Dear Members,

 

We are in need of six teachers to participate in the Peer Assistance Review Process or (PAR).  You will be a part of  "Joint Panel" to help assist with this process as outlined in articles: 20.2.6, 20.4...

There is a stipend of $500.00 as in article 20.4.4.1. Please let me know if you are interested. I need to know asap!

 

Thanks,

 

Dave Villafana

 

-       Article 2.7: FAC (2/16)

-       Article 3.1: Professional Compensation (signed TA 5/11/11)

-       Article 3.10: Credit for experience

-       Article 3.11: Professional Growth

-       Article 3.14: National Board Certification

-       Article 4: Health and Welfare

-       Article 5: Leaves

-       Article 5.15: Catastrophic Illness or Injury Leave

-       Article 5.6: Other Leaves

-       Article 5.14.4: Family Leaves

-       Article 9.5: Evaluation Criteria

-       Article 12.2.4: Adjunct Duty (signed TA 5/11/11)

-       Article 12.3.2: Grade 4/5 Planning Time (signed TA 5/11/11)

-       Article 12.3.3: Grade 4/5 Planning Time (signed TA 5/11/11)

-       Article 12.3.4: Grade 4/5 Planning Time (signed TA 5/11/11)

-       Article 12.3.5: Grade 4/5 Planning Time (signed TA 5/11/11)

-       Article 12.4: Teacher Check - Ins

-       Article 12.6: Kindergarten Parent Conferences

-       Article 12.7: School Calendar

-       Article 13: Part-Time Employment with Full Retirement Credit ("Willie Brown")

-       Article 13: Side Letter - Implementation of Newly Adopted Provisions

-       Article 17.20: Definition of "Child"

-       Article 21: Deleted Professional Growth Hours

-       Article 23: Duration (signed TA 5/11/11)

-       Appendix I: May 13, 2008 MOU regarding "Willie Brown"

 

 

Action Alert

August 29, 2011

 

Rectal Injection Bill Escapes from Committee; Contact Assembly and Senate to Kill This Bad Measure

The CTA-opposed measure, SB 161, requiring school employees to rectally administer the drug valium to students experiencing epileptic seizures while in classes, is in the full Assembly, where it could be heard as early as Tuesday.  If approved by the Assembly, SB 161 will go back to the Senate for final approval.

It is urgent that you contact your State Assembly Member and State Senator immediately to urge them to vote against SB 161.

Educators are concerned about the danger to students by having non-medical personnel -- including teachers, other certificated personnel, and education support professionals -- administer the drug.

Educators believe it is unrealistic to assume non-medically trained school employees will receive sufficient training to distinguish between different types of seizures and recognize whether the seizure can be safely treated with Diastat.   The manufacturer's instructions call for the medication to be administered through a student's rectal cavity while she/he is in the middle of an epileptic seizure. Educational personnel would be required to administer the drug to students wherever the seizure occurs - the playground, the school bus, a field trip, or a classroom.

Educators are concerned about the health and safety of all school children. SB 161 is the wrong answer to get students the health services they need.  Under current law, parents can already use the 504 process to get their child specialized medical services.

To learn more about the bill and to take action against it, click on http://capwiz.com/nea/ca/home/

Updated information about SB 161 is available at www.cta.org. 

Specifically, posted at these links are a CTA letter on the bill, a Coalition letter on the bill, and an AP article about the bill's potential impact on student health:

·         http://www.cta.org/~/media/97A4CD4E5D964E4EA894F6F42CD427C7.ashx?h=16&thn=1&w=16  - CTA  letter

·         http://www.cta.org/~/media/43A3B4838DBF45449610E02203156770.ashx?h=16&thn=1&w=16 - Coalition letter

·         http://www.cta.org/~/media/CBF258405EBA40BFA8ACE76651D52310.ashx?h=16&thn=1&w=16  - AP/Sacramento Bee article
 
                                             

Five Year Evaluation Cycle:

 

• Year One: Regular Formal Full Evaluation, which consists of Goal Setting, Curriculum Map, and Formal Classroom Observation as described in 9.7 of the contact.

 

• Year Two: Alternate Evaluation which consists of Goal Updates/Revision, Curriculum Map and an Informal Observation as described on 9.7.2 of the contact.

 

• Year Three: Skip Year which consists of Goals Update/Revision and Curriculum Map.

 

• Year Four: Alternate Evaluation same as Year Two.

 

• Year Five:  Skip Year same as Year Three.

 

• Year Six: Regular Formal Full Evaluation start over again as in Year One.

 

The Goals, Objectives and Curriculum map needs to be completed and turned by the sixth week of school. That would be September 23rd and if you are at Murdock/Portal then it would be September 16th.

 

Hi all,

We need your help!  Please call the legislators below and let them know that they should vote no on SB161 (the Diastat bill).  If you have members who live in either Nora Campos or Jerry Hill's districts having them contact their legislators is especially important.  They will listen to their constituents!

 

 

Wendy Plew

 

CTA Regional UniServ Staff

San Jose Regional Resource Center

4810 Harwood Rd.

San Jose, CA  95124

Phone: (408)266-1321

Fax: (408)266-7893

 

 

Below are the Democratic members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee- they vote tomorrow on whether or not SB 161 (the Diastat bill) will get out of their committee.  Word is that it might pass and we have to get calls in to these legislators.  Please distribute to your staff/colleagues and do what you can to help.  A text connect alert is also being sent.

 

 

 

Legislator	District Office	District Phone
Felipe Fuentes (D-39), Chair	Arleta	(818) 504-3911
Bob Blumenfield (D-40)	Van Nuys	(818) 904-3840
Steven Bradford (D-51)	Inglewood	(310) 412-6400
Charles Calderon (D-58)	City of Industry	(562) 692-5858
Nora Campos (D-23)	San Jose	(408) 277-1220
Mike Davis (D-48)	Los Angeles	(213) 744-2111
Mike Gatto (D-43)	Burbank	(818) 558-3043
Isadore Hall III (D-52)	Compton	(310) 223-1201
Jerry Hill (D-19)	San Mateo	(650) 349-1900
Ricardo Lara (D-50)	South Gate	(562) 529-3250
Holly J. Mitchell (D-47)	Culver City	(310) 342-1070
Jose Solorio (D-69)	Anaheim	(714) 939-8469

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scholarships and Grants

Available through CTA

 

 

CTA Scholarship for Dependent Children

Available to graduation high school seniors, undergraduate or graduate student

 

CTA Scholarship for Members

Available to members for credential, degree or graduate programs

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Scholarship

Applicant must be pursuing a teaching related career in public education and be a member of a defined ethnic minority group.  Active members or dependent children

 

Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Education Awards Program

Involves written essays and visual arts projects.  $1000 for students and CTA Members.  Group entries will share award.

 

GLBT "Guy DeRosa" Safety in Schools Grant and Scholarship Program

The grant program will support projects and presentations that promote understanding and respect of GLBT persons.  The scholarship program will support members enrolled in a teacher/counseling credential or graduate program, that are pursuing a career in public education and who understand the importance of GLBT educators as role models in our public schools.

 

 

If you would like more information on any of these scholarship and/or awards please call or email the CEA office.

 

408- 257-2122

cea@ceaweb.org

SB 161 (Huff), the Diastat bill, was placed on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense Calendar today. (This was a routine vote and not indicative of support or opposition to the measure.)  The critical vote is next week (Wednesday or Thursday/August  24 or 25), when the Committee will consider whether SB 161 remains on the Suspense Calendar or passes the committee onto the Assembly floor.

 

The measure needs nine votes to pass and there are five Republican members on the committee.  Opponents to SB 161 believe all five Republicans will support SB 161, Assemblymember Hill has already supported this bill in a previous Assembly policy committee, and Assemblymember Fuentes appears to be leaning in support of SB 161.  That means SB 161 would need only two more Democratic "aye" votes.  The remaining nine Democrats on the Committee are Blumenfield, Bradford, Calderon, Campos, Davis, Hall, Lara, Mitchell and Solorio.  It is not a stretch to think the supporters can secure two more votes on behalf of SB 161.  If this bill is not stopped here, it will be extraordinarily difficult to prevent its passage by the full Assembly. 

 

Opponents of SB 161 believe the current "liability" language does not go far enough to protect school employee "volunteers" from a myriad of civil and criminal liabilities; who specifically calls 911 and when remains unresolved along with confusion about whether a student who was administered Diastat is to be transported to a hospital; school and registered nurses are still included in the measure as "trainers" even though it violates their licensing requirements;  and there are no funds in the bill for the California Department of Education and the Department of Public Health to develop the training materials necessary nor are funds allocated to train "volunteers" locally at the school site.

 

The California Democratic Party has taken an oppose position on SB 161 and is requesting their activists to convey their opposition to legislators.  Additionally, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO is now opposed and lobbying against SB 161.  Unfortunately, this measure is the top priority of the Epilepsy Foundation and legislators are getting phone calls from across the country requesting their support of SB 161. 

 

Coordinators can expect to hear from CTA GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman requesting personal calls be made to their assigned legislators.  Additionally every effort must be made to ensure that legislators who consider themselves "friends of education" understand that SB 161 would lead to, rather than prevent, dangerous outcomes for students.  The administration of Diastat must be conducted in a safe and private manner by trained medical personnel who recognize there are multiple types of epileptic seizures not to mention the time necessary to stay with the student suffering the seizure to observe for side effects. 

 

Remember, www.cta.org contains legislative contact information to assist you as well as SB 161 information.

 

 

11.pdf

10.pdf

Beware of District 403(b) Representatives

Like Paul Revere warning about the British, CTA wants to caution you that soon 403(b) vendor and third party administrator (TPA) reps may be coming to your school to talk to you about the investment products available in their 403(b) plans.

One of the rules of 403(b) plans is that the district is required to provide meaningful notice of universal availability, which means they are required to notify all school employees that the 403(b) plan is available to all, when educators can enter the plan and how many times during the year they can alter the plan.

Many districts attempt to satisfy the meaningful notice requirement by having their 403(b) TPA send representatives to schools to talk about the 403(b) plan. These representatives may also discuss some of the vendors and products available in the plan, and sometimes the TPA is affiliated with a 403(b) vendor. This has led to confusion among many educators, who assume that if a representative has been sent by their district, the district has vetted and endorsed the vendors.

That may not be the case!

Choosing a 403(b) product or vendor is one of the most important retirement planning decisions you will make. Don't be sold a product by the district's TPA or by a vendor in the lunch room, but rather do a little bit of research before you make a selection or change your investment.

Investing in a 403(b) is important so you can supplement your CalSTRS or CalPERS retirement. CTA invest.org is CTA's education portal (no log-in required) and has calculators, videos, questions and guides to help you make an informed decision. Visit CTAinvest.org BEFORE selecting or making changes to a 403(b) plan.

If you'd prefer not to receive e-mails from CTAinvest.org, please click here.

Learn more at CTAinvest.org

5.pdf

http://www.k12newsnetwork.com/2011/07/joseph-k-on-the-save-our-schools-march-and-conference/