2010 TFP Agreement
Agreement between the Board of Directors Tacoma School District No. 10 and the Tacoma Federation of ParaEducators Local 461, AFT/AFL-CIO.
September 1, 2010 - August 31, 2013.
Teure Rights Task Force
Progress at Last! Representatives from the MSFF and Faculty Senate meet with college adminisrators to change the Handbook with regard to Saxe v. Board of Trustees.
HCT Member Margot Horn
Statistics show that approximately 1 in 110 American children is on the autism spectrum – a 600% increase in prevalence over the past two decades. When Hicksville High School Special Education Teacher, Margot Horn, began her career over 31 years ago, the “autistic” diagnosis was rare. Most people confused the term with “artistic”. Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder are both general terms for a group of complex disorders of brain development.
For-Profit Charter Threatens Progress in Lowell
Just five months ago Governor Deval Patrick came to the Murkland School in Lowell to celebrate huge gains on the MCAS tests by students there. This week administration officials gave the nod to a for-profit charter school in Lowell that will compete with the Murkland for scarce resources. Read More
By Lucinda Rosenfeld - The New York Times Opinnion Pages - March 16, 2012
A few weeks ago, for three days in a row starting at 3 p.m., a representative from the Success Academy charter school that is scheduled to open this fall in adjacent Cobble Hill stood outside the doors of P.S. 261, handing out fliers and attempting to recruit its students. On day two, outraged teachers asked the man to leave. He refused. On day three, a loose group of teachers, parents and students occupied the sidewalk next to him. Heated words were exchanged. It wasn’t until the next day, when a schoolwide rally unfolded in the front yard — and cameras from NY1 arrived — that the representative vanished. I can’t help wondering if this is the educational future that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had in mind when, in his State of the City address earlier this year, he called for 50 new charter schools to open in the next two years. Read More
Student Calendars for Next Three Years
The negotiations team is pleased to announce that we have come to agreement with the district on calendars for the years 2012 – 2013, 2013 – 2014, and 2014 – 2015.
Click on the above link to access copies of the calendars.
UVM Part-Time Faculty Begin Negotiations
Brian Tokar, negotiation team member, stated that the team will be looking for access to basic job security, benefits and the ability to advance. Tokar stated his hope that “the new administration at UVM would bring a fresh start in relations with students and faculty.”
Take the Self Defense Pledge for Texas Workers' Pensions
The attacks on teachers, firefighters, nurses and other dedicated public employees are coming to Texas. Some very rich individuals who want even more wealth have financed national attacks on public-sector workers. These business interests want to end traditional pension systems as we know them and convert them to riskier 401(k)-style accounts that would benefit the financial industry, not workers. Take The Pledge to Protect Your Pension!
Pulse of The People
by Gregg Weinlein Published on March 9, 2012 The Record
Parents, legislators, and even student advocates continue to articulate the serious of bullying and the toll this activity takes on children and teens. Some advocates suggest that incidents of cyberbullying should be dealt with as criminal behavior similar to charges such as harassment and stalking. I couldn’t agree more. Too often teens flip off the word “bully” as childish knowing that assailants today are much more vicious than the playground bullies of the previous century. Teenagers today must fend off the silent assassins of the digital age who operate with phones and tablets and plant emotional land mines in social networking sites. The harassment and text assaults perpetrated by some teenagers should have a more criminal connotation then what is too often associated with the word bullying.
follow the link for the entire story : troyrecord.com/articles/2012/03/09/opinion/doc4f58e4ee60292697578518.txt
Confessions of a "Bad" Teacher
Source: The New York Times
Date of Publication: March 4, 2012
I AM a special education teacher. My students have learning disabilities ranging from autism and attention-deficit disorder to cerebral palsy and emotional disturbances. I love these kids, but they can be a handful. Almost without exception, they struggle on standardized tests, frustrate their teachers and find it hard to connect with their peers.
Read more
