New Business Item No. 1 2012 KEA Delegate Assembly The ...

New Business Item No. 1
2012 KEA Delegate Assembly
The Program and Budget Committee moves that: PASSED
The Delegate Assembly to make permanent the current technology assessment of $7.00 per member
per year for the purpose of continuing and expanding KEA’s use of communications technology as well
as addressing other technology infrastructure needs. These funds are to be used specifically to:
� Continue KEA web site development with the emphasis on empowering KEA communities to
post their own material on the website;
� Create a web‐based information resource center for KEA members and leaders;
� Expand online professional development resources as developed by KEA work teams;
� Continue to provide internet connectivity for KEA offices;
� Maintain KEA’s complicated and growing technology platform upon which KEA members and
staff depend for communication and information services;
� Upgrade KEA software and equipment to keep current with technological advances, especially
those related to connectivity to NEA web‐based programs;
� Continue and expand the ability for field offices to maintain and extract data from the NEA IMS
database so that all KEA offices will use the same real time membership database program;
� Continue and expand KEA’s visibility efforts and use KEA’s technology to promote KEA
membership;
� Review KEA field office telephone, FAX, copier, and other office technology needs to ensure
KEA’s continued ability to effectively service members;
� Purchase needed equipment and services;
� Provide training and assistance to members in the use of technology and how to effectively
impact decision making around education technology;
� Respond to yet to be identified technology needs by KEA leadership, staff, and KEA work teams.
Regular reports are provided to the KEA Board of Directors and annual reports to the Delegate Assembly
on the use of these funds.
Rationale: The Program and Budget Committee believes that KEA must continue to expand KEA’s use of
communication technology to effectively serve our current and future members and address the many
pressing needs of Kentucky’s public schools. Moreover, for KEA to remain demonstrate competency in
modeling the new communications technologies that are transforming our world. Without the
continuation of this assessment, we believe that KEA budgets during this period cannot provide this
needed investment in KEA’s future or even continue our current levels of service and support for
technology.
Submitted by: Program and Budget Committee, Tom Denton, Chair
NBI 2 ‐ PASSED
I move that the KEA Executive Committee plus three additional members appointed by the president
from a work group to examine the way KEA field staff are assigned to locals and make recommendations
to the KEA Board of Directors for policy changes regarding field staff assignments. The Executive
Committee should consider how to balance the number of members and locals among staff, work

assignments and also consider geographic issues. In conducting this study, the work group should
gather information from members, local leaders, district leaders, the KEA Board of Directors, the staff
union, KEA management, and other state affiliates of NEA. The work group will report their findings to
the KEA Board at or before the April board meeting and to the 2013 KEA Delegate Assembly.
Rationale: Currently, we have UniServ Directors who service more than 2000 members while others
service only 500. Some UDs have 50 or more locals while others only have 10. Some school districts have
local associations that are serviced by two UniServ Directors while other locals within the same school
districts are serviced by the same UD. This creates an imbalance in UniServ Directors’ workloads as well
as unfair system of member service, advocacy, organizing as well as member recruitment. The study
would look at balancing field staff workloads through geography, number of members, potential
membership and number of locals served.
Submitted by: Sharron Oxendine, President
NBI 3 = PASSED
I propose that the KEA President form a work group of interested individuals, active and retirees,
teachers and ESP, to learn more about the KRS and KTRS retirement systems. At the appropriate times,
these individuals would be recommended for candidacy to run for positions on the KRS and KTRS boards
of trustees.
Rationale: With the passage of HB 300 during the 2012 General Assembly, term limits have been placed
on KRS and KTRS board of trustees members. In the next five years alone, KTRS will lose more than half
of its board members as their terms limits will be reached. To keep both systems strong, we should work
to educate interested annuitants about the boards and their functions and create a “farm team” of
future trustee members who will be ready and willing to serve as trustees.
Submitted by: Mike Ross, EKEA
NBI 4 = PASSED
I move that the KEA President, charge the Instructional Advocacy Work Team appoint a work team to
address our member rights and responsibilities in response to being designated as a Priority (former
PLA) School or as a Focus School. The charge for this work team will be to:
� Identify KEA Leaders and Staff to serve on a “Swat SUPPORT Team” to assist schools that are
currently designated as a PLA/Priority school or that are designated as such in the future. This
team will be able to provide to members:
o An overview by KEA/KDE on what legal responsibilities and actions must be taken and
who is responsible for those actions once a school is classified as a Priority or Focus
School.
o An overview of what legal rights KEA members have in terms of:
� Job security
� Self‐governance
� The ability to challenge decisions
� Evaluations and individual growth and improvement plans

� The development of Priority/Focus School Action Plan for KEA leaders and members in current
and future Priority/Focus schools to provide a reliable source of information and resources to
protect member rights
Rationale: Ongoing conversations at KEA Board meetings, EKEA Board meetings, and with teachers
in schools that have been designated as Persistently Low Achieving/Priority/Focus schools, have
identified some troubling and inconsistent information that is pervasive in the process. Problems
include:
� The lack of a reliable source of information and/or advice for KEA members who work in these
identified schools
� KEA members’ knowledge of the law pertaining to Priority/Focus School Status is limited
� KEA members’ knowledge of the law pertaining to SBDM’s, tenure, and evaluation in
Priority/Focus schools is limited
� The scarcity of resource personnel to come into a district to aid in planning to address
deficiencies is an increasing concern and possibility
� Regulations consistently undermine Site Base Council’s role and responsibility in school
improvement
Funding: Because of budgetary constraints, we propose diverting funds from the Eastern Kentucky
Technology Conference to provide initial funds to begin the process.
Submitted by the Eastern Kentucky Education Association,
Mike Ross, EKEA; Tim Holman moved to change Swat to Support‐ MOTION FAILED
NBI 5 = FAILED
I move that KEA have a membership table or presence at all education workshops and conferences
within the state.
Rationale: At a time when KEA membership is down and the need for KEA visibility in the state a
necessity, this NBI would present KEA at all major education conferences within the state. In order to
fulfill our mission and remain the preeminent voice of education in Kentucky we must present the
benefits of KEA membership and collective voice in the state. By utilizing our 42,000 members statewide,
this could be accomplished at minimal cost but render tremendous gains in membership and visibility.
Submitted by: Merry Berry, EKEA
NBI 6
Understanding that student performance and growth information has the valuable role for educators in
their profession planning and growth KEA will actively oppose efforts to compel local school districts to
implement teacher evaluation systems that would allow for the use of student test scores or increases in
student test scores, such as “value added measures” in the summative evaluation of teachers.
Rationale: Using test scores to evaluate teachers ignores other factors that are beyond the teacher’s
control, such as student Health, home life, attendance, class size, curriculum materials, and
administrative support. Research has shown student test scores are highly unstable, changing
grammatically, from year to year for the same teacher. Placing even higher stakes on these typically

low‐ level knowledge tests drives instruction away from more challenging learning and, more
importantly, these test scores have more to do with who takes the test than how they were taught. This
is true even when statistical methods are used to “control” for student characteristics. Ranking teachers
based on test scores would create the wrong incentives and undermine collaboration.
Submitted by: Rick Jones, Boone County EA; Merry Berry moved to table NBI 6. Marie McMillen
seconded. The motion to table NBI 6 PASSED.
NBI 7 = PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
The KEA Board should explore the options of actions available to members and friends of the education
community in preparation for possible future assaults upon public education in this commonwealth and
report back to the 2013 delegate assembly what actions were discussed.
Rationale: Assaults on public education are increasing throughout the national arena. Being a visionary,
proactive body, the KEA must begin the conversation of how best to prepare a response to this.
Submitted by: Mickey McCoy, MCEA Retired
NBI 8 = PASSED
I move that KEA work with our KEA members on the Education Professional Standards Board to provide
professional ethics and professionalism training in the workplace through our Instructional Advocacy
Work Team.
Rationale: Many faculty and staff need training and updates on professionalism and ethics. Situations
arise daily and most school employees are not aware of the legalities involved.
Submitted by: Barbara Boyd, JCTA
NBI 9 = WITHDRAWN BY THE MAKER
KEA should provide immediate and sustained support for members in PLA (persistently low achieving)
schools by providing training, informational meetings concerning legal and professional ramifications,
and a chance for teachers from various districts to compare their experiences.
Rationale: Teachers in schools that have been labeled as persistently low achieving (PLA) are under
extraordinary pressures from a community that has lost faith and administration that is looking for
someone to blame. Teachers need more support and more changes to convene with other teachers to
get the real picture of what is possible and what is expected.
Submitted by: Nina McCoy, Martin County EA