RFAreaREA Delivers School Supplies to Baldwin Elementary School

Spotlight on Education Outreach Initiative

On February 27, 2018, Gail Possley delivered schools supplies to Greenfield Elementary School in the Baldwin-Woodville School district purchased with money received from the WREA's Spotlight on Education Outreach Initiative.  The Board of RFAreaREA agreed on the purchase of supplies needed midyear at the elementary school.  Gail shopped for and presented the supplies to Principal Tiffanie Grodevant and Guidance Counselor Kellie Larson.

Thanks, Gail, for your leadership in this initiative.

RFAreaREA Members Attend 2018 District III Meeting in Eau Claire

We must have set a record for our unit's representation at the District III annual meeting on May 2, 2018.  In attendance at the Wild Ridge Gold and Event Center in Eau Claire were Roger and Patty Hulne, Bonnie Jones-Witthuhn, Tom and Gail Possley, Ruth Wood (District III Co-Chair), and Laura Zlogar.

Gail and Tom Possley in the foreground. 
Roger and Patty Hulne in the center.

Retired Altoona history teacher Betty Cowley gave a very eye-opening presentation on World War II prisoner of war camps in Wisconsin.  She has written a book on the subject entitled Stalag Wisconsin:  Inside WWII Prisoner of War Camps, available on Amazon.  Tom Possley found out that one of the camps was near his hometown, confirmed later by his older brother.

Bonnie Jones-Witthuhn (left) and Laura Zlogar (right)

The meeting was informative and fun.  It is always good to meet people from other units, to compare notes, and to learn from one another.  Featured were presentations by John Forster, our lobbyist and representative in Madison, providing a legislative update; Bob Conlin, ETF Secretary; and Bob Mercer, WREA President, who introduced the winner of the District III WREA Foundation Grant ($2,000) to Oaklawn Elementary School in Menomonie.

Ruth Wood, Lynn Kagelman, and Darlene Parkinson

This year's Division III meeting was organized by outgoing co-leaders Ruth Wood and Darlene Parkinson.  All in attendance agreed that meeting in Eau Claire was a great idea since none of our representatives from around our region had to drive much more than an hour.  We hope we will be returning there next year when new District III Director Lynn Kagelman organizes the meeting.

Tom Possley, WREA President Bill Mercer, and
Gail Possley

RFArea REA President Roger
Hulne and WREA President
Bill Mercert

Legislative Update

John Forester, who serves as a representative/lobbyist for both the Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance (SAA) and WREA, along with Executive Director Diane Wilcenski, provided us with a summary of the issues addressed in the state legislature this term.

Spring Session Education Bills
AB 835--Increase to Low Revenue Ceiling/Sparsity Aid.  Supported by both SAA and WREA.
AB 805--Concurrent Enrollment Fix.  Supported by SAA.
AB 693--Teacher Protection Act.  Did not pass. It would have expanded access to juvenile records and would have allowed teachers unilateral authority to take action against students.  Opposed by both SAA and WREA.
AB307/SB 236--Competitive Bidding.  Did not pass.  This bill would have taken control from local school boards and placed it in legislative control.
AB 843--School Safety package. Passed.  Creates a two-tiered grant process for schools to apply for money to cover door locks, shatterproof glass film, and other safety measures. This bill also called for the arming of teachers.  It is administered through the Department of Justice.
AB324/SB190--Pension Bill. Did not pass, but will no doubt be raised again by Dewey Stroebel.  It increases the age of retirement of teachers and law enforcement officers.  It would change from 3 to 5 years the basis of a person's pension. This bill would also adversely affect new hires.

Next Session
*Everything depends upon the November elections and the makeup of the legislature.  The K-12 budget benefitted from Gov. Walker's reelection campaign wanting to appear favorable to public education.  But the 2019-21 budget will revert to the same difficulties experienced in recent years, especially since Foxconn took $400 billion from the general tax fund, money meant for schools, highways, and other critical state functions.
*Many of the same bills rejected are going to reappear:  Teacher Protection Act, pension reforms, gun bills, competitive bidding, education savings accounts, and charter school expansion.

See the WSAA website for more information:  http://www.wsaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Digital-2017-19-Legislative-Agenda-121916-1.pdf.

Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding
Co-chairs Rep. Joel Kitchens and Sen. Luther Olsen lead a commission of 8 legislators, 7 public members (5 from public education) held 8 listening sessions around the state.  The commission is looking at systems and programs in other states and will make recommendations before the next budget is finalized. Of the 5 sessions held so far, SAA, WREA, and WPEN (Wisconsin Public Education Network) have dominated. Members of these organizations have shown their strong support of public education in this state. 

SAA has been invited to testify at the June 4th meeting in Rice Lake.  John Forester will focus on the following in his testimony:
*Enhance equity in resource distribution (greatest inequities are in areas of low revenue ceilings, declining enrollments, pupil transportation, special education, English language learners, and students in poverty)
*Reduce disparities in educational opportunities (quality of education should not depend on a child's zip code)
*Facilitate attainment of larger education policy objectives (funding should be a tool to improve achievement). This should be achieved by following the evidence, doing what works:  pre-school programs and learning, mental health, revitalizing teaching profession, and other measures
*Index revenue growth to CPI
* Make cost of voucher program transparent by including it on property tax bills


WRS Update

Robert Conlin, ETF Secretary, provided an update of our pension program. Here are a few key points:

• WRS is well-funded with $107.3 billion in assets, a 99.1% market value.
• 85% of annuitants stay in Wisconsin after retirement, which amounts to $5.2 billion spent in Wisconsin's economy.  That means, for instance, that Eau Claire County receives $8.8 million a month from WRS pensions.  WRS annuitants spend $1 million a month in Pepin County.  We retirees are economic drivers in the state.
• WRS comes at a low cost for taxpayers:  state and local governments in Wisconsin spend 2.2% of their budgets on public pensions as opposed to the national average of 4.7%.
• WRS is composed of 197,000 annuitants, 167,000 public employees with deferred benefits, 1,495 state and local government units throughout Wisconsin, and 257,000 public employees in Wisconsin's state agencies, UW System, technical colleges, school districts, cities, counties, and local units of government
• The median annual benefit is $18,139.
• Annuity investment returns for 2017 were 16.2% for the core fund and 23.2% for the variable fund. These translated into 2.4% annuity adjustments for the core fund and 17% for the variable. 
• The 10-year performance rate of the core fund is 5.8%, 7.1% for the variable.
• Adjustment projections over the next five years depend on the stock market. The best case scenario for the core based on a 7.2% gain could be 2.0% in 2018, 2.2% in 2019, 3.5% in 2020, and 3.4% in 2021.  The worst case scenario based on -5% could be -0.8% in 2018, -0.8% in 2019, 0.5% in 2020, and 0.0% in 2021.

Peace Corps Revisited: Don and Ann Leake's Year in Sierra Leone

Ann and Don Leake met 40 years ago as housemates in their Peace Corps posting in the Republic of Congo.  Don taught math; Ann taught English.  At our April 2018 RFAreaREA meeting, they described it as a life-changing experience.  When Don ended his career as a math professor at UW-River Falls and Ann retired from teaching English as a second language in Minnesota public schools--and a post-retirement stint in the English Language Transition Program for international students--they were looking for the next adventure.

The Peace Corps encourages its alumni to do it one more time for shorter periods of time.  The Leakes applied, were accepted, and got ready to return to Africa, this time as to a university in Sierra Leone as teacher trainers for eleven months.

They spent two weeks in the large city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, learning a little bit of the language and the culture before heading to Kenema, the country's second largest city, and to Eastern Polytechnic University.  Upon arrival, Ann and Don discovered that the university had no real idea why they were there and that they would have to invent their own jobs.

The Leakes lived on campus in a decent house, given local standards, that had no running water and unreliable electricity. They did have one propane burner on which to cook.  Water had to be carried from the well some distance away or collected from the roof during rainstorms.  Bathing and laundry were major undertakings.  Solar-powered lights that they were advised to bring with them provided enough illumination to read in the evenings.

Sierra Leone's educational system follows the British model inasmuch as the country was at one time a British colony.  This system relies upon testing, the results of which determine where students will attend school or college.  Eastern Polytechnic had been completely destroyed during the political revolution twenty years ago and is still in the process of rebuilding.  It has a library building but no books available to students.  The only resources available to teachers and students are chalkboards, paper, and pencils.  Students take 12 to 15 subjects a week, spending one to two hours a week studying a specific subject.   Class sizes averaged 50 to 60 students.

Don taught math at the university and Ann English.  Her students were primarily nursing students.  Ann decided that her efforts might be more meaningfully directed at the neighboring elementary school where she volunteered.  She spent time in a fifth-grade classroom, built to hold 30 students, teaching more than 90 students.  Teachers rely on lots of memorization, repetition, and recitation.  Ann also learned, to her dismay, that schools practice regular corporal punishment.  When she suggested that there might be other ways to discipline students, she was told, "African children need to be beaten."

The sense of accomplishment they gained during their first Peace Corps stint was not repeated this time.  Both Leakes thought they might have affected the lives of a few students, but they certainly were able to share any of their knowledge with the university's teacher training faculty, who were simply not interested in American teaching techniques or philosophy. 

Not to be discouraged, the Leakes are planning yet another adventure.  Rumors are that they may be headed to Morocco!