FROM: Pete Knotek, Nick Whitman, REA/REAA Executive Director
DATE:     August 5, 2009
SUBJECT:     Staff Changes

As you will recall, the Racine Education UniServ Council (REUC) was informed in early July of the Executive Director’s decision to resign his employment position effective August 7, 2009.   He will become the Executive Director of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association in Tampa, Florida.  We write to inform you that the Council has employed Clay Marquardt as Interim Executive Director.  Clay was Interim Director for the REA/REAA in 2007 and is excited to assist us over the next few months as we look for a “permanent” Executive Director.
We also write to provide a brief summary of information reported on August 3, 2009, at a joint meeting of the REA Executive Committee, REAA Executive Board, and REUC.  As discussed at the meeting, the following are examples of joint accomplishments that reflect the success of the working relationship between Nick and union governance over the last 20 months:

1. Implementation of training for Building Association Representatives
2. Development of a UniServ Budget
3. Support for the RUSD North Star Vision/Data Teams
4. Proliferation of Payday Team meetings across the District
5. Aggressive professional representation of individual members
6. Political action to elect member endorsed Board of Education candidates and referendum
7. Participation in the RUSD Redistricting Commission
8. Implementation of job descriptions for REUC staff members
9. Negotiation of longer term contracts for REUC staff members
10. Successful lobbying for the Unions’ Legislative Agendas as part of Pro-labor Coalitions
11. Frequent communication with RUSD Superintendents and Board of Education Members
12. Review of Croft policy involving REA/REAA Leadership
13. Involvement in improving the hiring processes for RUSD Administrators
14. Frequent and productive meetings of the Joint Job Description Committee
15. Strengthening the relationship between the REA, REAA, and SEIU Local 152
16. REA/REAA parking lot improvements and office remodeling
17. Hiring of an interim Executive Director

We appreciate the opportunity to have worked together over the last 20 months and look forward to sharing updates on future successes.  We also believe that the continued success of REA and REAA depends on the union solidarity that all of you work hard to maintain.  We thank you for that work.

___________________________________________________________________________

FROM:     Nick Whitman, Executive Director
DATE:     July 8, 2009
SUBJECT:   Staff Changes

Earlier today, I informed the Racine Education UniServ Council (REUC) of my decision to resign my employment position effective August 7, 2009.

During the council meeting, I discussed how difficult the decision was for me to make.  Specifically, I mentioned my excitement about the work we have done in improving and maintaining the collaborative labor-management relationship that currently exists between the REA, REAA and RUSD.  I also expressed how proud I am to be affiliated with labor unions that have the bold vision and leadership necessary to embrace educational improvement initiatives such as the North Star Vision.  Finally, I recounted the great number of relatively invisible, but highly successful, employment-related actions the REA and REAA have pursued on behalf of individuals and/or the membership as a whole.

I believe that the REA and REAA are in very good shape in terms of staff and financial resources.  As a result, I believe that the transition to my successor will be made very smoothly.  The REUC in conjunction with the REA Executive Committee and REAA Executive Board will work toward employment of an interim Executive Director and initiation of a search for the next “permanent” Executive Director.  The WEAC leadership team has pledged its support in insuring that the transition proceeds as smoothly as possible.  Further, the WEAC will assist the REAA by providing a Collective Bargaining Specialist to insure that the negotiations process gets off to a positive and successful start.

I am resigning the REUC Executive Director position to become the Executive Director of the Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association (HCTA).  The HCTA represents the 15,000 teachers and 8,000 educational support professionals employed by the Hillsborough County School District.  The Hillsborough District is based in Tampa, Florida and is the eighth (8th) largest school district in the United States.  Labor relations between the HCTA and District are positive and utilize a collaborative model.  Jointly, the HCTA and District are pursuing a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that could yield up to $100 million dollars.  The grant funds would be utilized to implement strategies designed to close the “achievement gap,” fund educational reform projects, and support the wage and benefit packages needed to attract and retain the most qualified educational employees.  The Hillsborough grant application has made it to the final round of the competitive grant approval process. 

While my time in Racine has been brief, the friends I have made and the relationships I have developed will last a lifetime.  I owe a debt of gratitude to the leadership teams of both the REA and REAA.  They pushed me to work harder, be smarter, and think more deeply than in any previous position that I have held representing employees.  While that debt of gratitude belongs to the collective leadership of both organizations, particular thanks goes to REA President and REUC Chairperson Pete Knotek.  Day in and day out, Pete is the model of high level thinking and unflappability.  Pete knows his core principles and does not allow the crisis of the day or week to sweep him off of that foundation.  For the rest of my professional life, I will be chanting Pete’s mantras . . .
1.   Where is the data to support that decision? 
2.   What is the problem we are trying to address? 
3.   Read your stuff. 

Thanks to all of you for your support and feedback.  I wish you good luck and great professional success.  I look forward to the future sharing of our success stories.  And, when you need respite from the Wisconsin winter, give me a call.