focus

focus on educators is an award winning publication of the Pittsburg Education Association/CTA/NEA www.peateachers.org

California Teachers Association

Statement of Mission

The California Teachers Association exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of

teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education; to ensure that the human dignity

and civil rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society.

APRIL 2015

Volume XXIII, Number 8

In this Issue

- Day of the Teacher Information

- PEA Teacher Elected CTA President

- WHO Award Winner

- Tentative Agreement Info. and Pictures

- NEA News

Dear Colleagues,

First of all, a “Congratulations!”

and “Thank you!” are in order to all

of you. On April 1, we reached a

tentative agreement that we believe

is a fair compromise and a positive

step toward a more competitive

contract that will retain and attract

teachers in Pittsburg. Thank you for

stepping up to do the difficult

organizing work. I know working-

to-rule was extremely challenging,

but it made a big difference. Thank

you for talking to parents and

community members and for

showing up at board meetings.

Together we were able to secure a

successful agreement. Three drop-

in voting days for ratification took

place this past week and the results

will be shared in the next day or

two. The PUSD Board of Trustees

will be voting on the T.A. this

Wednesday, April 22.

While it may be tempting to return

to business as usual, our work as a

union and professional association

is far from done. The next important

task is to elect a pro-public

education, pro-teacher ally to the

State Senate. We’re asking

Pittsburg teachers and our

friends and families to support

Susan Bonilla for SD 7. She is a

former Mt. Diablo teacher and chair

of the Assembly’s Education

Committee. She has done wonderful

advocacy work for students,

teachers, public education and

working families in our community.

Unfortunately, corporations and

wealthy businessmen who want to

eliminate teacher due process rights

and privatize public schools are

funding Susan’s opponent. We will

never have the money that corporate

“reformers” have, but we have the

people power. Please commit to

voting for Susan and speak to your

family and friends in SD 7 and ask

them to do the same. Since it is a

special election and will have a very

low turnout, Susan needs our

support! Only 35% of eligible CTA

members voted in the March 17th

primary election…we need more

members to vote this time if we

want Susan to win!

In a couple of weeks, on

Wednesday, May 13th, PEA will be

hosting our annual Day of the

Teacher celebration at La Piñata!

We hope you’ll be able to join us to

celebrate our profession and our

new contract agreement!

In Solidarity,

Dawn Cova

on educators

PEA Leadership 2014-2015

President

Dawn Cova

Rancho Medanos/PEA Office

Elementary Vice President

Tammy Carr

Highlands Elementary

Secondary Vice President

Shelly Bascomb

BTSA

Secretary

Chris Coan

Willow Cove Elementary

Treasurer

Gale Higgins

Willow Cove Elementary

Committee Chairs:

Grievance Committee

John Kleinjans – Pittsburg High

Chris Coan – Willow Cove Elementary

Negotiations Team

Mark Maselli - Chair

Political Action Committee

Jim Vaughan - Chair

Elections Chair

Ruth Foster

Human Rights & Women’s Issues Chairs

Yvonne Burton

Michell Redfoot

O-Team Chairs

Shelly Bascomb

Bertha Ramos

CTA State Council Representatives

Mark Maselli – PEA

CTA Director District C

Terri Jackson

NEA Director for California, District 3

Greg Bonaccorsi

Technical Editor

Susan Harrison – PEA Site Secretary

Focus on Educators

is a publication of the

Pittsburg Education Association CTA/NEA

159 East 4th Street

Pittsburg, CA 94565

Phone: (925) 432-0199

fax: (925) 432-4854

email: info@peateachers.org

website: www.peateachers.org

Rep. Council Meeting Calendar

April 20

May 18

June 1

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School Board Meeting Calendar

April 22

May 6 & 20

June 3 & 24

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Are you getting your PEA information?

Having our Site Reps collect your input, attend the

monthly Rep meeting and then report back to you is

vital in the communication chain of our Association.

Roll call at March 23rd

Rep Council Meeting:

Foothill – present Willow Cove – present

Heights – present MLK Jr. – absent

Highlands – present Hillview - present

Los Medanos – present Rancho Medanos –present

Marina Vista – present PHS - present

Parkside – present Black Diamond – present

Stoneman – present Adult Ed. – present

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UPCOMING 2014-2015 CTA/PEA EVENTS

CTA Political Academy April 24-26 – San Jose

ALCOSTA Lobby Day April 29, 2015 – Sacramento

PEA Officer Elections

May 4-18 – School Sites Ballots due to PEA office at 4:00 p.m. on May 18th

“Teachers need to feel they are trusted. They must be allowed some leeway to use

their imagination; otherwise, teaching loses all sense of wonder and excitement.”

-Alan Bennett

California’s Day of the Teacher This May 13th, educators around the state will mark the 33rd anniversary of California’s Day of the Teacher. This is a time to honor teachers, demonstrate their impact and a great opportunity for CTA chapters to reach out to local organizations and businesses to strengthen the school-community connection.

We all know our communities share our goals for quality public schools and recognize public education as being the cornerstone for strong communities. But it’s also up to us to build those vital relationships with parents, community organizations, local businesses, other unions, the faith community and seniors. We are all part of that community and we will best succeed when we work together.

California’s Day of the Teacher has its roots in the community and is patterned after the celebration of the traditional “El Dia del Maestro,” which is observed in Mexico and Latin America countries. Our California’s Day of the Teacher arose out of legislation co-sponsored by CTA and the Association of Mexican American Educators in 1982. (from cta.org)

PEA invites you to join us in

celebration of…

Day of the Teacher

Date: Wednesday, May 13th

Time: 3:30-5:30

Place: La Piñata, 95 Bliss Ave.,

Pittsburg

What: Dinner, a drink, and merriment

with fellow educators!

We hope to see you there!

Please RSVP to Susan@peateachers.org

or

432-0199 by May 8th

Hey Everyone! Welcome back from the break. We are getting closer and closer to June 6th and we need you and your families to sign up to run/walk! We have some great local vendors and great giveaways and it’s so much fun! If you have a small business and would like to have a booth to sell or promote your business please contact me! This is an event for the community and we want everyone to feel included and supported.

Like us on Facebook and INVITE everyone on your friends list… it can’t hurt to spread the word and support Physical Education!!

Respectfully submitted, Emily Reynolds

Rancho Medanos JHS

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PEA Member Eric Heins Elected CTA President!

Pittsburg elementary teacher Eric C. Heins has been elected as the 55th president of the 325,000-member California Teachers Association. The 56-year-old Heins was elected at the last quarterly meeting of the CTA State Council of Education, the union’s top governing body comprised of more than 700 educators democratically elected across the state. State Council delegates also elected Theresa Montaño, a Chicano Studies and Education Professor at the California State University, Northridge, as Vice President, and Los Angeles elementary school teacher David Goldberg as Secretary-Treasurer. The new leadership team will take office on June 26th. They were elected to serve a two-year term. “We are on the verge of a precipice of unprecedented change in California public education and it will take all of us—educators, parents and the community—working together if we want to keep moving in the right direction. It is up to us as educators and unionists to take the lead, to transform our profession and to create a brighter future for our students and our state,” said President-elect Heins. “It’s time to stop substituting testing for thinking and let students discover and experience the wonder of learning. I look forward to working with my fellow officers and all educators to ensure all California students get the public education they deserve.” A 24-year teaching veteran, Heins has taught kindergarten through fifth grade, including music in the Pittsburg Unified School District, and is a member of the Pittsburg Education Association. Heins has a master’s degree in language and literacy education from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree from Chapman College.

“California’s educators and students have gained an avid supporter, advocate and leader in President-elect Heins.

Eric is not only a wonderful teacher, he is an experienced and dynamic agent of change who has been an integral part of our biggest student-centered initiatives over the last decade,” said CTA President Dean E. Vogel. “It has been a pleasure and an honor for me to serve alongside such a dynamic and dedicated education and union leader. I know the future of California students and our 325,000 members are in good hands with Eric, Theresa and David at the helm.”

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We Honor Ours!

PEA is proud to honor Shelly Bascomb as our

2015 WHO Awardee!

Shelly has been a tireless advocate for Pittsburg educators. She has served as the PEA Vice President-Secondary where she goes out of her way to personally engage all members. In addition to meeting regularly with classroom teachers, Shelly has strengthened connections with members who are school psychologists, counselors, and teachers on special assignment. Shelly has also served as the Organizing Chair during several rounds of challenging contract negotiations. She has planned and organized successful events including tailgates, rallies, postcard blitzes, parent email actions, and more in order to inform, engage, and mobilize PEA members and our community allies to ensure a fair and competitive contract! She was instrumental in securing the most recent Tentative Agreement reached on April 1. The Pittsburg Education Association is stronger and more united because of Shelly’s advocacy and activism. Thank you, Shelly!

PEA & PUSD Reach Tentative Agreement!

It was a long and demanding bargaining cycle, but we finally reached a fair agreement! The major issues prior to mediation were the term of contract, K-3 class sizes, effective date of benefit increases, work year, and hours. We were able to secure a competitive successor agreement while maintaining our ability to negotiate salary and benefits each of the next two years once the facts of the budget are known. Benefit increases will be paid retro with a one-time bonus check as well. This was a very important gain for us! PEA members demonstrated they would not be forced into settling for unfavorable terms when our benefit increases are being held hostage. On K-3 class sizes, we agreed on school averages 24:1, with maximums of 26:1. If the funding is eliminated or decreased, the district may return to current class sizes (30:1), but we would be able to negotiate an alternative at that time.

Collective Action and Solidarity Led to Agreement We had an unprecedented amount of support from PEA members, parents, students, and our community allies as we worked together for a fair contract. Working-to-rule was very impactful as well as all the letters, emails, rallies, and presentations at the school board meetings. It was especially significant to have high school students and parents from all levels speak out on our behalf. Our agreement was a result of the organizing efforts of many people who care about public education in Pittsburg! Thank you to everyone who stepped up and got involved! While we did not get everything we hoped for, overall, we believe this is a fair agreement and a positive step toward attracting and retaining great teachers in Pittsburg.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT & ACTIVISM!

Make your 9% raise a 10% raise with Common Core State Standards

Collaboration Time!!!

Hopefully you all have been using your collaboration time as outlined in the MOU between PUSD & PEA. Elementary unit members have 13 hours 40 minutes and secondary unit members have 14 hours 50 minutes of per diem to use before June 30th. This time is teacher-directed collaboration. Principals can offer suggested topics, but ultimately it should be decided by teachers as you know what you need to continue Common Core implementation. Several principals have approved conferences and trainings as part of the MOU, but it is at their discretion because most occur off-site. Be sure to submit your time sheets and templates in order to get paid. Two days per diem is equivalent to approx. a 1% salary increase! Don’t leave money on the table!

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Susan Bonilla: A Teacher for Senate District 7

Special Election May 19th

Susan supports teaching over testing. She authored AB 484, a bill that eliminated outdated standardized testing and postponed high stakes accountability for three years.

Susan has bi-partisan support including CTA and the education communities, firefighters, law enforcement, working families and veterans. Susan has a proven record of working for students and families and is committed to continue working on our behalf. Her opponent is anti-union and does NOT support teachers’ due process rights.

This is going to be a LOW-TURNOUT election! Please commit to voting for Susan Bonilla and asking your friends and family to do the same!

From the last election, we saw that Absentee Ballots dominated the election AND voters mailed their ballots early. This is why we need to step up NOW to contact fellow union members.

Precinct Walks EVERY Saturday 9AM-4PM & Sunday 1PM-8PM

3350 Clayton Road, Ste. 220, Concord OR 6250 Village Parkway, Dublin

Labor-to-Labor Phonebanks

EVERY Monday through Thursday 4pm-9pm & Saturdays 10am-2pm

Contra Costa Labor Council, 1333 Pine St., Suite E, Martinez, CA 94553

Let’s work together to get Susan Bonilla elected to the State Senate!

For more information or to RSVP, contact Joe at (925) 228-0161 or joe@cclabor.net

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NEWS….

Our students are counting on us. We need to speak up for them now!

Reauthorization of ESEA is moving fast and it’s important that our members’ voices help shape the new law. This is the most serious effort to rewrite the law, better known as No Child Left Behind, since it passed in 2002. This is an opportunity to set a new vision of shared responsibility for a public education system that promotes opportunity, equity, and excellence for all students.

Across the country, educators, students, parents and community members are uniting to send a strong message to legislators: Too much classroom time is being spent on testing and not enough time is spent on learning.

Will you take these simple steps?

*Visit http://www.getESEAright.com to participate in the fight for more opportunity, less testing!

*Call Congress today at (866) 232-7471.

*Text STUDENTS to 83224 to learn more from NEA.

Are you an ethnic minority member of CTA? Are you interested in broadening your knowledge of

the association and exploring the possibility of a role in leadership?

Ethnic Minority Early Identification & Development Program

Currently, CTA faces challenges that threaten the very existence of public education as well as CTA’s ability to function as a guardian of that institution, our students and members. Today we face unrelenting attacks that fragment the public’s support for our schools and divide educational employees’ support for CTA’s efforts to come to the aid of public education.

In many local chapters of the CTA there exists a significant lack of diversity within the leadership roles. Although it is recognized that CTA staff, chapter and state leaders have often encouraged and nurtured minority leaders into leadership roles, the CTA Board of Directors has determined that a more systematic approach needed to be instituted. This program was established in order to sustain and increase ethnic minority leadership in CTA and its affiliates.

During the last decade, we have been witness to a steady increase in the number of our ethnic minority members, which reflects California’s changing demographics. Caucasian women have been particularly successful in transitioning to leadership or staff roles, but it appears to take ethnic minority women longer. Ethnic minority men appear to have similar struggles entering either role, and are diminishing in numbers in our classrooms as well.

CTA has had a long-standing commitment to increasing ethnic minority leadership and staff. This program is both evidence of that commitment and reinforcement to continue it in the future.

Program Design

The Ethnic Minority Early Identification and Development Program has been created to identify ethnic minority members who are interested in expanding their roles in the organization. Once identified and accepted in the program, participants are paired with a coach who assists them in defining goals and identifying appropriate steps to achieve those goals. The program builds on existing CTA/NEA programs, trainings, conferences, events as well as incorporates interaction and coaching with Local Chapter, CTA, and NEA leadership and CTA Staff.

NOW SEEKING CANDIDATES!

Please email: dawn@peateachers.org if you are interested or would like to recommend a potential leader for this wonderful program. The deadline for applying is May 1st, so please respond by April 28th!

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30 Ways to Celebrate Poetry during National Poetry Month

Put poetry in an unexpected place

Read a book of poetry

Attend a poetry reading

Celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day

Visit A Poem A Day For American High

Schools: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/

Read other ideas: http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/94

Tips for Teachers

1. Begin each class with a poem by a different poet.

2. Challenge students to memorize poems and then write them out or recite them from memory.

3. Read poems aloud to your students.

4. Ask each student to create his or her own anthology of favorite poems.

5. Organize a poetry contest for teachers and administrators and select students to act as judges.

6. Introduce a new poetic form each week and give examples of poems that use -- or reinvent -- the form.

from: http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/103

More Classroom resources: http://www.cta.org/Parents-and-Community/Awareness-Holidays/National-Poetry-Month.aspx

“We are not ‘just’ teachers, we are the managers of the world’s

greatest resource: children!” -Robert John Meehan

How to Make Black Lives Matter in Our Schools

(excerpt from Rethinking Schools magazine)

Here are a few ideas for bringing Black Lives Matter into our teaching:

1. Provide a social justice, anti-racist curriculum that gives students the historical grounding, literacy skills, and space to explore the emotional intensity of feelings around the murder of Black youth. At the same time, deep discussion of these heavy issues needs to build on strong classroom community. Students can’t launch into discussions of racism without a basis of trust and sharing among students and between students and teacher. That is the slow, steady work of meaningful classroom conversation, purposeful group work, reading and writing about critical social and personal issues, shared writing, and more. Teachers need to nurture communities of mutual respect and empathy.

2. Support students who want to have conversations about the Black Lives Matter movement outside the classroom, in school forums or school clubs. Educators supporting the work of Black Student Unions in schools across the country have helped transform the school climate. Black students’ sense of pride and self-worth have helped ignite this new civil rights movement.

3. Raise the Black Lives Matter movement with other teachers at our schools and in our unions. It’s not enough to provide students with historical lessons. History is being made today by teachers planning Black Student Lives Matter forums and die-ins, advocating for hiring more Black teachers, and participating in many other actions around the country.

This is the moment social justice educators have been waiting for. When pro football players ran onto the field with their hands up in a demonstration of solidarity with the “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” protests that followed Michael Brown’s murder, some people in the audience supported them; others were opposed. But everyone knew what they meant. This is a sea change. The topic of police violence against Black people and systemic racism is on the table in a way it hasn’t been for a generation. It’s time to put aside the test prep and build a school-to-justice pipeline.

The Farm Workers’ Prayer

By Cesar E. Chavez

Show me the suffering of the most miserable; So I will know my people’s plight.

Free me to pray for others; For you are present in every person.

Help me to take responsibility for my own life; So that I can feel free at last.

Grant me courage to serve others; For in service there is true life.

Give me honesty and patience; So that I can work with other workers.

Bring forth song and celebration; So that the Spirit will be alive among us.

Let the Spirit flourish and grow; So that we will never tire of the struggle.

Let us remember those who have died for justice; For they have given us life.

Help us love even those who hate us; So we can change the world.

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The Zinn Education Project’s “If We Knew Our History” series features articles by teachers, journalists, and scholars that highlight inadequacies in the history textbooks published by giant corporations and that too often find their way into our classrooms. Articles in this series puncture myths and stereotypes. But they also discuss why it is so important that our students have access to a richer “people’s history” that questions inequality and highlights efforts to create a more just society. Our premise is that if we knew our history, the world would be a better place.

http://zinnedproject.org/why/if-we-knew-our-history-series/

Thank a Union:

36 Ways Unions Have Improved Your Life

Employers and Corporations did not feel generous

and decide to give you two days off every week to

have a social/personal life. (We now call them

weekends). Corporations did not just feel like

being nice one day and give their employees paid

vacations. CEOs didn't get together in a board

room and say "Let's give our employees more

rights at work" or "Maybe there should be laws to

limit our power over an employee".

Virtually ALL the benefits you have at work,

whether you work in the public or private sector,

all of the benefits and rights you enjoy every day

are there because unions fought hard and long for

them against big business who did everything they

could to prevent giving you your rights. Many

union leaders and members even lost their lives

for things we take for granted today.

36 Reasons Why

You Should Thank a Union

1. Weekends

2. All Breaks at Work, including your Lunch

Breaks

3. Paid Vacation

4. FMLA

5. Sick Leave

6. Social Security

7. Minimum Wage

8. Civil Rights Act/Title VII (Prohibits

Employer Discrimination)

9. 8-Hour Work Day

10. Overtime Pay

11. Child Labor Laws

12. Occupational Safety & Health Act

(OSHA)

13. 40 Hour Work Week

14. Worker's Compensation (Worker's Comp)

15. Unemployment Insurance

16. Pensions

17. Workplace Safety Standards and

Regulations

18. Employer Health Care Insurance

19. Collective Bargaining Rights for

Employees

20. Wrongful Termination Laws

21. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of

1967

22. Whistleblower Protection Laws

23. Employee Polygraph Protect Act (Prohibits

Employer from using a lie detector test on

an employee)

24. Veteran's Employment and Training

Services (VETS)

25. Compensation increases and Evaluations

(Raises)

26. Sexual Harassment Laws

27. Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

28. Holiday Pay

29. Employer Dental, Life, and Vision

Insurance

30. Privacy Rights

31. Pregnancy and Parental Leave

32. Military Leave

33. The Right to Strike

34. Public Education for Children

35. Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 (Requires

employers pay men and women equally for

the same amount of work)

36. Laws Ending Sweatshops in the United

States

Calendar

APRIL

1 April Fool’s Day

2 Cesar Chavez Day/No School 3 Good Friday/Passover begins at Sundown 3 Board Holiday/No School 5 Easter 6-10 Spring Recess 13 PEA Senior Scholarship Applications Due 13 PEA Executive Board – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM 20 Candidacy Forms Due for Executive Board Elections 20 PEA Rep Council – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM 22 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 7:00 PM 22 Earth Day/Administrative Professionals Day

MAY

4 PEA Executive Board – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM 4-15 PEA Executive Board Elections 5 Cinco de Mayo 10 Mother’s Day 13 Day of the Teacher – La Piñata - 95 Bliss Ave., Pittsburg – 3: 30 PM 18 PEA Rep Council – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM 6 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 7:00 PM 20 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 7:00 PM

25 Memorial Day/No School 26 PEA Executive Board – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM

Next Deadline for Articles is Monday, May 11, 2015

STAY INFORMED @ peateachers.org and cta.org & nea.org