http://www.ramonateachers.org/ My Dragonfly Site en-us Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:44:10 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=121 CTA Endorses the Following Candidates State Constitutional Offices Governor: Edmund G. Brown, Jr. Lieutenant Governor: Gavin Newsom Attorney General: Neutral Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones Secretary of State: Debra Bowen State Controller: John Chiang State Treasurer: Bill Lockyer Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson State Board of Equalization, First District: Betty Yee State Board of Equalization, Second District: Chris Parker State Board of Equalization, Third District: Neutral State Board of Equalization, Fourth District: Jerome Horton At its January meeting, the CTA State Council took positions on the following ballot initiatives: Support The Repeal Corporate Tax Loopholes Act The Corporate Political Accountability Act Oppose The Public Employee Payroll Deduction Act The New Public Employees Benefits Reform Act Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:44:10 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=120 Backroom Maneuvers Keep SB 955 Alive Updated: May 14, 2010 by CTA A CTA-opposed bill that should have to gone to the Senate Labor Committee has been sent to the Senate Rules Committee to keep it alive. After SB 955 secured the approval of the Senate Education Committee, Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg sent the CTA-opposed bill to the Senate Rules Committee, instead of the Senate Labor Committee where it would have received a fair hearing. Senator Mark DeSaulnier, Chair of the Senate Labor Committee, asked Senator Steinberg to send SB 955 to the Senate Labor Committee, but Sen. Steinberg refused. Holding the bill in the Rules Committee allows Senator Steinberg to keep the bill alive. By so doing, Senator Steinberg has given into the governor and Senator Gloria Romero’s agenda of taking back teacher rights. Senator Romero even thanked Senator Steinberg for his leadership on this issue from the dais during the vote on SB 955. Now is the time that lawmakers should be figuring out how to hire more teachers and restore teaching jobs, but Senator Steinberg is pursuing easier ways to lay them off. Call Senator Steinberg and tell him to stop blaming teachers and start finding real solutions to fund our schools and students. Email address: Senator.Steinberg@senate.ca.gov Office phone: 916-651-4006 Tue, 18 May 2010 20:46:04 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=119 SB 955 (Huff) is on the floor of the California Senate which means at any time the bill could be heard on the floor. This Senate bill proposes to: 1. Eliminate the March notice to RIF'd teachers and eliminates their right to request a hearing 2. Allows districts to ignore teacher experience in the classroom when making layoff and rehiring decisions 3. Eliminate teachers due process rights in a dismissal hearing 4. Authorize assignment, reassignment and transfers based on subject matter needs and without regard to experience It is vitally important that Senators receive calls from you, their teacher constituents, expressing your discontent with this attack on teachers and labor when we should be focusing on the decimation of public education: Closure of libraries, schools, elimination of counselors, art, music, etc. PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND URGE THEM TO CONTACT THEIR STATE SENATOR AT 888-202-2246. This phone number is through CTA and it walks you through the process and automatically connects you to the appropriate Sentator or Assemblyman's office. This bill must die. It is an urgency measure right now which would require a 2/3 vote to pass. CTA anticipates that the vote will be close. This fight is a fight to stop teaching from becoming at “at-will” profession. Attached are two documents that provide talking points on this bill that tries to 'fix' education by stripping away teacher rights and ignoring the real problems facing our schools. Donna Braye-Romero RTA President Wed, 12 May 2010 18:05:34 GMT http://www.ramonateachers.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=118 Your RTA bargaining team had our first negotiations meeting with the district team (including superintendent, Bob Graeff, which is unusual for in the past, the superintendent has not attended these sessions) on Tuesday. The District conducted a budget presentation which was followed with a formal proposal. As expected the District's proposal asks for a 2.75% salary and/or benefit concession (reduction) from our teachers. They also told us that they are asking for the same 2.75% concession in their negotiations with the classified staff and administration. They made it clear that this reduction would NOT save any teacher jobs. They told us that if RTA wants to reduce or eliminate teacher reductions in force (RIFS), additional "concessions" would be required. We have not yet responded to this proposal but have asked the District to explain certain items on their financial documents which we find questionable. Additionally, the District reponded to a list which we provided to them that detailed many of the suggestions given to us at our site meetings as to how the District might save money and/or generate more revenue without eliminating teacher positions or reducing the salary/benefit package. The District has already implemented some of these ideas and will be investigating some of the other ideas on the list to determine the plausibility of implementation. Your bargaining team wants to keep all members updated on a regular basis and plans to do so as the process continues. Currently we do not have a date for our next meeting, but will keep you abreast of any new developments. -Bill Clark- RTA BArgaining Chair Wed, 12 May 2010 18:00:50 GMT 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 June 4, 2010 RTA wants you to know . . . RTA will hold it’s final Board meeting of the year this Saturday. If you have any questions or comments for the Board, please notify your Site Rep today. If you are interested in CTA’s recommendations for candidates or initiatives in Tuesday’s election, they are now posted on RTA’s website. CTA voted to only ‘Support’ or ‘Oppose’ initiatives that would directly affect teachers. For additional information you can go to CTA. Thanks to all of the teachers that updated their home e-mail address. June 2, 2010 RTA wants you to know . . . There may be a lot going on in the summer regarding the budget and negotiations, RTA plans to send out updates to teachers through our HEART home e-mail system. If you have a new e-mail address or wish us to send the information to a different address than we may already have on file, please take this opportunity to update your e-mail address by replying to this ‘Ramblings’. 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