We are fortunate to have the opportunity to share two great sessions on your future planning. You are not too young to learn about retirement. It is never too late to learn!

NSEA Retirement Seminar with Roger Rea

Wednesday November 9^th

6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Goodrich Middle School Media Center

 Click Here to RSVP for November 9th

 ==============================================

Planning for Retirement with

Candy Specht and Brian Nieman

Nebraska Retirement Information Sharing Presentation

Wednesday November 16th

4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

NSEA Office 4^th Floor

605 South 14^th (Directly across from the Nebraska State Capitol --- Lincoln Statue)

Thanks to the 1,100 members who took the time to voice their choice for the future of LPSDO. 

From the LPS website:  LPSDO will come home to 5901 O st.

Lincoln Public Schools will be coming back home to 5901 St. for their new office building, a decision made in a vote from the Lincoln Board of Education Tuesday evening.

The decision came down to a split 4-3 vote from the Board.

• Board members who voted for 5901 O st. were: Kathy Danek, Barb Baier, Don Mayhew and Katie McLeese Stephenson.
• Board members who voted for a site located at Seacrest Field were: Kevin Keller, Richard Meginnis and Ed Zimmer.

The new building at 5901 O st. will likely look quite different from the previous district offices - two or three floors - giving the school district the ability to sell off several acres of the land (appraised at about $2.7 million).

Board members voiced many opinions:

Stephenson said her decision - to choose 5901 O st. - came down to three different variables: central location, traffic and safety issues at Lincoln East High School, and community input. "I want to thank people who let their opinions be known...And the overwhelming majority of input I have received favors the O sreet site."

Mayhew said he had agonized over this choice, and finally decided to vote for the O street option - provided a portion of the land would be sold. "I started at East and really wanted to land there...It would put cash in our pockets and put valuable property back on tax rolls...But I don't like that location for the district office. It moves the district office further east and further south, and creates some accessibility issues."

He continued: "I have received a lot of feedback from the community...and again, people were overwhelmingly in favor of rebuilding on O street. I think that is something we have to take into consideration."

Meginnis, another School Board member, said he believed moving to the Seacrest site would allow the school district to improve the parking and traffic at the high school and athletic fields.

Zimmer said both sites were good options, and that "we will move forward as a unified Board." But he favored the Seacrest location because he said the sale of the current site would result in valuable resources for the school district.

LPS Superintendent Steve Joel said this step was the next step in the journey, and that the school district would move forward.

Several members of the public testified on the issue:

• Jenni Absalon, president of the Lincoln Education Association, reported that 86 percent of 1,000 LEA members that participated in a survey said they preferred the 5901 O St. site.
• Lillie Larsen, former member of the Lincoln Board of Association, also urged selection of the old site. "That location provides the best opportunity to meet the needs of the staff, the students, the parents and the Lincoln community."

Right NOW is the time YOU can help correct the problems with the "No Child Left Behind" law. Congress is starting to discuss reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) - and I need your help to make sure they do it right.

The last time Congress reauthorized ESEA, they passed No Child Left Behind. Not this time. We cannot let Congress get it wrong again. The stakes are too high for students, teachers, and schools.

This time, we need to make Congress pass OUR test - and actually help students and schools. This time we want Congress to propose a bill designed to help those in the classroom-students and educators.

This time, Congress has to get it right.

But the Senate is off to a bad start. The new Senate committeebill:

*                    Still relies heavily on outcomes of test scores instead of supporting true multiple measures of school performance

*                    Prescribes top-down models of school turnaround for struggling schools that are not based on research, don't work, and ignore promising, locally-developed ideas to help students

*                    Takes away teachers' rights to have a real voice in their own evaluation systems.

We know this is the wrong policy for students and educators. But there is still time to improve this bill! And that is why I need your help.

We need to remind our Senators that educators know what works in classrooms and for students and that it's time for them to listen to us.

We need to tell them to stop, think it through, and do ESEA reauthorization right for our students.

And, we need to tell them that educators are aware of what they are doing, we disapprove, and we want them to make changes NOW."

To do this, I am asking you to:

*                    E-mail our Senators today and tell them to make sure ESEA reauthorization is done right.

*                    Keep informed by going to www.educationvotes.org.

Together, we can make sure ESEA reauthorization is done right.

Sincerely,

Nancy Fulton

President, Nebraska State Education Association

(402) 475-7611 or (800) 742-0047

=======================================================================================================

John Heineman and Jenni Absalon are the NEA Directors representing Nebraska. The NEA Directors are also on the Executive Committee of the NSEA Board. They attend NEA Board meetings four times a year on behalf of you. After each NEA Board meeting they present a report to the NSEA Board Directors. This report provides information about the business of the NEA Board. Because John and Jenni are leaders with LEA we will be including their report in the LEARN.

Click Here to view the Nebraska NEA Directors' Report

New membership enrollment must be a priority of the Association this year. We cannot afford our membership to decline, especially given all of the challenges that LEA/NSEA/NEA are currently dealing with and that loom on the horizon. This is a negotiations year, it is especially important that LEA go to the table with a solid voice and large percentage of members among the educators we will be representing. It is within this current and expected on-going environment that we ask for your concerted effort and challenge you to please do all you can to get current non-members to join.   

Please contact taina.radenslaben@nsea.org for a membership packet or download the membership form CLICK HERE   

========================= 

As the weather chills, It is that time of year again, and we are working hard on our annual Raising Coats with Raising Cane's Campaign.  This is our 5^th year and we are excited more than ever at the opportunity we have to bring Coats to those in need this year!

As a recap of last year's success, with your help we were able to raise over 1,500 coats for the People's City Mission.  In addition to that, last years coats brought us to a staggering total of 7,000 Coats in the first 4 years.

Extra Standard Review Dates

2011-12

All Meetings are at the LEA Office

4920 Normal Blvd

     Wednesday

November 2, 2011             Softball                                                     4:00 PM

                                                                        Girl's Golf                                                 4:30 PM

November 16, 2011           Broadway Musical                                    4:00 PM

                                                                        HOSA                                                       4:30 PM

December 7, 2011              Instrumental Music                                   4:00 PM

                                                                        Committee Meets                                      4:30 PM

                                                                                                        Committee Members

     Carol Andringa, LPSDO Box #8

     Rita Bennett, Entrepreneurship Focus Program

     Kevin Deutsch, Mickle

     Karen Dress, East

     John Farrand, East

                                                      Karen Hand, LPSDO Box #39

                                                      Marge Keep, East

                                                      Mary Beth Lehmanowsky, LPSDO Box #33, Co-Chair

                                                      Ray Lowther, LPSDO Box #29

                                                      Deb Rasmussen, Goodrich

                                                      Karen Shelton, Hill, Co-Chair

     David Smith, LPSDO Box #24

     Susette Taylor, Southwest

     Lori Waters, Irving

Lied Center Welcomes Peter Buffet

Wednesday, November 16th at 7:30 PM