Wednesday, November 25, 2009

November 25th Mediation Session

Where we are: We met with district negotiators at the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation today. We were prepared to make creative offers and stay right up until the turkey came out of the oven on Thanksgiving. The district made virtually no movement. It is clear they do not feel any real urgency to reach a settlement at this time.


We have set the next possible date to meet with the Bureau, which is December 15th.


It's Time: We need your help in motivating the district. They need to see the importance of coming to the table ready to do real work to reach a settlement. We have two activities already scheduled to do just that.


On Thursday, wear your red to Meet & Confer to support a discussion of diversity and workload issues in the district. We have a slate of speakers scheduled to communicate just how hard we are working for our students, you are welcome to add your voice, but we primarily need you to add your presence to support them. The event is at 6:30 pm at the Staff Development Center this coming Thursday, December 3rd.


If there are any postcards still left to complete in your building, take a moment to send a personal request to our school board to be actively involved in moving this process to a fair conclusion.


Continue your site based activities, and even ramp them up. Special thanks to the over 150 of you who could make it out to the school board meeting this past Monday. Your work is gaining visibility and becoming increasingly effective - keep up the good work!


Thank you for all your work so far, and all you will do in these next crucial weeks. Your support means a lot to us, and more importantly, to your colleagues.


We'll keep you posted,

Your Negotiators - Paul, Sandy, Vicki, LeMoyne, David, Gary, and Julie

Monday, November 23, 2009

School Board Meeting Goes Red

Tonight, over 150 AHEM members delivered over 1,950 signatures on petitions asking the school board to move our negotiations forward. John Wolhaupter spoke on behalf of the members and reiterated the need for the district to do the right thing so we can focus on educating our students, and avoid a $1 million fine for not being settled by January 15th. The room was full beyond capacity and a lovely shade of red. Thanks to all who came out to help us reach a fair, professional settlement. Stay tuned - we are back in mediation this Wednesday.







Tuesday, November 3, 2009

We Did It! The Levy Renewal Passes with 59% of the Vote

We are so grateful for all of your support of the Anoka Hennepin Levy Renewal - this will make a big difference in our classrooms. In these tough economic and cynical times, we really appreciate what you did to give us this win with 59% of the vote.

Special thanks to the over 100 members who helped make direct contact with voters through our phone bank; the over 200 members who helped write personal postcards; the legislators, parents, students, and vendors who assisted with our efforts; our staff at the state Education Minnesota office, America Votes, and the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation for all the infrastructure work; and all those who helped with the organization of our activities. With so many doing their part to get the message out, this was an effective and exhilarating campaign.

We just can't thank you all enough.

Here are the current numbers on all the races in our district:

ISD 11 QUESTION - APPROVAL OF SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENDUM REVENUE AUTHORIZATION

YES 17590
NO 12389


SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER - ISD 11 SUB-DIST 3

JOHN HOFFMAN 3333
WRITE-IN 223


SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER - ISD 11 SUB-DIST 4

MICHAEL D. SULLIVAN 5003
WRITE-IN 404


SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER - ISD 11 SUB-DIST 6

PATRICK MURRAY 1168
JEFF SIMON 876
KATHY TINGELSTAD 2867
WRITE-IN 44