Our Leavenworth NEA negotiating team has been planning and organizing for the upcoming bargain of the 2012-13 contract.  We have met with KNEA reps and have developed a great plan by which to achieve our desired goals, with the help and assistance of our members.

LNEA has provided numerous dates to the Board for potential bargaining sessions over the next several weeks.  We will let you know when they schedule a meeting with us, so you can attend if you want to be fully informed.

You should know that the Board has made the decision to move away from the “interest based” approach to bargaining and chosen to hire an out-of-state attorney to bargain the contract on behalf of the Leavenworth community.  It is the goal of LNEA not to lose sight of our primary interests – the teachers and students they serve! Our Association is committed to keeping dialogue open regarding the contract, our schools, our students and our community without capitulating to uninformed demands that sometimes surface during the “traditional’ or adversarial process.

For your information, parts of the contract to be negotiated each year must be “opened,” either by the Board or by our team.  We opened the articles:

• Article 3, Duration – sets the beginning and ending dates that the negotiated agreement will be in effect.  It is usually July 1 of a given year to June 30 of the following year.
• Article 5, Contract Year – sets the number of contract days a teachers is expected to work during a given school year
• Article 6, Duty Day – defines such issues as the duty free lunch, the length of planning time, the parameters for parent conferences and faculty meetings, etc.
• Article 19, Leave Policy – sets the rules for taking leave during the school year
• Article 26, Salary Schedule – sets the salary schedule, including supplemental payments, for a given school year
• Article 27, Fringe Benefits - sets the amount of money the district will contribute to an employee’s health insurance policy; it also lists other benefits available to teachers, but that are not partially (or fully) paid by the district
• Article 30, School Calendar – lists the negotiated holidays and work days for the current school year as well as the ensuing year
• Article 31, Evaluation Procedure – sets the parameters for evaluation in the district.  In our district, both the tool and the procedure are included in the negotiated agreement
• Article 33, Early Retirement/Resignation Incentive Program – defines the benefits of early retirement

The Board opened some of the same sections: Articles 3, 6, 26, 30, 31 & 33, but also these articles:
• Article 10, Grievance Procedure – defines the procedure for grieving a violation of the negotiated agreement; it currently includes binding arbitration (by a neutral party)
• Article 24 – Vertical Movement on the Salary Schedule – sets the rules for movement on the pay scale regarding the number of years experience a teacher has
LNEA is committed to keeping you informed, and will do so through our blog and through email, and we will rely upon your support.  Please, please contact us with your suggestions and questions!

The blog address is: http://lneanews.blogspot.com/

Check this blog for news – also watch for email updates to come to your school email account.  If you add lneanews@gmail.com to your address book, this should ensure those messages do not go to your junk mail folder.

Barnes & Noble Stores Celebrate Educators with Spring Educator Appreciation Week April 14th - April 22nd

I got this email from Barnes and Noble today and wanted to share, in case you're interested. If you don't have one already, you can get a B&N Educator Discount Card by showing your teacher ID at a Barnes & Noble store.

Dear Educators,

As a part of the Educator Appreciation Week celebration, the Zona Rosa Barnes & Noble store will host its reception on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at noon. The event will feature a Grant Writing Seminar where we will be reviewing Deborah Koch’s How To Say It: Grantwriting, Write Proposal That Grantmakers Want to Fund. We will be offering you tips on how to bring literacy related technology into the classroom. Educators are asked to RSVP at Crm2184@bn.com . Helping us further celebrate Spring Educator Week, members of the Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City will be performing throughout the afternoon starting at 2:00 PM.

Educators who shop at Barnes & Noble during Educator Appreciation Week will receive a 25% discount on personal and classroom purchases, a 10% discount on DVDs and music, a chance to win a $500 Barnes & Noble gift card or one NOOK Tablet. Educators must present a valid Barnes & Noble Educators Discount Card to receive the discounts. *

We are very excited to offer you a special discount on any NOOK® eReader of your choice during our Educator Appreciation Days, April 14th-22nd. Stop by our NOOK counter and see which award-winning NOOK® is right for you. You’ll receive a 20% discount on our black & white NOOK Simple Touch, a 20% on our gorgeous NOOK Color or NOOK Tablet 16G, and a 15% discount on the newest edition -- NOOK Tablet 8G. The offer is good from April 14th-22nd in-store and online, limit one device per customer.

Over the past year, Barnes & Noble has expanded its educational sections and the majority of Barnes & Noble stores now offer either a B&N@ School or Educational Toys & Games section. Both sections provide educators and parents with a convenient in store and online one-stop shopping experience and feature exciting new teaching tools and games that make learning fun and engaging.