 KUDOS ………...... 2 ISSUE 2 VOLUME 23 2014

 ELECTION 2014 ……...…..………..….……3

 FALL OPPORTUNITIES ………………….………….4 PSUU A PUBLICATION OF THE POLK SUBURBAN UNISE R V U N I T issues STARTING THE YEAR OUT RIGHT

The following suggested activities insurance carriers or your of reprimand or praise; copies will help ensure a smooth start to family status has changed. of correspondence to or from your school year and avoidance of school administration or conflict at a later date:  Be certain that your building parents; written summaries policies include information on: of any conferences with  Review your personnel file. procedures to use in case of supervisors; all professional Make a list of its contents. If student injury, specific dos and evaluations and written inappropriate items are don’ts in discipline and a responses to evaluations; contained therein, immediately complete explanation of written summaries of any notify your Rights chairperson. evaluation procedures and out-of-the ordinary incidents criteria. such as disciplinary actions  Once published, check the you’ve taken, student accidents seniority list for accuracy. or students’ notes you’ve If there is an error, seek intercepted; and any other items immediate correction. related to your employment.

 Verify that your salary and  If you begin having difficulties other conditions of your with an administrator, parent, individual contract are in or community member, start compliance with the Master a daily log. Record all items Contract. Your paycheck that could be related to (future) should be compared to the charges against you. Include contractual amount so that  Start your own personnel file. dates, times and brief any errors can be corrected Include your teaching descriptions of incidents and/or immediately. certificate; copies of college witnesses. transcripts; documentation of  Check to be sure that you are any awards, commendations “By failing to prepare, enrolled in the insurance(s) or honors you receive; records you are preparing to fail.” you want—especially if your of seminars, workshops or - Benjamin Franklin employer has changed conferences you attend; letters

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CALLING ALL COACHES

Coaches, take notice of the following requirement by the Board of Educational Examiners:

“Beginning this year ALL 7-12 interscholastic coaches (boys and girls sports) are required to complete the online concussion training.”

Failure to complete the training could result in an ethics violation. Contact your IHSAA representative for information about the online training and any questions regarding this requirement.

TO MEMBERS! PSUU would like to recognize the following members Kudos! and locals for recent accomplishments:

 Mark Howsare (Johnston EA) received an FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) STEM Scale-Up Returning team grant from the University of Iowa.

 Northeast Elementary School in Ankeny was named a 2014 National Blue Ribbon School. Northeast is one of five Iowa schools out of 337 nationwide to receive this honor.

 Jeanine LynchISEA (Johnston Summer EA) has been Conferencenamed a Living History Farms Teacher of the Year. The annual ISEA Summer Conference was held at the Prairie Meadows Conference Center in Altoona July Kathy 28- 29.Paul Twenty (Johnston-six membersEA) was selectedrepresented by one PSUU of her at thestudents Conference. to be honored They were: at the Mike Beranek , MarciaUniversity Carlson, of Iowa’s Julie Belin Martinez,-Blank Center Jas Overlin Recognition, and Vicky Ceremony Rossander held in from Iowa West Des Moines EA; City. Wanda Borger, Rebekah Duchesneau, and Susan Lykken from West Des Moines ESP; Kim Spitzig and Becky Thompson from DMACC-ESA; Josh Baxter from Carlisle CEA; Brad Hurst, Don Miller, and Candi Patras from Johnston EA; Tracy Dawson, Jennifer  Johnston EA received a $200 grant to help purchase Houlette, Misty Payne, and Brian Robison from Southeast Polk EA; Lori DeBoer from North signs with the JEA name on them to display at the Polk EA; Brenda Goodwin-Wearne, Katherine Howsare, and Hajdi Zulic from Urbandale EA; Johnston Little League and softball fields. This Tera Severseike from Ankeny EA; as well as Dana Smith, Linda Reid, and Jen Husen from project has prompted ISEA to begin the process of Saydel EA. putting together a plan for other local associations

which may have public relations projects they would In keeping with the theme of “Lead With Us”, attendees had the opportunity to attend breakout like to initiate. sessions dealing with Union-District Collaboration, Special Education ProfessionalBrad Hurst & Peri and Van Ethical Tassel Practices, Support for Beginning Teachers, Mandatory Reporter Training, Use of Social Media to Promote Mission andCongratulations Vision, Building Rep for Training these Tools, recognitions! the Common Core, and the Iowa Teacher Leadership System. The group also heard from Joyce Powell, an NEA Executive Board member from New Jersey about leadership in education, Dr. Bill Withers from Wartburg College aboutPlease leading send during information system about changes, members’ Sarah achievements Brown Wessling, to Peri Van a former Tassel Nationalat [email protected] Teacher of the. Year from Johnston about leadership in teaching, and David Tjaden (outgoing NEA Student Program Chair from Iowa) about commitment to action in the future. As a result of the PAC Auction, participants donated over $4000 to the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education.

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ELECTION 2014

It’s simple. If we don’t advocate for public education, those advocating against what’s best for our students will win. All of our education policies are dictated by laws and regulations from the federal to the local levels. Consider the following examples: School funding K-3 literacy programs IPERS NCLB regulations Teacher Quality Compensation PK programs Charter schools Teacher Leadership Systems Core curriculum Tuition tax credits Salaries of school employees Teacher evaluation Expansion of broadband Education savings grants (vouchers) Bullying prevention infrastructure statewide for non-public and home school students On-line schools Those advocating against public education have always known that the way to get what they want is to be extremely involved with politicians and politics. If we are not politically engaged, they win. This is why politics matter. This is why who wins elections matters. This is why ISEA works to elect candidates who will support quality public education.

The following candidates in districts that serve PSUU members have been recommended for election by the ISEA-PAC Central Committee based upon their voting record or through a local candidate interview process. Positions on education issues only were considered in determining the recommendations. ISEA recommends (*=incumbent):

United States Senate: BRUCE BRALEY United States House of Representatives: HD 3 - HD 4 - JIM MOWRER Governor: Secretary of State: BRAD ANDERSON : SD 13 – Pam Deichmann SD 15 – Chaz Allen SD 17 – Tony Bisignano SD 21 – Matt McCoy * SD 23 – * Iowa House of Representatives: HD 20 – Steve Roe HD 40 – John Forbes * HD 28 – Megan Suhr HD 41 – * HD 29 – Dan Kelley * HD 42 – Daniel Fessler HD 30 – Joe Riding * HD 43 – Kim Robinson HD 31 – Rick Olson * HD 45 – Beth Wessel-Kroeschell * HD 32 – * HD 46 – Lisa Heddens * HD 33 – * HD 47 – Hans Erickson HD 34 – Bruce Hunter * HD 49 – Kevin Ericson HD 35 – Ako Abdul-Samad * HD 71 – Mark Smith * HD 36 – * HD 72 – Ben Westphal HD 39 – Tom Leffler HD 76 – Eric Pederson

ISEA PAC RECOMMENDATIONS ARE MADE BY ISEA MEMBERS BASED ON CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOCUS ON A CANDIDATE’S VIEWS ON EDUCATION AND LABOR POLICY. THE ASSOCIATION WEBSITE, WWW.ISEA.ORG, IS A GREAT RESOURCE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THE ISEA. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS IN THE FUTURE, PLEASE LET YOUR UNISERV OFFICE KNOW.

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FALL OPPORTUNITIES

You are invited to meet Chaz Allen - Candidate There will be a Day of Action for Iowa Senate District 15 - at the home of Tom for Chaz Allen in Senate District and Molly Rawls located at 402 - 13th Avenue, 15 on Saturday, October 25 beginning at 10 am at the Altoona on Wednesday, October 15 from 5:00 to th 7:00 with special guest Senator . Call Democratic office at 100 8 641-275-7171 for more information. Street SE in Altoona. Volunteers will help with phone-banking and door-knocking.

The Higher Education Nominations for the Excellence Conference in Education Awards are due to is Friday, ISEA by Friday, October 17. October 24 For more information and to find in Ankeny. the nomination form, go to Calling all Guidance Counselors! One can www.isea.org to nominate that The annual Ross Trust register at special education professional Symposium event will be Sunday, https:// who has worked tirelessly and November 2 from 9 to 3 at Prairie www.surveym rarely gets deserved recognition. Meadows in Altoona. This is the onkey.com/s/ day before the Iowa Schools heconf. Counselors Conference on November 3. To register, go to https://www.regonline.com/ rosstrustsymposium.

Attention PreK, Kindergarten and First Grade Teachers! This ISEA/ASCD conference is just for you. It will be Thursday, NEA Member Benefits is running three give-aways: December 4 at the Airport a. New Members who log into NEA MB Holiday Inn in Des Moines. (www.neamb.com) are eligible for a drawing The topics will deal with of a $500 Amazon gift card. impacting learning in your classroom. The cost is $100 b. Since September was Life Insurance for ISEA members. To Awareness Month, members can enter by register, go to https:// October 15 for a chance to win $1,000 by www.regonline.com/ entering the “Who Do You Love?” Contest impactinglearning. at http://www.neamb.com/who-do-you- love.htm. c. Members who sign up for the NEA Travel e-newsletter at www.neamb.com/ travelsignup will be entered into a drawing for a $500 AMEX gift card.

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Upcoming Events POLK OCTOBER: SUBURBAN 13 - Columbus Day - Office closed UNISERV 15 - PSUU Presidents’/Vice-Presidents’ Meeting UNIT 15 - Meet Chaz Allen event, Altoona 17 - Excellence in Education nominations due 17 - ISEA Retired Conference, Ankeny 17-18 - ISEA ESP & Student Conferences, West Des Moines You can review and 22 - PSUU Bargaining Training confirm your NEA 24 - ISEA Higher Education Conference, Ankeny Complimentary Life 25 - Day of Action for Chaz Allen, Altoona Insurance beneficiaries 31 - Halloween & last day to request absentee ballots by visiting the NEA Wayne Bauman Member Benefits NOVEMBER: UniServ Director Website at [email protected] www.neamb.com/ 01 - Daylight Savings Time ends insurance/nea- 02 - Ross Trust Symposium, Altoona Peri Van Tassel complimentary-life- 04 - Election Day UniServ Director insurance.htm. Once [email protected] 17 - American Education Week begins you log in and/or 20 - Excellence in Education Awards Dinner Aubrey Atkin register, you can check 26 - PERB Annual Reports dues Secretary and/or change your [email protected] 27 - Thanksgiving Holiday begins - Office closed beneficiary. through November 30 777 Third Street Des Moines, IA 515-471-8050 800-378-6304

Linda Reid, PSUU President American Education Week—November 16-22, 2014—presents all Americans with a [email protected] wonderful opportunity to celebrate public education and honor individuals who are making a difference in ensuring that every child receives a quality education. The Vicky Rossander weeklong celebration features a special observance each day of the week. They ISEA Executive Board include: Representative Monday, November 17: Kickoff Day [email protected] This is the nationwide kickoff. Across the country, schools will celebrate excellence in education by hosting kickoff events and activities. Mike Beranek ISEA Vice-President Tuesday, November 18: Parents Day [email protected] Schools will invite parents into the classroom for a firsthand look at what the school day is like for their children. Wednesday, November 19: Education Support Professionals Day Education Support Professionals keep schools running and students safe, healthy and ready to learn. Check out these videos to see how hard ESPs work to serve students in public schools and how committed ESPs are to both their jobs and their communities. Thursday, November 20: Educator for a Day Community leaders will be invited to experience the day as educators and experience the challenges of teaching and the needs of students. Friday, November 21: Substitute Educators Day Substitute educators play a vital role in the maintenance and continuity of daily education.

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