The Houston Federation of Teachers has submitted a multi-page brief to the Commissioner of Education outlining our position on the illegality of the HISD/New Teacher Project Teacher Evaluation. While there is no guarantee how the commissioner will interpret the briefs, we feel we have a strong argument for him to hit the reset button and send us back to the drawing board. You will find a link to our brief after the article on the "big-picture" look at testing and accountability aspects of standards-based reform.

Union members and leaders gathered at a rally on Oct. 4, 2012 in support of Question 7, the ballot question that will add a sixth casino in Prince George's County. AFT-Maryland and the Baltimore Teachers Union were represented, along with the Maryland/DC AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers. The UAW represents casino workers in New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio and Connecticut. (1090AM WBAL)

President English spoke at the rally (see video here), saying "A vote for Question 7 is a vote for more money for Maryland schools."

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Kim Weismann, an instructor of communication at Williston State College and NDPEA member, shares her experiences as a public employee in the oil patch, as the first installment of "In Your Voice," a regular feature of the NDPEA Advocate newsletter.
Click here to read her story, and to find out how you can write your own "In Your Voice" feature.

Dependant on Value Added Model, even 1% is too much, LFT says

(Baton Rouge – October 8, 2010) With a growing number of reports illustrating the chaos fomented by a new teacher evaluation system, Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan asks school boards to limit the damage by minimizing the effect that the system has on teacher compensation.

Let the School Board know that our educators are the experts and deserve to be listened to. The CCISD school board is attempting to diminish the voices of our employees in the consultation process. Send an online letter now!

Remember that if you want to sign up for, renew, or change your health benefits during this Open Enrollment time, it is from October 2 through October 31, 2012.  If a member uses flexible spending accounts (CBA), they must renew every year. The Open Enrollment Health Fair will be held on Thursday, October 11, 2012 from 12 noon to 5:30 PM at the Berkeley Adult School multi-purpose room on 1701 San Pablo Road in Berkeley. Members should have received a packet by late September 2012. This year's packets didn't include the 10-, 11-, or 12-month employee benefits chart. You can get them at the Health Fair. The District is working on sending out the Benefits Chart via regular mail, email, or district mail.

Summaries of Negotiations updates from March 13, 2012 through September 28, 2012.

As required by the 2007 – 2010 Agreement between the Seattle Community Colleges District and AFT Seattle Community Colleges, Local 1789, a Task Force was convened in May of 2008 to review faculty workload issues. The specific charges of the Task Force were as follows:

On May 3, 2012, Joel Smith appeared before the Court of Appeals on behalf of a coalition of Anne Arundel County public safety unions.

Joel argued that a 2011 bill passed by the Anne Arundel County Council and signed by the County Executive was in clear violation of a 2002 Amendment to the Anne Arundel County Charter. The Amendment mandated binding interest arbitration to resolve disputes concerning terms and conditions of employment for certain public safety employees. In an opinion dated September 28, 2012, the Court agreed. The Court concluded that the 2002 Amendment and its implementing legislation were entirely lawful. The 2011 bill was unlawful. The opinion settles thirty-five years of case law on the issue.

This is an important win for public employees across the State of Maryland.

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LFT attorney Larry Samuel on the new tenure law: This law is a farce.  It is a sham.  It is an insult to every educator in this state. It makes a mockery of fairness. The governor and the legislatures who voted for this bill have demonstrated their intent to do nothing more than to give lip service to treating teachers with dignity.