March / April Teach 2013

National Teacher Day poster page 10

Published by the TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION March/April 2013  Vol. 44, No. 6  www.teateachers.org

Born to Teach Memphis teacher Melissa Collins wins prestigious national award page 4

The Truth About Common Core Changes School Vouchers page 3

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TEA RA Information

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Speaking out with you Gera Summerford, President

Common Core Will Encourage Creativity Across Tennessee and in 44 other states, teachers and administrators are gearing up for the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Many of us have seen a variety of changes in curriculum and instructional standards during our careers, so what makes this latest change so different? Because this is the first time the vast majority of students in America will be taught a curriculum that is shared across state lines, the commitment to CCSS will be far reaching.

Unlike many of the current education reform efforts, I believe this change brings a real opportunity to improve instructional practice and increase student achievement. As a high school math teacher, I’ve seen the impact of a K-8 curriculum that has been too broad and too shallow. Students who have strong foundations in arithmetic and numeracy are well prepared to succeed in Algebra and Geometry upon entering high school. In recent years, however, with a broad curriculum and a testing system covering too many topics, the average student was deficient in the fundamental skills needed for success in high school mathematics.

The CCSS curriculum is narrower and deeper, and should encourage more creative thinking, analysis and problem-solving. Quality teaching has never been limited to teaching to a test. True learning has never been appropriately measured by multiple-choice “As a high school math assessments. Effective teacher, I’ve seen the teachers have always inspired impact of a K-8 curriculum their students to think independently, to reason well that has been too broad and to grow academically. and too shallow.”

I’m hopeful the common core standards will reinforce this approach to learning.

The 2013-14 school year will bring full implementation of CCSS in both math and English/language arts followed by the new PARCC testing system in 2014-15. Our challenge is to prepare ourselves and our students for these new standards.

Tennessee teachers have always done an excellent job when challenged to “raise the bar” in student achievement. Only three states have a higher graduation rate and, at 86 percent, Tennessee’s rate has improved at about double the national average over a fiveyear period. After a drop in achievement scores due to new testing standards in 2009-10, educators quickly adjusted to the change, improving student performance dramatically in the last two years.

Knowing the dedication and commitment of Tennessee’s teachers, I have every confidence that the implementation of CCSS will realize similar success.

TEA is poised to support our members as we take on this new challenge. TEA staff and member leaders are preparing to offer workshops and professional guidance to supplement the CCSS training provided by the state department of education. You can count on TEA to stay abreast of current practice and changes in education policy.

As always, we do so while advocating for and communicating with our members.

Mitchell Johnson, Interim Executive Director TEA is a Force to be Reckoned With As I write this in late March, we’ve already had an eventful legislative session, filled with challenges and opportunities for Tennessee’s teachers. While TEA has had a tremendous impact on several legislative issues this session, more issues require your activism and influence on members of the General Assembly. Win, lose or draw, your professional organization is at the forefront of legislative action.

Evaluation TEA polling persistently shows that teachers and administrators are unhappy with the evaluation system. We have every right to be! It is an evaluation system where you are often judged on things outside of your control, where “meets expectations” is “A recent federal report viewed as a failing showed Tennessee grade, and when schools rank in the top 10 some are sure to nationally for graduation lose no matter how hard they work. The rates.” current system is clearly hurting good teachers. Changes must be made.

The commissioner of education repeatedly says that the system needs to be ‘tweaked,’ but educators would like a major overhaul by allowing teachers and schools to opt out of TVAAS, use other validated test measures and dial down the use of schoolwide data in evaluations of the majority of teachers. TEA has offered a viable option that implements the use of pre- and posttests, which would more accurately measure the effectiveness of the teacher. TEA’s efforts have started the first real discussions regarding alternatives to the use of TVAAS and the current evaluation system. It is time for a change. Many legislators on both sides of the aisle agree with us.

Protecting the State Salary Schedule It is unbelievable that Sen. Delores Gresham, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman and others want to dismantle the state salary schedule. In the face of recent evidence to the contrary from a prominent Vanderbilt University study, proponents of merit pay still want to impose a non-productive pay scheme on teachers. Instead of promoting another flawed experiment, all members of the profession need to be recognized for what they are worth. TEA is continuously talking to legislators about the need to keep and increase the minimum salary schedule to make teachers whole from the lost years of the recent recession. We need your support to drive this point home in the minds of state lawmakers who believe the state salary schedule must be destroyed.

continued on page 3.

teach (USPS 742-450, ISSN 15382907) is published in August, September, October, Nov/Dec, Jan/Feb, March/April, and May by the Tennessee Education Association, 801 Second Avenue North, Nashville TN 37201-1099. Periodical postage paid at Nashville, TN. The subscription price of $3.65 is allocated from annual membership dues of $258.00 for active members; $129.00 for associate, education support and staff members; $16.00 for retired members; and $10.00 for student members. Member of State Education Editors (SEE).

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Tennessee Education Association 801 Second Avenue North Nashville, TN 37201-1099 Telephone: (615)242-8392, Toll Free: (800)342-8367, (800)342-8262 Fax: (615)259-4581 Website: www.teateachers.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT: Gera Summerford* (800)342-8367 VICE PRESIDENT: Barbara Gray* (901)353-8590 SECRETARY-TREASURER: Mitchell Johnson (615)242-8392 DISTRICT 1 Leisa Lusk* (423)794-6247 DISTRICT 2 Lauren McCarty (865)385-5220 DISTRICT 3 Vacancy DISTRICT 4 Tanya Coats* (865)637-7494 DISTRICT 5 Michael Plumley (423)479-8228 DISTRICT 6 Scott Price (931)455-7198 DISTRICT 7 Allen Nichols* (615)653-6501 DISTRICT 8 Kawanda Braxton (615)554-6286 DISTRICT 9 Theresa L. Wagner (270)776-1467 DISTRICT 10 Guy Stanley (615)218-9213 DISTRICT 11 Wendy R. Bowers (731)645-8595 DISTRICT 12 Suzie May (731)779-9329 DISTRICT 13 Ernestine King (901)590-8188 DISTRICT 14 Sarah Kennedy-Harper (901)337-3988 DISTRICT 15 Tom Emens (901)277-0578 ADMINISTRATOR EAST Johnny Henry (865)712-3199 ADMINISTRATOR MIDDLE Margaret Thompson (615)643-7823 ADMINISTRATOR WEST Charles Green (901)624-6186 HIGHER EDUCATION Clinton Smith (901)230-4914 BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER EAST Paula Hancock (865)694-1691 BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER MIDDLE Kenneth Martin (615)876-1948 BLACK CLASSROOM TEACHER WEST LaVerne Dickerson (901)789-2626 STATE SPECIAL SCHOOLS Vacancy NEW TEACHER CandraClariette (615)298-8053 ESP Christine Denton (931)647-8962 TN NEA DIRECTOR Melanie Buchanan (615)305-2214 TN NEA DIRECTOR Diccie Smith (901)482-0627 TN NEA DIRECTOR Diane Lillard* (423)478-8827 STEA MEMBER Marilauren Anderson (731)478-5106 TN RETIRED Gerald Lillard (423)473-9400 * Executive Committee

TEA HEADQUARTERS STAFF INTERIMEXECUTIVEDIRECTOR:MitchellJohnson;ASST. EXECUTIVEDIRECTORS,TerranceGibson;CarolK.Schmoock; DuranWilliams;TEAGENERALCOUNSEL;RickColbert; MANAGER OFBUSINESS AFFAIRS:StephanieFaulkner;INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY&SYSTEMSMANAGER,Galen Riggs;MANAGEROF LEGALSERVICES:Steve McCloud;STAFFATTORNEYS:Katherine Curlee,VirginiaA. McCoy;MANAGEROFGOVERNMENTRELATIONS: JimWrye;GOVERNMENTRELATIONSCOORDINATOR:Antoinette Lee;WEBMASTER&COMMUNICATIONSCOORDINATOR:Amanda Chaney;MANAGINGEDITOR&COMMUNICATIONSCOORDINATOR: AlexeiSmirnov; RESEARCH&INFORMATIONCOORDINATOR: Vacancy;INSTRUCTION&PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT COORDINATORS:SusanDalton,ChelseaMcKissack;COORDINATOR OFMEMBERSHIP&AFFILIATERELATIONS:ShannonBain.

UniServ Staff contact information can be found on page 16 or by scannig the Quick Response code below.

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Mitchell Johnson, continued from page 2.

Opposing a Statewide Charter Authorizer and Vouchers No matter where you teach, charters and vouchers can hurt your school and waste precious education funding that could truly help your students. As Florida, Texas and other states show, charters and vouchers, once unleashed, can hurt every rural, suburban and urban system in the state. Everyone in public education has a stake in keeping such bills from passing. TEA is openly challenging the motives of the charter and voucher profiteers.

Opposing Fundamental Changes to the Retirement System There is a major proposal to fundamentally alter the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) and possibly threaten its long-term health. Legislators driving this destructive plan hope to switch TCRS from a guaranteed defined benefit to a convoluted mix of defined benefit and a 401k-type of investment, effective with teachers entering the profession in 2014. This would open the door to altering the plan for currently enrolled teachers and education employees. TEA opposes anything

that threatens the retirement of hard-working teachers, now or in the future. TEA has provided definitive research outlining the negative impact and diminished potential earnings of public school employees under the proposed system.

Republicans and Democrats Back TEA Bills The General Assembly has Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate.

Majority support for bills to improve teaching and learning in Tennessee is critical.

TEA is working on changes to support assaulted teachers, impose time limits on investigations during suspension, allow “meets expectations” as a passing grade to achieve professional standing, and provide basic fairness for education support professionals.

Yes, it is a busy session. Collectively, TEA members are having an impact. Please continue to make contact with legislators and get others to do so as well. TEA’s strength is in our engaged membership.

Collectively, we can turn the tide of anti-public school bills in the Tennessee Legislature.

Common Core Changes Prompt Questions Banking on advantages of fostering students’ analytical skills over a traditional multiple-choice bubble test, Tennessee is one of 45 states adopting the Common Core State Standards, a national project aiming to fundamentally change teaching and learning.

Common Core’s goal is to prepare students with the most important knowledge and skills to succeed in higher education or careers and to compete in an increasingly competitive work environment.

While it’s hard to disagree that critical thinking is crucial in today’s economy, Tennessee faces many challenges in implementing the new standards and the PARCC assessments linked to the standards. One of the challenges is posed by the state’s own teacher and principal evaluation, ushered into existence two years ago and immediately prompting questions over its validity and effectiveness.

“A project of this scale must be implemented with fidelity, which takes time,” said Susan Dalton, TEA instruction and professional development coordinator. “Today, there is a real question about whether the evaluation rubric is aligned with Common Core requirements. Many teachers across the state are preparing two sets of lesson plans to satisfy the state observation rubric and Common Core requirements.”

The new standards will emphasize critical thinking, problem solving and creativity. The new PARCC assessments will give students, parents and educators better information about college- and career-readiness based on performance beyond multiple-choice tests. The state will have fully implemented the standards in 2014-15, which is the first year the new PARCC assessments will be given.

TEA representatives serve on Tennessee’s CCSS leadership team. President Gera Summerford and several staff participated in national PARCC Educator Cadre training sessions alongside state Department

of Education staff. In every discussion, TEA representatives express the need for more support for teachers and administrators in implementing Common Core.

While the transition to new standards will give teachers an opportunity to revisit instructional practice to support growth for all students, teachers say it will be challenging as they are increasingly pressed for time. To help teachers along the way, the Tennessee Department of Education has launched a new website, www.tncore.org, the primary hub for information about Tennessee’s Common Core implementation and a portal to resources from educators across the state and country.

TEA is scheduling one-day Common Core regional training sessions this summer and a two-day program June 20-21 on working with ELL students.

The department recently enlisted the help of more than 700 teachers to help their peers navigate the transition to the Common Core State Standards.

The group will lead five weeks of summer training on the Common Core math, English/language arts and literacy standards, hoping to reach at least 30,000 teachers across Tennessee. Last year, about 200 coaches were trained to help their colleagues who teach math in grades 3-8 understand the Common Core transition.

TEA is scheduling one-day Common Core regional training sessions this summer to help prepare educators for successful CCSS implementation.

In addition, TEA is offering a two-day program on June 20-21 on working with ELL students under

CCSS. Contact TEA Instruction and Professional Development for more details.

Because CCSS will require that testing be done online, questions loom about technology and funding because not every school district has the technology required or can afford it.

More questions have been raised about making accommodations for students with disabilities.

“We’re concerned that kids need time during the year to prepare using the computer and practice their keyboarding skills before taking the test,” Dalton said.

CCSS has been compared with a sea change that comes on top of a recent sea change in teacher and principal evaluation in Tennessee.

“If we want good evaluation and more meaningful testing, we must be prepared to spend the money,” said TEA Interim Executive Director Mitchell Johnson. “As long as Tennessee is ranked 43rd among states in education spending, achieving meaningful changes in teaching and learning will be a challenge.”

3 www.teateachers.org

S

pend a few minutes in Melissa Collins’ classroom at John P. Freeman Optional School in Memphis, and you would want to stay for hours.

On this frosty morning in early March, secondgraders begin their day singing, dancing, multiplying, telling time and tackling the big questions of right and wrong.

“Give me an example when something is wrong and when something is right,” Collins asks the class.

“If I chose to go to the playground when my mom told me not to go,” says one of the students.

“And what happened then? Probably some sort of consequences. We don’t like consequences, do we?”

“No!” students respond in unison, smiling.

“When I did my homework, I felt good,” says another student.

“Look up, stand and deliver,” Collins encourages the second-grader. “Presentation.

Be still. Look at me. How did it make you feel?

Do you do some things wrong? Give me an example.”

“One day, mommy said I couldn’t have any more Skittles. But I took them and hid behind something.”

“Did you know it was wrong? Did you get caught?”

“No.” As everyone cheers up with the prospect of not getting caught after consuming copious amounts of Skittles, Collins quickly takes command of the classroom. “One, two, three, track me. Active listeners, we always want to practice doing the right thing. If you eat too many Skittles, you could get a tummy ache, or too many cavities.”

Students nod and Collins commences reading “Bad dog, Dodger!” The second-graders must pay attention because they will be asked to identify the plot and theme, in addition to answering some challenging questions.

“I wanted a dog since the third grade,” reads Collins, and her students barely move, all eyes trained on their teacher.

As we talk during lunch break, Collins sounds 4

March/April 2013

like she may be fighting off a cold, but there’s no time to rest her voice.

“When you miss a day, you feel guilty,” she says.

Collins recently returned from Washington, D.C., where she received the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence and $10,000 as one of the nation’s top educators during the NEA Foundation’s Salute to Excellence in Education Awards Gala.

Known as the Academy Awards of public education, the annual event attracts 750 national leaders from public education, philanthropic and business sectors. As part of the award, Collins’ students received digital arts training last fall, which they used to create an original video honoring their teacher.

Recognizing Collins after the gala, NEA Foundation President and CEO Harriet Sanford said, “Collins has been selected by her peers because she has attained the highest teaching standards, as shown by her exemplary instruction, advocacy for the profession,

“I knew when I first started teaching at 24 that it was important for me to advocate for this profession. I’m committed to telling every teacher I see that they need to be a part of our Association.”

attention to diversity, leadership in professional development, and engagement of parents and community.”

But to Collins, it’s all about the students and the calling she knew she had at the age of seven.

She remembers the carbon copies her father brought from school. Collins made her own worksheets using those copies and engaged her next-door neighbors as students.

“My father was a principal,” she says. “He’s retired now, but he still wants to sub. He was a coach for 20-plus years at Whitehaven High School. He taught social studies, he loved history and he was a football coach. Watching him get involved with the community and helping those boys turn into young, influential

Born t

men influenced my desire to become a teacher.

I want to impact my students the way my father did. Teaching is a part of my DNA.” It wasn’t always easy for Collins, who currently sits on many panels, including the Common Core cadre of trainers and America Achieves.

Collins says it was hard to balance academic requirements in college and playing basketball. Getting up at 5 a.m., going through conditioning training, going back to the room, studying and going back to basketball was difficult, but it became an awakening.

“I had a 2.5 average and I needed a 2.7 for my program when my advisor told me, ‘Melissa, I know you’re playing basketball, but you have to get good grades to get into a good program.’

I asked her to tell me what I needed to do. My professors noticed something in me that I didn’t see myself. When I was around the kids, they would just gravitate towards me and I would gravitate towards them.”

When Collins graduated, her professors gave her a standing ovation to recognize her hard work in improving her grades and not giving up basketball.

Then, Collins returned to the community where she was raised and went to school,

Scan to watch Melissa Collins teach.

to Teach to teach some of her former classmates’ children and even the children of some of her fathers’ football players. She says being in her own community gives her extra energy and empowerment, allowing her to be not just a teacher but also a mother figure.

“I love working for a big urban district,” Collins says. “I try to get outside of my classroom and share with teachers what I’ve learned through the National Board process, the Presidential Award and also through the NEA Teacher Excellence Award. All those things taught me something about myself and showed me how important it was to delve deeply into the curriculum and offer students something totally different.”

Observing Collins during class, it’s easy to see her hands-on approach and focus on student involvement. Using cheers, chants, responses and refrains, Collins coaxes fidgety second-graders to memorize and learn beyond the prescribed level of material. Acting out, simulation and role-play route student energy into practical learning even when they think they are having fun.

Collins encourages her students to use a toy microphone in front of the class to build selfesteem and have a platform, allowing other kids

to focus momentarily on someone other than their teacher. It’s a visual aid, a confidencebuilder and a classroom management tool, and it doesn’t even require an amplifier and speakers.

“I’m just a starting point for them as an early childhood teacher, but I hope I can influence them to be lifelong learners so they want to go to college and have a career, and hopefully, come back and give back to the community,” Collins says.

She speaks from experience, because she remembers wondering whether she herself had some missed opportunities in school. “Could I have thought about being a biomedical engineer, an astronaut or someone different in my field at their age?” Collins says. “That’s why I call my students junior scientists and encourage them to wear their lab jackets. I address them as ‘scientist Ayden’ or ‘scientist Clarice’ so they can feel empowered.”

Collins’ sister Jennifer, a dentist, plans to take one of Collins’ second-graders on tour of the UT Medical Center to discuss a potential career path. During our morning and early afternoon visit, Collins mentions the word “college” several times during various activities.

She wants to make sure her students become doctors, mathematicians and dentists after they

go to college in 2023. That’s why she’s pushing her students to learn multiplication when they are only required to study equal groups.

Soon, they’ll move to cursive writing and other necessary tools—all in order to prepare them better for the third grade.

To keep all this learning intact, Collins encourages parents to stay in touch. “They can email me, call or text,” she says. “I’m always open to them. It concerns me if they do not ask about their child. I tell parents that no question is too big or too small.”

Having chosen a profession that allows her to be a teacher, nurse, lawyer and advocate, Collins says there is no shortage of skills she is willing to share with her students, even if it comes to changing lyrics of “Meet me in the club” and “We will rock you” to something that can help kids excel at multiplication. She organizes plays and community activities at the school in order to let students and parents know that it’s their home not only for academics, but also a place to empower the whole child.

“You can see they are bright,” Collins says.

“Sometime I allow them to lead and give them an opportunity to be an instructor. They keep me young.”

That’s why Collins says she likes the Common Core standards. As a coach for English/language arts and math, she says Common Core makes teachers look at things differently. While implementation may be challenging, Collins says, “Common Core does not really eliminate what we do now; it enhances what we do.”

Collins uses the same approach when talking to her colleagues about association work. She remembers “the little picket signs from the strike in Memphis” her father stored in the attic.

“I knew when I first started teaching at 24 that it was important for me to advocate for this profession,” Collins says. “I needed to advocate for the students and for myself. I enjoy the benefits that TEA, NEA and my local Association have to offer. I’m committed to telling every teacher I see that they need to be part of our Association.”

Starting out as an association representative and going to delegate meetings, signing up for committees, Collins says she knew what she was saying made a difference.

“I know some people are trying to eliminate or silence our voices, but we’re going to continue to be heard.”

5 www.teateachers.org

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School Vouchers Spell Disaster for Tennessee As Tennessee taxpayers and lawmakers weigh the possibility of instituting school vouchers in our state, one would do well to pay attention to which organizations and politicians are pushing the schoolvoucher agenda and explore how vouchers have performed in other states.

A disaster where implemented

Vouchers have been a disaster where implemented.

Studies show no evidence that vouchers improve student outcomes. Last year’s front-page Washington Post story on one of the nation’s largest voucher programs in that city found half of all vouchers go to dubious education “programs.” One such program was the Muhammad University of Islam, supported by an organization identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, with small classrooms in bedrooms and only one bathroom with a floor blackened with dirt and a sink coated in grime.

According to The Washington Post, the director of the nonprofit organization that manages the D.C. vouchers on behalf of the federal government calls quality control “a blind spot.”

More horror stories emerged in Louisiana, where a voucher program similar to the one being considered in Tennessee was ruled unconstitutional in November 2012, roughly a year after it was started, but not before costing taxpayers more than $25 million a year.

Lance Hill, executive director of the Southern Institute for Education Research at Tulane University and a member of the New Orleans Education Equity

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Roundtable, told The Louisiana Weekly that “the low number of applicants to the voucher program in that state “proves that the voucher program is a disaster.”

Noting that the premise for the voucher program was the idea that people would “stampede” out of public schools if given the chance, Hill said: “I think it’s safe to say that 98 percent of the parents did not feel that the school their child was attending was so poor performing that they need to take advantage of a private education.”

While the numbers are strikingly low, representing only two percent of the total potential applicants, Hill acknowledged that factors other than preference could play a part in the pool.

Since its passage, the Louisiana voucher program has been widely criticized for its lack of accountability for private schools accepting voucher dollars. In addition, The Louisiana Weekly reports that the quality of education offered at these schools has come under fire. The report cited the example of a school in Ruston, The New Living Word, which signed up 314 voucher students, yet has no library and offers classroom instruction over-relying on DVDs. While vouchers may sound good to some in theory, they are a disaster in practice.

School vouchers can take two basic forms: 1) vouchers among public schools, regardless of system, district, or political boundaries; and 2) facilitating private or parochial school attendance with vouchers or tax breaks. Both efforts are championed by rightwing organizations.

Facts About School Vouchers

The facts about school vouchers are clear:  There is no link between vouchers and gains in student achievement. No definitive study has ever shown statistically significant improvement in student achievement as a result of vouchers.

According to The Washington Post, the most comprehensive study of the D.C. voucher program found “no conclusive evidence” that the vouchers improved math and reading test scores for those students who left their public schools.  Vouchers undermine accountability for public funds. There are clear examples of fraudulent programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland, Florida, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. An investigation by Miami New Times News found that in Florida, private schools essentially go unregulated, even if they’re funded by taxpayer dollars. In the example of South Florida Prep, which received at least $236,000 from a state-run tax-credit scholarship for children from low-income families, 200 students were crammed into ever-changing school locations, including “a dingy strip-mall space above a liquor store and down the hall from a... massage parlor.” Eventually, fire marshals and sheriffs condemned the “campus” as unfit for habitation, pushing the student body into transience in church foyers and public parks. The inexperienced teachers were mostly in their early 20s.  Vouchers do not reduce public education costs. Rather, they require taxpayers to fund two school systems, one public and one private. In fact, two-thirds of all Cleveland vouchers went to families

already sending children to private schools. Vouchers in Cleveland are mostly rebates for families who were already sending their children to private schools.

According to the Akron Beacon Journal, “rather than bring about a shift from public to private schools, the voucher program merely slowed an exodus from Cleveland’s Catholic schools to the city’s public schools.”  Vouchers do not give parents real educational choice. More than 90 percent of Florida private schools refuse vouchers, while others have tuition higher than voucher worth.  School vouchers in Tennessee raise constitutional issues. The state constitution requires the Tennessee General Assembly to “provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools.” It does not mention support of private entities to educate Tennesseans.

There are proven, research-based ways to improve education outcomes in Tennessee schools. We simply need to fund them. As the Chattanooga Times Free Press observed, “Schools still have too few teachers, resources and catch-up programs to effectively teach children who largely come from homes and neighborhoods where lack of early education and severe socio-economic circumstances hinder student achievement... It’s time to double-down for the long-term on pre-kindergarten, before- and afterschool mentoring programs, and serious parental outreach and mentoring. Anything less is not going to reverse the economic and cultural dysfunction that perpetuates under-achievement.”

Vouchers in tennessee

Tennessee currently has no private school voucher law currently in place. To advance the voucher agenda, Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, and Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, sponsored school voucher legislation which failed to pass during the 107th General Assembly.

The movement to divert public education dollars to private and religious schools in Tennessee is gaining momentum. On December 15, 2011, Gov. Bill Haslam formed the Tennessee voucher task force, pushing research and policy in favor of bringing school vouchers to Tennessee. The task force released its report in December 2012, but left many details of a Tennessee school voucher plan unanswered. Many of these questions were answered with the introduction of SB196/HB190 supported by Haslam. While this bill was taken off notice in early April, another push for vouchers is expected next year.

While the Tennessee Education Association has long opposed any proposal that could divert much-

needed funds from public schools to private entities, in January 2013, the TEA Board of Directors adopted a forceful resolution opposing school vouchers, noting:  School vouchers reduce public accountability by diverting tax dollars to private entities that do not meet state-approved academic or teacher licensure standards, do not make budgets public, do not adhere to open meetings and records laws, do not publicly report student achievement and do not face the public accountability requirements contained in major federal laws.

“How many students might be able to take advantage of a school voucher to attend school in a different school district or even a different county?

Probably not very many. The more difficult question to answer is what happens to those who can’t flee to better schools?”

The Jackson Sun

 School vouchers leave many students behind— including those with greatest need—because vouchers divert tax dollars to private entities that are not required to accept all students nor offer the special services many students need.

In Tennessee, variations in state and local funding for school districts also complicate the prospect of school tax dollars following students, a recent editorial in The Jackson Sun stated.

“Most voucher proposals would allow students in failing schools to transfer to a better school,” according to the The Jackson Sun. “Identifying failing schools is straightforward. Finding alternative schools, private or public, that have room, are willing to participate and can be fairly compensated is no small task. Then there are issues of transportation, where underperforming students would fit into the new school, social issues, loss of student peer group and additional challenges for parent involvement, to name a few.”

“Most of the state’s failing schools are in poor communities,” according to The Jackson Sun editorial.

“How many [of these] students might be able to take advantage of a school voucher to attend school in a different school district or even a different county?

Probably not very many. The more difficult question to answer is what happens to those who can’t flee to

better schools?”

Other news media are also joining the chorus of opposition to school vouchers. The Crossville Chronicle editorialized, “Instead of fixing schools so all of our students get a better education, our learned lawmakers are promoting vouchers for a few. They are not trying to improve public education; they are trying to kill it. They are proposing to take tax-payer money away from public schools that educate the vast majority of our kids and funnel it into corporate and religious schools that are only interested in turning a profit or indoctrinating students with religious ideology. Then they can just sit back and watch the public schools die.”

There are many reasons that a voucher-driven raid on scarce school funds would be bad for Tennessee.

But there is an issue that trumps all those reasons.

Voucher plans that include religious schools violate the First Amendment. It constitutes a direct government subsidy of religion. No citizen should be compelled by the government to furnish funds in support of any religion.”

Few experts summarize the consensus on the school voucher movement better than Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary of education and once a leader in the drive to create a national curriculum.

As Ravitch continued to study the impact of various education reforms on America’s public schools, she reexamined her views and came to oppose many of the positions she previously advocated.

“I just wish that choice proponents would stop promising that charters and vouchers will bring us closer to that date when 100 percent of all children reach proficiency,” Ravitch wrote in her blog on May 11, 2011. “If evidence mattered, they would tone down their rhetoric. But I won’t hold my breath.”

For the past several years, the education reform plate in Tennessee has been filled with new initiatives, including those spurred by Race to the Top. Vouchers and other school-choice initiatives would rob Tennessee public schools of much-needed funds, at a minimum divert tax dollars to private and religious schools and potentially invite other private entities not even engaged in education to develop storefront “education” programs. This expensive proposition will undermine the quality of teaching and learning in Tennessee’s public schools.

As evidenced in states where school vouchers have been implemented, the inability of a government bureaucracy to oversee and regulate every school accepting taxpayer funds creates fertile ground for corruption and other abuses, at the same time robbing the public education system which is held accountable for every penny it spends.

7 www.teateachers.org

TEA Representa Nashville Convention

The winners of TEA elections are introduced to the delegates at the conclusion of the 2012 TEA Representative Assembly.

PROPOSED AGENDA Friday, May 10, 4:15-4:45 p.m. - Delegates from the following districts will

convene to nominate candidates for the TEA Board of Directors: Third (one-year unexpired term); Fourth (three-year term), Seventh (three-year term), Tenth (three-year term), and Fourteenth (three-year term). For TEA-FCPE Executive Council, the following districts will convene: Fourth (three year term), Sixth (three-year term), Seventh (three-year term), Eighth (three-year term), Tenth (three-year term), Eleventh (three-year term), Fourteenth (three-year term) and Fifteenth (three-year term).

Friday, May 10, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. – First General Session 1.

Invocation 2.

Pledge of Allegiance 3.

National Anthem 4.

Seating of Delegates 5.

Approval of Minutes 6.

Approval of Agenda

a.

Adoption of Standing Rules 7.

Appointment of Committees

Credentials Committee

Resolutions Committee

Elections Committee 8.

President’s Address 9.

Distinguished Educator Awards 10.

Human Relations Awards 11.

Susan B. Anthony Award 12.

Cavit C. Cheshier Awards 13.

School Bell Awards 14.

Friend of Education Awards 15.

Presidential Merit Award 16.

Membership Awards 17.

Nominations

a.

Board of Directors

(1) NEA Director for a three-year term

(2) West Tennessee Administrator for a three-year term

(3) West Tennessee Black Classroom Teacher for a

three-year term

(4) State Special Schools Classroom Teacher for a one-year

unexpired term 8 March/April 2013

(5) Education Support Professional for a three-year term

(6) Middle Tennessee Administrator for a two-year unex pired term

(7) Classroom Teacher Board members from Districts 3, 4, 7,

10 and 14 for three-year terms

b.

East Tennessee contact to the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee

Consolidated Retirement System for a three-year term

c.

East Tennessee member on the Local Education Insurance Com mittee for a three-year term

d.

West Tennessee contact to the Board of Trustees of the Tennessee

Consolidated Retirement System for a one-year unexpired term

e.

West Tennessee member on the Local Education Insurance Com mittee for a one-year unexpired term

f.

Districts 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14 and 15 TEA-FCPE Council members

for three-year terms 18.

Proposed Amendments to the TEA Constitution and Bylaws, Standing

Rules and TEA-FCPE Bylaws 19.

Memorial Recognition 20.

Update on the 2011-2012 Legislative Program 21.

Report of the Committee on Campaign Policies and Candidate Expenses 22.

Financial Report 23.

Adoption of the 2013-2014 Budget 24.

Reading of New Business Items*

Saturday, May 11, 7:30 – 9:15 a.m. – Election Polls Open Saturday, May 11, 9:00 a.m. – Second General Session 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Continuation of any unfinished business from the Friday night agenda Report of the Executive Director Action on Proposed Resolutions Action on New Business Items Report of the Credentials Committee Report of the Elections Committee (to be given when vote count is completed) Introduction of Elected Officials Adjournment

*Standing Rules require that this agenda item be completed prior to the adjournment of the first general session.

ative Assembly Center, May 10-11, 2013 Four Candidates Run For TEA Positions Biographical information and campaign statements that follow were submitted by the candidates and/or their campaign coordinators.

Elections will be held at the TEA Representative Assembly in Nashville on Saturday, May 11, between 7:30 and 9:15 a.m.

NEA Board of Directors Diccie Smith, Shelby County EA Diccie Smith-30 yrs-SCS; SPED FS Teacher. Local Level: AR, committee chair-Minority Affairs, Human Relations, SCEA Board-secretary, RAA chair, Sponsoring Committee Member-SCEA/MEA merger. State Level: TEA Board-West TN Black Classroom Teacher; TEA-FCPE, TUEAC President/ Secretary, committee chair-Minority Affairs, Communications, Status of Women. National Level: NCUEA Ethnic Minority Director At-large, NEA Peace and Justice vice-chair, secretary, SE membership chair, Resolutions, RA Annual Meeting Committee, East MLTP Planning Committee, NEA Board Member.

Attended 28 TEA Representative Assemblies, 19 NEA Representatives Assemblies. I am asking for the opportunity to continue to serve you as your NEA Board Member representing Tennessee.

TEA Board of Directors Middle Tennessee Administrator Julie Hopkins, Metropolitan Nashville EA

TEA Board of Directors Middle Tennessee Administrator Margaret M. Thompson, Robertson County EA Assistant Principal from Greenbrier Middle School, has taught in Robertson County for over 30 years; worked on the Executive Committee for RCEA, numerous committees, as well as helped recruit membership; served one term on TEA Board of Directors, participated in Southeastern Leadership Conference, TEA Leadership Academy, Internal Organizational Needs Committee member, Administrator Task Force Chairman, Flood Relief Committee, Spring Symposium, participated in TEA Representative Assembly for six years, served on the Credentials Committee for the TEA RA, and attended NEA Representative Assemblies for several years.

With the changing educational environment in Tennessee, it is important to keep TEA strong and working hard. TEA is not only important to teachers, but administrators as well. I would like to have the opportunity to once again represent the administrators in Middle Tennessee. Thank you for considering my candidacy for TEA Board Member.

Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System Board-West Sammy Jobe, Shelby County EA Sammy Jobe has taught physical education and coached boys’ basketball for grades 6-8 at Collier-

ville Middle School in Shelby County for 22 years. He graduated with his BSEd from the University of Memphis, and his MSEd in Administration and Supervision from Trevecca Nazarene University. With 45 hours of postgraduate studies, Sammy received his elementary certification. For the past 13 years, he has lobbied on Capitol Hill in Nashville.

Coach Jobe previously served as a building AR for eight years, was election committee co-chairman and liaison for the SCEA newsletter and Educator Benefits. His involvement in TEA has included attending 14 TEA RAs and five TEA Leadership Academies. He served two years on the membership committee. Coach Jobe has served as chairman of the TEA election committee for two years.

For 10 years, he was the state contact to the NEA Veterans Caucus, the last nine as caucus secretary.

His NEA activities include attending 13 NEA RAs, seven South Regional Leadership conferences, and the Men in Education Conference. Coach Jobe has served on the TEA Board of Directors and West Tennessee Teacher on the TCRS Board of Trustees for six years. Sammy is a dedicated educator who believes in public schools that provide a positive and safe environment for students and teachers. Sammy says, “I will be a strong advocate for teachers’ rights, better pay, increased benefits, and an improved retirement program. I would like to continue serving as the West Tennessee teachers’ contact on the TCRS Board of Trustees.”

Julie Hopkins is currently the assistant principal at Glengarry Elementary School in Nashville and has previously served as the Middle Tennessee Administrator on the TEA Board of Directors. She has also served as MNEA bargaining team member, NEA and TEA delegate, Association Representative, MNEA Secretary, MNEA Finance Officer, principal of Buena Vista Elementary School, a teacher at Paragon Mills and Bellshire Elementary Schools, the assistant principal at Amqui Elementary, and a Peer Assistance Leader (PAL) to several schools. The PALS Program was a collaborative venture between Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and the Metropolitan Nashville Education Association, and Julie served in the second cohort of PAL mentors. As a PAL, Julie’s role was to assist and guide new teachers to become high performers.

Delegates line up at the polls during the 2012 TEA Representative Assembly.

9 www.teateachers.org

More TEA Members Achieve National Board Certification Eighteen TEA members achieved National Board Certification in 2012.

This year’s class adds an additional 37 to 582, the total number of National Boardcertified teachers in Tennessee.

Each member received a congratulatory letter, a TEA-embossed business-card holder and information about updating their professional license.

“The newest national research establishes a positive correlation between National Board Certification and student achievement,” said TEA Assistant Executive Director Terrance Gibson. “We urge the newly certified teachers to contact their legislators and State Board of Education members to advocate for the National Board process and to share how it improves their teaching.”

Metro Nashville

Memphis City

Tina Atkinson Lauryn England Amy Leslie

Lisa Beckwith Keisha Haley (Flowers) Tonya Miller Mary Palmer Jennifer Parr Kimberly Ray Leslie Roberts

Hamilton County Lori Bowman Sharon Eaves John Echols Angelo Frank Kortyka Lisa Leopold Susan Proctor

Roane County Anne Barding Brenda Cate

 

 10 March/April 2013

Directed by Clarksville-Montgomery Co. EA member Stacey Smith, Rossview Elementary Honor Choir performs a medley of songs inspired by Dr. Seuss during CMCEA’s “Stupendous Seusstastical Celebration of Reading” at Clarksville Public Library on March 2. Below, Northwest High School Chem Club performs chemistry magic that caused the Kingdom of Didd so much trouble in Bartholomew and the Oobleck!

Summer Leadership Academy Builds Skills and Motivation TEA is offering a dynamic four-day conference to help enhance leadership skills, knowledge and motivation at all levels of local Association leadership—from novice emerging leaders to the most experienced advocates.

“Participants will be prepared to return to their local associations with the skills and commitment to advance the Association’s goals and build membership,” said Carol Schmoock, TEA assistant executive director.

To be held June 12-15, 2013, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Cool Springs, the Summer Leadership Academy offers five two-day training sessions. Each conference attendee will register to attend one session. * Emerging Leaders * Association Representatives * Presidents/Vice Presidents and Presidents-Elect

* Political Academy * Issue Organizing In addition, an early-bird session Wednesday afternoon provides a review and preview of the 108th General Assembly.

Electives on Thursday and Friday mornings will allow participants to learn about current issues such as Common Core, PECCA, charters and vouchers.

Opening and closing sessions complete the agenda, with NEA President Dennis Van Roekel confirmed as the opening session speaker.

“Don’t miss out on this year’s SLA,” Schmoock said.

“Check with your local association president for conference details and please let your local president know if you are interested in attending.”

Want to change your method of dues payment from payroll dues deduction to another form?

Do you pay your dues by bank draft/EFT and need to update your bank account information?

Simply scan the code above or go to https://edues.nea.org/eDues/righthere.jsp and complete the five easy steps. You must have your membership ID. Your membership ID is on your membership card and on the mailing label of this issue. You can also contact TEA Membership at 1-800-342-8367 and ask for your membership ID number.

“I want to teach.

I deserve a fair retirement.”

Tennessee lawmakers plan to gut the retirement of future teachers.

Tell them NOW to vote “NO” on the hybrid retirement plan. facebook.com/StudentTEA

11 www.teateachers.org

12  March/April 2013

TENNESSEE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

    

ANTICIPATED INCOME FOR 2013-2014

    

 

 

     

  

  

     

  

  

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     

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       

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       

       

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  

       

    

     

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  

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 

    

                          

                                                          

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                   



                   





          





   

   

          

  

  

 

 

 

     

PROPOSED EXPENDITURES FOR 2013-2014

Page 2

 



  

Page 1

 

Proposed Budget for 2013-2014

 

  



                    

  

         

 

 





































    





        





  teach  









 teach teach                                                    

       

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                           

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   

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 teach

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  teach  

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 

 

    

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   

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   

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   

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  

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    

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    

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                          

March/April 2013 

                         

 

 

    

    





  

  





        

  

 

        

14



     

      

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 



   

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 

   







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Upcoming Conferences, Events April 20 April 27 May 5 May 7 May 10-11 June 1 June 12-15

Tennessee Urban Education Associations Conference, TEA building ESP Conference, TEA building Teacher Appreciation Week National Teacher Day TEA Representative Assembly, Nashville Convention Center Don Sahli-Kathy Woodall Graduate Scholarship Deadline Summer Leadership Academy, Embassy Suites Hotel, Cool Springs

Visit www.teateachers.org/conferences or scan this code for registration details.

Help Us Grow a Tennessee Teacher The Don Sahli-Kathy Woodall Scholarship Fund awards up to eight scholarships annually. Seven scholarships are awarded to high school, undergraduate or graduate students preparing to become teachers at a Tennessee college or university. One graduate scholarship is awarded to a teacher pursuing an advanced degree who plans to return to teaching in Tennessee for at least one more year.

The Don Sahli-Kathy Woodall Scholarship Fund is sustained by tax-deductible contributions from individuals and organizations, TEA members and friends, and by the interest earned on those contributions. Contributions to the scholarship fund should be made by check payable to the Sahli-Woodall Scholarship Fund and mailed to TEA. Contributions to the fund will be accepted at the TEA Representative Assembly, May 10-11, 2013. For more information and to download applications, visit www.teateachers.org and click on Scholarships and Awards on the home page.

Retirement Under Threat for Future Teachers Greeneville Alderman Sarah Webster (above) reads to first and second grade students during a Read Across America celebration in March.

Bailee Weems (left), student and daughter of Greeneville EA member and second grade teacher Allison Weems, enjoys Dr. Seuss birthday cake.

Students at Warner Elementary and Ross Elementary in Nashville greet the Cat in the Hat in late February.

One of the great things about being a career teacher is a strong retirement plan. Today in Tennessee, it’s under threat.

If the Tennessee Legislature passes the proposed changes to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) for new teachers, relying on a safe and sound retirement plan will no longer be a part of teaching in Tennessee.

Here’s the way TCRS works for current teachers.

Every year a teacher works, he or she is guaranteed 1.75 percent of salary, multiplied by years taught, every year after retirement. That means a teacher who works 30 years in the classroom is guaranteed 52.5 percent of salary for the rest of one’s life upon leaving the classroom.

Proposed changes to TCRS will reduce the guaranteed benefit to one percent from 1.75 percent. Lawmakers plan to set up a second account that would function like a defined contribution account, similar to a 401K. The problem with this new plan is that new teachers will have to pay more in order to get less in retirement.

“I’m here representing more than 4,000 of our student members,” said TEA Government Relations Manager Jim Wrye during a Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee meeting in March. “These young teachers will have on average $20,000 of debt coming out of college. They will be making somewhat less than in other professions, and they will need a guarantee of sound retirement for their commitment. After the worst calamity most of us have ever known economically, is this the right time to change our retirement plan? This will affect hundreds of thousands of teachers going forward. We feel this is moving a bit rapidly.”

Wrye cautioned the Legislature that the proposed changes to retirement may not have an IRS approval, which is yet another reason to hold off on uprooting a well-managed state retirement system.

“You chose teaching because you love children and you love making a difference in the lives of your students,” Wrye said in a message to TEA student members. “Going into teaching, you know you’ll make somewhat less in salary every year than other professions with the level of education you’re getting right now. For decades, Tennessee’s teachers were able to overcome that risk of making less today by being guaranteed more tomorrow. That’s what the state retirement plan – the TCRS – has been doing for teachers in our state.”

TEA encourages student members and concerned teachers to contact their legislators.

“Replacing a guaranteed pension with a halfguarantee is not a solution for successful teaching and learning in Tennessee,” said TEA Interim Executive Director Mitchell Johnson.

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Need information, services?

Tennessee Education Association 801 Second Avenue N., Nashville, TN 37201-1099 (615) 242-8392, (800) 342-8367, FAX (615) 259-4581

UniServ Coordinators

From Memphis to Mountain City, Tennessee’s Teachers Come to State Capitol for Spring Rallies Several hundred of Tennessee’s teachers came to the Tennessee Legislative Plaza in Nashville as part of TEA’s Educators’ Day on the Hill rallies in March and early April.

School teachers, education support professionals and local leaders drove from across the state to show support for a fair evaluation system and express opposition to many anti-public school bills currently pending in the Legislature.

“I’m here today because of our interest in keeping the defined benefit retirement system for all teachers, young and not so young,” said Ron Moss, member of the Chattanooga Retired Teachers Association who dedicated 34 years of his life to teaching in Tennessee.

Moss (pictured above, left) and other educators met with elected officials from their districts to oppose the gutting of the existing retirement system and shifting the investment risk to new teachers who would no longer benefit from a soundly managed defined benefit retirement plan, as well as other pending bills.

“It’s important that our legislators hear from you,” said TEA Interim Executive Director Mitchell Johnson while addressing members who came to one of the four spring rallies. “You have the impact and the power. Just make

sure you use it. When teachers come or call, they listen.”

Addressing one of the dangerous and ever-changing bills, the state charter authorizer, TEA Government Relations chief Jim Wrye said that if this bill is passed, no matter where one teaches, a new state bureaucracy could drop a charter anywhere in the state, allowing charters to draw local money.

“There is not one shred of evidence that they do better than public schools,” Wrye said. “On average, they do worse than public schools.”

Currently, Tennessee ranks among the top 10 states in the nation in graduation rates, but bottom 10 in funding.

Taxpayers in Tennessee get the most they can from their public school teachers.

“Right now, there’s probably a privatizer lobbyist walking past us in the Legislature,” Wrye said. “The only way we can combat these privatizers is by having folks back home contacting their legislators.”

“If you can’t be here, contact your legislator to support public education,” said TEA Vice President Barbara Gray.

“We need to let the public know that what they hear in the media about our public schools and public school employees is not always true.”

Want to see changes in ?

Take the readership survey online at www.teateachers.org or on MyTEA app.

District 1 — Harry Farthing, P.O. Box 298, Elizabethton, TN 37644; phone: (423)262-8035, fax: (866)379-0949; Assns: Carter, Hancock, Hawkins, Rogersville, Johnson, Sullivan, Bristol, Kingsport, Northeast State C.C.. District 2 — Jennifer Gaby, P.O. Box 70, Afton, TN 37616; (423)2340700, fax: (423)234-0708; Assns: Cocke, Newport, Greene, Greeneville, Unicoi, Washington, Elizabethton, Johnson City, ETSU. District 3 — Tina Parlier, P.O. Box 70288, Knoxville, TN 37938-0288, (865)688-1175, fax: (865)5183104; Assns: Claiborne, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Sevier, Union, Walters State C.C.. District 4 — Susan Young, 2411 Magnolia Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917-8289; (865)522-9793, fax: (865)522-9866; Assns: Knox, UTKnoxville, Pellissippi State, TSD, South College. District 5— Jason White, P.O. Box 5502, Oak Ridge, TN 37831; (615)521-1333, fax: (865)200-5254; Assns: Anderson, Clinton, Oak Ridge, Campbell, Blount, Alcoa, Maryville, Morgan, Scott, Oneida. District 6 — Jim Jordan, P.O. Box 4878, Cleveland, TN 37320; phone: (423)472-3315, fax: (855)299-5674; Assns: Bradley, Cleveland, Lenoir City, Rhea, Athens, Etowah, Monroe, Sweetwater, Roane, Meigs, McMinn, Rhea-Dayton, Cleveland State C.C., Loudon, Polk. District 7 — Theresa Turner, 4655 Shallowford Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37411; (423)485-9535, fax: (423)485-9512; Assns: Hamilton, Chattanooga State C.C., UT-Chattanooga. District 8 — Chris Brooks, P.O. Box 3629, Chattanooga, TN 37404; phone: (615)332-2636, fax: (866)483-2514; Assns: Coffee, Cannon, Bledsoe, Franklin, Grundy, Manchester City, Marion, Sequatchie, Tullahoma City, Van Buren, White, Warren. District 9 — Donna Cotner, phone: (615)630-2576, Assns: Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Smith, Trousdale, TTU, York Institute. District 10 — Jackie Pope, 2326 Valley Grove Dr., Murfreesboro, TN 37128; (615) 898-1060, fax: (615) 898-1099; Assns: Bedford, Marshall, Moore, Williamson, Franklin SSD. District 11 — Jeff Garrett, P.O. Box 1202, Lebanon, TN 37088-9998; (615)630-2605, fax: (855)320-8755; Assns: Murfreesboro, Rutherford, Sumner, MTSU. District 12 — Cheryl Richardson-Bradley, P.O. Box 354, Goodlettsville, TN 37070; (615)630-2601, fax: (888)519-4879; Assns: Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Wilson, Lebanon, State Dept. of Education. District 13 — Forestine Cole, Ralph Smith, Metro Nashville, 531 Fairground Court, Nashville, TN 37211; (615)726-1499, fax: (855)299-5837 (Cole), (855)2994968 (Smith); Assns: Metro Nashville, TSB, TSU. District 14 — Rhonda Thompson, 801 Second Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37201; phone: (615)354-3305, fax: (888)5197331; Assns: Clarksville-Montgomery, Robertson, APSU. District 15 — Miley Durham, P.O. Box 10, Lawrenceburg, TN 38464; phone: (931)766-7874, fax: (913)762-9391; Assns: Giles, Lawrence, Lincoln, Hardin, Lewis, Fayetteville, Maury, Wayne, Motlow State C.C. District 16 — Maria Uffelman, P.O. Box 99, Cumberland City, TN 37050; phone: (931)827-3333, fax: (855)299-4925; Assns: Benton, Carroll (West Carroll), Central, Clarksburg, Huntingdon, McKenzie, Paris, Henry, Stewart, Weakley, FTA, Decatur, Houston, Humphreys, Perry, UT-Martin. District 17 — Lorrie Butler, P.O. Box 387, Henderson, TN 38340; (731)9894860, fax: (855)299-4591; Assns: Chester, Hardeman, Henderson, Lexington, Jackson-Madison, McNairy, West TN School for the Deaf. District 18 — Karla Carpenter, P.O. Box 177, Brunswick, TN 38014; (901)590-2543, fax: (855)299-4892; Assns: Crockett, Dyer, Dyersburg, Gibson, Bradford, Humboldt, Milan, Trenton, Haywood, Lake, Lauderdale, Obion, Tipton, Union City. District 19 — Zandra Foster, 3897 Homewood Cove, Memphis, TN 38128; (901)377-9472, fax: (855)320-8737; Assns: Fayette, Shelby, Southwest TN Community College, University of Memphis.

District 20 — Memphis Education Association — Ken Foster, Executive Director; MEA UniServ Directors: Susanne Jackson, Terri Jones, Tom Marchand, Herman Sawyer, Marilyn Baker, MEA, 126 South Flicker Street, Memphis, TN 38104; (901)454-0966, fax: (901)454-9979; Assn: Memphis.

www.teateachers.org www.nea.org Scan this Quick Response code for UniServ contact information and photos.

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March/April 2013