They can't hear US if WE'RE not there!

LCEA's guide to becoming an effective caucus-goer

Whether you're a life-long caucus goer or you've never been, the stakes have never been higher. NCLB's reauthorization has been tabled due to the work of our state and national leaders. We need you to help the agenda of public education at your caucus site.

ISEA has spent a great deal of time putting materials together for us to use to enter the caucus process informed and ready.

Watch this video made to help us understand the importance of the caucus process.

ISEA members can help shape the future of America's public schools by getting involved and attending their precinct caucuses in January -- both Republicans and Democrats have now scheduled their caucuses for Thursday, January 3.


LEARNING HOW TO CAUCUS IS FAST & EASY--
IT'S EASY TO BE PART OF MAKING HISTORY

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE DES MOINES REGISTER's INTERACTIVE SITE TO LEARN HOW TO CAUCUS

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE's WHAT HAPPENS AT A CAUCUS

Regardless of your party affiliation or candidate of choice: our students, our schools, our colleagues and our Association needs your help to take the following resolutions to your caucus. Please click on the link and print these to take to your caucus. Find other educators to help pass them on to your county platform meeting.

CLICK HERE FOR ISEA RESOLUTIONS (Resolutions are Double Spaced & Numbered by line with Signature Plate.) They're all ready for you to take to your precinct caucus.

So, after months of phone calls, becoming familiar with the candidates' positions on the issues, it's finally time to make your voice heard by attending your precinct caucus on Thursday evening, January 3!

Don't know where your caucus is being held?

CLICK HERE to find Republican caucus locations.

CLICK HERE to find Democratic caucus locations.

Please be a part of it all. Attend your caucus on Thursday and send a strong message that our students are our state's - and our nation's - most precious resource!P.S. Be sure to get there early. At most caucuses, you must beregistered or in line by 6:30 p.m. in order to participate.P.S.S.

QUESTIONS? CLICK HERE to forward questions our way about how to caucus, babysitting services, rides available and more.

Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, or No Party, you can help bring your neighbors together around the issues that really matter: Students and public education. Here are links to the tips, tools, resources, and information you'll need to make a difference:

About the caucuses

Download the ISEA Caucus Kit

ISEA Caucus Classroom

ISEA-sponsored Caucus Countdown on Radio Iowa

Watch our video

Listen to Linda Nelson's podcast

See where the candidates stand on education

Radio Iowa's blog

Iowa Republican Party caucus information

Republican Party of Iowa state platform

Iowa Democratic Party caucus information

Iowa Democratic Party state platform

Iowa Politics political news service

2008 Iowa Student Caucus

Iowa Votes 2008 (WHO TV)

Commitment 2008 (KCCI TV)

Des Moines Register Caucus Guide

Cedar Rapids Gazette Caucus Guide

Just in time for holiday gift giving

Use your ISEA Access membership card to save big on holiday gifts from popular national merchants including Target.com, Eddie Bauer, Lands End, Lane Bryant, The Sharper Image, KB Toys, and more. To learn how you can get the most of this exclusive membership benefit, tune in to our latest ISEA In Focus podcast episode featuring an interview with Emily Hayes of Access Development Corporation, the company that administers this program for us. While you're there, be sure to tune into other recent episodes including an inspiring interview with this year's Excellence in Education Award winner Blake Hammond of Des Moines.

Tell Congress: Stand up for Vulnerable Children – Override the President’s Veto of Children’s Health Funding

December 14, 2007

President Bush has once again vetoed legislation that would provide much-needed health care coverage to low-income children. The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (H.R. 3963) would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover 10 million children.

Over the past ten years, SCHIP has helped reduce the number of uninsured children in America by one-third. However, millions of children remain uninsured or underinsured.
Contact your representatives in Congress TODAY!!

Tell Congress to stand up for our most vulnerable children – override the President’s veto of the SCHIP bill.

No Cost Ti-Vo for NEA Members with Sign Up

Hey LCEA Member--NEA has a deal for you!

What's on your "to-do" list today? Car pool? Doctor's appointment? Add some sanity back into your life this holiday season with a new TiVo. Take control of the TV for your family.

Imagine the possibilities: watching Lost when it’s convenient for you. A Grey's Anatomy marathon. And why bother about renting DVDs when you have a kajillion episodes of your favorite show at your fingertips?

Take advantage of this limited-time offer to get a FREE 80-hour TiVo® Series2™ Dual Tuner digital video recorder (DVR) (a $249 value) when you sign up for a TiVo service plan for only $12.95 per month, or choose one to three years service and save even more. A TiVo DVR, powered by the incredible TiVo service, automatically finds and digitally records all of your favorite shows, every time they're on. Watch your shows when you want to. With TiVo KidZone, easily find and record the best shows for kids, and keep out the bad stuff.
In addition, educators across the U.S. use TiVo as a tool to improve their curriculum. Have an upcoming lesson plan on the Civil Rights Movement? Enter the keywords and TiVo will search and find all programming related to the subject matter.

Let your family discover the magic! With more innovations than any other DVR, TiVo is the ideal way to personalize your TV time. Rewind great moments. Skip the dull stuff. Don't follow a TV schedule; make it follow yours.

Do we sound fanatical? Oh, yes. And you will be, too. That's why TiVo comes with a 30-day money back guarantee because no one ever wants to give this sucker back.Already have TiVo? Pass this awesome offer on to your friends and family.

Related Links
What is TiVo? »
TiVo® KidZone FAQ »
The TiVo Advantage »
Check out the new TiVo HD DVR! »

Where Are All the Heroes?

"Where are the heroes of today?" a radio talk show host thundered.

He blames society's shortcomings on education. Too many people are looking for heroes in all the wrong places. Movie stars and rock musicians, athletes, and models aren't heroes; they're celebrities.

Heroes abound in public schools, a fact that doesn't make the news. There is no precedent for the level of violence, drugs, broken homes, child abuse, and crime in today's America. Education didn't create these problems but deals with them every day.

You want heroes?

Consider Dave Sanders, the schoolteacher shot to death while trying to shield his students from two youths on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Sanders gave his life, along with 12 students, and other less heralded heroes survived the Colorado blood bath.

You want heroes?

Jane Smith, a Fayetteville, NC teacher, was moved by the plight of one of her students, a boy dying for want of a kidney transplant. So this woman told the family of a 14 year old boy that she would give him one of her kidneys. And she did. When they subsequently appeared together hugging on the Today Show, even Katie Couric was near tears.

You want heroes?

Doris Dillon dreamed all her life of being a teacher. She not only made it, she was one of those wondrous teachers who could bring the best out of every single child. One of her fellow teachers in San Jose, Calif said, "She could teach a rock to read. " Suddenly she was stricken with Lou Gehrig's Disease which is always fatal, usually within five years. She asked to stay on job...and did. When her voice was affected she communicated by computer. Did she go home? Absolutely not! She is running two elementary school libraries! When the disease was diagnosed, she wrote the staff and all the families that she had one last lesson to teach .... that dying is part of living. Her colleagues named her Teacher of the Year.

You want heroes?

Bob House, a teacher in Gay, Georgia, tried out for Who Wants to be a Millionaire. After he won the million dollars, a network film crew wanted to follow up to see how it had impacted his life. New cars? Big new house? Instead, they found both Bob House and his wife still teaching. They explained that it was what they had always wanted to do with their lives and that would not change. The community was both stunned and gratified.

You want heroes?

Last year the average school teacher spent $468 of their own money for student necessities...workbooks, pencils-supplies kids had to have but could not afford. That's a lot of money from the pockets of the most poorly paid teachers in the industrial world.

Schools don't teach values? The critics are dead wrong.

Public education provides more Sunday School teachers than any other profession. The average teacher works more hours in nine months than the average 40-hour employee does in a year.

You want heroes?

For millions of kids, the hug they get from a teacher is the only hug they will get that day because the nation is living through the worst parenting in history. An Argyle, Texas kindergarten teacher hugs her little 5 and 6 year-olds so much that both the boys and the girls run up and hug her when they see her in the hall, at the football games, or in the malls years later.

A Michigan principal moved me to tears with the story of her attempt to rescue a badly abused little boy who doted on a stuffed animal on her desk-one that said "I love you!" He said he'd never been that at home. This is a constant in today's society... two million unwanted, unloved, abused children in the public schools, the only institution that takes them all in.

You want heroes?

Visit any special education class and watch the miracle of personal interaction, a job so difficult that fellow teachers are awed by the dedication they witness. There is a sentence from an unnamed source which says: "We have been so eager to give our children what we didn't have that we have neglected to give them what we did."

What is it that our kids really need? What do they really want?

Math, science, history and social studies are important, but children need love, confidence, encouragement, someone to talk to, someone to listen, standards to live by. Teachers provide upright examples, the faith and assurance of responsible people.

You want heroes? Then go down to your local school and see our real live heroes, the ones changing lives for the better each and every day!

PASS IT ON...

Now, if you want to pass this on, send it to someone you know who's a teacher, or to someone who should thank a teacher today. I'd like to see this sent to all those who cut down the importance of teachers. They have no idea who a public school teacher is or what they do.

LCEA Execuitve Board Meeting Minutes December 13, 2007

LCEA Executive Board Meeting
Date: 12/13/2007
Place: Kreft in Room 11
Time: 4:15

Roll Call: Sharon Crawley, Kim Muta, Jennifer Doorlag (absent), Maggie Bennett, Dave Bergman
HS Reps: Tom McLaughlin (hospitalized), Allison Towne, Brian Johnson (absent), Christina Woodward (absent)
MS Reps: Margot Argotsinger, Beth Frank, Al Lorenz, Barb Motes
TH Reps: Susan Drustrup (Janet Zuehlke), Maggie Miller, Jennifer Hake
Kreft Reps: Kathy Moe (sub—Michelle Schaeffer), Melinn Ruzicka, Tara York

Approval of Agenda:
• Dave Bergman moved that the agenda be approved, Kim Muta seconded, and the motion passed.

Secretary’s Report/ Approval of Minutes: Kim Muta
• Allison Towne moved that the November minutes be approved, Dave Bergman seconded, and the motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report: Jennifer Doorlag
• Sharon Crawley has a couple of receipts from approved spending. Receipts from Teacher Appreciation Week should be turned in for reimbursement.

Negotiations: Beth Frank
• Beth Frank explained our initial proposal and the Board’s initial proposal (see attached).
• Beth Frank also gave us copies of the survey results (see attached).
• The next meeting is January 10, 2008.
• Sharon Crawley suggested again that we need to get a committee together to explore insurance issues. This committee would not, of course, be part of the negotiation committee.

TQC: Barb Motes
• During the last meeting, we discussed the market factor money. (This was explained also during the November meeting—see those minutes.)
• Side note: Remind colleagues to fill out paperwork for classes that they want to use to move over on the pay scale.
• Our next tasks are to look at the evaluation system and to evaluate the professional development.

President’s Report: Sharon Crawley
• Sharon Crawley got a question sent about principals being out of the building and the chain of command. She emailed the principals about that issue. Barb Grell replied and explained that they all have mobile phones by which they can be reached. Kent Stopak addressed the issue with his staff, and said that they should contact the office as they would if he were there. Chuck Story saw Sharon Crawley about the issue, and explained that they inform the faculty about absent administration and we always have Richard for security problems.
• Another issue that has been raised about sick leave for parents when children are sick. Beth Frank addressed this, as it was a negotiated language change in the contract a few years ago.
• February 14 and 15: We cannot use sick leave for these days because they are not part of our contracted number of days for this school year. We are expected to be there, and we will be paid per diem for them. If we are not there, we will not be paid. (These are not Phase III days—Phase III no longer exists.) Sharon Crawley read the memo drafted by Tom McLaughlin about this issue. We will be paid for those days in our March pay checks, noted as an extra line.
• Sharon Crawley also received multiple phone calls about not receiving our pay deposits on the first of the month in November (which fall on a Saturday). Dave Bergman talked to Dr. Schweer about this. The money is released to the District’s bank, but it’s being released by some banks later than others. People with automatic payments should schedule those automatic payments later in the month.

Committee Reports:
• High School: Staff members were stuck in Des Moines at a conference on a snow day. We’re going live with Power School. Kids now have access.
• Middle School: Some of the middle schoolers have access to Power School. There are some issues with mainstreaming of some of the special education students. The State is putting a lot of pressure on districts to mainstream.
• Kreft: They met with Barb Grell about equity in work time. The time taken up by the progress reports seems to be lessening.
• Titan Hill: There are power and heat issues. There was no communication about these problems. Kent Stopak said that they could have a safety committee to address the lack of a crisis plan for such occurrences.

Old Business:
• Reps setting up monthly meetings with individual building principals—Please do this.
• Ten minute meetings with members—Please do this.

New Business:
• Attendance to a board meeting—The list still has empty dates.
• Public Relations: Committees for Education weeks, National Teacher Day, Reading Across America, Retirees, etc.—We need people on these committees.
• Public Relations: Toy drive, Food/Books drives, etc./Activity for each building in January—We need people on these committees.
• February days (14/15)—See President’s Report above.
• Administrators out of the building? Who is in charge? Procedures? –See President’s Report above.

Adjournment
Maggie Miller moved that the meeting be adjourned, and Jennifer Hake seconded it. The meeting adjourned at 5:40.

CLICK HERE for a WORD version of LCEA Meeting Minutes 12.13.07

LCEA Executive Board Agenda December 13, 2008

LCEA Executive Board Meeting Date: 12/13/2007 Place: Kreft in room 11 Time: 4:15

Roll Call: Sharon Crawley, Kim Muta, Jennifer Doorlag,
Maggie Bennett, Dave Bergman
HS Reps: Tom McLaughlin, Allison Towne, Brian Johnson, Christina Woodward
MS Reps: Margot Argotsinger, Beth Frank, Al Lorenz, Barb Motes
TH Reps: Susan Drustrup, Maggie Miller, Jennifer Hake
Kreft Reps: Kathy Moe, Melinn Ruzicka, Tara York

Approval of Agenda:

Secretary’s Report/ Approval of Minutes: Kim Muta

Treasurer’s Report: Jennifer Doorlag

Negotiations: Beth Frank

TQC: Barb Motes

President’s Report: Sharon Crawley

Committee Reports:
High School:
Middle School:
Kreft:
Titan Hill:

Old Business:
• Reps setting up monthly meetings with individual building principals
• Ten minute meetings with members

New Business:
• Attendance to a board meeting 
• Public Relations: Committees for Education weeks, National Teacher Day, Reading Across America, Retirees, etc..
• Public Relations: Toy drive, Food/Books drives, etc../Activity for each building in January (the half way mark!!)
• Delegate Assembly coming up!!! (Kim will you talk about this?)
• February days (14/15)
• Administrators out of the building? Who is in charge? Procedures?

Adjournment

Tools for Adults To Keep Young Teens Safer Online

NEA's Health Information Network is pleased to announce bNetS@vvy, a bimonthly enewsletter to help "tweens" (ages 9 to 14) stay safer online. It's part of the 4NetSafety project developed in collaboration with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Sprint. Written by kids, parents, educators, and technology experts, bNetS@vvy is designed to give adults real world stories, resources, and skills to help keep young people safer on MySpace, Facebook, and other social networking sites and while using IM, texting, and other wireless technologies. In December and January, bNetS@vvy will focus on the hot topic of cyberbullying and the national launch of the site:

http://news.nea.org/UM/T.asp?A2923.37871.21.6.1470 and the bNetS@vvy enewsletter.

Click on http://news.nea.org/UM/T.asp?A2923.37871.21.7.1470 to subscribe to bNetS@vvy.

Hurry to take advantage of these member-only specials

Mackinaw Island Press is offering ISEA members a 30 percent discount on all of its great children’s books; and if you purchase anytime during the month of December, the publisher will donate an additional 10 percent of sales to the ISEA Scholarship Fund. The works of two Iowans are currently being highlighted -- ISEA member Wendy Caszatt-Allen, an eighth-grade teacher in Kalona and author of Adventures of Pachelot: Last Voyage of the Griffen and Fort Brokenheart; and Sarah Grant, founder of the Des Moines-based Sticks company, who illustrated Sleeping Bear: The Legend. Check out these and the other award-winning offerings at http://www.mackinawislandpress.com/.

Enter ISEA as the code to receive your discount.

Get $30 off plus free shipping at LeapFrog SchoolHouse

NEA members can now get discounts on learning tools for classroom and home use at LeapFrog SchoolHouse. Choose from a wide variety of interactive multi-sensory products including handheld devices, pentop computers, and interactive libraries. In addition to receiving the highest discount available from LeapFrog SchoolHouse, Association members also get $30 off and free shipping on the first purchase of $100 or more through Aug. 31. To get the special NEA introductory discount, register on the LeapFrog SchoolHouse site and use the promotional code NEAMB7 upon check out.

Read Across America: Celebrate a Year of Reading

Celebrate a Year of Reading!

The NEA's Read Across America Day, the nation's premiere literacy event, will be held on March 3. Now in its tenth year, Read Across America focuses attention on how important it is to motivate children to read in addition to helping them master basic skills. To get tips and download resources -- or to sign up to get a print copy of the planning kit -- go to www.nea.org/readacross/index.html .

Looking to celebrate reading all year long? NEA's Read Across America's 2008 Resource Calendar and toolkit–with art by well known children's illustrators–shines its light on fun books and book events. You'll also find posters, tips on Read Across America Day events, and links to keep reading on the radar throughout the year. Limited print quantities are available, so order yours today. Request copies by filing out this form.

Judging by the number of pledges that were received last year, the 10th Anniversary of NEA's Read Across America—the nation's largest reading celebration—has become bigger and better than ever.

Around the nation for the last ten years, reading celebrations big and small have put the joy of reading center stage. From weeklong Seussian celebrations to high school poetry jams, NEA members have made this a record year for reading.

Check out the pledge pages. And, since this is a year-round event, you can still tell us what you're doing for RAA.

Take a look at how NEA helped children get excited about reading! Plus, see how the Houston
Astros celebrated reading with 300 kids during spring training.

Watch a video of how we grew the nation's largest reading event. [Broadband, 6:45]

You can also watch another video highlighting Read Across America events during NEA's 2007 Representative Assembly. [Broadband, 3:56]

As reading is one of our Pre K12 District Goals, this can be part of your Professional Growth Plan.

Click here to see the entire year-long campaign from last year. This year's information will be going up soon. Once again, you need to reinvent the wheel with all these tools in place.

Click here to contact Sharon Crawley if you're interested in helping make this a success with us.

Activate Your New Membership Cards

Don't forget to activate your new membership cardBy now, all ISEA members should have received their new ISEA "Access to Savings" membership card in the mail. But in order to continue taking advantage of savings on everything from pizza and golf to hotel stays and blue jeans, you need to activate your card.

Just click here and type your membership number in the grey-shaded "Member Login" box that appears along the top left-hand side of your screen. Each time you log in, you'll be entered to win one of the monthly giveaways -- a Get Up & Go travel certificate good for a three-day/two-night hotel stay at 28 select locations across the nation including Orlando, Branson, Las Vegas, and more! (airfare is not included). The more times you log in, the better your chances of winning! And while you’re there, be sure to sign up to receive the twice-monthly electronic newsletter filled with information about the latest deals and promotions. The new membership cards are good through December of 2009.

Contact your UniServ unit office if you did not receive your card.

Keep Up the Pressure: Tell Congress "DON'T BLOCK THE (OMNI)BUS!!"Stand up for Real Resources for Children and Public Education

Thank you to everyone who sent e-mail last week urging Congress to support the omnibus funding bill for fiscal year 2008. Now, let's keep up the pressure!

The omnibus bill will include increased funding for education programs as well as programs for veterans, cancer research, health care, clean air and water, and safe roads and bridges. But, passage will face an uphill battle, with opposition from those who support the President's demands for program cuts.

Contact your representatives in Congress TODAY!!

Tell Congress "Don't Block the Bus" - support the omnibus funding bill for fiscal year 2008.

Omnibus Spending Needs Veto-Proof Majority to Prevent Cuts to Children's ProgramsCongress is negotiating now to secure enough votes to enact funding for most federal domestic programs, including vital children's programs such as the Women's Infant and Children (WIC) health program. If they do not get enough votes to override another veto by the President, cuts will get deeper. Please contact your Congressional Representative and Senators to tell them children are at risk if nutrition, housing, home energy, and other vital assistance programs are not fully funded.The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a compromise year-end funding bill on Tuesday, December 11; the Senate later in the week. Click here to send your elected officials a message.

You can also contact their offices directly: Call 1-8882-45-0215 for the Congressional switchboard

Teacher Quality Committee Minutes December 6, 2007

LEWIS CENTRAL Teacher Quality Committee – Unofficial Meeting Minutes Educational Resource Center Thursday, December 6, 2007

Meeting called to order by Dave Black at 4:35 pm

Present: Barb Motes, Dave Black, Jeanne Bartholow, Chuck Story, Laurie Thies, Kim Jones, Kim Muta, Pat Thomas, Al Lorenz, Sean Dunphy, Marilyn Wandersee, Kent Stopak, Mark Schweer, Barb Grell

Absent: Linda Hahn, Tom McLaughlin (hospitalized)

Motion made to approve November 7, 2007 minutes (moved: Motes, second: Schweer)
Voice vote was taken and minutes approved.

Market Factor Pay (MFP) – subcommittee reported out on an Application and Endorsement Course of Study created for the 80% of MFP used as incentives for teachers seeking endorsements in areas of need determined by the administration. Much discussion centered around the following topics: final approval of application, ability to use this with new hires if deadline for consideration is in April, the possibility of two deadlines, the communication with the teacher coming from the building administrator as to whether or not approval was given, adding a step in the process outlined on the application between step 6 and 7 about district prioritizing and approval opposed to this happening at the building level, including a signature line for ERC on the application, and bolding/highlighting the 3-year obligation upon completion of endorsement and receiving reimbursement on the Course of Study sheet.

Dave Black initiated a motion to recommend to the school board the procedure and instruments developed by the subcommittee for teacher reimbursement upon completion of an endorsement in an area of need, pending legal counsel and the two additions mentioned above to the application and course of study sheets. (moved: Muta, second: Dunphy) Voice vote was taken with Jones and Black opting out based on equal votes of teachers and administrators. All votes were affirmative to proceed with recommendation.

Based on weather conditions, Dave Black suggested adjourning early after setting the next meeting date. Date was set for Wednesday, January 9, 2008 at ERC, with a 4:30 PM start time. Before motion was made to adjourn Barb Motes thanked all the committee members for the work the committee has done and the manner in which it is operating. She, along with the other teachers, gave the administrators a token of their appreciation.

Primary plan for next agenda: Monitoring Teacher Performance Evaluation Requirements and Model Evidence. It was requested that everyone bring any information they have to share with the group.

Meeting adjourned at 5:30 PM (moved: Dunphy, second: Grell)

ISEA sponsors Radio Iowa's Campaign Countdown

The nation's attention is focused on Iowa as the Jan. 3 first-in-the-nation caucuses draw near. And the ISEA is making sure Iowans are well informed about the candidates and the campaigns by sponsoring Radio Iowa's Campaign Countdown series now airing on 54 radio stations across the state.

The series features in-depth reports from O. Kay Henderson, one of the state's -- and the nation's -- premiere political reporters. As part of our sponsorship, the ISEA is also running a 60-second ads urging Iowans to attend their caucus. Each week, our ad will include a campaign report from an Iowa student taking part in our ISEA Caucus Classroom project.

To hear both the Campaign Countdown and Caucus Classroom reports as well as to read Henderson's political blog, click here. And don't forget the ISEA Web site has a wealth of caucus information as well as links to important caucus-related Web sites.

Funding needed for critical federal programs

Despite significant pressure from NEA members and our partners, the House fell two votes short, 277-141, in its recent attempt to override President Bush’s veto of the education funding bill. This means that 45 federal programs could be wiped out and others -- including Title I, special education, Head Start, after-school programs, and Pell Grants -- could be crippled. Iowa Reps. Steve King and Tom Latham voted against the override while Reps. Leonard Boswell, Bruce Braley, and Dave Loebsack voted in favor of the override.

Now Congress returns to work this week and will begin drafting a comprehensive "omnibus" bill that will include increased funding for a number of important priorities, including education, although most likely less than what was in the bill that President Bush vetoed. But passage will once again face an uphill battle, with strong opposition coming from those who support the President's demands for program cuts. There are only a few weeks left in this congressional session so time is of the essence. ISEA members should tell their members of Congress to provide the resources students need to succeed. Click here to send a message. Click here to send a message.

Don't miss this year's legislative conference

The ISEA will hold it's annual Legislative Conference, Jan. 11 - 12, at the Quality Inn & Suites Event Center in downtown Des Moines. All ISEA members are invited to attend this event which is designed to provide an overview of legislative issues and lobbying strategies. The ISEA fully funds members of the state Building Support for Public Education Standing Committee as well as members of the ISEA-PAC Central Committee. The fee for others to attend is $60 per person ($30 per person if no overnight room reservation is needed). Please coordinate reservations through your UniServ unit office since some provide funding to help offset costs. Go to the ISEA Web site to download a flyer and registration form.