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February 2015

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COMMUNIQUÉ A PUBLICATION OF THE IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION – FEBRUARY 2015 – Vol. 52, No. 4 IN THIS ISSUE: OPINION "Small steps, big leaps" by ISEA President Tammy Wawro. RESOLUTIONS Delegate Assembly new business and resolutions. MEMBERS AT WORK Going the extra mile 3 6 14 Set it... Set it... and forget it! and forget it! E-DUES AVAILABLE NOW! E-DUES AVAILABLE NOW! Rep. Kevin Koester of Ankeny is a former school administrator known around the Statehouse for having a genial nature and the bushiest eyebrows under the dome. But it's his spot on the House Education Committee that made him a target of Rhiannon Hall and Laura Wheeler, a school counselor and school nurse, respectively, from Cedar Rapids. Koester, a Republican, came out of House chambers after being handed a note from the doorman that the two women were hoping he'd speak with them. After a few pleasantries – Wheeler knows Koester from her work on a statewide board – Hall and Wheeler ask him to support a 6 percent increase in Supplemental State Aid for public education. "We'll be spending a record level on K-12 education. More than we ever have before," Koester responds, noting the House has a proposal to increase spending 1.25 percent from the previous year. "But that includes (Teacher Leadership and Compensation) money, which it really isn't supposed to be figured into that," Wheeler responds. "That's categorical spending," Hall says. "When you take that out, we're looking at, really, 0.8," Wheeler continues. "Um, yes, I see your point," Koester responds. Lobbying done right See LOBBYING, page 11 FOLLOW US ON: 'You are the reason' Standing in his Capitol office, surrounded by folks from across the state, Mike Gronstal is quick with a smile and a quip. But as talk turns to policy, the Senate Majority Leader crosses his arms and listens more than he speaks. His audience for the next hour is a group of teachers, nurses, school counselors and community college instructors. All are members of the Iowa State Education Association who traveled to the Statehouse to talk directly to lawmakers about their students, their schools and their profession. And Gronstal, a Democrat from Council Bluffs who is – allies and critics agree – one of the most formidable intellects in the Statehouse, knows his strong support for public education helped him keep his Senate majority. Melinda Jones of Ottumwa makes a point during a public hearing on education funding legislation. "We simply must give our students a fighting chance and give them the resources they are entitled to receive," she told the committee. Fifteen years ago Greg Harris was trapped in a narrow Washington, DC hotel hallway with a screaming man in a suit and tie. "He was just calling out numbers," Harris said. "And we were supposed to remember these numbers. I was just like 'Hey?'" Harris is a UniServ director for the Des Moines Area Education Association. The screaming man was an instructor taking Harris and his classmates through the ropes of the NEA Affirmative Action UniServ Intern Program for Women and People of Color. "I see why he did that," Harris said. "You see, sometimes when you're bargaining you have to be keen on stuff right when it comes up and be able to lock on to it and remember it." Harris was a building rep and teacher in Little Rock, Arkansas, when he applied for the program on the advice of a friend. He's one of two UniServ directors at the Iowa State Education Association who have gone through the program. Peri VanTassel, a director in the Polk Suburban UniServ Unit, was a French and German teacher in southeastern Kansas when she applied and was accepted to the program in 2005. NEA program offers a chance to grow See GROW, page 11 Des Moines Education Association Uniserv Director Greg Harris holds up materials from the Women & Minority UniServ program. See REASON, page 11

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