Teachers in St Cloud approve QComp

"Teachers approve pay plan

By Dave Aeikensdaeikens@stcloudtimes.com

St. Cloud school district leaders could know by the end of the week if the district will receive state money to participate in a performance-pay program for teachers.
Teachers voted Tuesday to accept the program. School board members approved it Monday. The application was delivered Tuesday to the Minnesota Department of Education.
Minneapolis and Hopkins school districts already have been accepted into the performance-pay program. The state has set aside $86 million for two years to pay for the program.
The proposal creates leadership positions for a number of teachers and provides $1.55 million for individual performance pay. The district's about 700 teachers could earn more than $2,000 each if they choose to participate.
The proposal does not change the teachers' contract that was agreed to in July. Any payments would be in addition to what the teachers already receive. If St. Cloud is accepted into the Quality Compensation program, known as Q-Comp, it could receive about$2.5 million this year.
Teachers can earn additional money by taking part in twice-a-month meetings where improving instruction is discussed. Teachers who volunteer for the program also will be observed at least four times a year.
Teachers also can earn extra money by meeting the goals of their school, meeting personal goals in an administrative evaluation and by meeting student-achievement goals.
All members of the teachers union could participate, including those such as social workers and counselors who are not classroom teachers, teachers union President Mary Broderick said.
"We feel this is a real powerful piece for us. This means all of the people in our bargaining unit would be doing this. This really puts focus on student learning," Broderick said.
The Quality Compensation program is for teachers union members only.
School board members want to get other employee groups into performance pay, as well."

For those of you who want more information here is a link to more than you ever wanted to know.

http://education.state.mn.us/mde/static/Manual%208%2012%2005%208-17.pdf

Article in Sunday's St Cloud Times on QComp

Board to vote on performance pay
By Dave Aeikens
daeikens@stcloudtimes.com


St. Cloud school board members and teachers are expected to vote this week on whether to join a state-funded performance pay program.
If the district is accepted, it could receive up to $2.4 million from the state.

District administrators and teachers union leaders have been meeting to hammer out an agreement.

The school board has a special meeting Monday about the proposal and teachers are scheduled to vote Tuesday. The deadline is Saturday.

Minneapolis and Hopkins school districts were the first two schools to be approved.

The program is called Quality Compensation, or Q-Comp.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty made the proposal and the Legislature approved it this summer.

It provides $86 million over two years for districts to join the program.

It includes five components: career ladders for teachers; professional development; instructional observations and standards-based assessments; ways to measure student growth; and alternative teacher compensation, or performance pay.

St. Cloud's proposal, if approved, calls for a career ladder for teachers that includes new leadership positions with the intent of improving teacher performance and student achievement.

St. Cloud school district and the teachers agreed in July to pursue the Q-Comp dollars when they settled the 2005-07 teachers' contract.

If St. Cloud is accepted, teachers can volunteer to participate, said Bernice Berns, associate superintendent for teaching and learning.

Teachers who participate will be expected to have more professional development, more observation and higher expectations for student achievement, she said. Some teachers can earn performance-based bonuses.

"The Q-Comp application is causing us to be very focused and consistent in our district and site planning," Berns said.

School Operating Levy Increase

Why I am voting against the operating levy?

After the September 13th school board meeting, where the board approved the new teacher’s contract, I had sent emails to school board members Lisa Fobbe and Brenda Hoffman on September 14th asking what I considered to be an important question to me. I want to make sure the taxpayers money is being used wisely. A blank check is not the answer to all the problems in the schools.

In private industry the great majority of non-union employees are paid based on performance. I believe we should be demanding the same of our teachers. The State of Minnesota has approved a performance based pay system for teacher called QComp. To encourage school districts to adopt the performance based pay system the State of Minnesota has authorized an increase in per pupil spending of $260 for districts that implement QComp. This information comes from the MN Department of Education web site.

I am aware that the school board cannot implement this without the approval of the teacher unions. I would like to know that the school board is at the minimum pressuring the teachers unions accept the performance based pay system. This was the subject of my emails to school board members Lisa Fobbe and Brenda Hoffman. I was trying to find out if the newly approved teacher contract included QComp. I must assume that my emails were ignored by both Lisa Fobbe and Brenda Hoffman as of today I still have no reply.

The levy increase would increase per pupil spending by $325 per pupil. Now if QComp was not implemented in the new teachers contract and not pushed for in the recent negotiations then the school board just threw away $260 per pupil of funding and is asking the taxpayers to make this up. My numbers indicate that $325 minus $260 equals a $65 per pupil shortfall. Now I would vote for a levy increase that would result in $65 per pupil increase in funding. My thinking may be wrong but I attempted to get answers from the school board prior to writing this letter but was not provided with any response. At the present time my vote will be no.

Hate Crime of Course

The following important information came from the Aardvark Alley Blog

Hate Crime?
Of Course!

Any Christian hates crime. Is crime an expression of hatred? Many are. Should there be a special category of offenses designated as hate crimes? Now there's the rub.

Our U.S. House of Representatives passed a "Children's Safety Act" (H.R.3132) a few days ago. The initial bill was aimed at protecting our young people from sexual predators. An ammendment proposed by Rep. John Conyers passed and became part of the act. This ammendment has nothing at all to do with sex offenders attacking children and everything to do with special-interest pandering, promoting homosexual "rights," and allowing the federal government to intrude even more in local and state government.

Title X of the Act is now "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention." Following previously established language, a "hate crime" is "a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person." Such language prioritizes the heinousness of offenses over and above the actions themselves merely by the perpetrator's choice of victims and his feelings about a certain group of people.

My concerns are several. First of all, I consider any crime of violence to be one of hate. Second, I think that the bill far outsteps the (already stretched beyond belief) constitutional limits for federal jurisdiction. Third, the bill's fuzzy language ("perception" is used 7 times in Title X) leaves it open to broad and intrusive interpretation. Fourth, the bill especially addresses issues of sexual orientation and "gender identity," providing special protection for those choosing to wallow in immoral behavior. Finally, the bill is, in my opinion, a classic "slippery slope" and provides a rallying point for those who would tighten the screws against verbal and written condemnations of deviant lifestyles.

You'll probably find any number of blogs and news items concerning the bill. Before that, read its entire content and explore its background through Thomas — U.S. Congress on the Internet. To get started, just copy and paste H.R.3132 in the

<$Thomas$>

Thomas search field, click "Enter bill number," and "Search."

As for me, I've written the following letter to my two senators:

Dear Senator ____,

While I laud the initial Children's Safety Act, I'm appalled and alarmed at the inclusion of the "hate crime" ammendment. It seems poorly written and intentionally vague, yet also intended to stifle moral and religious objection to certain behaviors and lifestyles.

I urge you and the Senate to please return the bill to its original form or reject it outright.

Am I an alarmist? Consider that our "neighbor to the north" has moved on to a subsequent legislative step and is regulating "hate speech." Already a Canadian pastor, Stephen Boissoin of Alberta, faces his province's Human Rights Tribunal because of a letter published in a newspaper, the Red Deer Advocate.

Boissoin's letter didn't call for violence, boycotting, or any other damaging actions against Canadian citizens. He merely challenged the unbalanced promotion of homosexuality in public education. A sample sentence from his letter reads, "Children as young as 5 and 6 years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights."

All of this stems from a new (April 2004) Canadian law initially sponsored by homosexual MP Svend Robinson. The law includes a "harassment by communication" — meaning that one could be censured, fined, and even imprisoned for calling homosexually "deviant" or "morally wrong." While Robinson himself claimed that the law will protect religious expression, he sounds as if that really doesn't matter: Instead, he paints rallying behind free speech and religious expression as "a mask for homophobia for people who don't want to be honest about the real reason why they don't want to include sexual orientation in the law."

I honestly think that Conyer's ammendment to the Children's Safety Act places U.S. law on the precipice down which Canadian jurisprudence has already tumbled.

Princeton Union Eagle

I see in this weeks paper that Vicky Hallin did stick to her guns and go against the rest of the council in her vote against the 2:00AM closing time on the weekends for RJ's Too. I also found interesting that the new teachers contract and the announcement of a new operating levy increase both came out last week. I do have some questions on those and am now attempting to get answers. More on that later. http://children.state.mn.us/mde/Teacher_Support/QComp/

Highlights from Dr Kuhn's Presentation LCMS

Do not compromise what Christ did on the Cross is the main theme of Dr Kuhn’s presentation. Christians need to stand for something. Christianity is the only religion to ensure eternal life. It is not earned. “I Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” In all things keep our eyes on the cross.

Community is having an effect on the church today. This is a major change for us today. In past years the church was having an effect on the community. It is ok for individuals to pray with individuals but it is not ok to pray with heathens, and yes this does include Muslim Budhist, and Hindus along with any religion not believing in the Triune God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Pull out your bible and see what happened to the Israelites when after Moses left to ascend Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. When Moses descended he found the Israelites worshiping Baal the god of the Egyptians. There was no room for compromise.

The culture today teaches there are no absolutes. The Holy Bible speaks in absolutes. There are hundreds of times the Bible states “Thus says the Lord”. Many old time Lutherans will remember that the Confirmation Rite included a public examination of the confirm ands. This was done more for the congregation than for the young people. This served as a reminder to the congregation of the Lutheran Confessions. We need to return to this practice.

Princeton City Council & Dr Kuhn Presentation

Last night I was at a informational meeting for the student performing in this years musical at the high school. I had an opportunity to speak to Vicky Hallin, a member of the city council. She indicated to me that she was against allowing RJ's Too to stay open until 2:00AM. Lisa Fobbe from the school board was also there she let me know that the school board will be voting on the new teachers contract tonight. I will be investigating to find out if C-comp (performance based pay) is included in the new contract. If C-comp is included it means an additional $250 per student in funding, not to mention the benefits of performance based pay.

One other note Dr. Kuhn past president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is speaking this evening at Redeemer Lutheran in Saint Cloud at 7:00 tonight on the events going on in the synod.