****** BARGAINING UPDATE ******
Nursing Ratios Matter To Our Kids!
Amanda Schwartz, School Nurse at Roosevelt High School,
recentlyshared her experience with our bargaining teams: "As the nurse at a school with over 1800 students I only got three uninterrupted lunch breaks the entire time last year. There is literally never a time when students are not in my office."
The SEA nurse team shared how their roles are multilayered, including connecting students to
mental health resources, wrap-around care, and increased roles in special education and MTSS.
Our 2013 contract set us on a path towards lower ratios for nurses, but we still haven't gotten there. Many SEA members cited lower nurse ratios as important when we held our building bargaining sessions this spring - it's time!
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Bargaining for Racial Equity
"Issues of equity are so pervasive, the more you open your eyes to them, the more you see," said
Marquita Prinzing, 4th grade teacher and Director of the SEA Center for Race and Equity.
A few focused bargaining topics discussed this week included: the expansion and continued support of racial equity teams, support for all educators to receive the professional development needed to address implicit bias in instruction and in our hiring processes. We also covered retention of educators of color, and the increasing the commitment of racial equity in building budgets, professional development, and CSIP goals.
A highlight from the session was that there was a shared value that ALL staff across the district needs to be supported in developing their understanding of the causes and impacts of institutional and systemic inequities effecting our students. This includes an emphasis on creative effective methods through continued SEA and SPS partnerships.
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Our Subs Deserve Health Care!
"In order to receive Health Benefits, subs have to work 60 consecutive days in the same job to earn
benefits. This isn't the reality of a daily sub, we are fighting for fair health care coverage for staff who work at or near full time, should receive full health care."
Substitute Association Vice-President and SEA bargaining team member Stan Strasner told SPS officials.
The reality is that many of our subs who work consecutive days, but in different assignments, do not have access to healthcare benefits.
Our teams are also working hard on proposals to improve training for substitute educators, and on how to increase fill rates for our hard to fill positions. Our team has also explored creating a sub pool exclusively for hard to fill positions with incentives, recognizing that many hard to fill positions are in our central and south end schools.
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Rally For A Fair Contract!
4 PM , Wednesday August 15th at the JSCEE
- Wear red, bring signs, and show the district we are united.
- We will hear from Bargaining Team members, as well as other locals fighting for a fair contract.
- Parking is limited, we are asking members to ride the light rail (Ride the Rail in Red!)
- The SODO station is a block away from the JSCEE.
Sign up to attend here.
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What's Next?
Make sure to like and follow the
SEA Facebook and
Twitter pages. We will be sharing bargaining team testimonials and additional updates there. In addition to 35+ members of our bargaining team, we have another 25 Zone Captains (by high school feeder pattern) who are connecting with building reps on a regular basis so that we remain well organized!
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SAVE THE DATE!
SEA General Membership Meeting
Vote on Agreement or an Action Plan
Tuesday, August 28
5PM - Benaroya Hall
Downtown Seattle
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If you would like to help ensure smooth sign in and process for the GMM, please let your building rep know ASAP that you are willing to help. The Zone captains will be looking to recruit folks in the coming weeks.
After working summer school or taking a little bit of time off, our 35 member bargaining team was back at the table last week, and we'll be bargaining 10 or more of the next 15 days! Our sister WEA unions around the state are also heading back to the table in their local districts. We have
Bargaining continues Friday this week and every day next week!
It's a challenge to publish a Unity when we are at the table several days in a row, so watch Facebook for updates all week until our next Unity!
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>>>>> QUICK NOTES <<<<<
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Pearl Jam is partnering with
Donors Choose
to support educators creating classroom projects focusing on students experiencing homelessness.
Here is the link to the Pearl Jam web page with the link to the Donors Choose site. There you will find the criteria for the grants.
Within schools, educators are often the first point of contact. Wherever you teach, student homelessness exists. In fact, children and youth experience homelessness in the United States at the same rates in rural, suburban, and urban areas. Educators who know they have students experiencing homelessness are especially encouraged to post projects, while educators in any community can play a role by working with students to help children and youth experiencing homelessness in your district or community.
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The full-year school calendar and work calendars for 2018-19 have been posted!
Click here to view.
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Don't miss out
on breaking SEA text alerts: text
SEATTLEEA
to 41411 to stay informed!
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SICK LEAVE REQUESTS
Thank you all for your generous donations to those who share their need for leave.
Members can access the shared leave form to donate hours by clicking
HERE. Forms can be submitted to
[email protected] or FAXED to 206-252-0021 or mailed to Seattle Public Schools, MS 33-380, PO Box 34165, Seattle, WA 98124-1165.
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