Best Wishes: Brian Ramaut retired this September after many years of service to the district. Enjoy!

LFT Election Results:

Dave Wrobel, LFT President
Carole Pryzby, Elementary Vice President
Barb Buczynski, Middle School Vice President
Judy Schram, High School Vice President
Beth Sabo, Secretary

Building Representatives
Denise Jackson, Edmonson Donna Bush, Hiller
Chris Anderson, Lessenger Penny Gregory, Simonds
Darla Gower, Page                 Ralph Shepard, Page
Mel Natinsky, Lamphere Center Carole Green, High School
George King, High School

Should you need to contact Dave the best method is to call him at home. His phone number is 248-693-0314. Thanks to all of the members who were willing to run for office.

STUDY UNDERSCORES NEED FOR 'KINDERGARTEN-PLUS'

A new Economic Policy Institute study points to the early, insidious and pervasive contribution of family income differences to the student achievement gap and reaffirms the need for aggressive intervention strategies such as the AFT's "Kindergarten-Plus" initiative. The EPI report, released Sept. 30, gives concrete evidence that children from upper-income homes--who enjoy a raft of enriched learning opportunities that are out of the reach of most lower-income students--begin school with a tremendous basic-skills advantage that is a seed of the achievement gap. The same point was made by AFT president Sandra Feldman when she unveiled Kindergarten-Plus in her keynote speech at the union's 2002 national convention, where she called on policymakers to close the achievement gap by extending the kindergarten year for the nation's poorest children to include the summer before and the summer after the traditional school year. "Inequality at the Starting Gate: Social Background Differences in Achievement as Children Begin School" is based on a U.S. Department of Education survey of more than 16,000 children entering kindergarten. For details, visit the "Latest News" section of AFT Online at http://www.aft.org.

RECESSION'S TOLL: SHRINKING JOBS, WAGES, HEALTH INSURANCE

The economic foundations that families depend upon--jobs, wages, health insurance and retirement savings--are either unstable or are deteriorating fast, according to a new AFL-CIO report. The result has been measurable increases in the last year of financial crises such as declaring bankruptcy or falling into poverty. The AFL-CIO also points to recent markers--from the Census Bureau and the Department of Labor--that reinforce the toll the recession has taken on working people. New Census Bureau data for 2001 show that median household income has declined for the first time since the early 1990s and that another 1.3 million more people now live in poverty. The monthly DOL reports stagnant unemployment rate and job growth. Personal bankruptcies are at an all-time-record high, workers suffering long-term unemployment are running out of benefits, and home mortgage foreclosures during the spring of 2002 were at the highest levels since 1972, says the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO issue brief, "Silence and Inaction in the Face of Ongoing Crisis Threaten Economic Recovery and Family Economic Security," is posted online at the AFL-CIO Web site at http://www.aflcio.org/publ/press2002/Fall%20Economic%20Report.pdf.

AFT RESOURCE OUTLINES TITLE I HELP FOR PARAS

The AFT has compiled information on what state departments of education are doing to assist paraprofessionals in meeting the new education requirements of Title I under the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB stipulates that all paraprofessionals must have completed at least two years of study at an institution of higher education, obtained an associates degree or higher or met a local "standard of quality." Paraprofessionals who were on the job prior to Jan. 8, 2002, have until Jan. 8, 2006, to meet the new requirements; anyone hired after Jan. 8, 2002, must meet them at the time of employment. The union's Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel division contacted states on how they have responded to this new requirement and included the information in a chart that is posted on the AFT Web site. "A number of states have taken this quite seriously and are implementing a lot of options to help paraprofessionals," notes Tish Olshefski, PSRP division director. The chart is posted at the union's PSRP area on the Web site at http://www.aft.org/psrp/StateTitleOneStatus.html.

Election Phone Bank: LFT activists will soon be contacting each of you regarding the coming election in November.Check out the election information on the MFTSRP political website for members only. It is www.mftsrp.org/political, username:mftsrp2002, password: victory.

MFT&SRP Retiree Network News: The MFTSRP and the AFT are creating a statewide network of retirees. The new website is part of the effort. A link that will be of interest to all current members is the section on retirement planning. The link is http://retirees.mftsrp.org/retireplan.html.

Respectfully submitted,

Judy Schram, LFT Vice President

click here for a view of LFT members and friends in the Winners Circle at Hazel Park Racetrack

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