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| Greetings! Greetings, as we head towards summer. Summer used to be a break--it is no longer, as many of us work summer school, take courses, and so on. Take some time to rest, as best you can. Please remember that, if you are under contract as a provisional teacher and have not received a Reasonable Assurance letter, you are entitled to collect unemployment. You should have received a letter with instructions from the BTU office. Similarly, there are, too, a small number of permanent teachers and some paraprofessionals who have been terminated. All are eligible to collect unemployment. Collecting unemployment does not lessen your chances of reemployment. And the fact that you collect paychecks over the summer is not relevant to your obtaining unemployment coverage. Any questions, call the BTU office. ############################################### This Wednesday, the Boston City Council meets at 12. Some council members have taken it upon themselves to suggest (quite strongly) that BTU members take a one day furlough to avoid potential layoffs of 40 some custodians. This furlough proposal is NOT coming from the custodians or their union--it is coming from a few city councilors, specifically Council President Michael Ross and District Councilor Maureen Feeney . The BTU and the Custodians Union are on the same page. We have worked in the same coalitions over the years, including this year, to bring more funding to our schools. Both the BTU and the custodians union see this forced furlough as a regrettable move that will prove divisive. Both organizations oppose the idea. Both organizations see that the only valid solution is for the city to raise more revenue for needed and essential school services. As it stands now, the level of custodians is down significantly from years past. How can the level of custodians go any lower and what will it mean for the level of cleanliness in our buildings? "Those buildings just won't be as clean," Council Felix Arroyo was told, according to a column in the Herald. The BTU urges that the 40 lost custodial positions be restored and that the city take an honest look at restoring the level of custodial service to years past. Incidentally, last week there were a series of hearings on this issue at the Council. Councilors Felix Arroyo and John Tobin spoke favorably on behalf of getting more funding for custodians--but not at the expense of the BTU. Both councilors said, in essence, that it is not fair to ask our members to contribute to needed city services by accepting a furlough day. We thank both of them. We also heard favorably from City Councilor John Connolly on this issue in a telephone call. We appreciate the approach of these three members, as they see the issue of forcing a furlough on one employee group to assist another as a divisive non-solution. (Feel free to reach out to any of the above via email, if you please.) At the hearings, councilors Stephen Murphy and Chuck Turner spoke of the city's ability to dig down deeper into the city's $100+ Million in reserves to pay for needed services, such as adequate custodial services and keeping the four branch libraries open. We appreciate their proposal, which makes sense short term. A longer range solution would be to demand that the wealthy non-profits, which--under a law passed in 1830(!)--do not have to pay the city property tax revenues to pay their fair share. In 2007 looking only at the largest 30 medical non-profits, "the city of Boston lost $76.3 Million in revenue because these properties were exempt from taxation," according to a well-researched report by Community Labor United. Add to this total the non-profit universities and colleges, and the figure climbs to well north of $100 Million in lost revenues per year . (Northeastern two years ago paid voluntarily $30,000 in P.I.L.O.T. (payments in lieu of property taxes). Tiny Showa Institute, which sits on a postage stamp size lot in Jamaica Plain, paid $120,000 in P.I.L.O.T. , making it 4 times as generous as NU. See a report in the BTU newspaper detailing how little all of our neighboring universities pay on a voluntary basis.) Long story short, the city suffers because the large non-profits like MGH and NU get away virtually scot-free each year. Were these institutions to pay their fair share in property taxes, the city would not have to lay off custodians, and it would not have to close four branch libraries. There would even be enough surplus revenue so our schools would not have to beg for a few extra dollars every year. Again, the city council meeting is this Wednesday at 12:00. It will be an interesting meeting to observe. ############################################### Turnaround Schools . A few questions have come in on the new language mandated by the state. Question #1: Who has to do the OT in the Turnaround Schools? Teachers, nurses, guidance, clinical coordinators, and student support coordinators do the time and receive $4100. All Itinerant Service Providers (OT, SLPs, PT and so on) plus ETFs do not do ANY of the OT and do not get paid the $4100. Paras do get paid at their hourly rate for all time done. The amount of time has not been determined. Question #2: Can a T-school schedule the 100 hours of PD as classroom instructional time? NO. That time can only be used for "professional development, teacher training time, collaborative teacher planning, and small group instruction." Small group instruction is, well, small group instruction. It is not classroom instruction. Speaking of libraries, we pass along the following note from the Librarians Association : "I am asking if you can please forward this email or attachment to all your members in Boston and ask them to call the City Council on Monday and Tuesday. So far, the City has not saved a single AFSCME job in the FY11 budget, despite the sacrifices your members have made. I really think these calls can make a difference. Thank you so much, Jen Springer, AFSCME Council 93 AFL-CIO Copy and paste the following in an e-mail to your Boston City Councilor, Council President Michael Ross, and At-large Councilors (and help out even more by following up with a phone call before Wednesday -- this is our last chance to save this system): "I am writing as a constituent, tax-payer, and voter to make sure that it is clear to you that the City of Boston budget MUST be fixed, and, until it is, I cannot support the current plan for the Boston Public Library." DO NOT close any BPL branches DO NOT create more unemployment in Boston -- SAVE 77 jobs FULLY FUND the BPL system for FY 2011 I agree the BPL must change ... BUT: WE WILL NOT sacrifice Boston's prestige WE WILL NOT pay for poor management WE WILL NOT lay-off and shut out our neighbors WE WANT a thorough city-wide planning process for the BPL ############################################### A couple of reminders: The 26th and final teacher paycheck for 2009-2010 is on August 20, 2010. The first of 26 teacher paychecks for 2010-2011 is on September 17, 2010. This means that there will be a four week gap between the end of this school year and the beginning of the next school year. There will be no paycheck on September 3. Thank you to all those who brought over much-needed school supplies for the Haitian Relief effort. A heart-felt thank you from Boston Teacher Paula Sylvestre, who headed the effort. Many, many supplies were donated. The BTU office is open all summer, except legal holidays, from 9-5. Provisionals are reminded to check the web constantly. Teachers are hired through December 1, and, though the bulk of people are hired early, rather than later, many people are hired though summertime and beyond. Any questions, please call or email Caren or Michael . Shaw's Supermarket Strike is still on. A few weeks ago, we asked our members to submit non-Shaw's supermarket grocery receipts. We set up a contest, and the school that submitted the greatest amount of receipts of purchases any-supermarket-but-Shaw's was the Odyssey High School, part of the South Boston Ed Complex. We have awarded two Red So  x tickets to the school, which submitted thousands of dollars of receipts, and we understand that Ana Mejia won the tickets. Thanks again to the generosity of E Bd. Member Michael Maguire for donating tickets. Thank you to Ana and to the Odyssey School staff for participating. We will notify Shaw's of our contest, and we again ask that our members not frequent Shaw's. We are urging our members, as well as our friends and neighbors, to spend their supermarket dollars elsewhere. ############################################### The opening day of school for staff is September 7. The opening day for students is September 8. The two days without students has gone for this year to one day, with the 'lost' time (6 hours) being made up as follows: three of the hours will be folded into the 18 hours of PD. The other three will belong to you, and you can use them to fix up your classroom, organize it, and so on, anytime from 8/6 through 9/10. ############################################### All provisional teachers are reminded that contracted positions--a healthy number--continue to open up through December 1. Positions can be found here . Provisionals who got a non-renewal letter can collect unemployment compensation on July 1. A letter from the BTU office will go out with instructions. Please remember that many people--in fact, hundreds--get rehired after July 1 despite the June non-renewal letter. ############################################### E-Bulletins will continue in the summertime, albeit on a reduced frequency. Please make sure we have your home email address. |
| Health Care Victory--For Now |
Public employee unions and their members won a major victory last week as efforts to curtail our health insurance failed in the legislature. Mayors and other municipal leaders have vowed to bring their cost-cutting plans to the public in the way of a referendum. For now, let us savor the victory. We will be back fighting this fight shortly. Thanks to the AFT-Mass for their lobbying efforts. |
| Pension Reform Next on Horizon for Budget Cutters?? |
First there was Ed Reform: schools and staff suffer. Then there was health care reform: inferior plan design and higher costs. Now there is pension reform : watch out! |
| ELL Positions |
OELL has provided the attached job descriptions and an application form for the English Language Learners Summer Enrichment Academy (ELLSEA): Available positions. ELL Coordinator Teacher - Content Area Paraprofessional Enrichment Specialist Programs will be taking place in 20 - 25 of the Summer Scholars locations (exact locations TBD) from July 6th through August 6th. Candidates must provide a completed application and a resume via fax to Susan McCann 635-8332 no later than June 9th. Contact: Sue McCann. |
Sincerely,
Richard Stutman
BTU President
rstutman@btu.org (work)
617-288-2000
