Wyoming Education Association’s Electronic Newsletter                                                                       

August 10, 2005

The WEA produces this electronic newsletter in an effort to share timely information with our members. Please forward this newsletter to members you believe would like to receive it. If you are not an original recipient of this e-mail, please consider subscribing by clicking here.  Please send feedback regarding this e-newsletter to Kathy Scheurman, WEA Communications Director, at: kscheurman@nea.org.  This newsletter can also be viewed online at: www.wyoea.org.

ENEWS ARCHIVE

WEA Website:

http://wyoea.org/

NEA Website:  http://www.nea.org

Wyoming Education Portal:

http://www.k12.wy.us

Inside this issue:

Your WEA Membership Materials Should Be Arriving!

Membership materials have gone out in the mail to continuing WEA members.  If yours did not arrive intact, please contact our office at: sracine@nea.org or by phone at 634-7991 or 1-800-442-2395, ext. 102.

Wyoming State Superintendent Candidates Forum to be Televised

Wyoming Public Television will be providing coverage of this Sat.'s meeting to select the final three State Supt. of Public Instruction candidates from which the Governor will choose the new supt.  Titled "Head of the Class", the television program will include short speeches from all the candidates, as well as their responses to questions from the Republican Central Committee.  Live coverage will begin on Sat., Aug. 13 at 8 a.m.; the taped program will be rebroadcast Sunday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m.   Coverage of this meeting is estimated to run approx. two hours, based on 10 candidates being nominated; should there be additional candidates, the program length will be extended.

Wyoming AYP Results Released

The Wyoming Department of Education announced that 80% of Wyoming schools made adequate yearly progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act.  This year, the AYP target that schools were required to meet increased across the board by an average of 12%.

A total of 74 schools and 4 districts across Wyoming did not meet AYP for the 2004-05 school year.  Of the 74 schools, 8 did not meet AYP for the third consecutive year, 2 missed for the second year in a row, and 64 did not meet AYP for their first year. Four districts did not meet AYP for the first time this year.  These 74 schools and four districts will be listed as high priority and will receive concentrated attention to improve their achievement in the areas listed under AYP.

Nearly half of the schools (14) and the only school district that were on last year’s list were successful in meeting their new target level.

Statewide results for AYP are on the WDE website: http://www.k12.wy.us/supt/nclb/ayp.asp.

Get Involved!

The Children and Families Initiative staff will soon be visiting your community to present Wyoming’s first-ever Family Photo, discuss the information, and help you work on ideas to improve the lives of children and families in your local area. In addition to Wyoming data, you will also get an honest look at how your county is doing. 

All community members can play a role in this effort!  You are encouraged to participate.

The town meetings are called “The Wyoming Family Photo: Tackling the Truth” and will be held in the following locations.  Childcare will be provided and is sponsored in part by Circle of Parents™.  Please come and bring your business associates, friends and families who want to make things better for our families and our community.

Worland—Thurs., Aug. 11, 2:30-4:30 p.m., Washakie Co. Medical Center, Conference Room, 400 So. 15th St.

Wyoming PTSB Proposes Rules and Reg.s Changes

Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board is proposing the following changes to its Rules & Regulations:

  • To delete Chapter 1 Section 2(c), (j), Chapter 8 Section 2, 3, 4 and Chapter 14 Section 6 and 7.  These delete requirements for coaching certification. 
  • To amend Chapter 3 Section 2 and Chapter 4 Section 2 to delete Pre-Birth and replace with Age 3 for certification of early childhood teachers. 
  • In Chapter 4 add a new Section 4 and Chapter 9 adds a new Section 4 for early childhood certification programs.  

Copies of the proposed rules in strike and underscore format may be obtained upon request from the Professional Teaching Standards Board, 1920 Thomes Avenue, Suite 400, Cheyenne, WY  82002, phone (307)777-7291.   The public comment period will begin August 4, 2005 and end September 17, 2005.   Please submit written comments to the Professional Teaching Standards Board at the above address no later than September 17, 2005.  A public hearing will be held if requested by 25 persons, a governmental subdivision or by an association having not less than 25 members.  Requests for a public hearing may be addressed to PTSB at the above address.

Teachers Stand Up for Student Privacy

At the 2005 NEA Representative Assembly, member delegates affirmed their commitment to student privacy by standing up against military recruiting requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.  The NEA's position on Section 9528 of No Child Left Behind now supports changing federal policy from "opt out" to "opt in" -- requiring written parental permission before student information is turned over to military recruiters.

To read more about the NEA's official position, go to: www.leavemychildalone.org/NEA.

Journalist’s and Scholar’s Opinions: Merit Pay Won't Work

Dallas journalist Lee Cullum agrees with scholar Jane Jacobs that merit pay has no place in the "value system" to which government, the arts, religion and education belong. Unlike the commercial system, where Jacobs asserts honesty and thrift are valued, guardians prize loyalty. Mix the value systems inappropriately, she says, and corruption will ensue.   The Dallas Morning News (free registration): http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/080305dnedicullum.120fc2bf.html