Greetings!

It'll be a very busy week for all of us. Below is an update on a few very significant matters. Other issues (charitable events, announcements, and so on) normally found in our e-bulletin will be sent out later this week in a separate mailing.

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On Monday we are meeting in Day 4 of negotiations on

Turnaround Schools . If we reach an agreement, we will notify you as soon as we can. The tentative agreement, if reached, will focus on how incumbent teachers and paras who are not 'chosen' in Turnaround Schools will be assigned. If there is an agreement, it is subject to membership approval, and the membership will vote on the proposed settlement this Wednesday, 4/14. We will have a meeting at the BTU on Monday, April 26, at 4:00, to go over any and all issues with staff from Turnaround Schools. All staff are invited. The BTU attorney will be present.

In a separate though related matter, the superintendent released to the BTU her proposed changes in working conditions in Turnaround Schools for next year. Let us emphasize a few things: the superintendent's proposal is tentative, it is a draft, and we have legal and contractual options that we will exercise. Regarding her plan...It is counter-productive and it will harm the delivery of educational services to children. It is an insult to all the hard-working and conscientious men and women who work in our school system. You will read the superintendent's proposal, we believe, as an intentional provocation designed to drive decent people out from our Turnaround schools. Why does she want to do this? Maybe the superintendent wants to clear the decks for the for-profit charter schools to come in. Read the following and judge for yourself. The list is non-inclusive.

• The building administrator will have authority to establish the work day and work year for all staff; the day can be up to one hour longer without compensation for teachers, paras, guidance and so on.
  
  
•  An additional 50 uncompensated PD hours per year to be mandated for all staff.
  
  
•  Class size in SEI classrooms will increase to maximum levels found in reg ed.
  
  
•  Layoff and seniority provisions to be null and void.
  
  
•  There will be no salary step advancement unless the person gets an overall "meets expectation."
  
  
•  No more SEIMS time for any teachers.
  
  
•  Any SPED inclusion model can be inserted at call of administrator.
  
  
•  All SEI training at Turnaround schools to be completed (and to be uncompensated) by 12/31/10.
  
  
•  P&D periods cut to 3 at all levesl.
  
  
•  2 more PTA mtgs. (uncompensated) per year.
  
  
•  Principal to determine for individual teachers a staggered time to report and leave the bldg.
  
  
•  Teachers to have an additional :45 of 'office hours' each week.
  
  
•  Elementary teachers will do bus duty.
  
  
•  There will be a new process of performance evaluation, which is not available yet.

The above clearly speak for themselves, and upon relfection, we have to ask ourselves: How could anyone truly believe the above proposals will be helpful in turning around schools? There is no innovation, educational or managerial, in the above. There are no new ideas in her proposal. These are only recycled ideas in an attempt to extract more work for less pay. The proposal is ugly, insulting and much more. One thing it is not : a plan that will improve schools.


Again, we will meet at the BTU on Monday, 4/26, at 4:00 PM, to go over all of the above and what our options are.

In the meantime, if we obtain a proposed settlement in the matter of how people will get reassigned out of Turnaround Schools, we will notify you via a bulletin immediately. Any agreement on the matter of staff assignment will not include a settlement on the above-bulleted items. That will play itself out over the next few months. For a discussion on the bulleted items, please attend the meeting on the 26th.

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At the membership meeting this Wednesday, 4/14, there will also be before you two other proposals, which are supported by our negotiating team:

There will be a proposal to change slightly the opening of school, so that Tuesday, Day 1 is 50-50 day. BTU members get 3 hours to set up their rooms; the SD gets 3 hours for PD. School for children starts on Wednesday. This is a one-year agreement.

The contract states that that staff normally get 5 1/2 hours on Day 1 for room set-up and organization, and another 1/2 hour on Day 2 for BTU business. The school department gets 1/2 hour on Day 1 for general introductions and 5 1/2 hours on Day 2 for PD. School for children starts on Day 3. This year, however, Day 3 is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and the school department and the union have received a number of requests to move the opening day for students either to a day earlier or later. So for this year only, both parties have tentatively agreed, subject to a membership vote, to move the start of school to one day earlier. That means that we are still 'missing' 6 hours of work (what was formerly Day 2), 3 hours that belong to BTU members for classroom organization, and 3 hours that belong to the school department for PD. The tentative proposal calls BTU members to get credit for their 3 hours by stipulating that they have done their room set-up on their own time anytime from August through Friday, September 10. We know that people spend many hours on their own anyway, so we don't think this a problem. In fact, it may be a plus, as we can do the hours, in whatever increments, at our own convenience. A stipulation that 3 hours were completed will be sufficient. As far as owing the school department 3 hours in additional PD, those hours will be added to the 18 already owed, and the timing and scheduling will fall under the same rules of the 18 hours.

A second proposal before the membership Wednesday will be Para assignments . For many years, the contract has stated that the Para excess pool reassignment process ought to mimic the teachers'. It never has--the rules have been different. The contract has also stated that paras ought to have a transfer process in place similar to the teachers'. That never happened either. The trade-off was satisfactory to all parties. This year an attempt is being made to fill-in-the-blanks--to both modify the excess pool language for paraprofessionals and to add a transfer process for paraprofessionals. Before the membership on Wednesday will be a proposal on these lines. The actual language is still being worked on.

School Department Fiddles on ELL Category Training, While Federal Regulators Close In

Five or six years ago, before Dr. Johnson came here, we alerted the school department that the best, most efficient way to have all BTU members complete the category I to IV training in ELL would be to require bldg. administrators to set aside a portion or all of the 30 hours of yearly PD time for the training. We offered that as a suggestion, well, about 150 to 180 hours ago. We have made the same suggestion annually. Some principals have done this on their own. They are to be commended. But the school department has never taken us up on the suggestion. And now the department is in trouble, being targeted by the federal govt for non-compliance. Of course, the school department has seen the light and now ordered principals to set aside time for ELL training. Not.

Well, it's that time of year again, and we are starting to get calls as principals again plan for next year's PD schedule. Here's our annual suggestion: Set aside some or all of the 30 hours to do the ELL training. Interestingly, last week the school department told us that no more than 2300 of 5300 teachers will be fully trained by 9/1/10. With a concerted effort and a determination to succeed, the school department could have almost all members well on the way to completion by 12/31/10, if only they used some of those 30 hours. If they choose to ignore this advice once again, the department can look in the mirror when the federal government looks for answers.

IRS Late Filers

BTU Dues for late-filers: $1064.24 for teachers; $532.12 for paras.

BTU Consultant Speaks on Medicare, April 27, at 4, at BTU. 

On April 27th, John Brouder will speak at the BTU to those interested in the new city policy on Medicare. John Brouder is a BTU-hired consultant who does work for many unions throughout the Commonwealth. He is one of the more knowledgeable and respected  health care consultants in Mass. Essentially, all city employees who retire on July 1, 2010, or thereafter and who are eligible for Medicare must enroll in Medicare when appropriate. As a supplement to the Medicare Plan, the city sells a series of supplemental plans, which, when merged with Medicare Parts A and B, are actuarially equivalent to the current plans enjoyed by active employees. Mr. Brouder is one of the leading experts in this field, and he will answer all questions and concerns at that time. Also, Open Enrollment takes place from 4/5 through 5/7, and the BTU hosts its annual seminar at the BTU office on 4/13, from 4-6. At the BTU you will be able to add or delete family members, change coverage, and have your questions answered by each vendor, as well as City of Boston Group Insurance representatives.

Motions Upcoming at BTU Membership Meeting, 4/14

5.   MOTION: AMENDMENT TO BY-LAWS

       Article VI Section 2 of the Bylaws of the Boston Teachers Union is hereby amended by inserting, after the word "June: appearing in the first paragraph thereof, the following:

       If an in-person secret ballot election is not conducted it shall be conducted by secret mail ballot. The Election Committee shall have the authority to determine whether the election shall be in-person, or instead, by mail ballot and shall announce its decision to the membership not later than the February meeting of an election year. If the election is conducted by mail ballot, the Election Committee shall be responsible for ensuring adherence to the posted election schedule.

                   Offered by Timo Philip
                   Defeated


11.   MOTION: To spend up to $2,000 on BTU sweatshirts and tee shirts to sell.
                  Offered by Allison Doherty-Lacasse                  
                  Carried
 

Looking for a Teaching Position or a Ping Pong Table?

For at least the third year in a row the principal of the Early Learning Center has taken to advertising on Craig's List for a teacher at the school. Each year, we call it to the attention of Human Resources, and each year they call up the principal and ask her to pull the ad. Eventually the position gets taken down from Craig's List. Surely it must embarrass the HR Dept that the principal has so little confidence in the school department's extensive (and expensive) recruitment dept. that she has to go outside of normal channels to recruit an ESL teacher.