McKinley County Federation of United School Employees
OPEN LET TER TO THE EASTERN NAVAJO AGENCY COUNCIL THE NAVAJO NATION Honorable Council Members, On T uesday, Febr ua r y 7th , residents will go to the polls and cast their ballot for District 2 [Church Rock and Crownpoint] Representative on t he Ga l lu p - McK i n ley County School [GMCS] Board. The District 2 candidates are, Sandra D. Jeff, Freda E. Joe and Charles Long.
S a nd r a D. Je f f w a s a pp oi nt e d t o t he GMC S Boa rd to replace for mer Board President Titus Nez as Representative of District 2 and has since added her name to the ballot of the upcoming election. According to the media and investigative reports, it has been revealed—amongst other issues—that Ms Jeff has resided with her family in Albuquerque for the last 20 years where her children have attended a private Christian school that
does not offer a Native culture or language component in its curriculum. Freda E. Joe is a former GMCS employee. T he McK i n ley Cou nt y Federation of United School Employees [MCFUSE] has endorsed Charles Long for this important Board position. Charles Long is a resident of Crownpoint and has a distinguished record of honorable service to the Diné People: --Chapter official for 20 years and currently President
of the Becenti Navajo Chapter --Worked as Executive Staff for Navajo Chairman and several Presidents --Legislative staff assistant for the Navajo office and Speaker of the House - - Ch ief of St a f f for Legislative Branch He has dedicated his life to the service of the Diné ....while living amongst the Diné. Some years ago, MCFUSE was able to join the Eastern Navajo Agency in support for our students at Crownpoint
High School by signing the $2 million School Improvement Grant [SIG]; we hope that now the Eastern Navajo Agency will join MCFUSE in its efforts and support Charles Long for District 2 on the GallupMcKinley School Board. Let’s not allow individual interests to be placed above those of the residents, voters, and the children of District 2. Ahe’hee. Respectfully, Brian J. Bernard President, MCFUSE
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or ig i na l recom mendat ion by the Governor that would have had a higher (approximately $120M) and fundamentally dispropor tionate impact to school districts that have saved and rely on cash reserves to make it through
the school year. The key difference is that the Governor’s recommendation would have only pulled back ca sh ba la nces from t hose d ist r ict s t hat have above a 5 percent cash balance. The Legislative proposal
changes this to proportionately reduce school district’s and charter school’s State Equalization Guarantee (SEG) d ist r ibut ion s by approx imately 2 percent. O u r me t ho d pr ov id e d a fa i r a nd propor t ion at e approach to treat every district and ever y school the sa me, a s we bel ieve t hat ever y cl a s sroom a nd a l l children should be treated e q u a l l y. B a s i c a l l y, t h e Gover nor’s proposa l took f rom some, t hu s pick i ng w i n ners a nd losers wh ile the Democratic Legislative proposal took a little from all except for those already receiving emergency distributions and those with small cash balances. As the Chairman of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee, I weighed the Governor’s and Senate’s proposals and tried to find an appropriate balance. Ultimately, we compromised with the Senate and Governor’s proposal to keep the proportionate cuts at 2% of SEG, while providing a floor for those districts that only have a 3% cash reserves and keeping the exemption for districts receiving emergency supplemental funding. This provides for equity and a share of the pain across schools districts and charters no matter the size or situation, but also allows those operating with a minimum of reserves or emergency funding to continue through the remainder of the school year. To provide an example of
how these proposals differ in impacts, I will use my own school district in Gallup and McKinley County. This local district has one of the highest rates of children living in poverty in the country and nearly all students in these schools receive free or reduced-fee breakfast and lunch. In contrast to the winners in the Governor’s proposal, McKinley County only has the ability to collect property taxes on 20% of its lands, which hinders the local ability to raise or replace funding cuts at the State. The total impact between these proposals were that the Legislative proposal reduces Ga l lup - McK i n ley C ou nt y School District by $1.7M while the Governor reduces it by $2.4M. This local district is moving the needle to improve its schools in terms of the Governor’s grading system. Since 2012, Gallup-McKinley County School District has a d v a nc e d 6 9 p e r c e nt of schools by one-grade level and 22 percent of schools twograde levels. The Governor’s proposal would have punished this district and stall its heroic efforts to better our schools. I stand for the principle of equity in education and giving our students the best opportunity to succeed. I will continue to fight on behalf of our students. Lun d strom re p re se nt s McKin l e y an d San Ju an counties. This op/ed piece was compiled Jan. 26.
both in the Senate and the House, wa s to do th is i n a fa ir a nd equitable ma nner. Our original legislation reduced a nd cha nged the
The RMCHCS Auxiliary is hosting a community blood drive with United Blood Services Thursday, February 9, from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Friday, February 10, from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm The RMCH 3rd Floor Solarium, 1901 Red Rock Drive, Gallup Call United Blood Services at 505-246-1457 to make an appointment or go online at www.bloodhero.com using the sponsor code: Gallup Walk-ins are welcome. For more information call Bobbie at 863-6959 or Mary Ann at 863-3098
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Friday February 3, 2017 • Gallup Sun
OPINIONS