National Day of Action for Educators and Families: Wear RED on October 6
The broad coalition of local educator unions, including SEA, which called for last February's walk-ins, has called for a National Day of Action on Thursday, October 6th.
"Across the country we're making the call for real support for our public schools," said
Phyllis Campano, SEA President.
Local unions in more than 200 cities have signed on to the Day of Action. Here in Seattle, we're planning to wear red and hold meetings with legislators jointly with families from our schools.
"We're asking everyone to record what they have paid for out of pocket to contribute to their schools and classrooms to support our students," said
Michael Tamayo, SEA Vice President. "We'll share these with community leaders to highlight how our schools are coping with a lack of funding."
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Notes from Muir and Leschi on Black Lives Matter
Last week, staff and families at Leschi and Muir Elementary schools demonstrated that at a time when black families are calling attention to the everyday racism they still face, with its many tragic impacts, their schools were going to be a place where black students are welcome, supported, and celebrated.
According to lead organizers
DeShawn Jackson, a special education IA at Muir
, and
Rocky Donaldson, a Family Support Worker at Leschi, there were full staff discussions and significant engagement with families as they made their plans.
At Muir, the school's equity team and PTA created a program called "Black Men United to Change the Narrative." At Leschi, planning for their second annual "High Five" event - where community members of color high five students on their way into school -- was spurred along by the joint SEA-SPS training on resiliency and relationships, leading to class meetings on the topic and a letter home to all parents.
While the media latched on to the decision by both schools' staffs to wear tee shirts declaring "Black Lives Matter" (Muir) or "Leschi Loves Black Lives", the focal point to demonstrate to students, African-Americans in particular, that they are seen in a positive way and that they are supported by black men in the community.
At Muir, there was an assembly held for the 4th and 5th grade students where community participants inspired students about overcoming struggles. Educators at Leschi led class meetings during the day.
Staff at other schools have begun organizing around October 19th as a day to wear Black Lives Matter tee shirts (available HERE).
SEA's Representative Assembly has endorsed this call for solidarity. Schools are encouraged to have a full staff dialogue and to reach out to parents ahead of October 19th if they wish to join in. SEA will be creating stickers for members who do not have tee shirts to participate as well.
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Proposed new agreements on certificated evaluations
Per our contract, we have continued to work through several evaluation issues. We have reached tentative agreements on two of them, which will be voted on at our monthly Representative Assembly (RA) on October 17th:
1.
Completing the transition to using the computerized eVal system for certificated staff. Hundreds of members have used eVal, and we have worked with WEA to refine it through this pilot. While all members will be asked to use eVal, members will retain the right to opt out of using it.
2.
Revising the ESA (Educational Staff Associates: SLPs, OTs, etc.) evaluation and support system to match other certificated staff.
Here are links to the two MOUs: #1 and #2. Send questions or comments to
[email protected] and share them with your building or program's Association Reps (ARs) before our October RA.
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FAQs on Building Leadership Teams (BLTs) and Program Leadership Teams (PLTs): Part 1 Nuts and Bolts
*For simplicity, we will refer to BLTs in this FAQ, but the same answers hold for PLTs as well.
Q. Is there a stipend for being on the BLT?
Yes! Each building receives approximately $3,600 (as of 2016-17) to be split between the SEA represented members of the team. BLT members receive the stipend even if the BLT meets during the contractual day. Classified members receive an equal share of the stipend; the amount should be converted into an equivalent number of hours at their pay rate (e.g. if their stipend share is $600 and their hourly rate is $20, they would submit a request to be paid for 30 hours, since 30x20=600). Stipends are paid monthly.
Q. How are BLT members selected?
SEA members on the BLT must be elected by other SEA members. Your building reps (ARs) should run the election. Classified staff can vote and run the same as certificated staff for all seats, with the stipulation that there be at least one classified seat on the BLT that is voted on only by the classified staff. For example, a school has 30 staff, 8 of whom are classified. All 30 staff would vote on four of the BLT positions (which could be filled with certs or classified staff), while the 8 classified staff would vote on the 5th position to choose a classified staff member.
Most schools elect their BLT annually, either at the beginning or end of the school year. If your school hasn't been electing your BLT, then you should go ahead and elect a new BLT right away, even if it means there might be some changes in representation. BLTs should also include parents, student and community representatives as appropriate.
Q. What is the preferred composition of the BLT?
Our contract sets a minimum of five SEA seats on the BLT. There can be more. While our contract ensures that there be classified representation on the BLT, schools are otherwise free to set other parameters for representation. Some schools designate seats by grade level bands or departments to ensure representation from across the school.
Per our contract, BLTs should reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of their staff and school community, and include parents, students, and community members as appropriate. There isn't a set process for selecting non-staff representatives, but BLTs may wish to consult with their PTAs about designating a representative.
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How to get the right substitute!
Christina DeCarufel, SEA Vice President for Substitutes.
- Make the most of every field in your Aesop profile and job pages. Leave especially detailed notes for special education positions.
- Use the Seattle Substitute Association supported Sub Plan - you can find that here.
- Leave a note asking for feedback from your substitutes. We like to know that our input is valued - which encourages us to want to come back!
Do you have a tip for certificated or classified staff? Send them to [email protected].
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> > > QUICK NOTES < < <
Can't find the $2500 SAEOP overload fund in your budget? Cheryl Smith, admin at North Beach says "At first I didn't see it. But a new sub org has been created. Look for XXE012301 (put your school code in for XX of course)." In each building, SAEOPs should meet to decide together how to use those funds.
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The next round of Pre-Retirement seminars are coming up!
Click here to open the flyer, which also contains the link to the Registration form.
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SICK LEAVE REQUESTS
Members can access the shared leave form on the District website (
www.seattleschools.org). Go to the Human Resources section to access "Current Employees" and "Leaves of Absence" to find the form. Forms can be submitted to Monica Menchaca, 206.252.0614 / [email protected], leave department analyst.
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