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Kudos, Accolades, Appreciation, Congratulations!

We, the PGCEA family of educators have made it through the majority of the 2007-2008 school year! With all our concerted efforts, struggles, hardships and perhaps even some mishaps behind us, we look forward with much anticipation, to the final days of this year’s school calendar with all the achievements and success we desire and deserve.

As President of your Association, I seize this opportunity to extend to all our PGCEA educators my highest praise and sincerest thanks for all you have done to assist our children and their families in these individual achievements and shared milestones of the 2007-2008 school year. We offer our deepest appreciation for your selfless commitment and dedication to the children of Prince George’s County Public Schools. Without your numerous sacrifices, our children would not have made such significant educational gains.

Again, PGCEA recognizes your very magnanimous accomplishments. Also, at this time, we would like to extend our sincerest congratulations to the 2008 Prince George’s County Teacher of the Year Awardees.

We offer highest praises to the award winner: Mr. William Thomas, History Teacher at Dr. Henry Wise High School. Also, the 2008 semi-finalists were:

1. Ms. Hortense Adams at Deerfield Run Elementary,
2. Ms. Tanya Jenkins-Johnson at Dr. Henry Wise High School,
3. Ms. Beverly McNeill at Largo High School,
4. and Ms. Susan Toerge at Langley-Park McCormick Elementary School.

Congratulations also to the other awardees:

1. Malcolm Anderson at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School,
2. Lois Atkins at Glassmanor Elementary,
3. Mr. Romeo Cassanova at Samuel Chase Elementary,
4. Ms. Dara Case at Greenbelt Elementary,
5. Ms. Melanie Crawford at William W. Hall Elementary,
6. Mr. Anton Davis at James Ryder Randall Elementary School,
7. Ms. Beverly Floyd at James Ryder Randall Elementary,
8. Ms. Mary Haraway at Mt. Rainier Elementary,
9. Ms. Bernadette Sharp Melvin at Carmody Hills Elementary School,
10. Teri Sola at Riverdale Elementary School,
11. Mary Ann Spaeth at Cherokee Lane Elementary,
12. and Nicole Thomas at Dr. Henry Wise High School.

PGCEA also recognizes Natalie Stephenson at Kenmoor Middle School as the 2008 Washington Post Agnes Meyer Award Outstanding Teacher of the Year.

Our congratulations to all this year’s award recipients! Your hard work and dedication to the children of Prince George’s County Public Schools is deeply appreciated.

On A More Grave Note…

At the state level, the news from our MSTA has taken a more crucial viewpoint. Our MSTA Board of Directors, under MSTA President, Clara Floyd, has voted to support passage of the November slots referendum. “Thanks to the Thornton Funding Initiative, President Floyd reports that we believe this additional revenue would help prevent cuts to future budgets and, barring further economic crisis, will erase the state’s structural deficit.” Because half of the revenue would be deposited in the Education Trust Fund, passage of the referendum would help alleviate our annual struggle to win adequate funding for public education.

PGCEA does contend that slots are the ideal solution to this funding crisis. However, our local leadership felt more was at stake in the slot decision. It was believed that slots should not be implemented in Prince George’s County. We further felt that slots would perhaps provide more benefits to our rural, less populated counties. PGCEA, therefore, has reserved its final opinion on the slots issue – “No position”.

We have to protect funding for public education. We further believe that our students should not have to suffer because of the state’s fiscal crisis. PGCPS have made significant gains in our classrooms and school situations and do not desire to be forced to return to the days of classroom overcrowding and insufficient class resources.

Some Key Points to Ponder…

Maryland’s economic outlook has worsened since the fall. This referendum may very well be necessary, but it will not meet our long term school funding needs. There is no guarantee of its mutual benefit to Prince George’s County in the long run. MSTA has called on the Maryland General Assembly leaders many times over the past decade, and they have delivered: the teacher salary incentive fund; $1.5 billion in Thornton funding increases; expanded collective bargaining rights; and the $1.67 billion improvements in pensions. Now, they have asked for our support to help raise revenue to continue increasing school funding. It is now time for us to deliver. How else can we guarantee that our educators and public schools have the resources they need to provide a quality education to every child in our state? This is our campaign focus: not to engage in the gambling battle, but to continue the progress we have made and are making in our schools and in our classrooms and in the lives of our children and their communities and throughout the State of Maryland. We cannot afford a halt in the availability of resources which allow our educators to continue to do their jobs to nurture our students to continue their quests to become outstanding, productive citizens.

PGCEA Voter Registration…

As we approach the general election in November 2008, we are contacting our members to be sure that both you and your families are registered to vote. Even though you may already be registered and are a frequent voter, you may receive a contact. Some of our members’ names have come up unregistered because of several factors: 1) improperly entered personal information during the data entry processes; 2) member and registered voter names are different; or 3) the data base has not been updated in over a year.

We know that it is highly unlikely that you are not registered to vote. We have taken the liberty to provide voter registration information just in case you need it. Please feel free to offer this information to others you know who may not be registered.

Please feel free to contact the local Board of Elections Office with any related concerns you may have. The Prince George’s County Board of Elections telephone number is 301-430-8020. (You may download forms from your computer.) The website is: www.elections.state.md.us

2009 School Budget…

Finally, the Chief Financial Officer Mr. James W. Beall and Superintendent Dr. John Deasy have submitted the Board of Education’s Proposed Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2009. The budget, in its entirety, is available for your perusal. Please become familiar with its general content and objectives. It is available on the school system’s website at www.pgcps.org/budget.

This budget totals $1,678,949,700. This amount is $23.7 million or 1.4% more than the FY2008 approved operating budget. We, PGCEA, need your continued support if we are to continue to make our great public schools greater!

Respectfully Submitted,

Donald J. Briscoe
PGCEA President

DJB/afp