PSRP ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER--FEBRUARY 26, 2002
PSRP APPRECIATION
PSRPs AT THE TABLE?
THUS SPOKE THE SUPERINTENDENT
NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST WEEK
WRITE ON!
MARCH IS
WEB SITE OF THE WEEK: http://www.nysgtsc.state.ny.us/kid-schl.htm
PSRP APPRECIATION
(From the Sun-Sentinel-Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
They are the backbone of the Broward County school district assisting
teachers and administrators, feeding students, cleaning schools and
performing myriad other tasks and duties. The excellent education students
receive in Broward County schools happens because 13,000 PSRPs make
sure everything works and is safe for students and staff. The school
board appreciates and recognizes these invaluable contributions with
an Employee of the Year Award, established five years ago to make sure
the thousands of employees in support and clerical roles received recognition
for exceptional efforts.
This year, 17 employees from around Broward County were named finalists.
The finalists were treated to a breakfast at the Sheraton Suites in
Plantation. The winner of the Employee of the Year Award was food and
nutrition manager Karen Sweatt from Panther Run Elementary in Pemnbroke
Pines, who received a number of gifts, including gift certificates.
She was singled out for her role in working with teachers at her school
to integrate nutrition education into the school curriculum. "All
of our support staff is incredible," said Merrie Meyers-Kershaw,
the school board's Director of Community Services and program coordinator.
"But the ones who were chosen are exceptional examples of those
who go above and beyond to make the school system work."
PSRPs AT THE TABLE
(From the Associated Press-Frankfurt, KY)
Senate Bill 129 passed the Kentucky Senate by a unanimous vote-38-0
and so now moves to the House for consideration. This means PSRPs are
a step closer to gaining a voice in how their schools are run. The measure
would ensure that PSRPs have a representative on their school's site-based
council (SBC). Site-based councils now have six members, and typically
consist of the school principal, three teachers and two parents. The
SBC has broad authority over assignment of personnel and matters of
curriculum. "The classified workers would choose their representatives,"
said the bill's lead sponsor, Republican Senator Vernie McGaha.
During the debate, several senators said classified employees played
important roles in making sure schools operate efficiently. Senator
Lindy Casebier, from Louisville, said, "The bill would give those
employees a place at the table and a voice" in how schools are
run. Democratic Senator David Boswell of Owensboro said, "They
do, indeed, deserve their representation."
We will keep you posted on developments.
THUS SPOKE THE SUPERINTENDENT
(From The Daily Advertiser - Lafayette, LA)
On Friday, Feb. 15, 2002, Lafayette, LA., Superintendent James Easton
said, "I will ask the school board to approve a pay raise for the
parish's support workers at Wednesday's board meeting." "It
is time for the support staff to receive a raise," He added. "I
think all of our support staff work hard to make this an outstanding
educational system and deserve a raise in pay. When I talk about support
staff, I am referring to all groups of employees who support what teachers
do in the classroom - secretaries and clerical, cafeteria workers, custodians,
bus drivers, maintenance workers as well as school and central office
administrators, said Easton.
Lafayette teachers began receiving an 11 percent raise last month funded
by a new half-cent sales tax approved by voters last November. After
conducting polls with civic and government groups, the board decided
the tax had the best chance of passing if it were dedicated to teacher
salaries only. But at the time, Easton and the board made the commitment
to try to raise a fund later for support workers and central office
administrators.
On Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2002, a crowd of about 150 support workers gave
the school board a standing ovation after it unanimously voted to give
them a 5.6 percent raise beginning this month. Easton said he was confident
that the board would approve the plan. " I believe this reflects
the wishes of the majority of the board," said Easton.
As we've reported in the past, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers
has been fighting for many years for a state pay increase for PSRPs.
NATIONAL SCHOOL BREAKFAST WEEK
National School Breakfast Week is March 4-8, 2002. This year's theme
is "School Breakfast: Join The Club." According to the annual
Breakfast Scorecard, kept by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC),
the School Breakfast program set encouraging records in 2000-2001. More
than 6.5 million children were served morning meals in schools around
the country. In fact, the number of low-income children that were served
daily rose from the 1999-2000 school year and is now almost double the
3.4 million served in 1990. Additionally, three out of four (75.9 percent)
of the 96,213 schools that offered school lunch also offered school
breakfast in 2000-1, setting yet another record. That year, 15.2 million
low-income children participated in the National School Lunch Program,
and for every 100 free or reduced-price lunch participants, 42.8 children
ate school breakfast, the highest ratio ever.
Researchers continue to make the connection between nutrition and learning,
overwhelmingly demonstrating the importance of the school breakfast
program. Today, a growing number of school districts are serving breakfast
to all children because of the advantages that a breakfast supplies
to children. A careful study of the potential effects of offering free
breakfasts to all children in schools is under way in pilots in several
states.
Visit http://www.asfsa.org/meetingsandevents/nsbw2002/toolkit.asp for
a NSBW public relations toolkit. Also visit http://www.frac.org/html/news/112701.html
to read other findings in this year's FRAC scorecard.
WRITE ON!
Don't like to write? Does writing seem like an agonizing process to
you? We all have the ability to write well, says an article in the November/December
2001 issue of Psychology Today. Whether you're writing a business report
or something more creative, these strategies will facilitate the flow
of words from your brain to the paper:
* Organize your thoughts: Give yourself some "think time"
to mull over what you want to say, rather than sitting down with a blank
piece of paper and just expecting the words to flow. As you go through
this percolation phase, capture your thoughts or ideas on paper.
* Do it first: Start writing first thing in the morning.
* Start at any point that is easiest: Write the beginning, middle or
end of your document. Then go back and fill in the blanks.
* Begin each session by printing and editing what you've already written:
Do this if your document requires more than one writing session.
MARCH IS
National Nutrition
Month Women's History Month
Red Cross Month
Colorectal Awareness Month
Mental Retardation Month
Workplace Eye Health and Safety Month
PSRP DEPARTMENT
Tish Olshefski tolshefs@aft.org Tom Moran tmoran@aft.org Leonard Edmonds
ledmonds@aft.org Chae Carriere ccarriere@aft.org Lenora Shackelford
lshackel@aft.org Kim Raymond kraymond@aft.org
SOURCES AND CONTRIBUTORS
Tish Olshefski, Sun-Sentinel, Associated Press, The Daily Advertiser,
School Food Nutrition, The Office Professional, Leonard Edmonds. Mary
Boyd, copy editor.
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-aft-psrp-division-105101J@aftlists.aft.org
