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This Legislature does not disappoint for action, if you give them enough time.

Education historian Diane Ravitch and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education President Chas Roemer debated the way education is being overhauled in Louisiana on Thursday, March 14. Roemer, defending the status quo of Gov. Jindal’s reforms, was clearly outmatched.

Medicare Rights has a great informational site. Whether you are new to Medicare or wondering how your Part D insurance is changing. Your answers can be found in the Medicare Interactive.

At the February Board of Education meeting, several positions both certified and non-certified have been elimated and added.  For a full briefing, go to our district web site to read the full minutes from the meeting.  For my purposes, here's my take on what effects the non-certified staff.

Four non-certified positions have been eliminated as approved by Board action.  These include two tutorial positions, the in school suspension and the greeter position.  The in-school suspension supervisor will now be replaced by substitutes as needed and the greeter position will be absorbed by the secretarial staff at the high school. 

Two new certified SRBI teaching positions at locations to be determined.  These positions will be both math and language arts.

The district will add an additional position of an athletic director secretarial position.  This position will be an 8 hour/day but will NOT be year round.

Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees (BCFPE) member Brian Amereihn has been named Baltimore County Department of Corrections Rookie of the Year.

Amereihn graduated with an overall Department of Corrections examination score of 95.4 percent. Last July, he was recognized for his efforts if deescalating a potentially explosive situation. Amereihn is pursuing an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice.
 

The leadership of the Maryland Professional Employees Council (MPEC) conducted informational learning sessions March 11 and 12  to inform Unit G members of pertinent union policies, and activities, and training schedules. 

The meetings were held in Training Room 2 of the State Highway Administration building, 707 North Calvert Street in Baltimore on March 11 and in Conference Room, C-1 of the Department of Natural Resources, Tawes State Office Building, 580 Taylor Avenue, in Annapolis, on March 12.

The Baltimore County Delegation of the Maryland legislature gave House Bill 1475, the “Correctional Officers Bill of Rights,” a favorable vote March 15.

Members of the AFT-Maryland legislative team testified in opposition to four charter school bills for which hearings were held March 13. The bills proposed making a study of ways to improve to charter schools, allowing charter schools to directly hire school personnel, establishing an independent charter school advisory council, and proposing that charter schools be allowed to certify their own principals.

RESTRUCTURING Public Hi Ed:  Defining 'quality' 21st century public higher education...