Welcome to Blue Ridge UniServ

Led by its President, Steve Gissendanner, the Albemarle Education Association turned heads on the School Board with the results of their recent online survey, which clearly showed that AEA’s members (representing approximately 2/3’s of Albemarle’s teachers) are working harder than ever, are feeling too stressed, and need the School Board’s help in pairing down the non-teaching assignments that fill their days.  See the full article at http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/education/article/albemarle_teachers_overused_survey_says/21714/

VEA initiated bills are before both legislative bodies in Richmond, pushing for mandated and guaranteed teacher planning time at the Elementary School Level.  The bills introduced into the House and Senate would guarantee 3 hours of planning time per week.  Read more on the VEA website at http://www.veaweteach.org/home_articles_detail.asp?ContentID=2738

Three schools within the Blue Ridge UniServ were recipients of Governor Kaine’s Excellence in Education Awards.  Western Albemarle High School and Murry Elementary were winners in Albemarle County, and Greenbrier Elementary won on behalf of Charlottesville Public Schools.  To view the Governor’s press release, please go to: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/NewHome/pressreleases/2008/jan10.html

VEA has created a comprehensive analysis of Governor Kaine’s proposed education budget.  Please check out how the budget will affect your school division by reviewing the document attached here: Budget Analysis

In a recent 6th Circuit Decision, the Court sided with NEA in holding that the unfunded mandates within No Child Left Behind violate the Spending Clause of the United States Constitution, and are therefore unenforceable.  In essence the Court held that the Federal government cannot require local school divisions to spend local and state dollars to fund Federally-mandated programs.  To date, despite promising to fully fund the NCLB mandates, the Bush Administration has created more than $60 billion of unfunded mandates.  The decision by the 6th Circuit holds that those unfunded mandates must cease.  Read the full NEA press release at http://www.nea.org/newsreleases/2008/nr080107.html

NEA has created a website devoted to educating our members on MRSA and how to address classroom health concerns.  Please check out the site by following this link:  http://www.neahin.org/MRSA/MRSAinfection.html  Keeping our kids and our schools safe is everybody’s obligation!

Despite the fact that Virginia public school students traditionally rank in the top 10% nationally on standardized English and Math tests, including the SATs, Virginia’s teachers’ salaries are not keeping pace with the national average. In fact, our teachers are falling seriously behind. Virginia’s teachers earned an average of just $44,727 in 2006-2007, $6,100 less than the national average of $50,816. That ranks Virginia 31st in teacher compensation nationally, behind our regional neighbors, Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, and North Carolina. Indeed, when adjusted for inflation, Virginia’s salaries actually decreased by 2 percent from 1996-2006. Press Release

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters proposed new rules last week to improve the safety of school bus seats and expand the use of shoulder belts, but she declined to order that all new buses include seat belts.  Ms. Peters said she wants to increase the height of seat backs on all school buses from 20 inches to 24 inches to help protect children during accidents.   She also proposed a new requirement for shorter school buses—the style more prone to rollover accidents—to begin using shoulder straps.  For longer buses, however, she proposed allowing states the option of using federal highway-safety money to buy new buses with seat belts. She promised no new money to cover those costs. The Transportation Department will decide whether to adopt the proposal after a 60-day period for public comment.  The proposed regulations can be found at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/07-5758.htm

Recently parents of students attending Charlottesville High School banded together to form a new Parent Teacher Organization to help create better communication between the parents and teachers, and to lend their influence and strength to the teachers’ efforts to educate their children. Follow this link to read the full story.