Q-Comp Vote Results: The unofficial results of
this week’s Anoka-Hennepin Q-Comp vote is 89% yes, 11% no. Over 2000 of our
members voted. That is above our 75% threshold for passage, so we have accepted
Q-Comp for the 2013-2014 school year. Thank you to all who helped create
our proposal and had the one-on-one discussions that lead to its passage.
Now our opportunity is to make this plan not only work to fulfill requirements
of the new teacher evaluation law, but to ensure it truly enhances our practice
to the benefit of our students.
Thank You’s: At the Teacher of the Year banquet a few
weeks ago, I had the chance to talk to some amazing educators. Each of them
credited teams of colleagues for their success. One of the very reasons
they were singled out as great educators is that don’t let themselves be
singled out when they are actually educating.
Our union works the same way. We have an amazing team at
AHEM that deserves thanks. To start off, we have a solid, smart officer
team. Vice President LeMoyne Corgard, Treasurer Scott Schaeffer, and
Secretary John FitzSimons not only perform their duties well, but each of them
have come up with innovations that move our union forward. Our cadre
leaders are of a similar high caliber. Government Relations Chairs Val
Holthus and Lindsay DenBleyker, Member Rights Chair Bill Davids, Membership Chair
Carrie Butorac, Elections Chair Amanda Glover-Peterson, Settlement Action Chair
John Chasteen, Lead Negotiator Paul Goupil, and Communications Chair LeeAnne
Clauer have each brought their work to a new level this year.
On the front lines of the direct services we provide are our
office staff Janie Hemmelgarn and Julie Seelhoff and field staffers David
Kundin and Gary Christofferson. Every day, they are here to provide daily
support our members need and they do it with grace and expertise.
There are literally over a hundred more people I should
thank, like those on our Executive Board who hashed out some of the toughest
issues our organization has faced in decades. Or our Representative
Assembly members who provide the grassroots connection that keeps the organization
on track. Committee members, both on our standing groups like Labor
Management, Member Rights, and our Negotiations Team and ad hoc groups like
those that are working on Q-Comp and formulated our responses to policies on
LGBT topics deserve thanks too for innovative efforts. All of you who
step up and represent teachers on district committees to ensure we have a real
voice on the day to day professional concerns in our classrooms deserve our
gratitude.
Finally, thanks to everyone who passes these emails along,
stuffs the boxes, takes the questions, and provides the valuable insight of
what is really happening at the site level. Head building reps are the
glue that hold AHEM together and we are lucky to have them working for all of
us.
The worst part of writing a thank you note is the fear that
you will leave someone out. Know that all of you who have supported
AHEM’s work are deeply appreciated. The best part of this writing is to
remember all we’ve accomplished together and be inspired by your work.
With a team like this, we have nothing but opportunity ahead of us. I am
incredibly grateful for all of you and can’t wait to see what we’ll do together
next.
