If you didn't pick up "overnight news" from convention, here are the highlights of business discussed on the Assembly floor:
The 845 representatives at MSTA’s Assembly of Delegates were feeling their power. The night before, they had gathered to celebrate the association’s 150th anniversary, and on Nov. 16 during the annual business meeting, members showed they were aware of the power of their voices — and of the voices that had gone before.
MSTA President Tami Pasley urged delegates to voice their dissatisfaction and to state their intentions through MSTA’s resolutions.
“It is our duty as delegates to make sure our voices are heard,” she said in an address to the assembly. “Our resolutions are our voice.”
The slate of 70 resolutions outlines the association’s positions on public education, school funding, teacher working conditions and professional standards. For the full text of the resolutions, go to the MSTA Web site at www.msta.org and select the story “MSTA resolutions and legislative priorities.”
Delegates passed with little comment amendments to resolutions calling for a $500 increase in Career Ladder levels and strong support for a permanent “25 and Out” option for retirement. In addition, they went on record in favor of due-process rights upon termination of extra-duty contracts and in support of state schools that educate students with severe disabilities.
Delegates showed their passion for two topics: the MAP testing window and a statewide minimum salary schedule for teachers.
The MAP debate began with a proposed amendment that would have encouraged DESE to move the MAP tests closer to the end of the school year. Curtis Cunningham, Morgan Co. R-2, said that the test was supposed to assess what students learned that year, and that testing in March and April was too early to be an accurate measure.
Lauren Stutzman, Lee’s Summit R-7, moved the debate in a new direction by noting that delegates were getting hung up on wording when the real issue was the value of the MAP. “The message MSTA is trying to send is that MAP in its current form is not good for students,” she said.
Delegates agreed and voted to delete several lines of resolutions dealing with federal testing and the MAP.
When it came to teacher salaries, delegates seemed to feel that bolder was better.
A resolution passed that called for starting teacher salaries to begin at $40,000 and for regular increases to be tied to the Consumer Price Index.
“If we say our teachers need to be paid what they’re worth, then our resolutions need to reflect that,” said Nate Smith, a Lee’s Summit R-7 teacher who proposed the amendment.
Larry McCann, chair of the MSTA Resolutions Committee, cautioned that passing a statewide salary schedule would be an uphill battle. He said that legislators had considered such a bill only once in recent years — despite MSTA’s efforts.
“If we continue to bump these numbers up, we’re just whistling in the wind,” he said. “We need numbers they will take seriously.”
However, delegates were not in a timid mood, and they passed the proposed resolution.
“Just because something hasn’t been done before, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try,” said Smith. “Demand statewide funding. We are worth it. You are worth it. What better time than now?”
That question — what better time than now — resonated through the work of the delegates. As the association begins the first year of its next 150, members prepare to make their voices heard.
Go to the MSTA website for more convention information and election results.
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