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A Tradeoff Worth Making
June 2,
2009
Inside
Higher Ed, an online
source for news, opinion and
jobs for all of higher education
featured Local 212 and MATC
in an article this week. This
is definitely worth a read.
In brief:
To "put students first,"
Milwaukee Area Technical College
unions voluntarily forgo annual
pay raise rather than take
furloughs; in exchange, administration
commits to no layoffs for
two years.
Go
to article at Inside Higher
Ed...
AFT, Local 212
Invites You and Your Family
To a Summer Evening at the
Zoo!
Milwaukee
County Zoo
10001 West Blue Mound Road
**Zoo Terrace**
(Left of the main entrance,
across from the Carousel)
Wednesday,
July 22, 2009
4:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Dinner:
5:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Menu: Hamburgers, hot dogs,
chips, potato salad,
pasta salad, cookies, soda,
water, and beer.
TICKETS
ARE REQUIRED
Click
here for order form &
details
Ticket
ordering deadline: July 15th
Other Reactions to Giving
up our Raises....
Mayor’s
statement supporting
Local 212 and MATC
May
28, 2009
Milwaukee
Mayor Tom Barrett issued a
statement supporting the move.
"I
applaud the MATC Board, Administration
and the American Federation
of Teachers Local 212 for
the very reasonable settlement
achieved today," the
statement reads. "It’s
clear they put services for
the students at the forefront.”
MATC
Unions are Shepherd Express'
Heroes of the Week
From
Shepherd Express' May 27,
2009 issue:
"It
isn’t often that unions
get credit for making concessions
for the greater good. The
public—and employers—seem
to expect it when times are
tough. But we’d like
to make note of the offer
by leaders of the American
Federation of Teachers (AFT)
Local 212 and AFSCME Local
587 to voluntarily give up
members’ pay raises
for next year. AFT members
supported that offer on Tuesday,
and gave up a 3.25% increase
in the next academic year,
while AFSCME’s members
must take a vote on forgoing
a 3.5% raise. That would save
MATC $4.8 million, which would
help close its $19 million
budget gap and prevent layoffs
from occurring."
Joint Finance passes state
budget --
Technical Colleges Fare Extremely
Well
in the Face of $6.6 Billion
Deficit
May
31, 2009
•
General Aid Funding and 1%
Increase Protected
• New Across-the-Board
Cuts Avoided for General and
Categorical Aid
• Gains in Financial
Aid Protected
In a 12-hour
marathon concluding Friday
morning as the sun rose, the
Joint Finance Committee (JFC)
completed its work on AB 75,
the 2009-2011 state budget
bill.
The Wisconsin
Technical College System (WTCS)
was the only state agency
that did not have its budget
cut. In recognition of the
important role the WTCS plays
in the state’s economy,
the JFC actually increased
the system’s funding
by 1%, the first state-wide
increase since 2000-2001.
Members
of the JFC said that Local
212’s voluntary decision
to forgo its 2009-2010 wage
increase played an important
role in convincing them to
protect technical college
funding.
While we
won this battle, we are still
losing the funding war. State
aid continues to decline and
our reliance on the property
tax and tuition grows. Such
an arrangement is unsustainable
in the long run and needs
to be addressed in future
budgets.
The bill
now goes to the full Assembly,
likely during the week of
June 8th, followed by the
Senate. Once an identical
bill passes both houses, it
will be sent to the Governor
for veto consideration and
signing. The new biennium
begins July 1st.
CLICK
HERE for the rest of the article,
with details...
Local 212 Members
Voluntarily Give Up Raise
May
26, 2009
American
Federation of Teachers Local
212, the union representing
faculty and staff at Milwaukee
Area Technical College, has
voted overwhelmingly to voluntarily
give up its salary increase
of 3.25% for the 2009-2010
academic year.
The
union’s membership completed
voting on the contract adjustment
today. The MATC Board discussed
the tentative agreement in
a special meeting earlier
this month and is expected
to approve the agreement at
its regular meeting tonight.
“Our
union has always been committed
to doing what is best for
our students and the community
at large,” said Local
212 President, Dr. Michael
Rosen. “When this union
was chartered in 1931, the
founding document committed
us to serving our students,
the employers who hire them
and the community, so we’re
just doing what we’ve
always done. What’s
different is the economic
environment,” Rosen
added.
“This
recession has squeezed property
taxpayers while at the same
time more laid-off workers
are coming to MATC to upgrade
or gain new skills for when
the economy turns around,”
explained Rosen, who also
is an economics professor.
“So our membership would
rather forego our raise next
year to help the college serve
these students than to turn
them away,” Rosen said.
Rosen blamed
the Wisconsin state government’s
lack of funding for technical
colleges as a major factor
in the budget crunch felt
by MATC. “Twenty years
ago the state met its obligation
to technical colleges by funding
33% of our budgets, but now
that support has fallen to
only 13%, resulting in local
property tax payers and students
paying larger shares than
they should,” Rosen
explained.
“While
everyone speaks about the
importance of our technical
colleges, there is a class
bias against funding them,
unlike the open commitment
to fund and expand our four
year universities,”
Rosen added. “We’ve
put our skin in the game.
Now the Joint Finance Committee
and Governor Doyle must demonstrate
their commitment to our students
by leaving in the budget the
modest increase in technical
college funding that was approved
several weeks ago,”
Rosen emphasized.
Local
212 represents 750 full time
and 600 part-time faculty,
counselors and professional
staff at MATC’s four
campuses.
Core Ability Survey
As
you may recall, the CLA Core
Committee, in response to
faculty request, has initiated
a review of the Core Abilities
used by MATC. As you know,
the Core Abilities are used
by MATC for curriculum design,
instruction, assessment, QRP,
and other similar activities
related to curriculum, learning,
and assessment. As they affect
every academic department
in the college, we made a
concerted effort to solicit
input from our academic stakeholders.
Based
on the responses submitted
by your colleagues, nine proposed
revisions have been forwarded
to you for consideration.
Now is the time to make your
voice heard.
Simply
FOLLOW THIS LINK and cast
your vote:
Local
212 Executive Board
Election Results
Are
now available HERE in PDF
Format.
Forum at MATC Addresses Demand
for Training Displaced Workers
Click
here for more photos of the
event
March
22, 2009
Wispolitics
reported that Wisconsin Assembly
Speaker Sheridan was in Milwaukee
recently for a listening session
regarding the HIRE Center,
which works with MATC and
other partners to provide
retraining and other services
to dislocated workers.
Among
other on the panel were Dem
state Reps. Barbara Toles
of Milwaukee, Pedro Colón
of Milwaukee and Cory Mason
of Racine . Toles chairs the
Assembly’s Workforce
Development Committee, and
Colon and Mason both sit on
Joint Finance.
About
75 people packed the small
conference room on the downtown
Milwaukee MATC campus, many
having to stand.
HIRE
staff and MATC board members
urged the panel to use federal
stimulus funds for increased
support of the HIRE center,
while students shared their
experiences and described
how HIRE has assisted them.
Spiking unemployment has increased
demand for retraining services,
and students complained about
waiting lists while instructors
said teaching capacity was
strained.
Some
of the things speakers called
for included expansion of
a hands-on advanced manufacturing
and construction trades facility
on the city’s south
side, increased computer lab
space and equipment, and more
instruction geared toward
Spanish and Hmong speakers.
Afterward,
Sheridan said the entire state
is dealing with similar problems
raised by those at the hearing
today.
“What’s
going on in Milwaukee is reflective
of what’s going on all
over the state,” Sheridan
said. “We’re going
to have to strike a balance
and make sure that when it
comes to retraining people
that certainly we’re
going to be looking to areas
that have been affected in
a big way.”
The
Shepherd Express also reported
on the meeting (click to go
to article).
AFT Local 212 Executive Board
Statement on the Decision
to Terminate
the College President
February
24, 2009
Clearly,
MATC is bigger and more important
than any individual. We cannot
and will not allow ourselves
to be distracted from this
mission.
Click
here for the statement to
the MATC Board
Senate
Committee Passes Stimulus
Program That Increases Pell
Grants
and Aid to Tech Colleges
January
27, 2009
Senate Appropriations
Committee passed its version
of the stimulus bill today
by 21-9 vote. The Senate bill
provides: 1) $39 billion to
local school districts and
public colleges and universities,
distributed through existing
state and federal formulas;
$15 billion in incentive grants
to states as a reward for
meeting key education performance
measures; and $25 billion
to states for other high-priority
needs, such as public safety
and other critical services,
which may include education;
2) $13.9 billion for Pell
grants, which will increase
the maximum by $281 in the
2009-2010 academic year and
by $400 in the 2010-2011 academic
year; 3) $3.5 billion to improve
and modernize higher-education
facilities; and 4) $3.4 billion
for job training programs.
In a recent
press release, Sen. Tom Harkin
(D-IA), Chairman of the Senate
Labor, HHS and Education Appropriations
Subcommittee, stated the following
about the facilities dollars:
"A portion of these funds
are reserved for community
colleges, bearing in mind
that it is the community colleges
that often train workers for
the jobs that will be become
available in our new economy."
Harkin went on to say that
"We need to make sure
that they have the equipment
and facilities to train tomorrow's
workforce."
The Senate
bill includes the following
provision on higher education
facilities: community colleges
are entitled to the same percentage
of state money as there are
students attending community
colleges in the state. States
are allocated money similarly,
based on their national percentage
of higher-ed students.
The details
of the bill can be found HERE.
Meanwhile,
the House is expected to begin
debating its stimulus bill
today, with a goal of passing
the package tomorrow. The
Association of Community Colleges
has sent a letter of support
to the full House. The letter
can be found HERE.
Obama stimulus plan increases
Pell Grants and aid to technical
colleges!
January
26, 2009
President
Barack Obama released his
economic recovery plan this
past weekend. The two overall
goals of the plan are to generate
or save 3 to 4 million jobs
and to spend at least 75%
of the stimulus funds within
18 months.
There are
several proposal items that
would help students and technical
colleges including:
An
historic investment to school
modernization, sufficient
to renovate and modernizing
10,000 schools.
This historic investment in
upgrading the nation’s
public schools will improve
learning environments for
about 5 million students.
Increasing
college affordability for
7 million students by funding
the shortfall in Pell Grants
and increasing the maximum
award level by $500.
Providing
a new higher education tax
cut to nearly 4 million students.
The plan will create a new
$2,500 American Opportunity
Tax Credit that is partially
refundable. As a result, the
nearly one-fifth of high school
seniors who receive no tax
credit under the current system
will receive a tax cut to
make college affordable for
the first time.
Tripling
the number of undergraduate
and graduate fellowships in
science, to help spur the
next generation of home grown
scientific innovation.
Expanding
the number of children and
families receiving quality
preschool services.
The plan will double the Early
Head Start program, which
will not only provide an additional
350,000 children access to
quality pre-k services, but
will create at least 15,000
new teaching and teaching
assistant jobs, as well as
new supervisory and support
positions.
Preventing
teacher layoffs and education
cuts in every state, maintaining
key reforms, and ensuring
all schools have advanced
technology for the 21st century
economy.
Many of
the provisions that were included
in the plan are contained
in the House Stimulus Proposal
including funding for public
education; the $500 Pell grant
maximum increase; education
infrastructure funds; and
a new higher-education $2500
higher education tax cut.
The plan
can be found HERE.
Meanwhile,
last Friday, the Senate Appropriations
Committee released highlights
of its stimulus bill. It appears
that the final bill is not
publicly available. The overall
funding in the bill and for
higher education specifically
is not as robust as that included
in the House bill. The highlights
of the bill include: 1) $39
billion to local school districts
and public colleges and universities
to be distributed through
existing state and federal
formulas, $15 billion to states
as incentive grants as a reward
for meeting key performance
measures, and $25 billion
to states for other high-priority
needs such as public safety
and other critical services,
which may include education;
2) $13.9 billion for Pell
grants ($1.7 billion less
than the House allocation);
and 3) $3.5 billion for higher-education
infrastructure ($2.5 billion
less than the House).
The Senate
Committee is expected to consider
the bill shortly. While the
House and Senate bills are
similar, it appears that the
House and Senate will need
to spend some time to conference
the two bills once each chamber
passes their respective bills.
The
Senate highlights can be found
HERE.
Obama Stimulus Package
to Include Tech College Funding!
On January
8, 2009, President-elect Barack
Obama gave a speech calling
for dramatic action for American
Recovery and Reinvestment.
It is remarkable
and significant that Obama
included investing in community
college infrastructure as
part of plan he will take
to Congress. While MATC is
a technical college, the Wisconsin
’s 16 technical colleges
are part of the proposed stimulus
plan.
read
more...
 Colleague,
Friend,
Ernie
Schnook
1940 - 2008
additional
photos can be found here... |
