Lamphere Federation of Teachers
MFT&SRP Local #1614
January/February 2002

Politics: Pan Godchaux, Republican State Representative visited with the LFT at our meeting last month. Representative Godchaux is seeking election in the Republican primary to the senate in the district that covers Madison Heights and Troy and several other cities. Godchaux, a former school board member and teacher has been supportive of many education issues that have affected our workplace conditions.

LFT Gathering: Mark you calendar for February 22. The LFT will be hosting a social event to welcome new teachers. ALL membership is invited. The cost is $10. A small portion of the funds will go towards the purchase of a plaque at the site of the new Labor Legacy monument to be erected in downtown Detroit. There will be pizza, beverages and salad as well as a drawing. Contact your building rep for details. Hope to see all of you there.

Welcome: Mary Carter joins the staff at Lamphere Center as a special education teacher.

Transfers: Any LFT member who is interested in transferring during the next school year must notify the Human Resources office by February 1st. Please send a copy of your request to me at the high school.

School Accreditation: The state department of Education has been holding hearings on on the proposed accreditation standards known as Education YES!A Yardstick for Excellent Schools. The attempt is to move away from sole reliance on the MEAP test as a measure for evaluating a school. While this is a good first step, the proposal will count the MEAP test as seventy-five percent of the school's total grade. The other performance indicators under the proposed plan include family participation, continuous improvement, professional development, extended learning opportunities, performance management systems and student attendance. At this point this is a separate process from the North Central Accreditation process. Visit the Michigan Department of Education website http:www.mde.state.mi.us or contact your building rep for a copy of the survey form. The more they hear from us the better chance we have of making the accreditation process in touch with reality.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Schram, LFT President

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