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NEA-AKtivist Newsletter—A Publication for the Members of NEA-Alaska

President's Message

Barb Angaiak

Alphabet soup of changes coming at us – it’s time to get involved!

It’s a jumbled-up mess of acronyms and different programs coming at us all at once, with little time to digest and respond. The “blueprint” for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), was recently released by the U.S. Department of Education. We are reading it and working on making a determination about which aspects are acceptable and which are not. There is a very tight timeline for responding. This year, many states applied for Race To The Top (RTTT) funding. Alaska was not among them, but indications from Commissioner LeDoux are that Alaska probably will apply in the second phase. There are School Improvement Grants (SIGs), Core Common standards, and NEA’s initiative called Priority Schools. In addition to Alaska’s own list of confusing terms, such as HSGQE, SBA, GLE, and others, we are left trying to put together a graphic in our minds in order to attempt to understand what it all means.

My mission between now and our Spring Leadership conference is to figure out how to explain these terms, as well as the four different reform models that can be selected for what are called “lowest performing schools” by the Secretary of Education. NEA calls them “priority schools.” During lunch on Saturday of the conference, I will present my best explanation and hope it will be helpful. It will not be an exhaustive list because it seems as though we get something new each week. I expect to include handout materials to assist with explaining some of what is headed our way to members throughout the state as participants head home.

There is huge opportunity for NEA-Alaska members to be involved in proposals within schools, at the district level, and in our state. We have to pay attention and make sure our voices are heard when decisions are being made that will impact us and our students. Some of these decisions require our participation as stakeholders. We must be ready to make informed suggestions and requests that make sense in our world.

We will keep you up to date as things move along. Please check our website, Facebook, Twitter, and email messages regularly. The pace of these determinations and policy adoptions is happening so quickly that we must make good use of technology to keep everyone informed. We must maintain good two-way communication to be sure we are all able to follow the scorecard on all that is coming toward us.

Executive Director's Message

 Lydia Garcia

Shaping our legacy through commitment, loyalty, and earned trust

The adage about change resonates stronger today than ever before. We can’t expect things to be different if we continue to repeat the same behaviors and practices. Education is amidst a fast moving current of change. New developments are constant and our need to be aware by having situational awareness is critical. Peter Senge, a leadership guru, wisely said, “People don’t resist change they resist being changed.” This means we each individually and collectively have a responsibility to ourselves and our future to be authentically involved. We can’t change the past but we certainly can effect change for our future. Our capacity should never be underestimated. When it comes right down to the root, it’s all about legacy – what shall be our legacy?

In August of 2006, NEA-Alaska began the journey of building new relationships with labor partners, education partners and other community organizations. Together we’ve grown strong coalitions of people who want to be a part of something greater than ourselves, The Alaska Public Pension Coalition and the “Protect Free Speech – Stop the Gag Law” Coalition. These high functioning working relationships evolved through hard work and our vision of betterment for the whole. The process is one of learning, learning that we become stronger together by learning together. We become better by being open minded about new ways of thinking and seeing the world. Through commitment, loyalty and earned trust we cultivate our capacity for forward movement.

Professional relationships within our organizations and coalitions depend on fundamental elements for success. There is no time or place for ego; we take responsibility and set aside personal desires; we are dedicated to service, loyalty and support; we take risks and action and do not rely on talk; we respect intuition guided by common sense; and most importantly, we always do what is in the best interest of our organizations and those we represent. We share a common denominator, which is our commitment to always practice open and honest communication.

Legacy is what we leave behind. The challenge is ours, and only we can make something happen that will impact our future and the lives to follow. Our legacy can be to return to a defined benefit pension system; our legacy can be to have the best public schools for our children and Alaska’s future; our legacy can be that educators and education professionals are paid professional living wages; our legacy can be that we will be remembered as those who educated the future minds of society who will feed a strong future, a strong economy, a strong America. Let’s invest in ourselves by being politically involved and engaged in advocating for the preservation and improvement of public education in our country and a quality education for every child – We can shape and realize this and more as our legacy.