks for the b x ta to s k n a Th Maine is in n o ti a c u d e wealthy, schools o d w o H . d e d underfun ifference? d e th p u e k a m

hers ❏ Fewer teac uts ❏ Program c textbooks d te a td u O ❏ bove ❏ All of the a



TAX FAIRNESS IN MAINE. IT’S THE BEST ANSWER TO THE EDUCATION FUNDING SHORTFALL. It’s time for the people of Maine to invest in the state’s most valuable resources: its children and its communities. Stand Up for Students is a ballot initiative to adequately fund Maine’s public schools. We believe all students, no matter their ZIP code, deserve the time and tools needed to learn. To find out more about how tax fairness can help Maine’s schools, go to standupforstudentsmaine.org Paid for by Citizens Who Support Maine’s Public Schools, 35 Community Drive, Augusta, Maine 04330

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Maine Educator • June 2016

PE

S

C RSPE TIVE

Should schools have a “No Lice” policy?

YES

NO

After talking to past and present school nurses and finding out what procedures were now and then, it is my opinion we should have a “No Lice” policy in our schools.

As an Ed Tech, we only know if lice are in a classroom by way of the “grapevine.” Many of us work in various classrooms throughout the day and we need to know where they are, so we can be careful not to get too close.

If the school nurse gets a call from a parent or a teacher telling her they have seen lice on a student, the parent is informed what procedures need to be done before the child comes back to school.

I feel when the child comes back, the nurse should re-check the student and when no lice or nits are found, they will be allowed to stay. If there are still some, they need to be sent home again.

A letter from the principal should be sent out to the parents of children in the same classroom or to all the parents in general. This just lets them know the lice season is upon us and they need to check their child and report to the school nurse if any lice are found. There is no pointing of fingers at anyone as lice can appear in any family—rich, poor, clean, or dirty.

When people are not informed of this we have an epidemic of lice.

Years ago, the school nurse did lice checks on every student a couple of times during the year.

When lice were found, the nurse checked all the siblings and their classrooms and parents were informed. The rest of the parents received a letter from the principal asking them to check their children.

I know the state mandates what we can do to a certain extent. Parents and staff need to be informed.

So, if one has lice, you shouldn’t be in school until you are lice/nit free. It would be great to have a “no lice” year.

When it comes to school policies regarding student’s with head lice, all too often the response is fueled by fear and a misunderstanding of what is means to have head lice. Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of School Nurses have released guidelines in recent years focused on appropriate, evidence-based responses by schools when a student is found to have head lice, and both organizations encourage schools to not restrict access to the classroom and other school events for students with head lice. While head lice are a troublesome problem, they are more of a nuisance than anything else. Lice are not contagious as previously thought. Since lice do not hop or jump from person-to-person, the only mode of transmission is through direct contact. In fact, the spread of lice is more likely to occur at a sleepover than in the school setting. Further, lice do not cause disease nor do they serve as an indicator of poor hygiene.

Enforcing a policy that requires students to miss valuable instructional time due to a case of head lice is unnecessary and furthers the stigma surrounding those with head lice. Instead, head lice management policies in schools should focus on providing parents and guardians the resources they need to help treat their child at home to rid them of lice with as little disruption to learning as possible. As educators, it is our job to be knowledgeable on the issues that impact our students—understanding the benign nature of head lice is one of them.

“Super lice” hit Maine schools this year. Should schools adopt a “No Lice” policy for when an outbreak hits?

Sarah Hirschfeld Yarmouth EA

Deno Aegerter Washburn TA

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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News You Can Use

What I Love About Maine The MEA is pleased to showcase student artwork during its first ever Maine Educator Art Cover Contest. The contest gave students, in all grade levels, the opportunity to create a piece of work that focused on the theme—“What I Love About Maine.” Art educators submitted more than two hundred entries on behalf of their students in the following categories: K-4, 5-8, 9-12 and Digital. Members of the Maine Art Education Association judged the work, selected the finalists you see on the following pages, and the overall winner placed on the cover. The MEA is excited to promote both student work and the Arts through this contest and thanks all of those who participated.

Cover Artwork Winner Artist: Jack Grade: 1 School: Fruit Street School, Bangor Teacher: Wendy Libby (Bangor EA)

K-4 Finalists

Artist: Kendra Bor Grade: 3 School: Mt. Vernon Elementary Teacher: Betsy McPhedran (Maranacook Area Schools Association)

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Maine Educator • June 2016

Artist: Alex Grade: 3 School: Fruit Street School, Bangor Teacher: Wendy Libby (Bangor EA)

News You Can Use

5-8 Finalists

Artist: Olivia Ronco Grade: 7 School: Glenburn School Teacher: Lindsay Hartwell (Glenburn EA)

9-12 Finalist

Artist: Denali Dieumegard Grade: 7 School: Windham Middle School Teacher: Heather Libby (Sebago East Shore EA)

Artist: Brooke Laplant Grade: 6 School: Glenburn School Teacher: Lindsay Hartwell (Glenburn EA)

Digital Finalists

Artist: Coty Lee Grade: 12 School: Tri-County Technical Center Teacher: Karen Walsh (SAD 46 EA)

Artist: Theresa Robinson Grade: 12 School: Tri-County Technical Center Teacher: Karen Walsh (SAD 46 EA)

Artist: Wesley Burton Grade: 11 School: Lewiston High School Teacher: Sarah Stocker (Lewiston EA)

Artist: Ethan Wiers Grade: 11 School: Tri-County Technical Center Teacher: Karen Walsh (SAD 46 EA)

To see full size versions of the artwork featured here, go here.

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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News You Can Use

Lessons on the Hardwood Students across Maine made history this year when they hit the hardwood, playing in Maine’s first ever Unified Basketball league. Unified Basketball partners students with developmental disabilities with students without developmental disabilities to train, compete, and represent their school.

The league officially began in January 2015 and grew by 400%, to 32 teams statewide, providing new opportunities for students, like 18-year-old senior Cory Hutchins.

“It’s fun—I get to meet a lot of new people. I love being around people that I know and can help me.”

While the new league had its obvious benefits to students with developmental disabilities, Sacopee Valley Unified Coach Jaci Ritter quickly learned that all the students received so much more.

“It’s really cool to watch. It’s not only basketball they’re learning, it’s how they interact and support each other.

They’re learning how to work with people who have different interests and different skill levels. The kids compliment each other and they get excited and high five each other. I didn’t teach them that—they just do it,” said Ritter, Tri-County TA (SAD been able to meet 55).

“I've more people—it feels really great!” - Hannah Jordan, Senior, 17

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Maine Educator • June 2016

“It has been really cool to celebrate each other’s success.”

The Unified League is helping to promote physical activity, teamwork, sportsmanship, and social inclusion. During games a score is kept and student partners work hard to pass the ball to their peers with developmental disabilities to encourage them to shoot and score. Part of the focus of the league is the spirit of competition to help teach lessons of both competition, rule following and commitment to the game. The sport has also taught student partner Issie Eldridge a lesson she may not have otherwise learned.

“It’s helped me understand how everybody is different in their own way but we can all come together, and make a nice family and have some fun.”

Sacopee Valley Unified Basketball team pictured with Fryeburg Academy’s team.

Online Resources: Lesson Planning

Tech T@lk

While the year is not quite over, summer is upon us. Without rushing things, the MEA hopes these tech tips will help you as you plan your work this summer, and into the following school year. Why re-invent the wheel—take advantage of the online resources available to you as an MEA member so you can make the most of your time this summer and enjoy your time working smarter, not harder.

Common Core Aligned Lesson Plans www.betterlesson.com BetterLesson offers free lesson plans for math, ELA and Science. Lesson plans are offered in all grade levels and a variety of topics, everything from kindergarten patterns and shapes to trigonometric functions. The lesson plans are created by master teachers from across the country and available to all MEA members.

VIDEO: National Board Certified Teachers in Action www.nbpts.org/ATLAS Take an interactive look inside the classrooms of some of the country’s National Board Certified Teachers with a new resource called ATLAS-Accomplished Teaching, Learning and Schools. ATLAS is a unique, searchable online library of authentic videos showing NBCTs at work in the classroom. Each video is accompanied by the teacher’s written reflection about the instruction or the activity shown. Aligned to professional teaching standards and indexed by teachers, ATLAS serves as a window into what accomplished teaching looks like.

Take Advantage of PBS Online www.pbslearningmedia.org The MEA is proud to sponsor a great resource for educators and students called PBS LearningMedia. You can browse subjects, grades and Common Core Aligned lessons and pick and choose what will work for your classroom, or you can simply choose a video or project to supplement your work. New to LearningMedia—a tool called Storyboard helps illustrate complex concepts by designing interactive web pages using resources, graphics and images from PBS LearningMedia. Students can also create Storyboards to demonstrate their understanding of lessons. This is a free resource worth checking out— there are too many tools on the website to list!

Online Member Advice www.nea.org/tools/Works4Me.html As a member of the MEA, you’re part of a network of 3 million other members nationwide—why not use that to help you? The National Education Association offers tips for teachers on such topics as content, teaching techniques, classroom management, technology, organization, and relationships.

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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cac y

o Adv

MEA Survey Finds New State Assessment Plagued with Same Old Problems

As the State rolled out the new mandated standardized test, administered through Measured Progress, the MEA surveyed its teacher members to receive a better understanding of how the testing progressed in schools, and how it impacted teaching and learning. While some teachers reported no problems and said their students felt the testing went well, more than 63% reported technical issues.

“The MEA continues to keep testing and its impacts on students as a top priority, and hopes as the kinks of yet

Survey Results

94%

Felt students missed out on learning time for other core subjects because of the amount of time spent on testing

50%

Reported the test took more than 9 hours for students to complete

another new test are worked out, the Department of Education will work with Measured Progress to improve the testing questions, the roll out of the exam, and the function of the test,” said Lois Kilby-Chesley, President of the Maine Education Association.

The MEA survey results can be seen on the following two pages, which include some member comments from the nearly 400 educators from all over the state who responded.

67%

Reported that testing impacted Title I Services, ELL, guidance services, and/ or other student services in your school/district

Impacts to Special Services • • •

Title I, special education, and ELL teachers and ed techs needed to administer the test so students in all grade levels lost services during this time All special services were cancelled for three weeks due to additional staff needed to proctor exam Students missed speech, library, resource room, guidance, ELL

Rolande Paolino, Gorham Teacher “These tests were a complete waste of time. The results are not accessible in a timely manner, and the amount of quality instruction time that was lost is criminal. I see no value to these assessments and will have no use for the results. The amount of time needed to complete the tests extended far beyond the time that was communicated to us by the test instructions. There was no time for new instruction in all content areas for the entire 5 days.”

16

Maine Educator • June 2016

Advocacy

Vaughn J. McLaughlin, Caribou Teacher “Today's Maine Educational Assessment has such a narrow focus it has caused our schools to narrow our curriculum to only include math and language arts. Students were required to spend their entire week testing and music and the arts were the first to be excluded. We were asked not to use the available bandwidth so that testing could take place.”

63.4%

Experienced technical issues during the administration of the Maine Educational Assessment

45.3%

Reported testing displaced the teacher and/or his/her students from teaching and learning spaces Kristen Doty, RSU 34 Teacher “There were technical issues with the test as well; once a test was paused and not logged back into within 20 minutes, the student was no longer able to review their previous answers on that test. This led to longer testing sessions since kids couldn't easily break for lunch or recess and come back to review their answers before submitting. As a result, bigger chunks of instructional time were sacrificed for the testing. Students also had issues with how the test appeared on the screens; in some cases screens columns/text boxes were cut off so students couldn’t read all of it.”

58.4%

Reported the amount of time spent on testing impacted other specialty subjects, with students missing classes like art and music during the testing window

50%

Reported testing impacted the use of computers in his/her school

Technical Issues Highlighted in the Survey • • • • • • • •

Connectivity Issues/Frozen Computers, students were kicked off and had to log back in, in some cases several times Without warning students were kicked out of the testing site and logged off; in more than one case, progress on the test was erased Answers for the first section of the test appeared in the boxes on the second section of the test Computers froze, needed to be constantly rebooted Columns/text boxes were cut off so students couldn’t read the test iPad keyboard malfunctions, iPads running out of a charge because testing took so long Lost work as a result of a “restart” due to frozen screen Testing app was not a secure environment, teachers had to set up “guided access” right before test in order to proceed

Kassie Dwyer, Athens Teacher “I was not pleased with the quality or intensity of this test. I do not feel that it provides an accurate representation of our students’ knowledge. It affected regular classes in a negative way, and put additional stress on students and staff.”

AS SEEN ON

TV

Rachel Maloney-Hawkins, Portland Teacher “We tell kids to ‘try harder’ and ‘do their best’ but when they read a question and can't even determine what it's asking, they know that they're getting it wrong. The work that we're doing in class to encourage a positive growth mindset is impeded.”

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

17

Advocacy

Reach. Teach. Inspire.

MEA media campaign highlights educator impact

“Sometimes kids just need someone to be there for them, and as an educator I’m happy to do that for them. My name is Jody Dube, and I’m proud to be a public school teacher.”

MEA’s new media campaign has officially hit the airwaves, debuting on TV, radio, and online—and you’ll see more during the back-to-school months.

This new effort aims to reach the general public, sharing the message that educators are always ready to be a positive influence in their students’ lives. MEA member Jody Dube, a ceramics teacher at Lewiston High School, and former student Sam Adell appeared in an MEA commercial sharing their success story.

A new large banner hangs in the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland as part of the campaign in an attempt to make the Association, and the work you do each day more visible to all members of the community.

18

Maine Educator • June 2016

“I was on the verge of dropping out a few times. If it wasn’t for Mr. Dube I don’t think I would have been able to walk across that stage and be handed that diploma.” - Sam Adell

The media campaign also includes the sponsorship of the great educator resource, PBS LearningMedia. The MEA is proud to highlight programs that help educators achieve their goals to better help their students.

Haven’t seen the new MEA commercial yet? Check it out here!

Advocacy

Fast Facts

Interesting facts and quotes about Association membership and public education in Maine and beyond.

Have an idea or stat you want shared? Send it along with your name and local to gbechard@maineea.org

Why the MEA will continue to push for increased teacher salaries Maine Teachers* Nearly 1/3 of Maine teachers are 55 or older* In the next 5 to 7 years, thousands of experienced Maine teachers will retire. If Maine doesn’t do something now to attract and retain new teachers we can expect to see increased teacher shortages, especially in hard to fill areas.

The MEA worked this year to help pass a bill that would have increased the starting teacher salary to $40,000. Sadly, lawmakers rejected the bill, but the MEA’s advocacy on the issue will not end—the facts are clear on the issue. Maine teachers are paid among the worst in the nation, and if this state wants to provide opportunities for all children, regardless of zip code, teachers need to be respected and paid what the profession deserves.

Salary Facts Salaries in the United States average starting teacher salary in Maine is $31,835, placing Maine 42nd in the country and dead last in New England and the entire Northeast.

Source: National Education Association 20122013 Average Starting Teacher Salaries by State http://www.nea.org/home/2012-2013-averagestarting-teacher-salary.html

Ten Lowest Average Starting Teacher Salaries in the United States State

Average Starting Salary

Montana

$27,274

South Dakota

$29,851

Missouri

$30,064

North Carolina

$30,778

Nebraska

$30,844

Idaho

$31,159

Mississippi

$31,184

Oklahoma

$31,606

Maine

$31,835

Age 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55+

Teachers 223 1201 1695 2013 2053 2087 2055 5152

Pct. 1.4% 7.3% 10.3% 12.2% 12.5% 12.7% 12.5% 31.3%

*Source: Maine Dept. of Education

Sample Starting Teacher Salaries

TX $38,091

LA $38,655

AL $36,198

ME $31,835

Current Maine Teacher Shortage Areas (2015-16): • • • • • •

ESL/ELL Gifted/Talented Industrial Arts Mathematics School Librarian Science

• • •

Special Education Speech/Hearing Clinicians World Languages (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Russian, Spanish)

Where does your district stand in terms of pay? Check out our salary guide on the next four pages. Want to help push for increased pay? Join in the advocacy—email jkosinski@ maineea.org to learn how you can help.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education June 2016 • www.maineea.org

19

so ciation

Your As

2016 Salary Guide

Use the salary guide on the next few pages to better understand how teachers and support staff are paid in different districts across the state. The information is based off contracts submitted to the MEA for the 2015-16 school year. Salaries are listed in order from highest earning to lowest. Due to space limitations, only certain positions appear in the printed version of this magazine. Additional classifications can be found in the Maine Educator Online at www.maineea.org.

Teacher Career Earnings Summary 10 Years BA; 20 Years MA 2015-2016

School District

MA Max

Cumulative Salary for 30 Years

York Wells-Ogunquit CSD Edgecomb Falmouth Yarmouth Cape Elizabeth AOS 93 - So Bristol AOS 93 - Bristol South Portland RSU 35, Eliot RSU 21 - Arundel/Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport Bangor Thornton Academy Georgetown RSU 51, Cumberland RSU 01, Lower Kenebec AOS 93 - Great Salt Bay CSD Five Town CSD RSU 28, Camden Scarborough Southport Gorham Lewiston Brewer Greenville Westbrook Kittery Veazie Brunswick Boothbay Hrbr CSD Glenburn RSU 26 - Orono Biddeford RSU 05 Athens RSU 14 AOS 92 - Winslow RSU 75, Topsham AOS 93 - Nobleboro AOS 92 - Vassalboro AOS 92 - Waterville RSU 15, Gray RSU 13

$72,183.00 $73,440.00 $73,249.00 $74,996.00 $72,197.00 $72,803.00 $68,689.00 $67,694.00 $67,372.00 $68,495.00

$1,924,051.00 $1,864,537.00 $1,857,638.00 $1,856,751.00 $1,842,899.00 $1,838,927.00 $1,792,131.00 $1,771,376.00 $1,754,894.00 $1,751,023.00

$70,671.00 $70,426.00 $70,635.00 $69,078.00 $67,457.00 $71,983.00 $69,332.00 $70,282.00 $70,282.00 $69,172.00 $68,175.00 $65,260.00 $68,080.00 $66,822.00 $65,744.00 $66,677.00 $63,643.00 $65,300.00 $71,963.00 $69,927.00 $66,840.00 $67,600.00 $61,644.00 $64,679.00 $61,870.00 $64,623.00 $66,750.00 $67,500.00 $60,356.00 $65,908.00 $67,176.00 $65,498.00 $62,917.00

$1,733,772.00 $1,732,871.00 $1,723,149.00 $1,717,970.00 $1,711,662.00 $1,710,520.00 $1,709,615.00 $1,708,987.00 $1,708,987.00 $1,696,368.00 $1,689,357.00 $1,671,383.00 $1,671,020.00 $1,668,272.00 $1,657,616.00 $1,654,218.00 $1,653,363.00 $1,638,850.00 $1,638,617.00 $1,630,178.00 $1,629,340.00 $1,619,350.00 $1,616,070.00 $1,614,968.00 $1,614,295.00 $1,607,835.00 $1,607,500.00 $1,605,500.00 $1,602,443.00 $1,600,311.00 $1,595,863.00 $1,584,232.00 $1,582,947.00

20

Maine Educator • June 2016

School District

MA Max

Cumulative Salary for 30 Years

RSU 57, Alfred Islesboro Knox Voc Reg 8 RSU 60, Berwick Acton RSU 20 Madawaska RSU 11, Gardiner RSU 59, Madison Saco AOS 93 - Jefferson RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Dayton AOS 94 - SAD 46 Dexter RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley RSU RSU 72, Fryeburg Lincolnville RSU 23 RSU 74, Anson Sanford (AFT) RSU 10, Western Foothills RSU 88, Van Buren RSU 54, Skowhegan RSU 34 Lisbon Easton RSU 42, Mars Hill RSU 19 Baileyville AOS 91 - Mt Desert Elem RSU 02, Kennebec Intra-District Schools RSU 40, Waldoboro RSU 06, Buxton AOS 91 - Bar Harbor AOS 91 - Mt Desert CSD AOS 91 - Southwest Harbor AOS 91 - Tremont AOS 91 - Trenton East Range CSD RSU 49, Fairfield RSU 38 AOS 95 - SAD 27 Fort Kent Hermon RSU 61, Bridgton

$63,720.00 $61,832.00 $63,339.00 $61,575.00 $61,264.00 $60,498.00 $59,583.00 $60,866.00 $60,068.00 $61,420.00 $64,266.00 $61,666.00 $60,464.00 $62,579.00 $64,266.00 $61,969.00 $62,939.00 $59,490.00 $63,475.00 $61,220.00 $61,081.00 $66,058.75 $63,520.00 $61,107.00 $62,158.00 $61,120.00 $60,545.00 $60,630.00 $60,944.00 $63,203.00 $63,226.00 $62,150.00 $59,500.00 $63,080.00 $63,080.00 $63,080.00 $63,080.00 $63,080.00 $57,000.00 $63,008.00 $59,878.00 $57,367.00 $59,586.00 $56,182.00

$1,581,438.00 $1,580,465.00 $1,577,360.00 $1,577,107.00 $1,576,438.00 $1,573,801.00 $1,572,794.00 $1,571,943.00 $1,567,280.00 $1,562,206.00 $1,555,207.00 $1,547,791.00 $1,545,562.00 $1,544,460.00 $1,543,589.00 $1,543,564.00 $1,542,854.00 $1,532,198.00 $1,531,760.00 $1,531,325.00 $1,531,018.00 $1,530,185.00 $1,529,100.00 $1,525,768.00 $1,517,127.00 $1,510,290.00 $1,500,651.00 $1,498,015.00 $1,496,197.00 $1,491,790.00 $1,491,140.00 $1,490,434.00 $1,488,500.00 $1,488,100.00 $1,488,100.00 $1,488,100.00 $1,488,100.00 $1,488,100.00 $1,485,000.00 $1,481,937.00 $1,481,081.00 $1,474,882.00 $1,469,788.00 $1,468,531.00

Your Association School District RSU 08, Vinalhaven Fryeburg Academy RSU 53, Pittsfield RSU 78 - Rangeley Winthrop RSU 52, Turner RSU 18 RSU 86, Ft Fairfield (Formerly SAD 20) Hope RSU 32, Ashland Calais RSU 82, Jackman (Formerly SAD 12) Milford So Penobscot Reg 4 Augusta RSU 44, Bethel RSU 55, Porter Lamoine Deer Isle-Ston CSD Oxford Hills Voc Reg 11 RSU 17, Paris Surry Flagstaff RSU, Eustis RSU 29, Houlton RSU 16 Appleton RSU 58, Phillips Foxcroft Academy RSU 68, Dover-Fxcrft RSU 03, Unity RSU 33, St Agatha Alexander RSU 64, Corinth RSU 09, Farmington Princeton RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) Brooksville RSU 24 RSU 39 RSU 67 Washington Academy Brooklin Ellsworth Blue Hill Hancock RSU 50 Fayette RSU 25 RSU 63, Holden Orrington RSU 79, Presque Isle (Formerly SAD 01) East Millinocket RSU 70, Hodgdon RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14) Cherryfield

MA Max

Cumulative Salary for 30 Years

$53,688.00 $59,750.00 $59,665.00 $61,941.00 $59,241.00 $58,575.00 $63,750.00 $59,652.00 $58,438.00 $59,924.00 $57,962.00 $56,470.00 $59,800.00 $57,500.00 $64,770.00 $56,744.00 $58,712.00 $57,100.00 $55,646.00 $56,896.00 $56,896.00 $54,048.00 $55,473.00 $58,500.00 $57,156.00 $56,062.00 $57,624.00 $56,500.00 $56,500.00 $54,336.00 $57,181.00 $55,609.00 $55,029.00 $56,950.00 $55,585.00 $57,377.00 $49,354.00 $53,000.00 $55,208.00 $54,909.00 $53,500.00 $52,903.00 $54,550.00 $48,714.00 $58,500.00 $55,975.00 $53,752.00 $57,776.00 $60,386.00 $48,881.00 $57,619.00 $55,500.00 $53,800.00 $52,950.00 $50,197.00

$1,463,235.00 $1,462,500.00 $1,461,692.00 $1,461,168.00 $1,460,108.00 $1,458,828.00 $1,454,475.00 $1,451,429.00 $1,450,209.00 $1,447,731.00 $1,447,601.00 $1,436,296.00 $1,429,450.00 $1,428,500.00 $1,423,818.00 $1,419,841.00 $1,411,980.00 $1,407,900.00 $1,403,926.00 $1,400,296.00 $1,400,296.00 $1,397,541.00 $1,397,435.00 $1,393,275.00 $1,392,006.00 $1,391,985.00 $1,385,824.00 $1,380,000.00 $1,380,000.00 $1,377,748.00 $1,376,196.00 $1,372,584.00 $1,370,880.00 $1,370,550.00 $1,368,700.00 $1,366,820.00 $1,358,912.00 $1,354,000.00 $1,353,208.00 $1,352,309.00 $1,349,790.00 $1,344,120.00 $1,342,950.00 $1,341,620.00 $1,340,500.00 $1,339,250.00 $1,338,039.00 $1,337,914.00 $1,329,630.00 $1,329,485.00 $1,321,305.00 $1,320,500.00 $1,307,150.00 $1,300,500.00 $1,292,510.00

School District Otis Robbinston RSU 37, Harrington Penobscot RSU 30, Lee Machias RSU 87, Carmel (Formerly SAD 23) Caswell Pembroke New Sweden Woodland Whiting RSU 45, Washburn Moosabec CSD Eastport East Machias Perry Jonesboro Machiasport Cutler So Aroostook Reg 2 Charlotte

MA Max

Cumulative Salary for 30 Years

$48,000.00 $53,123.00 $50,802.00 $46,300.00 $56,378.00 $52,250.00 $49,095.00 $44,000.00 $48,052.00 $47,694.00 $47,694.00 $48,724.00 $49,000.00 $45,700.00 $47,151.00 $48,419.00 $47,521.00 $41,625.00 $47,400.00 $44,938.00 $46,034.00 $41,984.00

$1,284,000.00 $1,278,942.00 $1,274,320.00 $1,270,250.00 $1,267,347.00 $1,264,000.00 $1,262,775.00 $1,242,000.00 $1,234,360.00 $1,227,946.00 $1,227,946.00 $1,223,720.00 $1,217,600.00 $1,200,800.00 $1,179,520.00 $1,172,830.00 $1,152,826.00 $1,148,125.00 $1,146,025.00 $1,126,228.00 $1,108,476.00 $1,103,890.00

Ed Tech III - Hourly Wage Mean Minimum: $14.01 Mean Maximum: $18.26

School District RSU 17, Paris Brewer Acton RSU 01, Lower Kenebec Eastport Portland Wells-Ogunquit CSD Biddeford So Portland RSU 71, Belfast Area York Cape Elizabeth Augusta RSU 54, Skowhegan RSU 21 - Arundel/ Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport Winthrop Brunswick Falmouth Scarborough Westbrook Sanford (AFT) RSU 51, Cumberland RSU 05

Maximum $25.12 $24.76 $23.92 $23.92 $23.73 $23.65 $22.71 $22.54 $22.39 $22.10 $22.02 $21.81 $21.71 $21.46 $21.45 $21.35 $21.34 $20.99 $20.70 $20.69 $20.45 $20.19 $20.11

School District

Maximum

Dayton RSU 02, Kennebec IntraDistrict Schs RSU 14 AOS 92 - Waterville RSU 74, Anson RSU 29, Houlton RSU 44, Bethel Baileyville RSU 67 RSU 75, Topsham RSU 15, Gray RSU 60, Berwick Saco RSU 38 Gorham RSU 10, Western Foothills Sch District Milford Lewiston RSU 09, Farmington RSU 50 RSU 59, Madison St. George RSU 40, Waldoboro

$20.00 $19.98 $19.91 $19.90 $19.88 $19.80 $19.73 $19.68 $19.67 $19.57 $19.48 $19.48 $19.35 $19.28 $19.11 $19.07 $19.00 $18.87 $18.74 $18.74 $18.51 $18.50 $18.33

Cont. on next page June 2016 • www.maineea.org

21

Your Association

Cooks/Food Workers - Hourly Wage Mean Minimum: $11.35 Mean Maximum: $14.68

Ed Tech III - cont.

School District

RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley Regional Sch Un RSU 57, Alfred RSU 19 Madawaska Athens Bangor AOS 92 - Winslow Boothbay Hrbr CSD RSU 85, Lubec (Formerly SAD 19) Blue Hill RSU 22, Hampden AOS 94 - Harmony RSU 18 RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Sch Dist RSU 06, Buxton AOS 91 - Bar Harbor RSU 35, Eliot Ellsworth Lamoine RSU 24 RSU 61, Bridgton AOS 92 - Vassalboro RSU 78 - Rangeley Medway RSU 26 - Orono RSU 83, Bingham (Formerly SAD 13)

22

Maximum $18.31 $18.29 $18.21 $18.20 $18.11 $18.04 $17.96 $17.87 $17.82 $17.73 $17.71 $17.64 $17.57 $17.55 $17.54 $17.29 $17.16 $17.15 $17.15 $17.15 $17.13 $16.74 $16.68 $16.64 $16.56 $16.48

Maine Educator • June 2016

School District RSU 30, Lee Auburn Veazie Greenville RSU 16 RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) Fayette RSU 03, Unity Brooklin RSU 04, Sabattus Area AOS 94 - SAD 46 Dexter RSU 68, Dover-Fxcrft RSU 39 Machias Millinocket RSU 34 Calais AOS 95 - SAD 27 Fort Kent Charlotte RSU 53, Pittsfield RSU 25 Glenburn Robbinston RSU 58, Phillips Cutler Whiting RSU 33, St Agatha RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14)

Maximum $16.43 $16.41 $16.40 $16.25 $16.21 $16.13 $16.06 $15.90 $15.40 $15.33 $15.31 $15.27 $15.18 $15.00 $14.88 $14.84 $14.80 $14.76 $14.75 $14.66 $14.26 $13.91 $13.75 $13.50 $13.44 $13.19 $12.70 $12.58

School District Portland (Cook) RSU 05 Acton AOS 92 - Winslow York Yarmouth (Cook) RSU 38 RSU 14 (Cook) Gorham Portland (Foodworker) Westbrook (Cook) Westbrook (Foodworker) RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley Regional Sch Un RSU 71, Belfast Area AOS 91 - Bar Harbor RSU 59, Madison RSU 51, Cumberland RSU 75, Topsham Milford Blue Hill RSU 15, Gray Athens RSU 61, Bridgton So Portland (Cook) Yarmouth (Foodworker) Brooklin Brewer Augusta Boothbay Hrbr CSD Lewiston (Cook) Scarborough (Cook) RSU 40, Waldoboro RSU 60, Berwick So Portland (Foodworker) RSU 83, Bingham (Formerly SAD 13) Charlotte RSU 26 - Orono Five Town CSD RSU 50 Baileyville (Cook) Veazie RSU 22, Hampden

Maximum $20.23 $19.21 $18.48 $18.31 $18.05 $18.00 $17.84 $17.79 $17.42 $17.28 $17.27 $16.60 $16.57 $16.38 $16.29 $16.16 $16.10 $16.08 $16.00 $15.91 $15.82 $15.81 $15.77 $15.61 $15.54 $15.40 $15.31 $15.22 $15.17 $15.01 $14.93 $14.89 $14.88 $14.76 $14.63 $14.50 $14.49 $14.48 $14.36 $14.35 $14.35 $14.30

School District

Maximum

Cape Elizabeth Greenville Pembroke RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Sch Dist RSU 28, Camden RSU 02, Kennebec IntraDistrict Schs Winthrop St. George RSU 03, Unity RSU 18 RSU 30, Lee Lewiston (Foodworker) RSU 14 (Foodworker) Whiting RSU 85, Lubec (Formerly SAD 19) RSU 29, Houlton Caswell Sanford (AFT) RSU 06, Buxton Cutler Madawaska (Cook) Machiasport East Machias RSU 19 RSU 04, Sabattus Area Baileyville (Foodworker) RSU 78 - Rangeley RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) Scarborough (Foodworker) RSU 11, Gardiner Madawaska (Foodworker) AOS 94 - SAD 46 Dexter RSU 33, St Agatha Glenburn Auburn RSU 34 RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14) Millinocket

$14.29 $14.26 $14.23 $14.21 $14.20 $14.07 $14.05 $14.00 $13.95 $13.92 $13.90 $13.65 $13.65 $13.62 $13.61 $13.54 $13.50 $13.47 $13.40 $13.30 $13.29 $13.25 $13.20 $13.14 $13.10 $12.99 $12.77 $12.77 $12.68 $12.46 $12.45 $11.94 $11.86 $11.85 $11.74 $11.59 $11.43 $9.80

Your Association

Secretaries - Hourly Wage

Bus Drivers - Hourly Wage

Mean Minimum: $13.09 Mean Maximum: $17.38

School District York Biddeford RSU 35, Eliot RSU 01, Lower Kennebec Sanford (AFT) Portland Cape Elizabeth Scarborough Falmouth Acton RSU 34 Yarmouth Brunswick RSU 60, Berwick RSU 05 Saco RSU 51, Cumberland RSU 14 RSU 39 Wells-Ogunquit CSD AOS 92 - Winslow Gorham Bangor RSU 02, Kennebec IntraDistrict Schs Athens RSU 17, Paris Augusta RSU 75, Topsham RSU 71, Belfast Area RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley Regional Sch Un RSU 15, Gray RSU 22, Hampden Boothbay Hrbr CSD RSU 61, Bridgton Greenville Lisbon AOS 91 - Bar Harbor Winthrop

Maximum $24.26 $23.53 $21.81 $21.69 $21.40 $21.34 $20.97 $20.69 $20.56 $20.29 $20.24 $19.97 $19.71 $19.70 $19.59 $19.46 $19.43 $19.00 $18.94 $18.89 $18.88 $18.75 $18.64 $18.37 $18.34 $18.28 $18.27 $18.24 $18.20 $18.08 $18.04 $17.45 $17.22 $17.20 $17.01 $16.80 $16.79 $16.70

School District Baileyville RSU 24 RSU 40, Waldoboro RSU 85, Lubec (Formerly SAD 19) RSU 50 RSU 04, Sabattus Area Blue Hill RSU 10, Western Foothills Sch District RSU 44, Bethel RSU 29, Houlton RSU 67 RSU 78 - Rangeley RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) Calais RSU 09, Farmington Veazie RSU 19 Machias Madawaska AOS 94 - SAD 46 Dexter Auburn RSU 04, Sabattus Area RSU 30, Lee AOS 94 - Harmony RSU 06, Buxton RSU 16 Charlotte RSU 03, Unity Pembroke RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Sch Dist RSU 33, St Agatha Glenburn RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14)

Mean Minimum: $14.33 Mean Maximum: $17.63

Maximum $16.62 $16.60 $16.54 $16.54 $16.49 $16.38 $16.27 $16.25 $16.22 $15.83 $15.71 $15.59 $15.47 $15.45 $15.42 $15.38 $15.31 $15.24 $15.21 $14.94 $14.82 $14.79 $14.75 $14.70 $14.67 $14.65 $14.50 $14.40 $14.23 $14.21 $13.17 $12.88 $12.25

School District RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley Regional Sch Un RSU 21 - Arundel/ Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport Brunswick RSU 05 RSU 28, Camden RSU 24 Falmouth Yarmouth Portland Dayton Cape Elizabeth RSU 14 Gorham RSU 75, Topsham RSU 38 RSU 51, Cumberland RSU 02, Kennebec IntraDistrict Schs RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Sch Dist Westbrook RSU 15, Gray Lisbon RSU 71, Belfast Area So Portland RSU 74, Anson RSU 61, Bridgton Baileyville RSU 06, Buxton RSU 59, Madison RSU 52, Turner

Maximum $22.52 $21.36 $21.23 $20.81 $20.74 $20.45 $20.42 $20.42 $20.23 $20.00 $19.75 $19.63 $19.51 $19.35 $19.31 $19.28 $19.06 $18.99 $18.98 $18.34 $18.25 $18.15 $17.98 $17.95 $17.89 $17.86 $17.84 $17.83 $17.80

School District RSU 40, Waldoboro Athens AOS 94 - Harmony RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) RSU 10, Western Foothills Sch District AOS 91 - Bar Harbor RSU 17, Paris RSU 09, Farmington RSU 67 RSU 78 - Rangeley RSU 04, Sabattus Area RSU 50 RSU 03, Unity Fayette RSU 11, Gardiner Pembroke Caswell RSU 83, Bingham (Formerly SAD 13) Whiting Machias RSU 30, Lee RSU 29, Houlton East Machias Machiasport Cutler RSU 33, St Agatha RSU 85, Lubec (Formerly SAD 19) RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14)

Maximum $17.79 $17.45 $17.18 $17.00 $16.88 $16.79 $16.74 $16.63 $16.61 $16.61 $16.38 $16.30 $16.02 $15.97 $15.87 $15.55 $15.50 $15.45 $15.43 $15.24 $15.20 $15.03 $14.39 $14.33 $14.30 $14.20 $14.19 $13.67

cont. on tHe next page

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

23

Your Association

Custodians - Hourly Wage

Ed Tech I - Hourly Wage

Mean Minimum: $12.78 Mean Maximum: $16.22

School District York Acton Yarmouth Five Town CSD RSU 05 Brunswick RSU 28, Camden Greenville RSU 14 RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Sch Dist RSU 34 Cape Elizabeth RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley Regional Sch Un Wells-Ogunquit CSD Gorham Lisbon RSU 75, Topsham RSU 71, Belfast Area Dayton RSU 51, Cumberland Augusta RSU 15, Gray RSU 38 Westbrook Brewer RSU 61, Bridgton RSU 02, Kennebec IntraDistrict Schs RSU 22, Hampden RSU 59, Madison RSU 52, Turner Scarborough Millinocket Blue Hill RSU 74, Anson Athens So Portland Portland RSU 06, Buxton AOS 91 - Bar Harbor Sanford (AFT) Bangor RSU 17, Paris Milford

24

Maximum $20.32 $20.29 $19.79 $19.72 $19.56 $19.50 $19.33 $19.00 $19.00 $18.99 $18.49 $18.44 $18.40 $18.33 $18.25 $18.25 $18.24 $18.15 $18.14 $17.90 $17.57 $17.57 $17.56 $17.36 $17.27 $17.24 $17.09 $17.07 $16.89 $16.85 $16.80 $16.72 $16.63 $16.62 $16.52 $16.48 $16.39 $16.31 $16.29 $16.17 $16.12 $16.02 $16.00

Maine Educator • June 2016

School District Boothbay Hrbr CSD RSU 40, Waldoboro RSU 21 - Arundel/ Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport RSU 09, Farmington RSU 16 St. George Baileyville RSU 26 - Orono Caswell Brooklin Auburn RSU 18 RSU 04, Sabattus Area RSU 25 RSU 10, Western Foothills Sch District RSU 50 RSU 19 RSU 30, Lee Alexander RSU 11, Gardiner RSU 24 Machias Whiting RSU 29, Houlton Pembroke RSU 85, Lubec (Formerly SAD 19) RSU 58, Phillips RSU 53, Pittsfield RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) RSU 03, Unity RSU 78 - Rangeley AOS 94 - Harmony Cutler Fayette Machiasport East Machias RSU 33, St Agatha Glenburn RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14)

Mean Minimum: $11.46 Mean Maximum: $15.21

Maximum $15.99 $15.93 $15.84 $15.77 $15.76 $15.75 $15.74 $15.53 $15.50 $15.40 $15.33 $15.26 $15.06 $15.01 $14.93 $14.89 $14.78 $14.75 $14.53 $14.51 $14.46 $14.45 $14.37 $14.28 $14.23 $14.19 $14.12 $14.11 $14.08 $13.95 $13.91 $13.60 $13.30 $13.30 $13.25 $13.20 $13.18 $12.88 $11.43

School District

Maximum

School District

Portland York Brunswick RSU 05 Cape Elizabeth Scarborough Acton RSU 71, Belfast Area Westbrook RSU 14 Gorham Brewer RSU 01, Lower Kennebec Bangor Eastport AOS 92 - Waterville RSU 75, Topsham AOS 92 - Winslow RSU 35, Eliot RSU 02, Kennebec IntraDistrict Schs Milford Lewiston Wells-Ogunquit CSD Dayton Sanford (AFT) RSU 60, Berwick RSU 15, Gray Lisbon AOS 91 - Bar Harbor RSU 51, Cumberland RSU 59, Madison RSU 17, Paris RSU 57, Alfred Madawaska Athens So Portland RSU 74, Anson Saco AOS 92 - Vassalboro RSU 38 RSU 44, Bethel Brooklin Greenville RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley Regional Sch Un RSU 19 RSU 54, Skowhegan RSU 61, Bridgton RSU 40, Waldoboro Millinocket Blue Hill

$20.41 $19.92 $19.71 $19.11 $18.77 $18.52 $18.48 $18.20 $17.90 $17.79 $17.72 $17.56 $17.55 $17.50 $17.42 $17.20 $17.20 $17.16 $17.16

RSU 10, Western Foothills Sch District AOS 94 - Harmony RSU 06, Buxton Ellsworth Lamoine RSU 24 Baileyville RSU 83, Bingham (Formerly SAD 13) RSU 21 - Arundel/ Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport RSU 26 - Orono RSU 18 Veazie Charlotte RSU 67 Calais RSU 49, Fairfield St. George RSU 30, Lee RSU 68, Dover-Fxcrft RSU 85, Lubec (Formerly SAD 19) Auburn RSU 03, Unity RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) Caswell RSU 50 Machias RSU 09, Farmington RSU 53, Pittsfield RSU 34 Robbinston RSU 25 RSU 29, Houlton RSU 04, Sabattus Area RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Sch Dist RSU 39 AOS 95 - SAD 27 Fort Kent RSU 58, Phillips Alexander AOS 94 - SAD 46 Dexter RSU 33, St Agatha Medway Glenburn RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14) RSU 78 - Rangeley

$17.04 $17.00 $16.93 $16.77 $16.70 $16.59 $16.55 $16.35 $16.34 $16.29 $16.27 $16.27 $16.15 $16.15 $15.97 $15.91 $15.91 $15.84 $15.71 $15.66 $15.54 $15.42 $15.40 $15.36 $15.23 $15.15 $15.05 $14.90 $14.89 $14.88 $14.83

Maximum $14.80 $14.70 $14.67 $14.65 $14.65 $14.65 $14.64 $14.63 $14.60 $14.49 $14.46 $14.35 $14.25 $14.21 $14.14 $14.09 $14.00 $13.90 $13.62 $13.61 $13.60 $13.59 $13.53 $13.50 $13.46 $13.45 $13.44 $13.28 $13.14 $13.05 $13.00 $12.91 $12.67 $12.64 $12.39 $12.06 $12.00 $11.95 $11.94 $11.93 $11.88 $11.85 $11.43 $11.32

Your Association

Ed Tech II - Hourly Wage Mean Minimum: $12.65 Mean Maximum: $16.80

School District

Maximum

School District

Maximum

School District

RSU 17, Paris RSU 49, Fairfield So Portland Portland Augusta York Acton Brunswick RSU 01, Lower Kennebec RSU 14 Cape Elizabeth RSU 71, Belfast Area Scarborough Westbrook RSU 75, Topsham Sanford (AFT) RSU 05 Winthrop Falmouth AOS 92 - Waterville Eastport RSU 15, Gray Gorham Brewer RSU 60, Berwick Lewiston Baileyville RSU 54, Skowhegan Dayton RSU 51, Cumberland RSU 02, Kennebec IntraDistrict Schs Wells-Ogunquit CSD Biddeford RSU 12, Sheepscot Valley Regional Sch Un AOS 92 - Winslow Bangor Milford Saco RSU 59, Madison Boothbay Hrbr CSD RSU 10, Western Foothills Sch District RSU 74, Anson Madawaska RSU 35, Eliot RSU 44, Bethel Athens RSU 38 RSU 57, Alfred Lisbon RSU 67

$24.60 $22.64 $22.39 $21.44 $21.12 $20.93 $20.29 $20.23 $20.08 $19.91 $19.84 $19.76 $19.41 $19.38 $19.35 $19.15 $19.11 $19.05 $19.02 $18.80 $18.71 $18.71 $18.68 $18.47 $18.32 $18.28 $18.17 $18.04 $18.00 $17.99

AOS 94 - Harmony RSU 40, Waldoboro RSU 22, Hampden RSU 06, Buxton RSU 21 - Arundel/ Kennebunk/ Kennebunkport RSU 18 AOS 91 - Bar Harbor Blue Hill AOS 92 - Vassalboro RSU 50 RSU 61, Bridgton RSU 19 St. George RSU 73, Spruce Mountain Sch Dist Greenville Ellsworth Lamoine RSU 24 Auburn RSU 30, Lee RSU 26 - Orono RSU 85, Lubec (Formerly SAD 19) RSU 16 Brooklin Veazie RSU 03, Unity RSU 83, Bingham (Formerly SAD 13) RSU 29, Houlton Millinocket RSU 80, Guilford (Formerly SAD 04) RSU 34 RSU 78 - Rangeley RSU 68, Dover-Fxcrft RSU 09, Farmington Charlotte AOS 94 - SAD 46 Dexter Machias RSU 53, Pittsfield RSU 39 AOS 95 - SAD 27 Fort Kent RSU 04, Sabattus Area Fayette RSU 25 Robbinston Cutler Glenburn

$16.69 $16.58 $16.49 $16.40

Medway RSU 58, Phillips RSU 33, St Agatha RSU 84, Danforth (Formerly SAD 14) Whiting

$17.97 $17.88 $17.85 $17.60 $17.59 $17.50 $17.50 $17.50 $17.39 $17.37 $17.28 $17.27 $17.26 $17.16 $17.15 $17.02 $16.99 $16.93 $16.80 $16.71

$16.40 $16.36 $16.29 $16.27 $16.20 $16.04 $16.04 $16.02 $16.00

Maximum $12.58 $12.50 $12.32 $12.07 $11.99

$15.96 $15.78 $15.65 $15.65 $15.65 $15.63 $15.62 $15.53 $15.45 $15.41 $15.40 $15.38 $15.20 $15.20 $15.09 $14.88 $14.84 $14.79 $14.77 $14.72 $14.64 $14.50 $14.36 $14.22 $14.11 $13.96 $13.73 $13.73 $13.70 $13.58 $13.43 $13.13 $12.88 June 2016 • www.maineea.org

25

Your Association

2016 MEA Representative Assembly Nearly 130 members from across the state came together during MEA’s 88th annual Representative Assembly (RA). The MEA RA is the governing body of the MEA where members choose the direction for the Association in the coming year, offering new ideas, debating key issues and making new connections within the profession. This year, 28 members were first-time MEA RA attendees, who brought a new outlook to the RA. Also this year, NEA President Lily Eskelsen García spoke to members about engagement and moving the Association forward.

“The RA is a great place to be where a free exchange of ideas from people, who are better educated than anyone else I know, can lead to great decision making.

It’s a great opportunity to see how decisions are made that impact our work and what our Association does for us, learning about what administration might try to force on us but will eventually fail because the Association is working on behalf of all of us.”

- Jason Curry, SAD 51 EA

“Coming to the RA has been incredibly exciting and energizing. I love my job more now that I’ve been able to be part of the Association and its work to help our students.”

- Sarah Hirschfeld, Yarmouth EA (First-time RA Volunteer, pictured far left)

“I hadn't been a part of the union until recently; I wasn't an early adopter. But I came to the RA, to see how the Association works, it was fascinating. Listening to people who debate important issues affecting our profession, you start to get a sense of the power, and it shows you if you have a voice and you speak up you can have an influence in a pretty big organization. If you’re passionate about something, you can get your voice out there pretty far because of the Association.”

- Ryan Watts (First-time delegate), Gorham TA

“It's great to be able to blend the retirees in a function like the Representative Assembly. Our educators need support, and we have time to give to help them in their work. We better hang together otherwise we fall alone.”

- Paul Bouchard, MEA-R

“Meeting Lily was inspiring. After teaching my students about activists I can’t wait to tell them I met the president of the NEA. We’ve watched clips of her speeches in class and seeing her in person and how dynamic she is motivates me to want to do more for my students and my profession.”

- Lauren Roy, Kittery EA (First-time RA Delegate, pictured far right)

“You forgot to brag. You've got to tell the truth about what it is that you're trying to accomplish for your students. Talk about what you're doing right now so the public has faith, so they begin to have confidence in us. One in every 100 Americans is a member of the NEA. We are the essence of every community. Double down on recruiting young members, and having them tell their stories about why they love teaching and what they didn’t have for their students because of a lack of funding. Tell people why you're excited about what you do every day, tell them why they should have faith in you. Don't give them statistics give them a story. We forget to brag, how against all odds, we give 110% to students. Make sure you tell the whole truth; the truth is on our side.”

- Lily Eskelsen García, NEA President (pictured center right) 26

Maine Educator • June 2016

Your Association

MEA Going Forward Members took to the microphone throughout the RA expressing their opinions on important issue that effect everything from ESP salary to membership to higher education issues. There was passionate debate on the issues you see below. Please take a minute to read about the changes to your Association and some of the goals for the future.

2016 New Business Items 1.

RESOLVED: That the MEA will make getting out the vote for Stand Up for Students an essential component of public relations through November 2016.

CARRIED.

2.

RESOLVED: That the MEA will assess the health of the relationship of teachers with school board members, and send the results to the appropriate committee(s).

This information will include: District descriptive statistics, local union attendance to school board meetings, meetings outside public session, any negative implication of interactions in either forum, existing protections for communication in either forum, existing preclusions from communication in either forum.

REFERRED to the Government Relations Committee.

3.

RESOLVED: That the MEA will publicize MLK day events happening around the state.

CARRIED.

4.

RESOLVED: That the MEA promote that the state provide on-going supervision of skilled nursing facilities to ensure the mandated requirements are met to provide appropriate care of residents.

CARRIED.

5.

RESOLVED: That the MEA explores initiating, supporting, and/or endorsing legislation that builds a minimum wage in schools for Education Support Professionals in the same vein as the minimum teacher salary.

REFERRED to the Educational Support Professionals Committee.

6.

RESOLVED: That the MEA supports the passage of the November 2016 ballot initiative to increase Maine's minimum wage to $12 an hour.

CARRIED.

7.

RESOLVED: That the MEA will establish a formal relationship with the NAACP. REFERRED to the Human, Civil Rights, & Cultural Affairs Committee.

8.

RESOLVED: That the MEA make it a priority to inform members of the potential opportunities afforded educators in the provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

CARRIED.

9.

RESOLVED: That the MEA starting 2017-18 school year, the MEA will use the MEA Fall Conference as a membership recruiting tool by allowing both members and non-members to register without charge.

REFERRED to the Instruction & Professional Development Committee.

10. RESOLVED: That the MEA will contact Delta Dental for a feasibility study to allow MEA-Retired into the MEA Delta Dental plan.

CARRIED.

11. RESOLVED: That the MEA endorses AFUM’s “One University” response/position paper. This document was adopted at the AFUM Delegate Assembly on April 16, 2016 and the AFUM Executive Board.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 12. RESOLVED: That the MEA offers a “green” delegate option for the 2017 Representative Assembly. Delegates choosing the “green” option would receive their R.A. booklet digitally.

CARRIED. 13. RESOLVED: That the MEA explore ways to invite members to DBC/ACT events based on both where the member lives and where the member works.

CARRIED.

Constitution Change Amended MEA Constitution language includes a permanent dedicated seat on the MEA Board for an ESP member. Final language is below.

FINAL LANGUAGE: ARTICLE VI, Section 2., Parts A and C Board of Directors A. The Board of Directors shall consist of members as follows: three Officers President, Vice President, Treasurer, - the National Education Association Director(s) from the state, one director from each of the Maine Education Association election districts, one director who represents education support professionals, and one director who represents retired members.

C. Active K-12 education support professional members employed in education support positions shall be guaranteed representation on the Board of Directors. The Candidates for that seat shall come from and be elected by K-12 education support members by a statewide election.

2016 Resolutions as Adopted by the RA In a block New Resolution A-17 RESOLVED: That the MEA believes that the Department of Education requires a qualified, full-time Commissioner of Education who has been approved by the Maine State Senate. (Adopted 2016) New Resolution A-18 RESOLVED: That the MEA supports the state meeting its obligation of at least 55% funding of the total cost of public school education. (Adopted 2016) cont. next page June 2016 • www.maineea.org

27

Your Association

New Resolution B-26 RESOLVED: That the MEA believes that peer-to-peer observations of educators should be the major component of formative professional development and growth. (Adopted 2016) New Resolution B-27 RESOLVED: That the MEA believes that funding release time should be provided for teachers to participate in peer-to-peer observations for formative professional growth. (Adopted 2016) Amendment to Resolution C-13 C13. RESOLVED: That the MEA supports a safe, secure, non-violent and non-abusive learning and working environment. The environment must be free of discrimination and violence regardless of age, race, color, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, health, size, home language or the perception of one’s sexual orientation or gender identity, marital status, Association activity, and or any characteristic protected by law.

(Adopted 1997; Amended 2002; Amended 2013; Amended 2016) Deletion of Resolution C-17 C17.

RESOLVED: That the MEA supports increases in educators’ pension benefits. (Adopted 2000; Amended 2002) Editorial Change to Resolution C-23 C23. Resolved: That the MEA supports legislative action to increase retired educators’ pension exemption from $10,000 $6,000 to parity with the social security exemption and exclude any social security benefit received from being used to reduce the deduction. (Adopted 2012; Amended 2016) New Resolution C-29 RESOLVED: That the MEA supports an increase in minimum salary to $40,000 for certified teachers in the 2017/18 school year and indexed for inflation in subsequent years. (Adopted 2016)

2016 RESOLUTIONS held out for debate and Adopted by the RA Resolution D-11 and Proposed New Resolution D31 were combined and voted on to accept and become an amendment to Resolution D-11.

D11. RESOLVED: That the MEA supports governance affiliates representing Education Support Professionals to negotiate language that clarifies job classifications (including working out of classification), job descriptions and professional development of Education Support Professionals to align their collective bargaining agreements with rules and regulations of the State Department of Education. (Adopted 1994; Amended 2002; Amended 2013) New D31 RESOLVED: That the MEA believes that all ESP contracts should have a negotiated, appropriate and fair evaluation process.

Amendment to Resolution D-11 D11. RESOLVED: That the MEA supports governance affiliates representing Education Support Professionals to negotiate language that clarifies job classifications (including working out of classification), job descriptions and professional development of ESP Education Support Professionals to align their collective bargaining agreements with rules and regulations of the State Department of Education. Be it further resolved that all ESP contracts have a negotiated, appropriate and fair evaluation process based on job descriptions. (Adopted 1994; Amended 2002; Amended 2013; Amended 2016)

28

Maine Educator • June 2016

Honoring Members, Students & Supporters President’s Speech By: Lois Kilby-Chesley Good morning. My name is Lois and I am a teacher on leave from RSU 5 to serve as the MEA President.

Today I could stand up here as I have before and talk to you about our adversaries and how they lurk under rocks waiting to be released.

I could tell you about how difficult the past 5 and 1/2 years have been at the State House having someone with a mouth but no conscience in the Governor's Office.

I could tell you that without 55% funding for public preK-12 schools the gaps between the haves and the have-nots is going to widen until we have a caste system that will make it difficult for many of our students to ever escape the cycle of poverty.

I could tell you that in the past decade our schools we have seen students receiving free and reduced lunch increase from 1 in 3 to 1 in 2, and that we have schools where more than 90% of students qualify.

I could tell you that teachers are overburdened with the mandates that have come down on us from both the Feds and the State.

I could tell you that hourly wage earners at all levels of public education are underpaid and deserve a much higher minimum wage, one that will lift them to a live-able wage so that they can live comfortably in the Land of the Free.

I could tell you that condensing our University System into the One University as proposed is a bad idea for our students, a bad idea for our communities and a bad idea for our faculty, because if the UMS Board of Trustees thinks we all live in an idyllic community like Orono, we need to show them we don't.

I could tell you that leadership in education in Maine is at a very low point, that no one with any ethics and a brain wants to be an administrator because the job stinks.

And that leaves our schools in a very bad place.

I could tell you that many legislators listen more intently to those same administrators and are influenced by the politics of their perceived power, not by what is best for educators and students, and I could tell you I don't have the answer as to why a Superintendent holds more sway with legislators than an educator in the classroom.

I could tell you that the University System is also lacking in leadership and deserves better leaders from the Trustees on down.

I could tell you that all of us deserve someone in the Commissioner of Education role who knows something about ethics, about communication, about integrity, and about education and who knows how to be a leader.

But I don't have to tell you these things. You are smart, you read, you analyze, and you know all these things without me standing up here telling you.

You know we do amazing work in spite of all the adverse comments. Just watch the screens to see if you think we are not amazing.

There are 35 slides, and I could have made thousands more, with headlines from around Maine in the last 3 years or so, that scream, Maine Educators are Amazing! I don't have to tell you, you know it!

What I am going to tell you is that because we work together, public education in Maine is going to survive in spite of bad ideas, and poverty, and mandates, and inequity, and a lack of ethics, and enemies. We are going to survive because of you.

It is no secret that every person in this room does amazing things every day.

Whether you are a bus driver or a professor, a food service worker or a researcher, a secretary or a lab technician, a teacher or an Ed tech or a custodian or a clerk Whether you work with 4-year-olds or 40-year-olds—you do WHAT is right, and you do it right. And you do it because you know that students are our clientele and students matter.

So let me tell you. Public schools and colleges and universities work. They work in spite of the fact that every student who walks through the door has a different set of needs, a different set of skills and a different perception of how adults will help

Your Association or hurt them. Public schools work because there is always someone there to catch a student if he stumbles and to challenge her if she needs academic enhancement.

Public schools work because they are full of people who put kids first.

Even when our students come to us with huge challenges — single parents, foster care, parents working multiple jobs who are rarely home, parents who can’t speak English or who didn’t complete school themselves, parents with substance abuse issues — we are there for that individual. Even when there is discrepancy between income and tax rates and resources we are there to feed them and clothe them. We transport them, we clean up after them, we check in on them. We teach them, mentor them, and tutor them. But most of all we give them the security and stability, and yes, love, that many of them lack in the hours and days when they are not in school.

We take every child who walks into our schools and universities and we provide them with what we can. We are not independent schools or charter schools who can send kids somewhere else. We have a diverse group in every classroom. And we relish in it.

I will tell you right now that when I taught in my Multi-age Program of third, fourth and fifth graders—which I did for 26 years—when I taught, there were kids I wanted to take home and clean up and feed. There were kids to whom I tried and tried to give some of the basics in etiquette, even a “Thank You” was a big deal. There were kids who had mouths that would embarrass a pirate and kids who were so withdrawn that it took weeks to even get them to say something in the group. And there were kids from two family homes who came to school with snacks and healthy lunches. Who had enough pencils, who always brought back their permission slips on time, who said “excuse me” and “oh, I am sorry”, and they meant it. And just like everyone one of you I had some favorites, and some who needed my time less than others. There were some who seemed to want to do more than was expected because they wanted to learn and wanted to please. I even had some who never missed a day in the three years they were with us. But every day I got up and went to work because I knew, and I still know, and I will know in my heart forever, that students need us, and that our jobs in schools are the most important jobs in the whole world.

And I am not talking about teachers and professors. I am talking about every single person that gets up in the morning and puts on their pants and heads off to spend the day with kids. I have said it before and I will say it again, you could not pay me enough money in this world to drive a bus where the only way I could communicate with the 60 kids sitting behind me, was to make eye contact with them through a mirror. There isn't enough money in the world and that is why bus drivers are my heroes.

Given the food restrictions on what is called “healthy food” I couldn't make 170 different menus a year that anyone would want to eat. That's why food service workers are my heroes.

Every researcher, lab assistant, computer technician, ed tech, clerk and administrative assistant—everyone one of you is my hero.

Ask others and they will say the same thing. Educators and everyone who works in education in Maine are heroes to the students, the parents, the communities and the MEA. That’s because public education preK-12 in Maine exceeds everyone’s expectations. We graduate more, we have higher scores, we nurture and mentor, and when we are done the Community Colleges and University of Maine System take those same people and lifts them even higher. Because public education is about lifting people up, not weeding them out.

We lift our students in the cafeteria, in the hallways, in the lecture hall, in the classroom—because we need to take those students and we need to turn them out as educated citizens. Educated citizens and education citizens. We need to turn out activists, not spectators. Whether students leaving my classroom agree with my perspectives or our points of view isn’t the point. Nurturing thoughtful decisionmaking, and the ability to make ethical choices, accepting all individuals regardless of differences, and being able to be a productive citizen to each individual’s capacity - that to me is an education citizen. Someone who comes out of public education ready to be a voice for his or her beliefs.

Every person in this room is an education citizen. We are passionate about our work or we wouldn’t be here. Passion for me, is best described as inspiration. It is about a vision of the future that you can see in the eyes of the students you

work with. I am pleased to be able to have my friend Patty Scully join us today to talk about her passion for teaching and the award she received because of her inspiration of students.

Patty Scully is a teacher in Winslow. In 2016, she represents Maine as our NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence winner. Patty is one of those education citizens that does what you do she loves her students and she gets up every morning to do the best that she can on behalf of them. Please welcome Patty Scully.

Executive Director’s Speech By: Rob Walker I taught 7th grade life science for 29 out of my 30 years in the classroom. During one of those years, I tried to get my students to make a connection about almost every life science topic to osmosis and diffusion. It was surprisingly easy. In one of my classes, I would point to Norm and he would stand up and give the definition of diffusion and then we would explore the connection. The next year I got a note from an 8th Grade teacher wanting to know why Norman was standing up and giving the definition of diffusion.

I think this year I want to make connections to two other words – leverage and honesty.

Honesty After all we were hearing from candidates for the past few months, I thought we should spend a little time on the topic of honesty.

Some people are honest because their ethical and moral standards demand that of themselves. Some are honest because the truth is less painful than being caught in a lie. I imagine that some would rather make up a story to get their way and risk being exposed (or not) as a liar.

I read an article that claimed from time to time everyone struggles with being honest, and it claimed that politicians are less honest than most. Since I read it on the Internet, it must be an honest accounting of some research. True or not, we need to pay attention for the next 6 months.

Last year in the 2015 session of the 127th Legislature there were legislators who opposed any increase in the minimum wage.

And this is about honesty. When faced with the successful petition drive to place minimum wage on the ballot in November the opposition to every minimum wage bill now proposed a smaller increase in the minimum wage with one of the solutions they fought against a year ago.

I am tired of one of my relatives saying he likes Governor LePage because he tells it like it is. The Governor did not tell the truth when he said Maine graduates are not treated the same as other college bound students or that William and Mary makes Maine students take additional tests to determine acceptance. Telling it like it is means telling the truth. He may be telling it like he sees it or like he wants it, but that is far different from telling it like it is.

One of the presidential candidates also tells it like he sees it, but that is not how it really is. One cannot say he will fight to bring back jobs to this country and then have his clothing line made in Mexico. That same candidate cannot continue to claim he can make Mexico pay for a wall even after the President of Mexico said it wasn’t going to happen. Or rail against Hispanics and then tweet a picture of himself eating a taco on Cinco De Mayo and saying he loves Hispanics. Or saying he is in favor of increased taxes on the wealthy and then reneging on that and then reneging on that and then reneging on that.

Former statesman and Senator from New York Daniel Moynihan said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

And honesty is about keeping a promise. In the nineties we inserted language into law saying it was the intent of the legislature to fund K-12 education at 55%.

When the legislature never lived up to its stated intent, the MEA and its partners passed a 55% referendum question in 2004 that was never fully implemented. We had inched our way to 53% and the market crashed in 2008. Now we are proposing a funding solution to reach the 55% goal. Adding a surcharge to incomes over June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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Your Association $200,000 will add more than $150 million to public education funding – and it does by reversing some of the tax cuts from the first term of Governor LePage. We are a step closer to the promise of 55% funding. Your MEA Board of Directors has authorized the expenditure of funds from the legislative crisis fund to support this initiative. The NEA just authorized $800,000 to support this with the option ask for more help in September.

We are not waiting until the fall to convince voters this is a good idea. We will gather polling data in the next few weeks to cement our winning message, we are already talking to school board members to elicit their support and we have engaged media and communications experts to help share information about the promises of a well-funded public education. We spent the weekend at the Democratic Convention getting hundreds of delegates and elected officials to sign on to our Stand Up for Students campaign. Here is part of the message we shared with the delegates on the big screen.

One of the translations of Archimedes’ work is “Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will move the earth.” There are more detailed translations, but if you are a science person and hear this one, a number of questions come to mind.

How long is the lever?

Is this a first class lever? If it is, where do you place the fulcrum and how big is it?

I want to spend a few minutes talking about leverage and the questions it can raise. Leverage can be defined as influence or power used to achieve a desired result.

Everyone thinks about leverage – my mother unconsciously thought about it. One of her frequented remarks was, “Your father said it was none of my business but…”

Let’s start by taking a look at leverage in our world and at one vote in last spring’s legislative session.

On one labor bill, LD 404, on the house side 51 Republican House members voted to ban dues deductions, 10 voted to protect dues deductions from pay checks and 7 did not or would not press their button one way or the other.

On that roll call every Democratic member in the House supported our ability to collect union dues.

On the same bill that would ban Union dues deductions from pay checks, 12 Republican Senators voted to support that ban on dues deductions and 8 Republican Senators voted to maintain your local’s ability to have dues deductions. All 15 Democratic Senators supported your local’s ability to collect dues through payroll deduction.

And leverage is important. Look what happens if we could not count on 6 out of the 8 friendly Republicans in the Senate.

I would point out that we found 8 Republican friends out of 20 in the Senate and only 10 Republican friends out of 68 in the house. As I said last year and the year before that and I think the year before that, we will need to cultivate our leverage with both sides of the aisle.

This is about leverage for the Republican Party also. You should know that both parties consider the Maine Education Association to be highly effective advocates at the legislature. For those legislators who do not want to recognize the value of our education employees and who wish to walk away from the state’s obligation to provide majority funding for education, they would seek to increase their leverage by reducing ours. Getting rid of payroll deduction is one of their leverage points and would be devastating to MEA’s finances. We had enough leverage to make that go away.

The Michigan Education Association lost payroll deduction through legislation.

They now spend millions of dollars in staff time chasing down credit card numbers and bank transfers and doing it again when members change banks or get new credit cards. UniServ Directors in Michigan now spend a huge part of their time doing this work instead of advocating for the Michigan members.

Imagine our loss of effectiveness if our UniServ Directors became dues collectors.

We would lose leverage at the table, we would lose leverage when our treasury shrunk to the point of not being able to support our many, many small locals and financially provide support to hire an arbitrator or pay for a fact-finding, and we would lose leverage if we could not help a local with a mailing to members in a town or RSU to pass a budget. We do not want to be like Michigan and Wisconsin and North Carolina. We are a few legislative votes away from what happened to them. If the Maine Education Association is to continue to have enough leverage to 30

Maine Educator • June 2016

fulfill its mission of protecting the rights of educators and advancing their interests and welfare, then your votes for pro-public education, pro-labor candidates make a difference.

The way tax policy in this state is constructed is about leverage. Directly and indirectly we are engaged in tax policy. We are working for ways to leverage increased support of public education. We opposed the proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the income tax. The state’s ability to fund our community colleges, state universities and K-12 schools depends on the balance of taxes it collects. We all know about the sensitivity around local property taxes and the struggle we face to get local school budgets and contracts settled when the state does not step up to its funding obligation. Obviously the big revenue sources are property, sales and income taxes. But there is a lot of money in the “other” category including fees and the estate tax which generates 11 million dollars.

Imagine how the lever looks when we remove the 11 million dollars.

Higher Education, K-12 Education and Social Services to our neediest children take up an incredibly large portion of the state budget. These would be hardest hit parts of the state budget if the estate tax went away.

It is for that reason we opposed and worked to defeat LD 1367, an act to eliminate the income tax and LD 1622, and act to eliminate the estate tax.

Last year the MEA Board of Directors voted to support the Mainers for a Fair Wage campaign. If this ballot question passes in November, it will gradually raise the minimum wage to $12.00 per hour and index the wage to inflation after that. At this year’s meeting you will be voting on two new business items that directly connect to this. NBI #6 asks you to reaffirm MEA’s commitment to raising the minimum wage.

And NBI #5 asks us to explore a minimum wage for educational support personnel.

All of our members make above minimum wage. But there are lots of wage scales in our districts that do not pay $12.00. In fact, there are 184 contracts that have some steps below the proposed $12.00 minimum wage. If we can pass this ballot question, we have the chance to affect the economic well-being of hundreds of our members. The economic leverage of our members that could not be achieved at the table for our ESP members can be achieved at the polls.

It is about our members and it is about the students in our schools. I mentioned at the start that I spent 29 years teaching 7th grade students. I spent my 30th year teaching 8th grade science. Teaching in Lewiston there was always poverty in my classes. It seemed more apparent in 2006. So many of my students were not having their basic needs met. For some, school was a required distraction. Raising the minimum wage for the working poor will change how parents interact with their children. Fewer hours on a second job may create a different balance for work hours and time spent with the children.

When we get to $12.00 per hour in 2020, one in three single parents will see an average wage increase of $3,369 a year. Nearly 90,000 workers who struggle to pay for food, housing, heat, and healthcare will realize an average increase of almost $4,000. 52,000 children will be affected by one or both parents getting a raise. We will provide economic leverage for the working poor and for our ESP members who will find their wages now having a starting floor of $12.00 per hour.

It may be a little harsh but at the national level, our leverage increased with the death of Antonin Scalia. We were about to lose an anti-union case at the Supreme Court. We only dodged the first bullet. According to NEA General Counsel Alice O’Brien, there are at least 24 anti-union cases working their way through the legal pipeline toward the Supreme Court. The next appointee to the Supreme Court matters on a bread and butter level to the NEA, the MEA and to you. Supreme Court decisions that limit our ability to collect dues or to be exclusive representatives will all but eliminate our leverage to be effective advocates for our members.

I am usually pretty careful about characterizing MEA as only pro-Democrat. And the truth of the matter is that at the state level we look at the voting records of state officials and throw our support behind supporters of public education regardless of affiliation. For incumbents it is always about the facts. Vote with us most of the time and we will support your reelection. We would love to have a larger group of Republican legislators who would support public education and labor issues.

But to be frank about the national scene, the election of Donald Trump, or even the “wannabes” of Cruz and Kasich would find us fighting to keep the National Labor Relations Act in place. We would struggle to be good levers to move the economic agendas of our members if Congress went after public sector bargaining the way that Kasich did in Ohio or Scott Walker did in Wisconsin.

Your Association The late US Senator Paul Wellstone said, “There is, of course, no guarantee of success. But politics is not about observations or predictions. Politics is what we create by what we do, what we hope for, and what we dare to imagine.”

I am proud to say we are leveraging support in the public arena. Former Maine Commissioner of Education Duke Albanese regarded it as his mission to go around to groups all over the state highlighting the good things happening in our schools.

He knew and I know that the public is more willing to support something that works rather than a system unjustly labeled as a failure by our Governor.

With a grant from the National Education Association, Communications Director Giovanna Bechard put together a media plan that included MPBN, and a partnership with WCSH6 and WLBZ2 to highlight an inspiring educator each week. In addition, we have this promo to leverage public support for education. (see page 18 for the video).

As you can see we have a full plate. This is work we will do in addition to creating a focus on membership growth, our usual advocacy work, moving a slate of bills through the legislature and defeating some really bad bills. The Maine Education Association will be asking a lot of our staff and I think they are prepared to deliver.

We will need to get some things from you.

Your vote for our ballot campaign Votes from friends and family for this campaign Your votes for true friends of labor and public education A small amount of time to make sure others vote to support public education And like Jody Dube in the video, speak up and elevate public education with anyone who will listen It is time to stand together, together we can get this done. I look forward to our work together.

MEA Awards Banquet

MEA Friend of Education - Senator Rebecca Millett Senator Millett is a true champion for our public schools. She works tirelessly, in an often difficult environment, to speak on behalf of what’s best for our students and our schools. This past legislative session, Senator Millett sponsored several bills that would have improved education in the state. In particular Senator Millett pushed, and isn’t giving up yet—for a bill to raise the minimum teacher salary in Maine to $40,000.

MEA Golden Apple Award - Caroline Viles This award is intended for someone who demonstrates a strong commitment to their local school or students. Caroline Viles, a parent from Athens is an exemplary choice. In addition to being an active part of the local PTF organization, helping to put on fundraisers for the school and fun events like movie night, Mrs. Viles also helps assist teachers with special events and ordinary tasks, like photocopying, writing the school newsletter and running a school backpack nutrition program.

MEA Human and Civil Rights Award - Gardiner Civil Rights Team This group of teenagers in Gardiner saw the need to change the district’s harassment policy, and helped push for a change that would include socioeconomic bias into the policy. The Civil Rights team presented its case to the SAD 11 school board saying they were concerned about making sure the school environment was safe for learning. The Civil Rights Team project surrounding harassment was intended to increase awareness of the issue with the hope of stopping the type of harassment at schools in all grade levels.

Joan McGovern ESP Award - Don Sanders School bus driver, Don Sanders started a Books on the Bus program where older students are paired with younger students on the bus, and together they read. Students get to choose which books they want and share their reading together. After a while, Don realized students who were misbehaving before stopped and instead the students were engaged and learning. Don partnered with the Topsham Public Library to arrange a check-out plan where he could receive more books with a variety of titles. Don will now be nominated for the NEA ESP Award and will represent MEA at the NEA ESP conference.

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Clyde Russell Scholarship Recipients Shana Paradis will graduate first in her class from Wisdom High School in St. Agatha. A straight-A student for four years, she has a weighted GPA of 112. Shana is also an accomplished athlete and makes time for volunteering in her community.

Shana received a $2,000 scholarship and plans to attend the 3-year medical radiography program at Eastern Maine Community College beginning this fall.

Eva Farkas (far left) from Pittston, graduated from Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone. Eva had received three grades of 4 and three of 5 on AP exams by the end of her junior year and earned top grades in three AP courses first semester of her senior year. Eva was accepted via early admissions to Columbia University planning on a double major in chemistry and computer science. Her long-term goal is a career in medical research and advocacy, to (in her own words), “develop medicines, technologies, and practices that improve peoples’ health.” Eva Farkas received a $5,000 Clyde Russell Scholarship.

Paige Brown (center left) will graduate from Bangor High School, where her weighted GPA of 4.8205 places her 4th in her graduating class of 267. Paige was recently named a semi-finalist in the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program and in March won a first-place Medal of Distinction for Global Good (and $150,000!) in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search, where she presented a study on the water quality of Bangor-area streams with high E. coli and phosphate levels. Paige will attend Stanford this fall where she expects to major in chemical engineering. Paige received a $5,000 Clyde Russell Scholarship.

Isaac Webb (center right) has been described by the head of school at John Bapst, where he attends, as being both a musical prodigy and an academic prodigy. Isaac can count sixteen AP and honors courses to his credits. Isaac is on his way to become a “Ramblin’ Wreck” at Georgia Tech this fall, but is already one heck of an engineer! Isaac received a $5,000 Clyde Russell scholarship.

Jenna Crane (far right) will graduate as one of the top twenty students in her class at Dexter Regional High School. Jenna’s goal is to pursue an Associate of Science degree in nursing at Southern Maine Community College beginning this fall, after which she may go on to obtain a degree in nursing at a university. Jenna received a $2,000 scholarship to help her further her educational goals.

Clyde Russell Scholarship Winner Profiles

Your Association

MEA Spring Conference - Lessons Learned Educating

the

Whole Student Maslow before Bloom MEA Spring Conference 2016

On Every Student Succeeds Act MEA members played a pivotal role in passing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and we must implement the law in ways that will ensure success for each and every student. ESSA is not a magicbullet solution; it is an opportunity for us to be included in decisions that will build the great public schools our students deserve.

“This is about your ability to do something for your students in the classroom you don’t have to do all of them, just do one.” - Dan Allen, MEA Training and Professional Development Director in talking about what impact teachers can have on the new law.

On Engaging Younger Educators The MEA has a new group, Young Education Professionals (YEP) of the MEA who are working to share the value of membership with other young educators. Those younger members spoke about what they think needs to happen to engage more early career educators.

“I get all the benefits just by sitting. If you want young people being active what is something that I can do that requires me to participate? How do you get people who are going into leadership and how do you get them in the union in the first place? Even me, personally, I’m a member but no one sat me down and said ‘this is why I should join the union.’ Other members need to demonstrate the reason I have to join in the first place—where I'm getting some kind of value out of it—I need to know what I’m going to get from my union that I can’t get from my peers or somewhere else.” - Brian Kim, Yarmouth EA

On Sharing Ideas for ESP in Education How can we contribute to the “whole child” in education?

“I tell students all the time, ‘Remember, cough in your sleeve.’ ‘Did you flush and wash your hands?’ The reminders about things like brushing their teeth, especially at the elementary level are important. I come to school with healthy snacks and model that good behavior for them,” - Carrie Coffren, Gray-New Gloucester ESPA

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Maine Educator • June 2016

On Building a Community For first-time MEA Conference attendees, there was a new understanding of the value of membership.

“In the two sessions I’ve been in so far, it’s very diverse and there is a variety of age ranges and teachers. The workshops have done a good job in making me realize I'm part of a community that’s supportive with people who have a lot of practical ideas on how to create a good classroom environment.”

- Christine Boudreau, Falmouth EA

Your Association

I am

Old Town Elementary Librarian Lynn Mayer (RSU 34 EA) received the Walter J. Taranko School Librarian Award for making significant contributions to the school library profession. Mayer is noted for her support of students and faculty with technology and literacy. The principal called her the “heart of the school.”

Students and staff supported the SMS Tri for a Cure team (Miss Demaria, Mrs. Constantine, and Mrs. Wirsing) by wearing pink in honor of Mark Murray and our colleagues who are cancer survivors.

Tyne Turcotte and Venise Philbrick (Lewiston EA) seen here at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ Teaching and Learning conference where educators shared their work and grew their skillset.

Paige Knowlton (Augusta EA), organized a Girls on the Run program at Gilbert Elementary School in Augusta. Girls on the Run is a physical activity based positive youth development program for girls in 3rd through 5th grade. The program teaches life skills, confidence, health and fitness through dynamic, interactive lessons and running games.

The program culminates with the girls being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5K running event.

Art educators, from left, Suzanne Goulet, Kristin Anderson and Heidi O'Donnell were recognized for their achievements to the profession, receiving awards from the Maine Art Education Association. The Maine Art Education Association is a statewide professional organization whose members are committed to excellence in visual arts education.

Joyce Small and Lori Andrews of RSU 61 of team Songo Locks School were finalists in Maine's 2016 Farm to School Cook-off Challenge. The Farmto-School project helps support healthy meals in Maine schools.

AFUM member Kevin McCartney (seen standing) of the University of Maine at Presque Isle has been named the first ever Fulbright Scholar in northern Maine’s history. McCartney will travel to Poland to continue his research in the field of micropaleontology.

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Social Studies Summer Symposium

The Maine DOE, in partnership with the Maine Council for the Social Studies, will hold the inaugural Social Studies Summer Symposium at Maranacook High School in Readfield. Eighteen Social Studies Teacher-Leaders will be offering sessions on a variety of topics.

FMI-email: Kristie.Littlefield@maine.gov

Ongoing

Discounted Summer Travel

Through GEEO (Global Exploration for Educators Organization) you can travel, at a discount, with other educators around the world to places like Bali, Peru and Ireland. PD credits are offered and lesson plan integration from your trip is part of the program.

Learn more at geeo.org

September

MEA-R Day of Caring

The Day of Caring combines the concepts of NEA’s Outreach to Teach and AARP’s Day of Service to honor September 11, 2001. Our goal is to make a difference in a school in every Maine County every year for our students and our communities.

We invite you to join us this coming September for our annual Day of Caring—projects vary by county.

All Summer

Grant Money Available

The Stand Up For Students campaign, which would increase education funding for public schools, is offering up to $1,000 grants to parent and student groups and local associations who would like to organize an effort to promote the ballot initiative campaign.

FMI: jkosinski@maineea.org

FMI: Jan Cerabona, MEARetired Community Participation Coordinator, jcerab2805@aol. com.

Let’s talk about you Call us for help in creating personal solutions for: • auto insurance • umbrella liability • life insurance • home insurance • other financial needs • retirement planning Lisa Bussiere, Auburn . . . . . . . . . . . 207-783-3660 David Case, Bangor . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207-941-2121 Joe DeFranco, Ellsworth . . . . . . . . . 207-941-2121 Jeff Delisle, Augusta . . . . . . . . . . . . 207-623-5004 Stewart Durrell, Wilton . . . . . . . . . . 207-645-4779 Martha Frost, Falmouth . . . . . . . . . . 207-797-3019

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Maine Educator • June 2016

P.J. Kinney, Presque Isle . . . . . . . . . . . . 207-764-1283 Tony LaPrino, Rockland . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207-941-1212 Dominic Vermette, Waterboro . . . . . . . . 207-467-3650 Troy True, Brunswick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207-729-1975 Dominic Vermette, East Waterboro . . . . . 207-247-0186 Paul Yarnevich, South Portland . . . . . . . . 207-510-6600

Accelerate Your Degree Join us on Sebago Lake this summer and earn credits!

Courses for Educators include: • Maine Special Ed Law • Research Design in Education • The Standards Driven Classroom

Register Now! Visit sjcme.edu/summer2016

or call 800-752-4723 for more information.

2016-2017 Pre-Retirement Seminars Pre-Retirement Days are sponsored by the Maine Education Association in conjunction with the Maine Education Association-Retired. The purpose of these informational meetings is to inform MEA members, who intend to retire within five years, of the retirement options available to them.

To register for one of the pre-retirement days, you must go to www.maineea.org/preretirement to register.

2016

Location

Time

Wed., Sept. 14 Wed., Sept. 21 Wed., Sept. 28 Wed., Oct. 5 Wed., Oct. 12 Sat., Oct. 22

Ellsworth Area Auburn Area Rockland Area Kennebunk Area Skowhegan Area Caribou Area

4:00-7:00pm 4:00-7:00pm 4:00-7:00pm 4:00-7:00pm 4:00-7:00pm 9:00am-12:00pm

Topsham Area Waterville Area Machias Area South Portland Area Bangor Area

4:00-7:00pm 4:00-7:00pm 10:00am-1:00pm 4:00-7:00pm

2017 Wed., March 1 Wed., March 8 Sat., March 18 Wed., March 22 Wed., March 29

Educating for life.

4:00-7:00pm

Exact locations will be announced at a later date.

June 2016 • www.maineea.org

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Web Version

The Effects of Caregiving WISERwomen.org Women move in and out of the workforce more often than men, experiencing breaks in their work histories that result in lost income, lost promotions and lost retirement savings.

Monthly MAP Webinar Available on demand starting May 17th Beating the Blues We all feel sad sometimes. Get techniques for beating the blues, and learn to recognize the difference between sadness and depression.

To view a seminar on demand go to anthemeap.com and enter MEA Benefits Trust. You'll find these and other seminars in the "Online Seminars" section.

Women's Caregiving Patterns Women remain the primary caregivers in our society, and they are spending a significant part of their adult lives providing it. Whenever a sick child, an ailing spouse or a parent requires care, it is most often the mother or the daughter who provides for it - even if that means leaving whatever she is doing at the time. In fact, according to a study by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, among all family caregivers, more than 6 in 10 are women. Overall, women caregivers provide more hours of care and are more likely to make career changes in order to fulfill this role.

Benefits of the Mediterranean diet mayoclinic.org Research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease. The diet has been associated with a lower level of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol - the "bad" cholesterol that's more likely to build up deposits in your arteries.

The Mediterranean diet is also associated with a reduced incidence of cancer, and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

Women who eat a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extravirgin olive oil and mixed nuts may have a reduced risk of breast cancer.

More than half of family caregivers report that their careers are adversely

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affected by this role. Women far more than men compromise their work schedules by moving in and out of the labor force, experiencing breaks in their work histories. The Social Security Administration reports that among new retired-worker beneficiaries, women average 13 years of zero earnings since age 22. This is on average 13 fewer years to earn a pension if one is even available; 13 fewer years to climb the ladder toward better jobs and better pay; and 13 fewer years to put money away through a defined contribution plan or IRA. Every time a career is interrupted, the ladder toward better jobs and better pay must be reestablished when a woman rejoins the labor force. She loses not only time but often must start over after taking time off.

Caregiving is also a factor determining why more women work part-time.

Research shows that because of the greater responsibility for caregiving, they are more likely than men to cut back on their hours of employment to meet family needs. About 18 percent of working women with children over six worked part-time in 2009, compared to about four percent of working men with children. The consequences are serious; part-time employment is associated with lower wages, fewer opportunities for promotion and a lower likelihood of benefits.

The National Alliance for Caregiving study also found that 68 percent of caregivers made reductions or adjustments to their work schedules as a result of their responsibilities. This financial burden can easily impact the caregiver's ability to save for retirement.

To read the complete article.

Tick Removal cdc.gov If you find a tick attached to your skin, there's no need to panic.

Several tick removal devices are available on the market, but a plain set of fine-tipped tweezers will remove a tick effectively.

How to remove a tick 1.Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.

2.Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.

3.After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.

4.Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.

Put the tick in a dry jar or ziplock bag and save it in the freezer for later identification if needed.

Follow-up If you develop a rash or fever within several weeks of removing a tick, see your doctor. Be sure to tell the doctor about your recent tick bite, when the bite occurred, and where you most likely acquired the tick.

Board of Trustees Susan Grondin, Chair Sally Plourde, Vice Chair Mary Kay Dyer, Secretary Robin Colby Larry Given Grace Leavitt Donna Longley Barbara Williams

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Did you know....

Onlife has a mobile app! If you don't sit down at your computer often and prefer to use your smartphone, Onlife has a mobile app available to members!

• Log onto www.onlifehealth.com. The keycode is MEABT if you've never logged on before.

• To access the app, click the DOWNLOAD APP button on The Ultimate Wellness Experience engagement tile on the dashboard.

• You will be prompted to enter your mobile number and agree to Terms & Conditions.

• You will then receive a text message with a link to the AlwaysOn™ Wellness App in the App Store or Play Store.

• After installation, you will enter the Username & Password you use to access the Onlife website, and be prompted to create a unique PIN that will be used for future log-ins.

• You can complete your Health Assessment, track progress, and work with a Health Coach on the app.

• You can also view points history and totals, so you know how close you are to earning incentives. Once you have at least 50 points, you can redeem those on the app!

Questions? Contact Linda Welch, MEABT, at lwelch@meabt.org or 888.622.4418 x2510, or Onlife at 877.806.9379.

@theMEABT

This email was sent by: The Maine Education Association Benefits Trust 35 Community Dr Augusta, ME 04330

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