http://www.ramonateachers.org/ My Dragonfly Site en-us Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:49:12 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly Ramona Teachers Association News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.ramonateachers.org/images/themes/Azul/images/logo.jpg http://www.ramonateachers.org/ http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=117 As part of the 'Stand UP for Schools' movement, "Start the Day for Students", held on March 4th, was an urgent statewide day of action for students and California's future. Teachers, support staff and adminstrators joined together at school sites all over California to protest budget cuts and pass out infomational flyers to parents. Events were held at all school sites in Ramona. Last year, $17 billion was cut from schools and colleges. Entire art, music and PE programs were eliminated. More than 16,000 educators were laid off. And this is while large California corporations enjoyed tax breaks! This year, in the wake of all thses cuts, our student and schools are being threatened again. We can't let that happen! We need your continued help and support in this urgent effort to speak out about the painful effects these cuts are having on our stuents, schools and communities. We must reform the state's tax structure and repeal the tax breaks handed out to large corporations. It's time everyone paid their fair share. We all know that education is essential to building a better California. Working together, we can make sure our students get the resources they need to succeed. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:49:12 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=116 March 9, 2010 RTA wants you to know . . . The RTA Negotiations team will be visiting each school site to survey teachers as to their priorities during negotiations. If you cannot attend the meeting at your site, feel free to attend any of the other scheduled meetings. Below is the schedule of site visitations: RCS: Today, Tuesday, March 9 @ 2:45pm James Dukes: Thursday, March 11 @ 3:15pm Mount Woodson: Tuesday, March 16 @ 3:30pm Hanson Elementary: Tuesday, March 23 @ 3:30pm OPMS: Monday, March 29 @ 2:30pm Ramona Elementary: Tuesday, March 30 @ 3:15pm BE and RHS/MHS: Day and Time TBA March 9, 2010 AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM THE R.T.A. Today every employee will receive an email from David Ostermann, Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services requesting that they complete a Dependent Status Audit form. The dependent audit process was approved for distribution by all members of the RUSD Insurance Committee including the Ramona Teachers Association. This is the second time employees have been asked to complete and return the audit forms. Very few people responded to the first request. It is important that we have maximum participation. A fully complete dependent audit saves us money and will assist us when we market our district during premium renewal time. RTA asks that all teachers who have not complied with the request to complete and return the Dependent Status Audit forms do so once they receive the email from Mr. Ostermann. We thank you for your cooperation. Fri, 05 Feb 2010 02:15:00 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=115 A message from RTA Negotiations Committee Chairperson, Michael Harrelson We shall not be moved Like a tree that’s planted by the water We shall not be moved This is the chorus from a traditional spiritual that was adopted in the early part of the 20th Century by both the American Civil Rights Movement and workers trying to unionize. It perfectly stated the feelings of the men and women fighting for equality and struggling for their own slice of the American Dream. It is one of my favorite songs. It has such wonderful lines about hard working people fighting to be heard – Black and White together, We are fighting for our children, The union is behind us. When I hear it sung (the new Mavis Staples version is moving) it reminds me that the things we so often take for granted, our rights as workers and the open, tolerant environment in which we live, only exist because a long time ago someone took incredible risks to make equality possible for all of us. What these great people achieved is clearly evident every day but, for the most part, we are blind to what they accomplished. Too much time has passed and we have grown complacent about the rights they fought so hard to attain and codify. The five day work week and the weekend were created by unions recognizing that workers needed – deserved – time to rest. Equal pay for equal work (the teachers’ salary schedule was developed to correct the old practice of paying “breadwinner” male teachers more than female teachers), non-discrimination in hiring and employment, the 40-hour work week, extra pay for extra work (over-time and extra-curricular stipends), workplace safety rules, paid sick days, due process and the right to bargain are just a few. I could easily fill this page with more. There have been steady improvements in working conditions for all of us since the time when a song like We Shall Not Be Moved was sung to bolster the spirits of people fighting to be treated fairly. Building on the successes of other civil rights and labor organizations, the teachers of Ramona won their battle to be recognized and treated fairly when they negotiated that first contract in 1975. I’ve been here since 1978 and in those thirty-one years I have seen the teachers of Ramona work, and sometimes fight, very hard to improve their contract. We should be proud of what we have achieved and never lose sight of the fact that it didn’t come easy. More than that, we must be dedicated to the proposition that, even in hard times, we will not hurt ourselves and our families by agreeing to start taking steps backwards. We teachers are not blind to the fact that we are in the middle of a very difficult economic period. We watch the news. It doesn’t take a letter from District leadership to educate us about what we can plainly see for ourselves. “Informational letters” are nice but what we really need from the people that run this district is an assurance that the burden of hard economic times will not fall disproportionately on the shoulders of Ramona’s teachers. Since the Superintendent’s letter went out RTA has heard from teachers that they believe they are going to have to give up rights and resources. Nonsense! We fought hard for everything we have and it is going to take more than management’s unrealized fear about the future to take them away from us. The Ramona Teachers Association bargains facts not fear. RTA has shown that it can be an indispensable partner when adversity is at hand. We are more than willing to help. If the worst case does present itself then we are willing to share the burden. Share the burden, not bear the burden. No changes in working conditions, hours or wages can be imposed by the District. Your bargaining team’s mantra is, “No steps backward.” Maybe that is better stated: Teachers of Ramona, We shall not be moved Like a tree that’s planted by the water, We shall not be moved Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:38:04 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=114 The RTA Bylaws Committee has completed their work on revising the Associations Bylaws and Standing Rules. Due to current CTA regulations and Tax Law, they also wrote PAC Bylaws that include guidelines on how monies are collected and used. The current Bylaws were written more that 30 years ago and did not take into account doing business with current technologies. Highlights of the changes are: Board officer and site rep terms will increase from one year to two years, with elections staggared; decisions of RTA President requiring Board approval; allowing for more than one site rep at a large campus, such as RHS; a revamp of election procedures (Standing Rules); the establishment of Political Action Committee Bylaws that include a $2 annual assessment from current dues placed in a seperate PAC fund that teachers can opt out of, with a cap of $2500.00 in the account. A draft of the revised Bylaws, Standing Rules and new PAC Bylaws have been provided to all teachers in the district. The RTA Executive Council with vote to approve these documents at their Dec. 17th meeting. They will then be sent to CTA for review. If accepted by CTA, they will be put to a vote of RTA membership sometime in the Spring. If membership accepts the new RTA Bylaws, they will take effect at the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:36:59 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=113 For those teachers considering retirement this year or who are planning their future retirement, please read the following updates about our retirment system, CalSTRS: If a teacher is trying to contact the California State Teacher Retirement System (CalSTRS) office in Sacramento please be advised that teacher retirement system employees are subject to mandatory furloughs three Fridays each month. Any calls made on a Friday will be logged on voice mail and the CalSTRS staff will add them to their Monday workload. Because of holidays in November, December and January there are no full five-day weeks for CalSTRS until the end of January. The best days to call and expect a same-day answer from our teacher retirement system is Tuesday through Thursday. Teachers enrolled in the CalSTRS system who have not earned enough quarters to receive (premium free) Medicare Part A will still receive this national health care retirement benefit. CalSTRS will pay Medicare Part A hospital premiums for eligible retired members (that is pretty much everyone) who do not receive Medicare Part A premium free. This benefit expires for anyone retiring after July 1, 2012 but the CalSTRS Board has the option to extend the benefit and CTA will strongly advocate for this action. For more information go to pages 35 and 61 in the 2008-09 CALSTRS Member Handbook on go on-line at www.calstrs.com. For those teachers who are considering the RUSD Resignation/Retirement Incentive and have made an appointment with a CalSTRS counselor be sure to check if it makes a difference if it is reported that you will be retiring Monday, February 1, 2010 instead of Friday, January 29, 2010. In some cases, it could make a significant difference in the monthly distribution. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:14:23 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=112 California is now one step closer to tying teacher pay to student achievement. The Senate Education Committee passed Senate Bill 1 of the Fifth Extraordinary Session (SBX5-1), sponsored by Arnold Schwarzenegger, which makes significant changes to the CA Education Code (see below). This was done to qualify CA to access federal 'Race to the Top' (RTTT) funds. This bill was opposed by ACSA, CTA, United Teachers of LA and the California School Boards Assn. who feel the bill focuses on the wrong issues. Continue reading for more details. Copyright © 2009 School Services of California, Inc. Volume 29 For Publication Date: November 13, 2009 No. 23 SBX5 1 Passes Senate Education Committee Senate Bill 1 of the Fifth Extraordinary Session (SBX5 1, Romero, D-Los Angeles), which is intended to improve California's ability to compete for federal Race to the Top funds (RTTT), was heard and approved on a 5-0 vote on Monday, November 2, 2009, by the Senate Education Committee. The bill, sponsored by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, makes significant changes to the Education Code: • Repeals the prohibition against using data in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CalPADS) and the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education System (CalTIDES) to evaluate teachers, and instead allows data in the California Educational Information System to be used for that purpose, as well as to evaluate administrators • Eliminates the statutory limit on the number of charter schools operating in the state • Establishes the "Open Enrollment Act" to allow pupils in schools that are both ranked in the bottom three deciles and are in Program Improvement to transfer to another school district • Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to recommend to the State Board of Education (SBE) criteria to identify the lowest 5% of persistently lowest performing schools in the state and requires these districts to notify parents of their options • Requires the SPI and SBE to direct each identified school to take at least one of three actions: o Reopening the school as a public charter school o Replacing all or most of the school staff o Entering into a contract with an entity with a demonstrated record of effectiveness to operate the school According to Senator Romero, there are 571 schools in California that have failed to make progress for at least seven years, and 86% of the students in these schools are either Latino or African American. Romero equated the failure to make progress to denial of civil rights for these students. Supporters of the bill include Los Angeles Unified School District, EdVoice, Long Beach Unified School District, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. Opposition was expressed by Association of California School Administrators, California Teachers Association, United Teachers of Los Angeles, and California School Boards Association. Areas of concern included the lack of funding for transportation to implement the open enrollment provisions, the bill focuses on the wrong issues, and it adds even more definitions to an already confusing matrix of accountability and intervention programs. The bill was passed on a bipartisan vote and is expected to be heard later this week in the Senate Appropriations Committee. —Terry Anderson Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:50:47 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=111 All teachers and non-management certificated employees: In this message jointly authored by the District Superintendent and the RTA President, we would like to inform all District teachers that the District’s Governing Board approved a program at its October 29 Special Board Meeting which provides an Early Retirement/Resignation Incentive to eligible certificated employees. In spite of the fact that the District offered a similar program last year, all indications are that the state budget for public education in 2010-11 will likely be even worse than the current year, prompting our Local Governing Board to take this important step. Although much more analysis will come later this winter, we see this current move as a critical strategy to ease looming challenges in our local budget situation to reduce the potential for more austere alternatives later this spring. After working closely with the leadership of the RTA, District leaders have worked hard these past several days to craft a plan designed to encourage and support veteran teachers in a decision to resign from the District in January 2010, yet continue to provide their current services through June 2010. The basic elements of the plan are as follows: Incentive • $80,000 resignation incentive paid over a period of five (5) years in equal annual amounts. • Mandatory participation in the RUSD Emeritus Teacher Program through June 17, 2010 (see details below). • Current medical, dental, vision, life insurance benefits will continue through June 30, 2010. Participation • Resignation of District service, submitted by December 14, 2009 and effective January 29, 2010. • Participation is irrevocable (if program participation target met and program implemented). • Must participate in Emeritus Teacher Program, February 1, 2010 through June 17, 2010. • District must receive twenty (20) participants for implementation of the program. • Program is limited to the first fifty (50) eligible teachers who apply. Board action will be needed to approve additional participation beyond the first fifty (50) teacher-applicants. Eligibility • Active employee of the District as of January 29, 2010. • Placement on Certificated Salary Schedule as follows: Column IV, Steps 13-35 OR Columns III, Step 25-35 OR Column II, Step 35. • Part-time emploees eligible to participate on prorated basis. Additional Features • Guaranteed pay-out to designated beneficiary. • First-year payment dates on July 30, 2010 and April 30, 2011; thereafter, semi-annually for four (4) school years on November 30 and April 30, with the final payment on April 30, 2015. • Participants that resign from the District (but do not retire from CalSTRS) are required by CalSTRS to contribute to the CalSTRS system from all earnings (Emeritus wages and Incentive payments) until such time of submitting for retirement from CalSTRS. Emeritus Teacher Program • Enrollment in District Retirement/Resignation Incentive Program by December 14, 2009. •Participants will be required to fulfill their current teaching responsibilities during the spring semester of the 2009-10 school year, including extra-duty assignments, coaching assignments, etc. • Daily rate of pay will be $180 for each day present; plus extracurricular stipends as appropriate. • Participants will receive one day of sick leave per month from February through June for use only, not accumulative. • Emeritus Teachers will be designated as members of the bargaining unit for purposes of rights and responsibilities relative to the Agreement between RUSD and RTA, except as otherwise provided by the Retirement Incentive Program for the 2009-10 school year. Detailed explanatory packets are being mailed home to each eligible employee on Friday, October 29. The packets will list details of District-sponsored information meetings on November 4 and November 9 – including opportunities to meet with STRS representatives at specified times in the District on December 7. Eligible employees are asked to review the print materials carefully and to return the enclosed participation letters to HRD no later than December 14, 2009. Any questions should be directed to HRD at (760) 787-2016. Teachers should note that even though the District offered a similar program last year, it is extremely unlikely that we will offer an incentive program of this caliber for several more years. In fact, the Governor’s recent signing of Assembly Bill 506 ensures that public school districts in California can never again offer “emeritus programs” of this type after June 30, 2010. Any eligible teacher close to retirement should carefully consider this unique District program carefully. Finally, the primary reason for offering this program this winter is due to the very challenging budget situation which is again on the horizon for all school districts in the state of California. Although the Board, the Administration, and our teacher leadership all recognize the tremendous contributions provided to our school children over the past several decades by our veteran teachers, this effort is both an attempt to support staff members in achieving an important milestone in their lives and an essential strategy to safeguard the District’s resources for the years to come. Please join with us in encouraging eligible teachers to take full advantage of this unique offer. Sincerely, Bob Graeff, Superintendent Donna Braye-Romero, President Ramona Unified School District Ramona Teachers Association Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:55:07 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=110 There is a bogus organization conducting a phishing scam of educators - many of them our members - that you and your members should know about. They call themselves the National Teachers Education Association and are using NEA's address as their contact information. The message identifies itself as coming from the Executive Secretary - Susan Landen. The message tells recipients that they have been nominated for induction into the National Teachers Hall of Fame - and directs them through a series of internet prompts to find out more - and asking the recipient for more information. There is a National Teachers Hall of Fame. It's in Kansas, and NEA has been a long-time supporter. But this is NOT a Hall of Fame initiative. NEA's ITS Department has reported the information to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), http://www.antiphishing.org. (The APWG is the global pan-industrial and law enforcement association focused on eliminating the fraud and identity theft that result from phishing, pharming and email spoofing of all types.) ITS suggests that members who receive a similar e-mail: * Forward phishing emails to spam@uce.gov * Report phishing email to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. * File a complaint at ftc.gov NEA ITS also suggests that everyone visit the site - http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/phishing.aspx - to get more information on Phishing Scams and to find out how you can protect yourself. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:29:07 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=109 It is not typical for RUSD payroll to make an over-payment error but it does occur. We have observed two such instances in the last three years. When a teacher does receive an over-payment in their monthly warrant(s) they can quickly find themselves in unfamiliar territory faced with what appears to be lose-lose choices. It doesn’t have to be this way. RTA can help. RTA advises all teachers who discover for themselves or are notified by the District that there has been an over-payment to closely adhere to the following procedures: • Immediately contact your site rep, • Never agree to meet with the District’s without RTA representation. It is not the District’s obligation to make it known that a teacher can have representation and it is not to their advantage to do so. In neither of the last two cases did District tell the teachers they could have an Association representative present at the meeting nor did they notify RTA of the problem. Teachers must advocate for themselves and ask for RTA representation. • Never sign anything until you have had a chance to talk to an Association representative. If there has been an over-payment then the money must be paid back. That cannot be avoided. The plan to repay the money, however, must be one that is acceptable to both parties. Before any money can come out of a teacher’s paycheck the District must first obtain a signature that authorizes the deduction. It has been our experience that the District wants to move quickly to get its money back and to make their error disappear. Experience has shown that they will demand all of the money at once or offer to spread the payments out over a short period of time, regardless of the hardship to the teacher. If repayment all at once or over a few months creates a financial burden for the teacher then a better plan can be worked out. RTA can help with this. When forced to, the District can go to small claims court to recover the money but if the teacher offers a reasonable repayment plan then that option is pretty much off the table. If this remote possibility ever occurs CTA will provide assistance. If the teacher leaves the district with an outstanding debt due to this overpayment the balance will be taken out of their last check. The District cannot reach back more than three years to recover any over-paid wages even if the error has existed for a longer period. *NOTE* It has been RTA’s experience that these paycheck over-payment errors are often subtle and complicated and, consequently, will go unnoticed by both payroll and the teacher. Eventually, however, over-payments are discovered. Anyone who becomes aware of an over-payment error in their paycheck must deal with it immediately to avoid even greater difficulty later. The larger the debt grows the bigger the problem. Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:13:52 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=108 January 27, 2010 RTA wants you to know . . . Many of you responded to our inquiry about RTA using Facebook and/or Twitter as additional means of communication. The overwhelming majority of you prefer that RTA continue to use our current e-mail systems, RUSD and HEART. We thank you for your input. January 26, 2010 RTA wants to know . . . Do you ‘tweet’? Are you on ‘Facebook’? Do prefer to you use either of these sources for information and updates? RTA is considering adding one or both of these technologies as a way of delivering information and soliciting comments from membership. RTA wants your opinion. Would you like communication from RTA available through either Facebook or Twitter? If so, which one or both? Please let us know by responding to this e-mail. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:58:59 GMT