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The AFL-CIO has launched its 2012 AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch site—now called CEO Pay and the 99%—which includes the most comprehensive data available on 2011 executive pay. All the data available is searchable by industry, by state and by the top 100 highest-paid CEOs.
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To Innovate, Look to Those Who Educate
 In her latest column appearing in the New York Times, AFT president Randi Weingarten describes how the AFT Innovation Fund is providing an alternative to school reform efforts that ignore the expertise of educators and their unions. The fund supports AFT affiliates that engaged in collaborative efforts that focus on promising ideas and proven programs that can be scaled up. Read the full column. |
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Pulse of The People
by Gregg Weinlein Published on March 9, 2012 The Record Parents, legislators, and even student advocates continue to articulate the serious of bullying and the toll this activity takes on children and teens. Some advocates suggest that incidents of cyberbullying should be dealt with as criminal behavior similar to charges such as harassment and stalking. I couldn’t agree more. Too often teens flip off the word “bully” as childish knowing that assailants today are much more vicious than the playground bullies of the previous century. Teenagers today must fend off the silent assassins of the digital age who operate with phones and tablets and plant emotional land mines in social networking sites. The harassment and text assaults perpetrated by some teenagers should have a more criminal connotation then what is too often associated with the word bullying.
follow the link for the entire story : troyrecord.com/articles/2012/03/09/opinion/doc4f58e4ee60292697578518.txt |
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We Need Action!
Please sign this position in order to pressure the Legislature to restore the “grant money” ($250 million) back to regular aid to districts. Follow the link below. It will take less than three minutes and might save a few jobs!! |
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2011 Union Dues
The 2011 school year union dues for a full time teacher was $691.
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Many studies over the years have documented the need for smoother transitions from prekindergarten to the elementary level. A new AFT report reinforces that conclusion—and does it in a manner that puts frontline voices at the heart of the dialogue.
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The citizens of Ohio took back their state with a historic vote on Nov. 8 to repeal Senate Bill 5. The vote, which marks the first time that the collective bargaining rights of public employees have been upheld on a statewide ballot, sends a clear signal that Ohioans will not sit idly by while politicians scapegoat hard-working public employees for an economic crisis they did not create.
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President Obama's bold plan—the American Jobs Act—is the right antidote to help solve our persistent economic problems, AFT president Randi Weingarten says.
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Two longtime union activists and education reformers are assuming new roles in AFT's leadership, AFT president Randi Weingarten announced on Sept. 9.
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Every day, educators and other public employees, and the services they provide our communities, are being attacked. From challenging collective bargaining rights, to undermining the quality of public education and higher education, to decimating pensions and trying to put healthcare coverage further out of reach, working men and women across the country are under assault. And if this has taught us one thing, it's that Elections Matter.
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NYSUT suspends work with SED, blasts Board of Regents for "breach of faith."
Regents' approval of flawed evaluation regulations was clearly a breach of "good faith" collaboration -- and President Dick Iannuzzi announced, effective immediately, that NYSUT is suspending collaboration with SED for the rest of the academic school year, including participation and co-sponsorship of SED's June 13-14 district/union collaboration conference at Cornell, as the union weighs legal options. The state Board of Regents adopted regulations that ignore the recommendations of the Regents' own task force; ignore best practice documented by nationally recognized researchers; and contradict the state's recently passed law on teacher/principal evaluations. The regulatory changes are a breach of the agreement forged with NYSUT to develop a fair, comprehensive system of teacher evaluations. NYSUT is exploring legal avenues to challenge the regulations, which were approved by the Regents in a 14-to-3 vote, with Regents Tilles, Rosa and Cashin commendably voting "no." Due to NYSUT's strategy that the law require the process for teacher evaluations to be negotiated locally through collective bargaining, we can continue to negotiate educationally sound evaluation procedures even as we challenge the Regents' action approving the option that could open the door to "double-counting" and other changes in the regulations. Here are talking points to use in messaging to members and to the community. We've also posted what others are saying, including education scholars and Regent Tilles condemning the action. NYSUT United comes out next week and will feature in-depth analysis. |
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Sylvia Saunders - NYSUT Communications - May 23, 2011 Ever the excellent teacher, Rochester's Rich Ognibene offered news reporters a compelling analogy to explain why he and seven current and former New York State Teachers of the Year are saddened and frustrated over the Board of Regents' decision to allow up to 40 percent of a teacher's evaluation to be based on their students' state standardized test scores. |
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This is a very important resource to have. It contains important information from maintaining your health benefits to maintaining your retirement benefits. It clarifies the recall process. Lastly, it walks you through the unemployment benefits, answering frequently asked questions. Open the link for the Handbook |
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In a March 28 speech sponsored by the Commonwealth Club, AFT president Randi Weingarten challenged those who have blamed public employees and their right to collectively bargain as a cause of their states' fiscal problems.
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Governor Cuomo's Tax Cap: What does it Mean?
February 16, 2011 - Late last month, the New York State Senate passed Governor Andrew Cuomo’s bill to impose a property tax cap proposal for schools and local governments, beginning in 2012-13, by a vote of 45-17. Although the State Legislature still needs to accept this bill in order for it to be enacted, many questions surround the Governor’s proposed tax cap. What does the proposed tax cap mean? http://www.gcsny.org/District/BoardofEd/Budget1112/TaxCapBreakdown.htm |
At the March 22nd Budget Workshop, parents, teachers and children stood outside of Genet in the light rain and held a silent protest out of concern of the proposed budget cuts and what those ramifications would do to the quality of education in our district. They came carrying signs, flashlights and had a lot determination to let their message be heard.
In the Scene, Jen Romer was quoted saying, "We definitely need to work together. Collaboration, continuing to bargain and negotiate possible concessions to see what we can do. Everyone has got to work together but unilateral decisions don't make it."
(follow link to TV coverage...)
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East Greenbush and Dr. Nagle make the news!
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By DEANNA MARTIN, Associated Press –
INDIANAPOLIS – Union workers, teachers, lawmakers and labor organizers said at a huge Statehouse rally Thursday that Indiana Republicans and GOP leaders nationwide have gone too far in pushing an agenda opponents consider an attack on public education and labor unions.
State police said more than 8,000 people gathered outside the Statehouse at the rally's peak, making it the largest rally at the Indiana Statehouse in years. Nancy Guyott, president of the Indiana AFL-CIO, told the cheering crowd that craftsmen built the Statehouse more than 100 years ago, and that they had returned Thursday to reclaim it.
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AFT president Randi Weingarten joined a large crowd of teachers, students, parents and other union supporters at City Hall in Providence March 2 to protest the mass firing of all the city's public school teachers. "I thought the only insanity was in Wisconsin, not in Rhode Island," Weingarten said. 3/3/11 (AFT.org) |
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Rhode Island school district issues pink slips to nearly 2,000 teachers in effort to deal with massive budget deficit ... |
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NYSUT Media Relations - March 1, 2011
ALBANY, NY –New York State United Teachers President Richard C. Iannuzzi today called a Senate bill that would dismantle fairness in layoffs “an attack on collective bargaining.” |
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AFT president Randi Weingarten on Feb. 24 proposed a new way to align teacher development and evaluation to due process for tenured teachers. Weingarten laid out a three-step process consisting of clear standards for what teachers should know and be able to do, a time-limited improvement and support plan for teachers deemed to be unsatisfactory according to the evaluation standards, and a hearing process that can take no longer than 100 days, which in many cases would be even more expedient.
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The EGTA Dues for 2010 were $647.30 |
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2010 Teacher of the Year Honors Jean Decker
Jean Edith Brockley Decker was born in Besides being an AMAZING teacher, Jean has served on many district committees! Jean has been an EGTA building Representative and the EGTA Benevolence Representative. Jean serves as the elementary liaison to the District Calendar Committee, and as a member of the District Mentor Steering Committee, the Report Card Committee and the Curriculum Selection Committee. At Red Mill, Jean has been a PTO rep, served on the Special Events Committee, has been a Building Level Specialist on numerous occasions, scheduling committees and hiring committees! Basically, anywhere she is needed, Jean is THERE! When she is not busy teaching and serving on these many committees, Jean enjoys hiking, gardening, kayaking and all things nature! She loves to spend time at the family camp on Jean shares her life with her husband, Kevin, her Stepson Adam, her mother Phyllis, her 101 year old grandmother Ruth Gragan, her brother Mark and sisters Joanne and Janice as well as many nieces and nephews! We are PROUD to have this dedicated, multifaceted woman as our 2010 TEACHER OF THE YEAR! |
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Help Bring Jobs Back...do your part
"There's some good news out of Washington. After months of pressure on Congress and the administration to include an education jobs fund as part of an overall jobs package, they acknowledged the need for federal funding to help prevent layoffs and save jobs. Last week, U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, introduced the $23 billion Keep Our Educators Working Act. The legislation would create an Education Jobs Fund, sending $1.4 billion to New York. The federal aid can be used to retain existing employees, to hire new employees or for staff training.
Both N.Y. Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand are co-sponsors of the legislation. Send a letter to them and your members of Congress showing that you support the bill. A similar bill is making the rounds in the House. The Local Jobs for America bill also creates a $23 billion education jobs fund. It is sponsored by a majority of the New York delegation -- with the exceptions of Scott Murphy (CD-20), Michael Arcuri (CD-24), Chris Lee (CD-26), Peter King (CD-3) and Michael McMahon (CD-13). "
http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/contactelectedofficials_14498.htm
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EGTA President Jenn Romer address the Board of Education in front of a packed house Wednesday, March 10th. |
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Just a friendly reminder about Professional Development Hours... |
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As an EGTA member we are eligible to member benefits from both NYSUT and AFT. In NYSUT, there is a multitude of savings for all sorts of entertainment.
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Facebook, Twitter and MySpace beware!
Do you have a personal blog? Do you have a life? Do you post things about what you do outside of the East Greenbush School District Walls? If you do, you should be aware of the concerns of privacy from our students, parents and the community at large. Please be sure you have set the privacy settings on you blog account so that only people that can explore your blog are your invited guests. If you do not know how to do that, consult someone who does. The NYSUT newsletter recently posted an interested article about this. http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/newyorkteacher_12466.htm |
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The East Greenbush Central School District recognizes and supports recently enacted New York State legislation that allows public employees up to four hours of paid personal leave for the purpose of undertaking a breast or prostate cancer screening. Should you wish to avail yourself of this right, you should follow the following steps... |
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The school district currently offers two voluntary retirement savings plan. The 457(b) is known as the New York State Deferred Compensation Plan (NYDCP). As of January 1st, 2009, Omni will coordinate with approved vendors the 403(b). These Plans allow employee contributions through payroll deduction in a variety of investment choices. Employee contributions are not subject to current federal and New York State income taxes. |
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Sadly we have seen some great teachers laid-off due to student enrollment decline and budget difficulties. We know that the immediate future looks gloomy but brighter days do lie ahead. NYSUT did have some useful information on their website in April. The attached link may answer some of you questions. |
