Below are speeches made by VTA President,
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Below are just a few of the many amazing speeches
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October 13, 2018
SPEECH - Closed session, Hello, I’m here to talk to you about the conditions at VHS. VTA has been working with district personnel to solve the issues, but I wanted you to hear about the issues. I want you to be aware. First of all, we have sewage backed up in the boys locker room. I have a video if you want to see it, but I’ll spare you that and just say the water bubbling up on the floor with roaches fleeing in all directions was very amusing to the boys in the locker room. I was just informed that this problem has been fixed. We had a tin can lid down in the drain that was causing the blockage. We also had a teacher get bitten by a spider. She was forced to go to urgent care last weekend when the bite became swollen and infected. I am told she missed a day of school due to this bite. We have a water leak in one of the science rooms where chemicals are supplied. Mosquitos in another room where standing water is a problem. Teacher and students report many bites. Rats in a few different locations. I am scheduled to do a walk through tomorrow to see the conditions first hand. I am hoping that next month I can report back to you that things are well in hand. VTA Speech Admin Designee - Elementary (past practice:sub, current practice: no sub) Students split or teacher(admin designee) deals with issues while kids wait. VTA is of the opinion that this could put our students and employees in untenable situations. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow SRP Retirement - Going forward I hope the board will revisit the necessity of STRS retirement. Grievance on Grievance Process: VTA has filed a grievance that stipulates that a level 3 grievance file by the whole board will be heard by the whole board and not just be automatically passed on. September 13, 2019
Good Evening Everybody, It’s hard to believe it’s only been a month since we started back up again with another new school year. Truthfully, so much is going on that it feels like it has been much longer. I thought I would offer up some acknowledgements and show some appreciation for some of the great things I’m seeing out there. First I want to acknowledge Dr Kimble and the Equity and Access Committee. Thank you for the invite. It was so powerful to have an open discussion around some real issues that we have to try and tackle. We’ll see some results of this tonight in the transportation report. We are all striving to make VUSD the model of educational excellence. We just need to acknowledge that sometimes there are unintended consequences. If we can come together and have open, honest conversation we stand a better chance of finding solutions that best address our shortcomings. I want you all to know that I appreciate the chance to participate in these discussions. Donna Caperton, I would like to thank you for your conservative outlook regarding the budget. As we’ll hear in your report tonight there are some hard truths we need to face. I appreciate your willingness to talk with me. I appreciate that we have come to an agreement that our budgets for the out years, 19-20 and 20-21 are just our best guess and not reality. Together we can keep VUSD on sound financial footing and hopefully provide more with less. Pat Emaus thank you for all you do. I appreciate your willingness to ask hard questions that sometimes have uncomfortable answers. I want to acknowledge that not only are you an awesome teacher, a very appreciated vice president, but also a VUSD community member that wants the best for Vista. Please keep sharing your great ideas. In closing, we started with a lot of change this year. We have new people and people in new places. We have a lot of students that didn’t show up. What I really appreciate is the way the community of VUSD seems to have come together. We’ve had a lot of “things” going on so far this year. I think that’s why it is so hard to believe it’s only been a month since school started. And yet, I am extremely hopeful as I watch us all work together to find solutions. I am so appreciative of all the compassion that is being shown. VUSD - no better place to learn. May 8, 2018
Good Evening. The Rotary Four Way Test Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? And Jess’s Speech was to apply the four way test to becoming a teacher. I think it’s appropriate to share this tonight as we celebrate and acknowledge the day of the teacher. First - Thank you for your declaration “The Day of the Teacher”. And I want to also acknowledge all the other educators that make our system work. I will paraphrase from the CTA website: https://www.cta.org/en/Parents-and-Community/Day-of-the-Teacher-2018.aspx California’s Day of the Teacher has its roots in the community and is patterned after the celebration of the traditional “El Dia del Maestro,” which is observed in Mexico and Latin America countries. Our California’s Day of the Teacher arose out of legislation co-sponsored by CTA and the Association of Mexican American Educators in 1982. Since then, this event honors the instructional excellences in our public schools, community colleges and universities. California communities share our goals for quality public schools and recognize public education is the cornerstone for strong communities. Students are at the center of everything we do and as committed, caring education professionals, we look forward to building relationships with parents, community organizations, local businesses, other unions, the faith community and senior citizens. We are all part of a community and we will best succeed when we work together. This year CTA is capturing and sharing the great work educators do on a daily basis to help students succeed. Together, we make a difference in the lives of our students. Together, we provide the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. Together, we make sure they have the skills they need for a bright future. So SMILE please. While it’s not always obvious we are doing this work together. April 12, 2018
Good evening everyone. I want to acknowledge THE Leadership Academy for a great presentation this morning. What a great way to start my day. The energy and excitement shown by the students reminded me of my memories of elementary school. The students combined fun and work and showed us that education doesn’t have to be that much different than play. I was especially impressed by the one young man. His comment was something along the lines of “I’ve learned that planning is important. I know that I have to finish my homework before I can practice my violin.” What a great ethic. On Tuesday, I got to watch a pair of teacher work together and jointly present a math lesson. Their energy and enthusiasm was infectious. Thirty or more 9th graders willing worked on arithmetic and geometric progressions. Two of the students actually help me re-learn the concept. This time around “I think I finally got it.” Both of these experiences demonstrated the great things going on in VUSD and they both are examples of something I heard this morning at THE LA. The concept of Win-Win was spoken of repeatedly by the students and we would do well do learn from their behavior. I am asking that we all admit and agree to the concept that trying to reinterpret the contract so that a teacher can be responsible for hundreds of different students every day is bad. VTA members are where the rubber meets the road. It is the educators in the classrooms and at the school sites that are doing all this great stuff for out students. Please remember that VTA is it’s members. VTA is not just me standing up hear speaking at you. VTA has always been willing to “do the right thing”. And ask yourself this, if the classroom teachers really think an idea is bad - who are we in this room to argue with them. Trust the experts. Trust the teachers; they;re the ones who spend the most time with the students. Here’s some of the “right things” that VTA has been willing to do for the district over the years: VTA allowed a temporary increase to class size to help with funding in the late 2000’s. VTA agreed to waivers that allowed creative scheduling at VIDA/VMMS. VTA agreed to two extra days so our students can have more time in school. Education will be better if you work with us. Nobody benefits if you treat us unfairly or do not offer us the respect that we have shown we deserve. March 8, 2018
So first thanks to the Key Club and Kiwanis for all they do, please accept that from a teacher and a Rotarian. Last month I was fortunate to be able attend the Servant Leadership Institute Annual Conference. I would like to thank Jim Mihal of JT Designs, a Vista based business, for his generosity. He provided a scholarship that allowed me to attend this fabulous conference. I would also like to thank Roger Gillespie and Art Barter of Datron World Communications for helping to make this possible. If you were here last year you will remember when I also spoke to Servant Leadership. VUSD has had a partnership with the Servant Leadership Institute and I am here tonight to ask that we continue down this path. Let me read from the SLI website: How You Get Results Is More Important than the Results Themselves. This simple statement is something that we would do well to emulate here in VUSD. If you apply this thought to the classroom, students can often learn more from a difficult failure than an easy success. Another theme from SLI: Inspire and equip leaders in your organization to find meaning and purpose in their work, foster an environment of trust and respect at all levels, and achieve success! I believe you could just as easily say Inspire and equip STUDENTS in your CLASSROOMS to find meaning and purpose in their work, foster an environment of trust and respect at all levels, and achieve success! Or Inspire and equip TEACHERS in your SCHOOLS to find meaning and purpose in their work, foster an environment of trust and respect at all levels, and achieve success! So I will repeat my request. I hope that VUSD will continue on the path of Servant Leadership that we started. I hope that you, the board, will continue to equip your teachers with the tools and resources they need so they can continue to inspire our students. February 15, 2018
Congratulations to our Golden Apple winners. This is always a great night, and I wish I could be there. Thanks to Patrick Emaus for reading this for me. As we approach the middle of February, spring is just around the corner. This is the time of year when we have to start our serious planning for the 2018/2019 school year. We still need to focus on our work for this year, but any changes that we want to implement need to be well underway. I ask that you continue to collaborate with VTA and include us in discussions. It is far more productive to work though scenarios first. And I would also ask that you remember the axiom, “Sometimes you have to go slow to go fast.” When VUSD/VTA agreed on our most recent contract we included language for a subcommittee to work on SpEd. That group should start working together soon and I am hopeful that through collaboration we will see some concrete solutions to some of our current issues. I know there is work going on with the Special Education Task force. Hopefully with this attention we will start to see beneficial results soon. I firmly believe that working together is our best hope for positive outcomes. We have two charter school proposals tonight. One of the take home messages for me is that we need our schools to have flexibility to develop their own personalities. Personalized learning is instruction that offers pedagogy, curriculum, and learning environments to meet the individual student's needs. The experience is tailored to learning preferences and the specific interests of different learners. I know that VUSD is also pushing this with our schools. It is great to see Dual Immersion finally coming to VUSD. We need all our sites to have the autonomy to develop in the direction they see fit. Site Autonomy is just personalized learning for the school. Thank you. FOR HOLD CARD 4B "You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child." If you are not a classroom teacher and you have not already agreed to pick up a book and read with a child, please contact an of our elementary schools about reading to their students. If you are connected to an elementary school, please make sure you are sending out invitations to adults in this room to join your site when you celebrate Read Across America. Thank you very much to the City of Vista, the VUSD School Board, and Dr Linda Kimble for supporting Read Across America. January 18, 2018
Good Evening Board Members, Cabinet and Dr. Kimble, First, on behalf of the Vista Teachers Association, I want to officially welcome Dr. Linda Kimble to VUSD. I look forward to working with you and I appreciate all the communication that we have already had, much of that before you even officially started your job. Before I go on however I need to tell you that tonight I have good news and bad news. I’m going to start with the negative. Then we can finish on a positive. Tonight the board is considering Resolution 18-16 Protection of Teachers’ Discretionary Income. I am extremely disappointed that this is coming up again. We addressed this already back in Nov. I have not pulled a hold card on this item as I don’t want to waste any more on an issue that is not within the school boards purview. I hope you will consider our previous discussions when this comes up again tonight. October 19, 2017
Closed Session Speech This speech was given during VTA’s regular report in Open Session. It followed a speech given to the board given an hour earlier, prior to closed session. I hope you have had a chance to reflect and deliberate with each other about our current bargaining status. I hope you have come to a decision that reflects your conviction that VUSD does what’s best for students. I hope you can justify your decision and that you have done the appropriate research, because this is one of those times that our students education hangs in the balance. We’re talking about language that has protected our students education for over 40 years. We have an opportunity to start fresh. I thought we had. And yet, over the last several weeks we have fallen back into our same old patterns of behavior. I remember when I was new to my activism. I naively told a board member that the district bargaining team was difficult and didn’t seem to want to reach an agreement. The response was “They said the same thing about you”. While we have spent many months now working together and coming to agreements on many articles we have now ground to a halt. We can’t imagine that the intention behind keeping a single word in the contract would actually be intended and used to give teachers 800+ students a week. Well, at least that is what we wanted to believe, however we now see caseloads over 300 and it seems as though the sky is now the new limit. This is terrifying. It’s not who Vista is, it’s not who we are and it’s not who should ever become. Sadly teacher with students bursting at the seams appears to be the new next big thing, but it isn’t something to be proud of. For a district that touts trust and collaboration as a mantra and strives to be the innovators in change with such items as personalized learning...should I stop now or are you seeing that this is pretty preposterous. We are moving backwards, not forwards…. I do not want to move backwards. I do not want to go back to the conflict. I do not want to go back to board meetings that last until 1 AM. I do not want to wear my black and yellow no large classes tshirt. I’m tired of the teachers having to protect the students from the district. We should be working together to do what is best for our students. So I’ll finish how I started. I hope your decision was or will be the right one. September 14, 2017
Collaboration Transparency Class Size - VUSD/VTA have some of the most powerful kid centered contract language in all of California. It has been a source of pride for VTA for years. It has often been a bone of contention among our teams in years past. The adults in the room throw around concepts like kids first and let’s do what’s best for kids. VTA has striven to do this everytime we come to the bargaining table. VTA, and by VTA all our members have consistently told us that keeping our class sizes low is something we believe in strongly. In our new models of education as we discuss personalized learning and restorative practices it is assumed that students need to have caring responsible adults that they can relate to. Every child should have contact with adults that know them. Getting to know our students is how we can best help prepare them for adulthood. I know that’s simplistic, but I don’t think that anyone will argue that to be an effective teacher requires a relationship, a connection, with students that allows for the trust and respect that we espouse. How do we expect our teachers to make those connections with huge numbers of students. Several years ago VTA agreed to increased student numbers. There was one year, as an 8th grade science teacher, I had over 220 students. There were kids that year that I was never able to connect to. There were just too many. Our current contract language says that middle school teachers can have 190 students and high school teachers can have 165. That’s a lot of students to be responsible for. That’s a lot of students to make connections with. AND this is one area that VUSD IS definitely THE MODEL OF EDUCATION in. Without going into details I am here to stress the importance of keeping the numbers of students that teachers are responsible for at this MODEL level. I ask you the board to consider if you really want classes as large as some of our neighboring districts have. Our practice in VUSD has been to honor this agreement. Our practice in VUSD is to see the importance of smaller class sizes. I should have worn my old yellow and black shirt. August 31, 2017
Good Evening Everyone. Before I start I would like to acknowledge Sue Butler and her passing. I would ask for a moment of silence in honor of her, as well as our other VUSD family members that are no longer with us. As we all know we had a record number of retirees last year. And while it’s hard to watch friends and colleagues leave, it also means we get to welcome a new cohort of teachers. On Aug 11, we had our certificated orientation and I would like to share that it was my pleasure to be part of the welcoming committee. Over one hundred new certificated employees were in attendance and the excitement and enthusiasm was obvious. So on behalf of VTA I want to welcome all the new teachers to VUSD, again. In addition we have over one hundred teachers returning for their third year. That means they have gained permanent status. I find that encouraging as it means that we are hiring candidates that are qualified and dedicated. I think it also means these newer educators see something good in Vista. Something that is keeping them here. Hopefully something that will encourage them to stay. Tonight I want to extend an invitation to members of the school board to join me at The School Board Brunch sponsored by CTA. On Sat, Sept 23, 2017 from 10:00 to 1:00 at the Coronado Municipal Golf Course Clubhouse. We would like you to join us to meet other school board members from around the county. We hope to provide you with information on the contributions that VTA, CTA and the NEA make to public education. So please accept our invitation and we hope you can join us. So I don’t have to pull a hold card on 11A I want to acknowledge Elaine Alexandres, Asst Sup of HR and her department. Suffice it to say that much of what AB 119 requires us to do was already common practice in VUSD. In addition, this MOU is an example of our values demonstrating mutual Respect, Trust and Collaboration. In closing I hope everyone had a good summer. School has started again and we are back to doing what we do best, Teaching Kids. April 20, 2017
Good Evening everyone. Tonight is bittersweet. I would like to offer my congratulations to our superintendent, Devin Vodicka. It seems like just yesterday that he showed up at the end of a long day of bargaining and helped us reach an agreement. If I can be allowed some poetic license, he showed up like a knight in shining armor and saved the day. By the end of the evening we had a tentative agreement and started down a road to a better Vista. So Devin. Congratulations. I will miss our talks. While we didn’t solve all the problems associated with public education, I think we did discuss most of them. I know you will bring the same positive outlook to Alt School. And I wish you all the best. I know our loss is their gain. But as we all know school districts keep going on. Congratulations to Roger Royster, Ramiro Santana and Andrew Driffill and thank you to the Vista Education Foundation for recognizing these outstanding teachers. While I wish I could attend, I have family commitments, VTA is sending two members to represent. I hope those of you that are going enjoy the Heroes of Vista Event. With the approval of the District’s retirement incentive, we will have a record number of retirements this year. Another big change that is going to ripple through our community. I hope to see you all at the retirement reception next month. I would like to remind everyone that last Dec, the VUSD school board approved a proclamation safeguarding our students. The VUSD school board is to be commended for this and the audience should know that VUSD was one of the first districts in CA to do so. We acted as the model of educational excellence. I bring this up now to draw your attention to May 1. On May 1, VTA is joining all of CTA in a day of action. A day to show our support for public education. And among other things I will be encouraging VTA members (and I ask you) to join us at a rally on May 1, 4pm Wildwood Park. VUSD and VTA have just started our negotiations. The two bargaining teams have met twice and are off to a positive start. Speaking for the VTA team I can say that they appreciate the professionalism and sincerity of the VUSD team. Even if we made them do an icebreaker. I am hopeful that the two teams will continue to move forward and find common ground as we continue forward. Lastly, I will offer a simple reminder. Last month I offered a survey asking teachers what the best thing about teaching is. The vast majority of responses made reference to our students. It was made very clear to me that VTA members clearly value the impact they make on their students. So I ask you, the board to remember that the Teachers of Vista care. The Teachers of Vista are invested in the success of their students. The Teachers of Vista love the “Ah! Ha!” moment students share with us when they discover or master something new. I ask you to remember this as bargaining continues. Thank you. March 14, 2017
Good evening everyone. I had the privilege to attend the Servant Leadership Conference this week. It was a day and a half of incredible speakers. Awesome stories. And great advice. I would like to thank personally thank Robin Swift, the President of the Servant Leadership Institute, whose generosity allowed me to attend. I would also like to acknowledge Roger Gillespie and Danielle Delaney as this wouldn’t have happened without their help. Let me read from their website: “Servant leadership is set of behaviors and practices that turn the traditional "power leadership" model upside down; instead of the people working to serve the leader, the leader exists to serve the people. When leaders shift their mindset and serve first, they unlock purpose and ingenuity in those around them, which results in higher performance and engaged, fulfilled employees.” I would also like to share with you tonight a print out of “The Nine Behaviors of a Servant Leader”. Serve First - In each encounter, ask the question, “How can I serve you?” Build Trust - Are you trustworthy? Are you willing to extend trust to others? Live Your Values - What are your values? In order to live your values, you must first define them. Listen to Understand - Do you talk more than you listen? Can you set aside all distractions and be present for people? Think About Your Thinking - What is your attitude as a leader? Are your thoughts about yourself or others holding you back? Add Value to Others - Are you a leader who consistently adds value? Do you always have to take the credit? Demonstrate Courage - Are you willing to make tough decisions and follow through on them? Do you keep your commitments? Increase Your Influence - Will you do what is right even when it may produce an unpopular outcome? Do you strive to be open and authentic with no hidden agendas? Live Your Transformation - If you have something, do you share it? If you need something, do you ask for it? I want to point out that VUSD has partnered with the Servant Leadership Institute. We have had most of our administrators attend trainings. Dr Vodicka can tell you more about this if you ask him. It is my hope that as the leaders of VUSD we will embrace this idea. I hope you will take the time to learn about Servant Leadership and see the value in it. We are getting ready to start bargaining and I am confident that if we as the leaders of VUSD are willing to serve first, build trust, live our values, listen to understand and truly practice Servant Leadership that we will get far more accomplished with far less acrimony than in past bargaining sessions. February 23, 2017
Congrats to all our Golden Apple Winners. MIndy Ayers, Susan Moynihan, Craig Gastauer, Rosy SImmonds, Judi Luna, Heather Golly and Doris Shapiro. Thank you for all you do. And if I may take a point of personal privilege, Susan - Craig It’s an honor to call you both friends. My life is better for having known you. One week from today will be Read Across America Day, hence the hat. Sorry just couldn’t do the costume I want to take a moment to recognize VIsta HIgh Noon Rotary. Thanks to their generosity, all Vista 1st graders received their very own book to read and keep. You should have seen their smiles...a mile wide, I kid you not! Also, just last week, the Vista High Noon Rotary donated $500 to Maryland Elementary Libary. We all know that a child's ability to read has a direct effect on their future success which is why we know how very important those foundational years are for our students as they begin their learning . SInce 1968, educators across the country have set the week of March 2 as Read Across America to honor the legacy of Dr Seuss. Drop everything and read! Many of our elementary schools, individual teachers as well, plan fun reading events such as family read, spotlight on reading with flashlights, wacky reading theme costumes and spirit days! It reminds us all how important, special and even magical reading is especially for our youngest little learners. So this year on March 2, I hope you will all join me, grab your hat and a book and go read to a child! I’ll leave you tonight with one of my favorite Dr Seuss quotes. Your have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose! Oh the places you’ll go! December 8, 2016
Good Evening Everybody. Board, Admin, Students, Audience. I want to extend a warm VTA welcome to the two newest members of the Vista Unified School Board. Mr Vargas. Mrs Smithfield. Congratulations and welcome. I hope your tenure is one of progress and success. I am looking forward to working with you and I would like you to know that if there is anything I can do help, you just need to ask. Dr. Alderson congratulations on your re-election. To the school board as a whole, thank you. You play an invaluable role in our community. While the role of a school board member may not be the most glamorous of positions; we know it doesn’t pay all that well. And yet, you are responsible for overseeing the education of our youth. You should take pride in the part you play in making the world a better place to be. That said, I want to ask you tonight to think about a couple of things. We have great things going on in VUSD. I think I can even say that it might even be safe to say, “This is Vista” with pride. But we shouldn’t get complacent. We can’t relax and rest on our laurels. While there are lots of great things going on there are still areas that need our attention. The successes are the easy things. It’s the things that we haven’t fixed yet that we need to pay attention to. I’m not going to go into a litany of problems or list all the things that I think are wrong. Instead I want to comment on a conversation that a few of us had a meeting about the LCAP. It was a forum for feedback from teachers and we were discussing both successes and “not-successes”. Talk turned to ways to help make programs successful. And what I got out of that evening was that even good programs can fail if they aren’t implemented correctly. Just adopting the perfect curriculum wont isn’t the answer. We need to be sure that when we start a new program that we do it in a way that will lead to success. We have examples of roll outs that have worked and ones that have not. Let’s learn from our past mistakes and follow best practices. We can’t just throw new programs at teachers and expect instant success. It takes work to learn new systems. It takes time to master a system. It takes resources. It takes training. It takes practice. Please bear this in mind as we hear reports and make plans. As we discuss programs and curriculum We can do great things! Hey we are doing great things. This is Vista after all. November 17, 2016
Good Evening, I’m sure everybody has seen some version of a political cartoon that cites 2016 as something out of the ordinary. My favorite was one that was a message from Father Time. “Thought you deserved a break: Cubs vs Indians.” Showing 2016 giving us the gift of the 2016 World Series. So with apologies to any Cleveland Fans for opening old wounds there was a lot of good to be said of this year's World Series. The fans of both teams held it together and demonstrated how despite overwhelming differences and competition decorum could prevail. And “Oh Boy!” was game 7 a fun one to watch. So with that introduction I would like to thank all of our school board members for their service. It is your hard work and willingness to serve that insures our success. I especially want to acknowledge Elizabeth Jaka and Angela Chunka. Thank you for your service and for all you have done for the students of Vista. VUSD has come along way in the past 5 years. Angela! Elizabeth! You deserve our thanks for your part in our transformation. School board races are down ballot events that don’t often get a lot of attention. And yet to those of us in the room tonight, the VUSD School Board Race was the election event that we have the most connection too. The conversations I’ve had around town this last week demonstrate the same sort of decorum shown by the Cubs and Indians. This was a school board election without the rancor and negativity that we’ve seen in other races. So to all the candidates and their teams I say thank you. We are the Vista Unified School District and we believe in Trust, Respect and Collaboration. Good night. September 8, 2016
The school year is moving right along. Signs of fall are in the air and before we know it spring will be here. And one of the classic signs of fall is elections. I want to talk tonight about Prop 55 and our role in this campaign. California public school funding was cut to the bone during the recession, forcing more than 50,000 teacher and staff layoffs, huge class sizes, and the elimination of programs like music and art that make our kids well-rounded. My personal anecdote: the district decided to cut funding for middle school sports and Surf Club went away. Public schools and colleges are just starting to come back from these cuts, and unless we pass Prop. 55 to maintain the current income tax rates on the wealthiest Californians, our schools will lose up to $4 billion a year. Furthermore, California is facing a severe teacher shortage. There is a need to hire more than 22,000 teachers next year alone, and schools are just beginning to restore critical support staff, including school security, library aides, bus drivers and custodians. Funding from Prop. 55 will give local school districts the money they need to hire quality teachers and school employees, and to maintain or reduce class sizes. Furthermore, Prop. 55 will help keep tuition rates stable and make more classes available to California’s 2.1 million community college students. It does our students a disservice to prepare them for colleges that they can’t afford or are full. Proposition 55 Does Not Raise Taxes on Anyone, the Wealthiest Will Temporarily Continue Paying the Same Amount they are Now to Protect Schools and Vital Services from Deep Cuts. Many school boards across the state have adopted resolutions in support of Prop 55. While there are many initiatives on the ballot this year. Prop 55 will have a direct impact on our schools. It is the one proposition that we in the education community should get behind for the benefit of our kids. I urge you to join me in support of Proposition 55 - Help our children thrive - Yes on 55 August 18, 2016
Well the 2016/17 school year has actually started. This year’s Freshmen will be the class of 2020 and the Kindergartners will be the class of 2029 - WOW! This group of students will come of age in a world that will be so incredibly different. And yet, what’s the saying? “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” So many of the skills these students will need to succeed are the same skills every generation has needed. And as I recently discussed with a colleague - every thing you really need to know you learned in kindergarten. With thanks to Robert Fulghum (All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten), for borrowing his ideas and adding a few of my own. Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS. Don't take things that aren't yours. Say you're SORRY when you HURT somebody. Be on time Always do your best Don’t be afraid to try Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. With the possible exception of #10 - these fit pretty well with our Values - Respect, Trust and Collaboration. So as we enter another school year I hope we can all keep these ideas in our hearts. And I’ve pulled some hold cards. So I’ll end here and just wish everybody a great year. HOLD CARDS - I kept my speech short and friendly. Below are some comments made on specific board items. 5A - Public Comments - Rosemary Smithfield - Music Teachers split between schools, so half time at sites. The program will run every other week. Rosemary asked why is this only grades 3-5, why not grades TK-2? Rosemary is asking that the committee that will be deciding how this program will be run to reconsider. She asked the board to please look into and reconsider offering music to our youngest students as well. Let’s offer music to all our TK-5 students. 8A - Attendance/Dropouts etc…I want to point out the with the passage of AB 420, restorative practices are important. Implementation is challenging. Mr Hargraves and his team are to be commended for training the entire Mission Meadows Site. I am excited to watch the program work at that site. If we really want to stop the School to Prison Pipeline we need this sort of full implementation. Last year it was two people at every site. Those were supposed to then train the rest of the staff. There wasn’t time or resources to make that practical. Hopefully with success at Mission Meadows we can see the value of the entire district getting trained in Restorative Practices. The following topics (and others) will be discussed later with the appropriate district personnel. What are the rates of class suspension numbers? Where are the kids that aren’t getting sent home after being suspended from class? Who is supervising students that are class suspended? There are a lot of interventions being started and utilized across the district. Is this the best practice? How do we insure continuity of programs? 10 B HR Registry - In the past six months only 4 tchrs granted a LOA for child rearing. Those four teachers deserve the advantages of AB 375. I am also pretty sure there are other new parents out there that aren’t taking any additional leave. AB 375 was written so new parents can bond with their children. The actual language of the bill says that “to the extent these provisions conflict with any provision of a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2016, by a public school employer and an exclusive bargaining representative, these provisions shall not apply until the expiration or renewal of that collective bargaining agreement.” I would argue that there is no conflict as we don’t address the issue. AB 375 is the right thing to do. Don’t let this be something that we could have done but didn’t. It will be in the next contract regardless. There is no reason not to implement it now. It’s also a powerful recruitment/retainment tool. I have it on good authority that Carlsbad would love to hire any of our teachers that are starting families. Can I ask the board to request that VUSD at least investigate the Scope and impact of implementing 375 ASAP. 16 A 1st Reading Board Policy Animals at School-I would ask that VTA input be considered as the regulations are developed. July 28, 2016
Good Evening, Summer is almost over and the new school year is about to begin. As we start this next school year, I think about all the students coming back into the classrooms and those Vista students that have now graduated and made their way out into the world. In the Starbucks line today, I stepped forward and saw the face of a former student working at the counter. I've seen newly hired teachers coming in that are former Vista graduates as well. Though I'm not a Vista resident, I consider and feel that Vista is my community too. As we come closer to the 100 year celebration of Vista Unified School District, I hope that the District and School Board make sure to include VTA in the celebration; as we would very much like to be part of and contribute to this occasion as well. Finally, back to AB 375. This Assembly bill was enacted and went into effect in January 2016. This bill would give Vista employees, as new parents, the ability to take up to 12 weeks off to bond with their child. Now, all over the county, other districts (such as Carlsbad and Valley Center) are enacting AB 375; even though their contracts are closed- it's the right thing to do. Let's make it right and do it now. Right now, starting at the beginning of this school year! Let's honor the intent of the newly passed bill and make this happen. I'll be speaking on this, every meeting, every chance I get, until we have enacted AB 375 in Vista. Thank you. May 19, 2016
Good evening everyone. What a hard act to follow; Joe Green you’ve done great things for the Del Norte PTA. Congratulations and thank you for all you’ve done. And I know we’ll see you here again. I wanted to say thank you to Dr Vodicka, Marie Hoveln, Rich Alderson and Brett Killeen. The five of us traveled to Orange County last week for a meeting of the Labor Management Initiative. We spent the day with a dozen other districts discussing best practices for real and productive collaboration between labor and management. It was a great day. We had some honest discussions about the possible problems as well as the benefits that would come from true collaboration between, VUSD, CSEA and VTA. We can be stronger together. We won’t always agree, but if we can develop a trusting relationship based on mutual respect than true collaboration is possible. This will truly make VUSD the model of educational excellence and innovation. I also want to acknowledge Brett Killeen. While we haven’t always seen eye to eye we have developed a working relationship that can be the model of collaboration we are striving for here in VUSD. I want to congratulate Brett on his new job and as a resident of the San Dieguito community I can say that we are lucky to have you back. As the President of VTA I want to say thank you for working with me this year and helping me grow as a leader. And congratulations to Debbie Riehle as well. Debbie and I go way back and while I know her retirement is much deserved. I know that she will be greatly missed as well. So as the year winds down it seems proper to acknowledge some of the History of Vista, but with an eye to the future. We are coming up on 100 years of VUSD and while we are celebrating the past I know we will also look to the future. Now to many of you this will seem hard to believe, but I ate at the Pepper Tree for the first time today. Wow! Why haven’t I done that before; I am sure it won’t be my last visit. Now I am not a native of Vista so this cultural icon is new to me. If you grew up here in Vista you understand what the Pepper Tree represents. “Don’t mess with the Pepper Tree”. Vista is a community with deep roots and a strong sense of family. While there is lots of “NEW” in Vista there are still some great treasures left over from an earlier time. The same is true in VUSD we are a district with a strong sense of family and community. Many of our educators live and have their own families here. It’s not uncommon to run across an educator that went to Vista Schools; I even personally know some second generation Vista teachers. To me that speaks volumes of the success of VUSD. In my perfect world VUSD is becoming and will continue to be the kind of place that I can hope my children will work. Finally, I want to thank Dr Vodicka and the board for the retirement reception that was held today. It was a great opportunity to show the respect and gratitude we feel for those that have spent their careers in VUSD. It was a chance to honor those that have served VUSD and are starting the next chapter of their lives. Congratulations to the 2016 retirees. We wish you all the best. Tod Critchlow April 21, 2016
Topic AB 375 Last October Assembly Bill (AB) 375 was passed. This law became effective January 1, 2016. The intention of the law is to allow certificated employees who have exhausted all available sick leave to receive differential pay for up to 12 school weeks. This “bonding leave,” is for the birth or placement of a child in connection with the employee’s adoption or foster care. AB 375 applies equally to male and female certificated employees who wish to take maternity or paternity leave. AB 375 only provides this benefit if the parent first exhausts all available and accumulated sick leave. In other words the 12-week differential period is reduced by any period of sick leave. Differential pay during the 12 week leave period is defined as his/her salary minus the sum that is actually paid or would have been paid to a substitute employee to fill the position during the employee’s absence. Implementing this in VUSD could conceivably even be cost neutral. Many districts are currently implement AB 375. Since our contract is currently closed, this law won't take effect until the 2017-18 school year. WE are asking for you to honor the intention of this law immediately as many other districts already have, Valley center for one. To postpone its implementation until the 17-18 school year, simply put, punishes those who dared to become pregnant this year. It would be an act of respect and human decency to invoke this law for your employees now. It is the right thing to do. We pride ourselves on living and upholding the tenets of respect, trust and collaboration. What a true show of respect this would be. We urge you to see the basic human rights issue here and the disconnect in our core values in this district should we continue to ignore enacting this law simply because we can due to a contractual loophole in the law. Please do what is right, what is just, and what would truly honor our values. I am going to read a letter from our Organizing and Crisis Chair: Patrick Emaus - Board Members, I am currently at the hospital with my wife having our second baby. In order to take paternity leave and bond with my new child, VUSD is making me take UNPAID family medical leave. This is clearly an unfortunate circumstance, as I am forced to choose between bonding with my child and providing for my child. California agrees with me. The New York Times published an article yesterday titled, "States' Lead the Way on Paid Family Leave." The article states that since 2004, California Law makes employers pay workers 55% of their wages for up to six weeks of leave to care for a new child. California expanded on this leadership by passing AB 375 on January 1st of this year, granting teachers 12 weeks of parental leave for the cost of the substitute, after exhausting sick leave. Making teachers take unpaid family medical leave is against this law. I am not the only teacher in this circumstance. Many of our younger teachers with very little accrued sick leave will be forced to choose providing for their new children and bonding with their new children. This is an urgent issue and we need to be on the right side of the law. We will eventually incorporate these laws into the district's policies at ZERO cost. I am asking the board that VUSD fulfill it's mission of being "the model" and incorporate AB 375 immediately so we can lead the way with California, show respect for the profession, recruit quality teachers in accordance with standard 5 of the blueprint and above all, just do the right thing and follow the law. Thank you for considering this issue. February 26, 2016
First of all congratulations to the Golden Apple Winners, and the board as well. Happy 100th birth-year to VUSD. We’re hearing lots about the current state of digital learning and personalized learning. The potential to remake education into a something new for the 21st century is incredibly exciting. When I first started teaching I was one of the few teachers at that time that did my grades on a computer. I eagerly pioneered early digital programs like ALEX, Quizdom, Explorelearning. I have personally seen the advantage to teaching that rapid access to data provides. I imagine tonight and in the future we will continue to spend significant and important time discussing data that has been mined from the various programs that are being used at our school sites and by our teachers. However we also need to keep in mind that with all this access to data comes a tendency to over prescribe. As a teacher and the president of VTA I am fully aware of the importance of using data to monitor the success and struggles of our students. Data is vital and essential to teachers and their instruction. However, I want to ask that we just realize and consider the following: In the course of the day teachers must balance their instruction and their assessment. In a perfect world those two activities would be seamlessly woven into the perfect lesson and make the actual job of teaching not only easier, but more effective. But if the balance tips too far the data can overwhelm the instruction and the education of our students will get lost in the mining of the multitude of data. Tod Critchlow December 10, 2015
Good Evening, Tonight I get to give the speech that I have been hoping for since I stepped into my role as president of the Vista Teachers Association. Tonight WE, and I stress the WE are bringing a tentative agreement to the board for approval. WE are pleased that this agreement will be good for students and employees, and allow us all to focus on student learning to actualize our Vision, Mission, and Values and to achieve our goals as identified in the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation. WE hope that the board sees this agreement as the positive step forward that it is. I know how much we all like to dig into the data so I’ll give you the break down. 989 members voted and over 98% of those voted to approve the agreement. An overwhelming majority. That’s even more impressive when it is acknowledged that there were only three days of voting. The site representatives deserve our sincere thanks for the hard work it took to make that happen so quickly. They are a fantastic group of people. Now with your blessing bargaining can be finished and we can get back to the real work. The work of educating the next generation to make our community and our world a better place to be. But while it would be easy to just say thank you and put this behind us. I don’t want to pass up the chance to reflect. One of the things that I have realized is that we need to figure out a way to get through this bargaining process in a more civilized manner. We are a community. While some of us live in other cities we all still spend a huge portion of our lives in Vista. Rather we live here or not, we are all part of this community and responsible for striving to make it better place to be. To make Vista a community that attracts people because of all the good things that happen here. To make Vista someplace people want to be. And yet, we start the bargaining process every year (or every two years as the case has been recently) and we seem to put our relationships on hold. Albert Einstein said “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If we don’t change our process we are going to find ourselves right back here again in the 17/18 school year going through this all over again. INSANITY. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn from our adventures and do it better next time? I was asked once, “What is your goal as the new president of VTA?” I wish I could say I had some brilliant, solve all the problems kind of answer, but I didn’t. As I have played that conversation over in my mind I have come to the realization that I know what I want, that part's easy. It's the actualization that is hard. I want VUSD to be a better place when I’m done. I want to have made a positive difference in my community. In our community. Respect! Trust! Collaboration! I want to live those words. I want to be able to say honestly, that I respect the people I work with. I want to trust the people I work with and I want to be deserving of their trust. I want to be part of an organization that values collaboration between all stakeholders. So how do we accomplish this? As I read somewhere recently, “Pick the low hanging fruit first.” We already do so many things really well together; Vista’s Big Give, The VUSD Festival of the Arts, Stem Fest I could go on and on. But let’s not be afraid to have real conversations about the hard stuff; School Discipline, Bell Schedules, Teacher Evaluations, Salaries, and yes we could go on and on about the hard to reach fruit as well. But we have to remember that conversations are exchanges of ideas. They are not lectures. They are not directives. Conversations can get us to a place where we can trust each other. Conversations can get us to a place where true collaboration can occur and conversations can lead to mutual respect. We can become a place where people want to be. So let’s have those conversations. The bargaining maybe over, but we can keep talking. We should keep talking. It’s only by establishing mutual trust and respect for each other that we will able to truly collaborate. And it will take collaboration to make VUSD a better place to be. Tod Critchlow VTA President September 10, 2015
Good Evening. It’s the middle of September and we are done with most of the events that mark the beginning of the new school year. Kids are settling into their routines and as I’ve heard in the staff room many times, the honeymoon is over. Teachers have established their routines and education can begin again. The newness of the new year has worn off and just being the new face at the front of the room isn’t enough anymore. Much the same could be said of my tenure in office. I’m learning to live without bells. I’ve made my first mistake (several actually - but who’s counting). My concerns have gone from what’s the name of the principal at… to how can I help. And as I used to pride myself in learning all 200 student names in as short a time as possible I’ve also met with many of the principals and had some great discussions. What strikes me in these conversations is the passion. The passion to teach. The passion to make the world a better place for the children in our care. And the passion that principals see in those teaching our children. I won’t say I was surprised, because it has always been obvious to me that teachers care. But it was nice to have this belief confirmed. Day in and day out, through the heat or the cold, our teachers do their best to help their charges grow and learn and develop. I think I can honestly say I have yet to run into an educator that says anything different. We, the Vista Teachers, do our best to educate all the children that come to us. What I want to focus on tonight is the WE. We are the WE. The WE should include all of us in the room tonight. Even the students in the room tonight should be part of the WE. We are the W in WAVE. We are all educators. We all get to work for or with the students. BUT - There is no but in this speech tonight. I Challenge all of us in this room tonight to become part of the WE. I challenge all of us in this room to accept the others in this room as part of the WE. Lip service will not do it. If we really want to make a difference, if we really we want build a better community, if we really want to inspire others, if we really want the respect that is part of positive working relationships then we have to start by being part of the WE. Without the WE it’s Us and Them. This is Vista. We’ve seen how the us and them plays out. I for one want to be part of the WE. I want to be able to say that We Educate. So my commitment tonight - Board members, I will try my best to meet with you in the next two weeks if you are willing. I apologize for not having done it sooner. It was not an intentional slight. I hope to build a working relationship with you so that WE can make Vista an even better place to be. Dr Vodicka - I will try to remain an optimist. Communication and Collaboration are essential to avoid continually repeating the same ineffective processes over and over. WE can make this work. WE have the power to make Vista an even better place to be. And To the the audience in general I will strive to always show respect. I will strive to act in a way that allows you to see me as one of you. And I will strive to see all of you as fellow educators with the best of intentions. I ask that you join me in this. Together WE can Educate. Tod Critchlow VTA President Below are speeches made by
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November 19, 2015
Esteemed Board Members, Dr. Vodicka and team, I may very well be the oldest member of the Vista Unified family in the room. I joined the Vista Unified School District in 1972 when I started first grade at Monte Vista Elementary School. I am the oldest of 8 children who all attended Vista Schools. To this day I can picture my mom driving the Ford station wagon around those winding roads with no seat belts and a lot of rowdy kids...we drove around for hours to soccer practices and all kinds of events. Often when my siblings were getting too rowdy I would watch her reach back and try to get their attention. Because they weren’t wearing seatbelts they would move out of her reach. But THEN she would stop the car, usually near the corner of Monte Vista and Buena Creek. And THEN she would order the children who were fighting to get out of the car and told them to walk home and work out their differences by the time they got home. (This rarely happened I assure you...they were able to work out their differences quickly before she hit the corner and they jumped back in the station wagon). I LOVE VISTA...I love the winding roads, the PERFECT CLIMATE, Peppertree Frosty, the Vista Icebox; Moonlight Amphitheater and MUCH MUCH MORE...and YES, I LOVE the Education we provide in Vista Unified. I firmly believe that we offer the same FABULOUS education to our students today as much as we did in 1972. We have some AMAZING teachers, and some AMAZING students in our district. Fallbrook HS had 62% of their students meet or exceed the State English standard last year; Scripps High School had 67% and yet 71% of our Rancho Buena Vista students MET or EXCEEDED the State English Standard last year. That is a tribute to our students AS WELL as our teachers. This did not happen by accident...this was a result of YEARs of planning, and coordination and execution. This involved an administration with a vision! THIS is what leadership looks like! We also have AMAZING Community members here in Vista. Did you know that Vista’s Big Give is on the 2nd level of donors at the San Diego Make A Wish office? We are on the same level as Disney! Doesn’t that say everything about us?... especially when we are not the wealthiest community in the county by far...but we have the biggest heart for sure! I love the people here... we are GOOD and DECENT PEOPLE! We are not too stuffy, and not too uneducated...as I like to call it, just right! For those I personally know here, you are GOOD and DECENT PEOPLE!!! Is there room for improvement? Sure! Whether we realize it or not, WE ARE A FAMILY! And We CAN do HARD THINGS!!!! YEARS ago before any of us were here... the Vista City Council voted to deny several car dealerships to set up shop here in Vista. So, of course they went elsewhere and now we all shop for cars at Car Country Carlsbad. Can you imagine the amount of taxes that our little community missed out on over the years? I think we will all agree that that decision was seriously short sighted. In 2007 my father passed away...he had been a local dentist and served many people in Vista since the 1970s. At his funeral my brother gave a talk...he talked about the lesson he learned in losing our father. He said “I came to the conclusion that I would trade every wave I ever surfed, every concert I ever attended, every movie I ever saw or hour I spent watching T.V.; I would trade every photograph and every memory from all of my crazy adventures around the world – for one more week with my father. I came to the realization that I would trade every memory I had except for those that contained my family. I learned that the only thing that matters in life is the relationships we form with other people... Nothing matters except the love we create.” We are such a great Vista community and family that I am hopeful we will circle the wagons and join together to show others what we are made of. Let us not be short sighted. Let us find a resolution. And unlike the resolution the Montegues and Capulets found in Romeo and Juliet, let’s find ways to bury the hatchet. If we need to go to family therapy let’s do it! IT IS TIME!!! “NOTHING MATTERS EXCEPT the LOVE WE CREATE”...and I might add that if we don’t learn this now I might be tempted to follow my mom’s example and stop the car on the corner of Monte Vista and Buena Creek and push everyone out of the station wagon and make them walk home until they resolve their differences! Thank you! September 10, 2015
Good Evening. It’s the middle of September and we are done with most of the events that mark the beginning of the new school year. Kids are settling into their routines and as I’ve heard in the staff room many times, the honeymoon is over. Teachers have established their routines and education can begin again. The newness of the new year has worn off and just being the new face at the front of the room isn’t enough anymore. Much the same could be said of my tenure in office. I’m learning to live without bells. I’ve made my first mistake (several actually - but who’s counting). My concerns have gone from what’s the name of the principal at… to how can I help. And as I used to pride myself in learning all 200 student names in as short a time as possible I’ve also met with many of the principals and had some great discussions. What strikes me in these conversations is the passion. The passion to teach. The passion to make the world a better place for the children in our care. And the passion that principals see in those teaching our children. I won’t say I was surprised, because it has always been obvious to me that teachers care. But it was nice to have this belief confirmed. Day in and day out, through the heat or the cold, our teachers do their best to help their charges grow and learn and develop. I think I can honestly say I have yet to run into an educator that says anything different. We, the Vista Teachers, do our best to educate all the children that come to us. What I want to focus on tonight is the WE. We are the WE. The WE should include all of us in the room tonight. Even the students in the room tonight should be part of the WE. We are the W in WAVE. We are all educators. We all get to work for or with the students. BUT - There is no but in this speech tonight. I Challenge all of us in this room tonight to become part of the WE. I challenge all of us in this room to accept the others in this room as part of the WE. Lip service will not do it. If we really want to make a difference, if we really we want build a better community, if we really want to inspire others, if we really want the respect that is part of positive working relationships then we have to start by being part of the WE. Without the WE it’s Us and Them. This is Vista. We’ve seen how the us and them plays out. I for one want to be part of the WE. I want to be able to say that We Educate. So my commitment tonight - Board members, I will try my best to meet with you in the next two weeks if you are willing. I apologize for not having done it sooner. It was not an intentional slight. I hope to build a working relationship with you so that WE can make Vista an even better place to be. Dr Vodicka - I will try to remain an optimist. Communication and Collaboration are essential to avoid continually repeating the same ineffective processes over and over. WE can make this work. WE have the power to make Vista an even better place to be. And To the the audience in general I will strive to always show respect. I will strive to act in a way that allows you to see me as one of you. And I will strive to see all of you as fellow educators with the best of intentions. I ask that you join me in this. Together WE can Educate. 1/22/2015 by Tod Critchlow
Good Evening Everyone, Board members and Dr Vodicka. Happy New Year. Seems like I keep saying that even though we’re almost done with January. And mentioning the end of January - brings me to my first topic tonight. A tribute to somebody that is leaving us on the 31st after almost that many years as a teacher in VUSD. JB (does anybody know what JB stands for?) Barton is retiring. He has been a member of the VUSD family since the mid 1970s. Long enough that some of our veteran VUSD teachers were students of his. As a founding member of the RBV faculty he is one of the few people left who can still remember what the original building practices were and probably give you the article number that I am talking about. Some of us here tonight also had the privilege of attending his retirement party at Nucci’s. That evening I had a chance to see what WAVE is really about - a teacher that has dedicated his career to making VUSD a better place to be. It was overwhelmingly obvious that night that JB is both loved and respected by his fellow teachers. He will be incredibly missed. JB, Thank you for all you have done. And please answer your cell phone when I call to ask for help. So to continue I would like to honor JB by describing other teachers in VUSD that make a difference. Teacher’s that deserve your respect and appreciation for going above and beyond their classroom duties. Teachers that deserve to be recognized for being a part of the WAVE. At RMS - Stephanie Daost who is in her second year in VUSD. She is their new ASB director and has completely invigorated that program and increased the number of students who are involved in leadership while also improving the culture of RMS. She was recognized by the staff as their very first recipient of the Wildcat of the Month. She has made a big impact on their staff and students. Thank you Stephanie. At RMMS - Madison Pelzel is their new special ed teacher. She is co-teaching, running ASB and offering tutoring before and after school. Second honoree is Listhamay Dunaway who uses technology whenever she can. Her lessons are amazing. In addition she also provides tutoring to students almost everyday, before and after school and at lunch time. Thank you ladies. You are riding the WAVE. At RBV next week is their annual fundraiser, THE RANCH REVIEW TALENT SHOW, to support students who cannot afford to take AP and IB exams. Although there is federal funding for certain populations, RBV believes that all students should have access, therefore this funding covers ANY student who cannot afford to take the test. The cool thing about this is that the production has students and teachers participating. The Queen Bee of this event is Melissa Neumann. I was told to “Invite the board and the sup...they should come!” I hope to see you there. Also at RBV, Joyce Rhee, math teacher. She is there after school EVERY DAY tutoring kids until 4. At MMS, Carol Levin, Gabriele Shannon, Kim Lunde, Susan Moynihan and others were instrumental in organizing a bone marrow screening to help find a donor for one of our students who needed a transplant. You may have seen them working the crowd at the Arts Festival with giant cue tips. We Are Vista Everyday and we are proud of it. But WATE. We Are Teachers Every day as well. We participate in our community not just our classrooms. The students that come into our rooms every day are not just our students they are our kids. Teachers ARE a generous bunch. We donate our time and our dimes to encourage the success of the next generation. We are altruistic, with a desire to make the world a better place to be. However, teachers also have to live in this same world. Many new teachers are going to come out of college with loans needing repayment. Our veteran teachers, who have given so much, live in a world where just a few short miles down the freeway in either direction, veteran teacher salaries are considerably higher. We As Vista Every Day must realize that we can’t ignore these facts. One more site story, a cautionary tale. This site shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons. We are talking about some new teachers at a site that are innovative and do amazing things. The discussion goes something like this. “We are thinking about applying to San Marcos because of the unclear direction VUSD is taking and the constant changes that are happening...it is too much stress.” And while these teacher’s didn’t specifically mention salary, an increase in personal finances in San Marcos certainly wouldn’t discourage them from leaving. With a teacher shortage imminent, is this really what Vista wants to hear? As new money starts to flow in from the state I hope that VUSD will remember: WATE is a big part of WAVE. We Are Teachers Every day and We Are Vista Every day. Treat us with respect and we will go the extra mile for you. 11/20/14 by Tod Critchlow Good Evening Everyone. Board members, Dr Vodicka I would like to start by wishing Barbara Dawson a happy birthday and to express our thanks for all she has done for the Vista Community. I would like to read something from our VUSD webpage. This comes from the Blueprint and LCAP Feedback form. Vista Unified is actively promoting 2-way dialogue and feedback to ensure that the services provided to students and families are as effective as possible. Please use this form to provide your feedback on the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation and the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). I thought I would share my responses here tonight before I actually submit them. Question #1: What’s your Role. I am a Teacher. Well that one was easy. Questions #2: What is your general impression of the Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation? Hmmm!!! Not so easy. It looks so good on paper or should I say online. The graphics are great. There are some really cool videos to explain things and I’ve seen the powerpoint so many times I almost have it memorized. It’s obvious that there has been a lot of time, energy and resources spent on developing the Blueprint.. I’m an optimist, so I’m going to give it a rating of “fair”. I am hoping that the VUSD community can come together and build something that is truly “the model of educational excellence and innovation.” I am rating “fair” instead of good or excellent, because I am not convinced that the many things we do really well, owe their excellence to the LCAP, but rather to the people of VUSD. Here’s an example: last month was the VUSD Festival of the Arts. If you were fortunate enough to attend you saw or heard some wonderful examples of “EXCELLENCE” despite inadequate financial support. The “EXCELLENCE” of that event came from our staff, our teachers, our students with funding from grants, fundraisers and pockets of VUSD teachers, not because of the LCAP. My hope is that we will use the LCAP to direct more money to school sites where students will be directly impacted. Let’s use the LCAP to insure that proven programs like AVID are fully funded instead of building security fencing that turns our campuses into jail like edifices. Questions #3: What feedback do you have to improve the Blueprint and LCAP? Strategy 5: High Quality, Flexible and Adaptable Staff. Hopefully we all agree that a good teacher is one of the best ways of ensuring the success of our students. So why is it that there are only 2 action plans in this section and neither of these discuss ways to help our current teachers to become the best that they can be? In fact the implication of Strategy 5 is that we can just hire new teachers. That they will be excellent. But the reality is that there is a teacher shortage. And VUSD, even after a 9.25% increase, is not offering competitive wages for teachers. While our District Administrators are earning top salaries our teachers are not. Our District boasts of all the wonderful things that are being done in VUSD and yet our faculty and staff are not seeing salaries that reflect the excellence they are responsible for. How can we improve our communication about the Blueprint and LCAP? Bring back the concept of the Town Hall meeting. Not a lecture, a Power Point or a PR opportunity, but a forum for open discussion. Not WAVE presentations, but open discussion forums at neighborhood schools. Inviting parents and community members to come and talk about how “WE” can make VUSD and even better place to learn. What questions do you have about the Blueprint and LCAP? If we decide that something in the Blueprint needs to change how long should that take? And how do we make that happen? My name is Susan Clark and I teach art at Murray High School and have also taught art at Washington and Vista High. Amanda needs a band-aid. Javier needs safety pins to fix the hem of his pants. He also wants to know where he can get airbrush supplies and do I have an extra 6B pencil because he wants to draw at home. Valente doesn’t want to wreck his shirt do I have an apron. Rosalva needs a rubber band for her hair and Mariana wants to know if I have a throat lozenge. Carlos wonders if I have a sewing machine at home because his brother tore his favorite Black Sabbath t-shirt and it’s irreplaceable. Eileen asks me about going to beauty school because she has a flair for fashion and Brandon needs some hand lotion. Joey wants to show me his logo he designed, and do I think he could do that for a living? Would he need to take classes at Palomar college? “Dylan you have really been improving, let me write your Dad a note commending you.” “Alex, don’t give up on this, I know this part is hard, but you need this assignment to get credits. Let me give you some extra help.” ” Brian, I’m concerned about you falling asleep in class, What time are you going to bed?” These are the caring adult connections that are so important for children. And I haven’t even mentioned my curriculum and the help the students all need daily on an individual basis. And these are my 17-year-olds. Imagine a class of 38 4th graders, or 40 unruly 8th graders! We can put a child in front of a computer to work on a math program so his test scores can improve, but it takes one-on-one time with student and teacher to make a real difference in their lives. In a high school or middle school 50 minute class, we need to take attendance and teach the daily lesson. With a class of 34 that leaves maybe 30 seconds or less per student of face to face time. Many of our students are so needy of adult attention that often other students will have days at a time with no individual time with the teacher. I can only imagine how much harder it would be with more than 34. In my art classes, more students means more supplies for me to purchase, more time for me to prepare materials, more time to grade projects. There is little or no money for supplies, so I have to fundraise for materials to teach my curriculum or buy out of my own pocket. I would be spending more time preparing and spending more of my own money, so am I getting more compensation for that? No. Here is the rub: my salary is most likely getting cut. If class size is increased it means More work, More spending my own money and Less compensation. But the worst is that the students’ quality of education will be sacrificed. __________________________________________________________ Good evening everyone and thank you all for joining in a celebration of the marriage of Vista Unified School Board and their Teachers. The Secret to 30 Years of Teaching There was once a school board and teacher who had been married for more than 30 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They kept no secrets from each other -- except that the teacher had a shoebox in the top drawer of her desk that she cautioned her school board never to open or ask about. For all those years, the school board had never thought about the box, but one day this teacher grew very sick and the doctors said she might not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the school board took out the shoebox and brought it to their teacher’s bedside. She agreed it was time the school board should know exactly what was in the box. When the school board opened it, they found one pair of knit socks and a stack of money totaling over $25,000. "When we were to be married," the teacher said, explaining the contents of the box, "my colleagues told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. They told me if I ever got angry with the school board, I should just keep quiet and knit a pair of socks." The school board was so moved, they had to fight back tears. Only one pair of socks was in the box. The teacher had only been angry with them one time in all those years of marriage! The school board nearly burst with pride. "Well," the school board said, "that certainly explains the socks, but what about all this money? Where did it come from?" "Oh," the teacher said, "that's the money I made from selling all the socks." In case you missed the point…we are not about to just keep quiet. We are here to argue for our families, our profession, our livelihood and we’re tired of knitting socks. by Jim Ryan _____________________________________________ Good Evening, My name is Sheryl Bushey-Anello, and I am a teacher at Rancho Minerva. On December 8, I stood, with my colleagues, in the gym of Vista Magnet and listened as Dr Bales congratulated us on raising the test scores of our students. Dr. Bales said you were all proud of our efforts. We were proud too. These test scores didn’t increase by fortune or by accident but by the dedication, time, and hard work of our teachers and administration, and by the hard work of our students and their parents who supported them. Our site administrators know that and acknowledge our efforts and our successes often and we feel validated and respected by them. I ask you, Dr. Bales, and you, our school board members -- what validation did you give us? Oh yes, you had us come forward and you gave us these certificates – our names bunched together like so many cattle – not caring enough even to take the time to print a separate certificate for each teacher who had worked so hard to make YOU look good. You then asked us to come to you to shake your hands, as if in homage, and all the while, you knew that the very next day, you would use those very same hands to slap us in the face by declaring Impasse. As I sat down I looked at each of you, I thought, “How can you, Dr. Bales, and you, the Board, stand there and smile at all of us when you have every intention of declaring Impasse and cutting away any security we have in our jobs? How can you hypocritically give us kudos, when tomorrow you will be telling us how worthless we are by declaring Impasse?” Dr. Bales, I wanted to ask you that night, and will do so now, knowing our budget crisis, how can you, in good conscience, refuse to step up as the leader for which you are being paid such an exorbitant salary? How can you justify being unwilling to take the same 2% pay cut you are demanding of us? This Impasse is not just about solving our financial problems. The Impasse is not an attempt to create a budget that is fair to all and that seeks to resolve the crisis in which we find ourselves. This Impasse is a power play on the part of the Board and the District. It is an effort to “put those teachers down in their places” as you have often tried before. This is evidenced by your demands that you be allowed to strip teachers of any power and abolish site-governance, but along with cutting the teachers’ power, you are also cutting the power of the classified staff, and, even more, you are denying the parents and students who are currently on those governance teams any power or input as well. This is NOT RIGHT. It is further substantiated by your demands that administration be allowed to transfer teachers at their whim, further jeopardizing our job security and our students’ progress. This is NOT RIGHT. Those items have nothing to do with solving our money problems and everything to do putting teachers down where it is obvious you think we should be. You all know this to be true and you all know what you are doing is not the right thing to do. To continue this Impasse, to demand from us that which our own superintendent is unwilling to give, to take so much more than you know is prudent, is not right. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, Quote: “Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher of consensus but a molder of consensus. On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.” End Quote. I implore each of you to be a genuine leader. Listen to your conscience and do what is right. Thank you. |