Happy Holidays to All!

During the holiday down time... I know, I know, but there actually is some for me... I will be updating the web page and trying to get more information online.

If you have suggested information that you would like to see on the web or if you find a bad link please let me know. There should be an email link at the bottom of every page.

There should be lots of new information to look through by January.

again, Happy Holidays and Peace, Good will to all in this coming year.

Suellen

We did it! The delegates of the Alaska PTA Legislative Issues Conference meet and established the Legislative priorities for the upcoming session. To see what was approved by the delegates go to

http://www.alaska.net/%7Eakpta/advocacy.html

Reminder...

Alaska PTA legislative Issues conference is this weekend, November 14 & 15th. In Anchorage.

Call the Alaska PTA office for registration information and more details.

Hello,

It's that time again, time for us to set our legislative priorities for the coming session. Please make sure to consult with your local units on priorities in your area and submit them to the legislative committee for consideration at the Alaska PTA Legislative Issues Conference.

The Issues Conference will be held in Anchorage on November 14 and 15th at King Career Center. Please plan to attend, full registration information can be found on the Alaska PTA web site on the legislative advocacy page, the newspage or the issues page.

http://www.alaska.net/~akpta/akptanews.html

Our business partner, the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel, is providing a special rate for this event. Please call the Anchorage Sheraton to make a reservation and tell them you are with the Alaska PTA legislative Issues Conference.

Hi all,

There is some problem with the redirect on the www.akpta.org site.

Please use the old address for the time being and bookmark it as soon as you get there so that you can return.

The addresss is:

http://www.alaska.net/~akpta/index.html

Sorry, I am trying to get the isp to help me with this, but so far no luck.

September 03
Dear PTA Leaders,

I hope you are all off to a good start to the new School year!

Your Alaska PTA Board of Managers has been very busy; delivering membership cards, answering questions, attending local PTA meetings and Board meetings and training sessions, putting together future mailings and looking in files for information that units need. In short we have been servicing the local units.

For the next month we will be doing planning for the Issues Conference and Reflections Program along with more unit training. I will also be attending the Anchorage Council of PTAs Leadership Training on September 20, to do a session on bylaws. If you can possibly attend this training you should do so. The Anchorage Council does a great job on this training; it includes a ton of information and is very comprehensive. Five other BOM members will be traveling to Phoenix to a National PTA sponsored training for state board members.

For those of you with bylaws amendments in the works, our committee chair has gotten moved so we are up and running and should be getting back to you in short order. I know that so far this summer we have seen bylaws for at least 10 units. If you can use email for these it is very helpful and faster to get out to the committee. The email lines have been buzzing, which has been very helpful. It makes it much easier for us to get back to you when we have all of our information at hand. “At hand” for me usually means in front of my computer.

I have heard from several units that are having difficulty and we are working with those people to see if we can help get things ironed out. The good news is that we also have several groups that are in the process of organizing new units.

If your unit needs information, help or training, or if you know of another unit who may need assistance, PLEASE let us know.

Suellen Appellof
Alaska PTA President


cariade@mtaonline.net
ak_pres@pta.org

I would like to publically Thank the Fairbanks Council of PTAs for Inviting us to join them in their annual Leadership Workshop this past weekend in Fairbanks. It was well attended and we all had fun networking and learning about PTA procedures and issues.

I would also like to thank Dee Parsons, Alaska PTA for making the trip with me to Fairbanks. Dee and I did workshops and met some of the wonderful people that work for the children of the Fairbanks area.

We look forward to working with the Fairbanks Council in the coming year and once again Thank You!

Suellen

Today the Alaska Department of Education and Early Developement will annouce the Annual Yearly Progress scores for Alaska Schools. We understand that the news will not be good for all schools and the Alaska PTA board has worked up some talking points for Local leaders to use when answering questions and concerns from the community and the media. These are suggestions only. Your situation is unique, but we believe these statements are in alignment with the mission and purposes of PTA.

Please use them as you see fit, edit them to make sense for your school.
(needs to contain local information from each area.)

AYP Talking Points for Parents:

We really are all in this together,
· and if we work together we can make the process smoother for everyone involved.
· Our district has so many good schools and talented, well-qualified teachers and outstanding students.
· Our challenge is to keep these outstanding educators in our district and give them the support they need.
These test scores are very important,
· They verify what we have known al along, some of our children are not making it
· they tell us many things which will help make our schools better.
· they don't indicate everything that goes on in each school. [Note improved graduation rates, awards received by district, teachers, students, decline in the drop-out rate, reduced class sizes, fewer suspensions, etc.]
Different students learn in different ways and at different rates.
· We want standards to be met, and progress must be measured,
· National and state required testing takes precious time from the instructional days.
· Some children don’t test well, on any given day results vary

Leadership Training from the Anchorage Council of PTAs

This is a great opportunity for units who don't have council training available locally. Take your board, learn new things and meet new "PTA People".

PTA leaders from all areas of Alaska are invited to attend. This includes local unit PTA leaders from Region 3, 4 and 5.
If you can get there, you are welcome!

Saturday, September 20
8:00am to 1:30 pm
at the New Diamond High School

For more information and to register, Email

Rebecca O’Hara rebohara@juno.com Or

Victoria Fredenhagen positivethoughts@alaska.com

Contact the Alaska PTA Office
for more information on training in your area.

akpta@alaska.net
907-279-9345

Model Unit Bylaws have been updated and added to the forms page of the web site. My apologies to those of you who have been waiting for them. The can be filled out electronically in MS Word format or the Adobe .pdf file may be printed, filled out and mailed in. The electronic option is fastest as that way we do not have to wait on the mail both ways.

Model can be found on :

http://www.alaska.net/%7Eakpta/akptaforms.htm

Alaska PTA Open House
Tuesday, August 5th at 5:00 to 8:00 PM

You may pick up your Membership Cards at this time at the office. You should have recieved a post Card with more information. if you did not we do not have your proper address. Contact the office and leave a message if that is the case.



Apply for "Coats for Kids" in Your School
The H.U.G.G.S. program from Catholic Social Services provides
school supplies and cold weather gear for children who need it,
apply before August 22, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2003 No. 03-126

Murkowski OKs SB 202, Approves Full Education Funding
Calls on School Districts for Greater Accountability

Thank you everyone for your efforts and support during this year's legislative session and advocacy efforts. This "victory" emphasizes the fact that we must continue to unite our voices on education and that using our voice we can continue putting education first in our state.

Please take the time, if you haven't already, to contact your representatives and the governor's office and thank them for their efforts to provide our children and schools the resources they need to succeed.

For now,
Kris Moore


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2003 No. 03-126

Murkowski OKs SB 202, Approves Full Education Funding
Calls on School Districts for Greater Accountability

The Alaska PTA Office will be closed from June 6th through August 4th, 2003 for Summer Break.
Mail will be picked up and messages answered weekly on Wednesday.

Please leave a message! and we will get back to you.

If you need immediate assistance email Suellen @ cariade@mtaonline.net

I understand that there is a lot of concern about the changes to local unit bylaws made necessary by the changes to the Alaska PTA Bylaws made at convention. The following letter was sent out in the Local unit mailing, I am repeating it here hoping to reach more with the information.

"Dear Local Unit Leaders,

As many of you know, the delegates of the Alaska PTA Convention this year approved a dues increase. That vote now makes it necessary for you to amend your bylaws to reflect this change. Please be sure that the membership understands that the change has been made to the state portion of the dues, and what you are dealing with now is an adjustment to your dues figure to address that change.

Here are 2 options included for your consideration. This was requested by the delegates to make the process easier at the local unit level. The requirements for amending the bylaws of your Local Unit are in those Local Unit bylaws. In the bylaws you will find the notice requirement for notifying your membership of the meeting at which you will be voting on this item.

Article VI, Membership & Dues

Option 1
This is the way it reads now, this would make a change anytime that any of the dues amounts change:

Section 7. The annual dues for membership in this PTA shall be $__________ per annum which includes the national portion of $1.75 and state portion of $4.00 per annum.

Option 2
This would make a change to your bylaws only when the local unit amount changes:

Section 7. The annual dues for membership in this PTA shall be $__________ per annum in addition to the national portion of (1.75) and state portion of ($4.00) per annum. (The total due per member is $_________.)


Please note: there are no plans at this time to request another increase in the dues amount by Alaska PTA or National PTA.

If you have questions Please contact the Alaska PTA Bylaws Committee

Suellen Appellof cariade@mtaonline.net
Dawn Wenger wenger@ptialaska.net
Ken Macgregor kamacgregor@att.net

or the Alaska PTA office 907-279-9345"

Well, the Alaska PTA Convention is now over! We made it through some heated debate, had training and workshops and some dynamic speakers made us stop and think. For those who couldn't make it there will be a Convention Recap section on the web site by the end of May. This is a busy time for all of us so close to the end of the school year, so please be patient.

For those who have not heard, the dues increase was amended (changed to $4.00) and passed. There will be information in the Local unit Mailing on how to proceed with amending your bylaws to incorporate this change. Look for that mailing to reach you by the end of next week. We understand the difficulty for some units in dealing with this and are working on ways to make the change easier for Local Units.

The Alaska PTA Convention will begin on May 1, 2003 at the Anchorage Sheraton Hotel, at 7:00 pm. There are Bylaws changes to be decided, resolutions to be discussed and voted on, elections of new board members....

It is important for your PTA to be represented at this convention!


Leadership Training begins at 9:30 am on Thursday, May 1, 2003.

Call the Alaska PTA office at 907-279-9345

for registration information or go to www.akpta.org

Hooray for Them!

Rabbit Creek Elementary, in Anchorage, has been recognized as a National PTA Parent Involvement School of Excellence.

and in case you missed it,

Tanana Middle School was awarded the National PTA Parent Involvement Recognition of Commitment.

Congratulations to those committed PTA folks who make Parent Involvement such a priority in those schools.

For more information about the National PTA Schools of Excellence Program go to www.pta.org

Hi all. This is a copy of the guest editorial I did for NEA's monthly newsletter. Your feedback is valued. Hard copies will go out to NEA's 12,000 members as well as legislators next week.

Be watching for more info on immediate advocacy needs, I'll email out very soon. Kris

Guest Editorial

It’s time to build coalition, unite on funding

By Kris Moore, President, Mat-Su Council of PTAs

I recently returned from the Alaska PTA’s annual Legislative Fly-In. We traveled to Juneau on the heels of the superintendents. I know the school boards had been down earlier, and that NEA-Alaska will have its own event sometime this spring. And I wonder what all of these groups are saying – and why all of us aren’t saying the same thing.

Whether we are parents, teachers, administrators, school board members – or students – all of us know what our schools need: We need the resources to make sure every child succeeds. Why aren’t we speaking with one voice?

The No Child Left Behind law makes it much, much more critical that our schools get the funding we need from Juneau. There are also benchmark tests and exit exams and school designators – all of them high stakes measurements with real life consequences for our children and schools. We must have the tools we need to help every child measure up.

Yet speaking up for schools and greater funding can be intimidating. For most of us, giving testimony before the school board or a legislative committee is a traumatic experience – so too many parents just don’t get involved. We must find ways to make advocating for our schools less scary.

One approach that the Alaska PTA is launching this spring is a “Forget-Me-Not” campaign. We are urging PTAs around the state to buy seed packets of forget-me-nots and send them to legislators and the governor with a simple note that urges greater school funding. We hope parents, teachers and students will write these notes and tell their own stories about what’s needed in our schools.

Looking to the longer term, we also need to help the governor and our legislators come up with a definition for “adequate” funding. This is a process that should involve the entire school community. And it should happen in each and every school, because each school is different. To bring all its children up to standards, Goose Bay Elementary doesn’t necessarily need the same things as Snowshoe Elementary here in the Mat-Su – or Ipalook Elementary in Barrow.

Think how much credibility we would have if, at every school, parents, teachers, support staff and principals, along with some administrators and school board members all sat down together and came up with a budget of what it would take for every child in that school to succeed. Every school’s budget would be different because every school serves different children and families.

If we did this, then gathered all the budgets together and took them to Juneau, we could look our elected leaders in the eye and tell them – school by school – what adequate funding means. Can’t you just feel the power behind that!

And think about what adequate funding will really mean: Every school would have qualified, dedicated teachers in small classrooms. School buildings would be safe and well maintained. Students who need extra help would get it.

This is how it should be. Because schools teach children, strengthening those families. Healthy families create healthy communities. And healthy communities are the heart and soul of Alaska.

If we all stand together and fight for our schools and children, we can make this happen. Won’t you join us? For more information about the “Forget-Me-Not” campaign or other programs, contact your local PTA or the state office at 279-9345.

Kris Moore and her husband Greg have four children. The oldest attends Wasilla Middle School, the two in the middle are at Goose Bay Elementary, and the youngest will start kindergarten next fall.

This letter was sent to the Alaska State Legislature on behalf of all of the children of Alaska:

On behalf of the nearly 13,000 parents, teachers, students, and other child advocates who are members of the Alaska PTA, I am writing to express our views on the Budget that you are currently considering.

Alaska PTA asks that you SUPPORT,

A budget that will fund at the highest level possible for education. This would take a strong step forward in meeting the needs districts and schools face in providing equitable opportunities for high-quality education for all students.

The Alaska PTA also urges the Legislature to fully fund Community Schools. Community Schools has been a part of Alaska PTAs Legislative Platform for many years. Community Schools allows the schools to be open after hours, provides low cost classes for families of all ages that cannot access private sports clubs or other methods of instructions. Community Schools have been instrumental in engaging community members with schools investing time and efforts for the larger community. And community schools will allow access for ‘supplemental services’ asked for in the No Child Left Behind Act by providing tutoring, opening libraries to improve reading scores and access to technology after-hours. There is not a better system for the dollars.

Fund Alyeska Central Schools. Long before the No Child Left Behind Act, Alaska gave parents true 'choice' options for their families needs. Families who utilize this educational option truly are demonstrating 'parent involvement' in the highest form. Dollars will still be generated by the funding formula to follow the students to their next educational choice. Cutting the Alyeska Central Schools will not be a significant savings.

Parents want effective public schools in their communities. We urge you to budget sufficient resources so all our schools can be effective public schools. The budget should be a reflection of our state's spending priorities. While addressing defense and homeland security needs, as well as aiding in economic recovery, the legislature must also support increased spending for children. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act—which was recently renamed the No Child Left Behind Act—has imposed significant new costs on states that have not been matched with new resources, and the federal government is failing to meet its promised 40 percent of the additional costs associated with educating children with disabilities. It will take your commitment and dollars to ensure the education for Alaskan children means all children.

The Alaska PTA thanks you for your efforts to ensure a quality education for all students.

Janice Louden
Alaska PTA President
PO Box 201496, Anchorage Alaska 99503, 907-279-9345

Here is a link for educators, the US Departartmentof Education has created a guide for educators to guide them in dealing with children of our deployed military forces. If you have children in your school who have parents in the military, offer this guide to your school staff: http://www.ed.gov/inits/homefront/homefront.pdf

Change of color was requested.

This is crunch time, folks. The House will be considering the operating budget on the floor this week.

WE MUST SEND A MESSAGE TO FUND EDUCATION!! Even if you do not understand the details of the school budget, this is important and rather simple. Please, Please, Please take the time right now to do one of the following options.

Our representative are not hearing from us, and if they can't hear us, they can't help us. Tell them to maintain their commitment to education and provide our district with the funds they need to provide adequate education.

You can make a quick phone call to the LIO office at 907-376-3704 and they will write your message for you and fax it off to your reps and/or other members you want to receive the message. They are extremely helpful and will walk you right through it.

You can go to the state web page http://www.legis.state.ak.us and pull up email addresses and phone numbers of each rep.
Send your message now. They must hear from us.
Please send your messages now!!!

Kris Moore, Mat-Su Council President

A couple of quick updates....

The regular MatSu Council meeting on Thursday, April 10 at 5:30 pm at Wasilla High School. Please mark your calendar to attend and bring a friend.

National PTA News: Mary Lou Anderson Reflections Arts Enhancement Grant Deadline, May 1

PTA Gives Holloway Award

The National PTA awarded State Board of Education & Early Development member Shirley Holloway the organization’s Life Achievement Award for her work as Alaska’s education commissioner. “On behalf of National PTA, Alaska PTA is extremely pleased to present this prestigious award to Dr. Shirley Holloway who continues to provide our children with a safe and enriching environment in which to learn and grow,” said State PTA President, Janice Louden. Louden presented the award at the state board meeting in Anchorage last week. The award is the National PTA’s top award.

Free Internet Classes!
GCI brought you free unlimited Internet, now we’re going one stop further by offering free Internet classes again. Why? Because we want you to know everything there is to succeed in Cyberspace. So join the Internet revolution. You may just learn something. Saturday, April 12, 2003, Loussac Library, Anchorage Alaska
Wilda Marston Theater, Ground level.

You will also receive more information real soon about the "Forget-Me-Not" Campaign..... Parents, teachers, and community members alike, will be encouraged to send a seed packet of forget me not flowers to their legislators' and the governor's offices, including a small personal note reminding officials to fulfill the commitment to children..."Growing kids is growing resources....." This campaign will be announced across the state, so be one of the first, please take time now to participate and send in your packet.

Hello! Here is the promised answer to the Enews problem. This should make more frrequent and timely updates of information easier for all of us. If you know of a link , article or pta news that should be included here please let me know.


The Alaska PTA Home page can be found at http://www.alaska.net/~akpta/index.html Be sure to get your Convention Registration sent in soon!

If you are interested in changing food choices at your childs school see this instruction page http://pasaorg.tripod.com

If you are interested in good and bad TV choices for your Family try this page http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/bw/2003/0323.asp