PEA

focus
on educators
California Teachers Association

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

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. need my time. To be well prepared Dont just stop there. Tell your and read on my lesson, I need to friends and family and explain the have this time to get my best lesson issues. You have been given the formulated. baton, now pass it on.

NOVEMBER 2012

Volume XXII, Number 3

In this Issue
Presidents Message & Informational Items ..pgs. 1-4 Announcements..p.3-4 Thank You Corner.p.3 Community Outreachp.4 CTA News....pgs. 5-7 PEA Calendar.... .The Last Page

PEA Presidents Message

Welcome to an exciting upcoming month. We have elections to think about and make decisions upon. By now you have had your CTA presentation on Propositions 30 and 32; you have gotten your latest California Educator magazine, and you have seen the commercials from both sides of the issues. For the sake of our students and their right to a quality public education, vote YES on 30. And for the sake of our voice to be heard and big corporations wanting to take it away but leave theirs standing and with even MORE power, vote NO on 32.

Just a few things I want to talk about this month. These are issues that have come up and I figure that if one site has them, then perhaps other sites have them coming up as well. First lets talk about your prep time. For elementary teachers they have three, 45-minute preps a week. For secondary they have one every day. According to our contract that PEA and the district have agreed upon, these sacred times are for you to use to plan and prepare. Not at any time are they to be used by your administrator to do what THEY have decided for you to do, such as: grade level collaboration; training; and department meetings. You are in charge here to use this time for what you need to do. If collaboration time is needed, then your site, as other sites have done, need to have subs to cover your meeting together or pay you to stay after school to voluntarily collaborate. If you start to allow your personal prep time to be dictated by your principal, then eventually all will lose these times to be self-directed and the district will take it all to fit their needs. I

Next, please remember that your 50-minute (elementary) and 30-minute (secondary) lunch time is duty-free. You cannot be asked to work during this time. You cannot do paid intervention during this time either. This is a federal violation. The district would not ask you to do this, as it puts them in jeopardy. Finally, enjoy the fall colors and chill to the air and begin thinking of all the things here in Pittsburg that we can be thankful for: A 4% pay increase; no furlough days; paid staff development days; and a district financially stable. We have some challenges to overcome, but we have some wonderful kids that make us realize what a great profession we are in. One of the best things we can experience is having grown-up students come by to visit, and seeing their bright eyes and how excited they are for life, and YOU were a part of that story.

Wag More and Bark Less!

Chris Coan, PEA President

PEA Leadership 2012-2013 President Chris Coan

Willow Cove Elementary/ PEA Office

Rep. Council Meeting Calendar

September 19 October 17 November 14 December 19 January 23 February 20 March 20 April 24 May 15 June 5 ***********************************

Elementary Vice President Cindy Joy

Parkside Elementary

Secondary Vice President Shelly Bascomb

Pittsburg High

Secretary Tammy Carr

Highlands Elementary

Treasurer Gale Higgins

Stoneman Elementary

School Board Meeting Calendar

August 22 September 12 & 26 October 10 & 24 November 14 December 12 January TBD February TBD March TBD April TBD May TBD June TBD ***********************************

Committee Chairs Grievance Committee Richard Higgins Pittsburg High Negotiations Team Dawn Cova - Chair Political Action Committee Iris Contreras - Chair Elections Chair Vacant Human Rights Committee Heather Asselin Chair Womens Issues Committee Allison Azevedo - Chair O-Team Arthur Pruyn - Chair CTA State Council Representatives Iris Contreras PEA Denise James, Sara Savacool, Robert Strickler - AEA Alternate Pandora Bethea - AEA CTA Director District C Terri Jackson NEA Director for California, District 3 Greg Bonaccorsi Technical Editor Susan Harrison PEA Site Secretary

Are you Getting your PEA Information???

Having the site reps attend their monthly meeting and then reporting back to you is vital in the communication chain of our Association. Roll call at last October 17th Rep Council Meeting: Adult Ed. absent Stoneman present Foothill present Willow Cove present Heights absent MLK Jr. absent Highlands present Hillview - absent Los Medanos present Rancho Medanos present Marina Vista present PHS - present Parkside present Black Diamond present ************************************

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

E-MAIL:peatchrs@att.net WEBSITE: www.peateachers.org 2

THANK YOU Corner

PEA would like to thank the following people for helping and supporting their local association for the month of November: Election Outreach: Dawn Cova, Mark Maselli, Tammy Carr, Jim Vaughan, Cindy Joy, and Sue Ellen Thomas

MICE OR RODENT PROBLEM? If you have either of these problems in your classroom first let office staff know to write up a report for maintenance. Make sure someone comes and then gives you some kind of a report. If you still have this problem then you can either take it to a grievance (since we have a contract article on this one Article 11.1.8). You can also choose to write a Wiilliams Act complaint and you can contact Abe Doctolero to complete that one. Dont feel you are being a pest. Remember your working conditions are your students learning conditions. END-OF-YEAR FINES Have you been given a bill by your librarian for DVDs, VCR tapes and library books that you just cant seem to locate? If you have been given a bill to pay for these items used in your classroom then you are not required to pay for them according to Labor Law. Items used to conduct your business that become lost, broken or stolen are not the financial responsibility of the employee. They are the cost of doing business and are to be covered by your employer. Please keep in mind losing or breaking laptops is another story. BE CAREFUL Please remember to be careful in your classroom. The number one accident that occurs in our district is Slips Trips and Falls. Please be on the look- out for possible danger zones at your site and report to your office staff or tell your safety team leader. Every site is supposed to have a safety team leader. Heads Up! One issue brought up at last safety meeting was regarding fire code. Only 50% of your classroom walls can be covered with paper. The paper has to be nonflammable. Laminating makes paper very flammable. Also look for heavy items above anyones head. They could fall in an earthquake. Superintendent Rondeau was informed of this 50% paper business, so we will wait to see when the enforcement comes down the pike. FREE SUBSCRIPTION Heres a PASS to the best Teachers Lounge, resource library and lessons Anti-bias strategies Current social justice issues Multicultural points of view

ANNOUNCEMENTS
PLEASE NOTE: The district does not deliver items thru their pony system to the PEA office. If you have something that needs to get to the office fast, then I suggest you drop by and put it in our mail drop. If you have a bit more time, then mail your item to: PEA office, 159 E 4th Street, Pittsburg, CA 94565. If you have plenty of time, then give to your site rep to deliver when they attend the next rep council meeting. YOUR QEIA SITE REPS FOR THIS YEAR ARE: Rancho Medanos : Jeff Greco Parkside: Paul Thompson Stoneman: Gale Higgins Foothill: Donna Binkowski WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER PEA is proud to announce that we have donated $500 to the Chicago Teachers Union strike fund. The money will be pooled and distributed to those who face financial hardships when they went out on strike last month. When Pittsburg went on strike many years back we were out for 5 days and associations from all across the state and the country donated funds to support many of our members in need. All-for-One and One-for-All. A blow to any union is a blow to us all. Thank goodness we have each other.

CALLING IN A SUB? Just to make you aware, it used to be that you could get sub coverage for 30 minutes or an hour or so if you needed to go for medical or such. Just to let you know that now you are limited to half day subs for either morning or afternoon times. That means if you have a medical appointment late in the day you still get docked for the entire half day even when you left later. Guess that means to use it since you are being deducted for it.

Your FREE subscription is waiting! Tolerance.org/subscribe

2012-2013 PRINCIPAL EVALUATIONS BY TEACHERS This year we are going to do principal evaluations in a much more productive way. Last month a blank copy of the PEA Principal Evaluation was given to Superintendent Rondeau. She was to pass them on to the principals so that they can see ahead of time what we will be evaluating them on. Please note that these evaluation questions are based on the Principals Standards that are already established. The evaluations will be sent to members in February and collected in March. Then the results will be tabulated and formatted and then given to each site, School Board members as well as Superintendent Rondeau. How else will they be able to find out how things are going at your site if you dont step up and complete and eval? If you have the perfect principal, then show it. If you have needs and concerns then please show that as well. LOCAL HEALTH CLUB DISCOUNTS CCCSIG believes that fitness and good nutrition are extremely important when it comes to preventing injuries and has established agreements with the local health clubs listed below to provide Contra Costa County school district employees with discounted health club rates and other incentives: 24hr Fitness In-Shape The Big C Athletic Club For further information you can go to the website at: http://www.cccsig.org/healthsafety/localhealth.html

COMMUNITY OUTREACH 3rd Annual Sock Drive

Let's be thankful for the children of Pittsburg and donate socks to the Boys and Girls club. Just a pair of socks will help keep a child's feet from getting cold! Where? Rep Council Meeting How? Give them to your Rep When? November 14th It's as simple as that! ************************************

THE PRIDE OF PITTSBURG PIRATE CARD

$5.00 per cardgood until Aug. 31, 2013 PEA has a few PIRATE CARDS to offer to you for $5.00 each. The money from these cards will go directly to the PHS Pirates Marching Show Band. Discounts for vendors include: KFC, Country Waffles, Super Taco, Burger King (Railroad & Bailey Rd Locations), McDonalds (many Bay Area locations), Railroad Cleaners, Lumpys (Pittsburg location only), Nanas Place, Railroad Book Depot, Little Js, EJ Phair, Liberty Alehouse, Delta Bowl, Las Panchitas, La Veranda, Warrior Computer Repair, Fonseca Auto Repair, & Country Skillet (Antioch location). Must present card at time of purchase~ Offer good at participating locations only~ Equal or Lesser value~ Not valid with any other offers, coupons, or specials~ Limit one offer per card, per person, per day~ Not transferable~ Offer subject to change without notice~ Additional terms & conditions apply. For further information contact Pat Mims at 925-473-2368 or 925-473-2368.

Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Education Awards Program

The CTA is holding the 12th annual contest in honor of Cesar E. Chavez. Winners will be awarded up to $550.00 and recognition. Group Projects can be Visual Arts. Individual Projects can be either Written Essays or Visual Arts. All applications and projects must be postmarked by December 7, 2012. For more information and applications, please go to the members only website: www.cta.org/About-CTA/CTA-Foundation/Scholarships

NEWS
Unions 2.0 A Look at Unions and the Education Profession
NEA and AFT Comparison on Accountability NEA Basics The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers. The NEA has 3.2 million members and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. With affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the nation. Accountability NEA believes accountability models should acknowledge success and support educators efforts to improve student achievement. These models should include multiple measures of student learning and school success. NEA recognizes that growth models will not solve all of the problems the current AYP system creates, but most importantly, growth models will help ensure that all students receive credit for academic progress. States should have the flexibility to use growth models and other measures of progress that assess student achievement over time and recognize improvement on all points of the achievement scale. There does appear to be a growing consensus that some form of a growth model will be included in the upcoming reauthorization of ESEA. NEA strongly recommends that states be given the flexibility to develop a growth model that most appropriately addresses their own needs. AFT Basics The American Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, was founded in 1916 and represents nearly 3,000 local affiliates nationwide, 43 state affiliates and more than 1.4 million members: pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; and nurses and other healthcare professionals. In addition, the AFT represents approximately 80,000 early childhood educators and nearly 250,000 retiree members. III.

Teachers Legal Rights and Duties

ACADEMIC FREEDOM Your grade is your own. Administration does not have the right to order a change in grade. the grade given to each pupil shall be the grade determined by the teacher of the course and the determination, in the absence of clerical or mechanical mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency, shall be final. Ed Code 49066 B. Curriculum Issues 1. No right to determine the curriculum, but there is a limited right to control method of instruction, to select outside speakers within the parameters of district rules. Cockrel and Shelby County SD (preapproved speaker on virtues of industrial hemp within teachers academic freedom right) 2. Teachers cannot be punished for speaking in class about social issues, e.g. racism and homophobia, because Ed. Code mandates schools to combat intolerance. Debro v. San Leandro USD 3. Teachers have a right to speak out on matters of public concern on school premises in the appropriate setting. Buttons and other material carrying an electoral message may be prohibited in the classroom. CTA v. San Diego USD [No right to use school mailboxes to distribute Association publications that inform members of the Associations position on electoral candidates or ballot propositions. San Leandro EA v. San Leandro Unified.] ********************************* A. Grade Changes

The Bad Teacher Narrative Countering the Message

We have two versions of school reform. One is devised by Wall Street financiers and politicians who believe in rigidly defined numerical goals and return on investment; they blame lazy teachers and self-interested unions when test scores are low. The other draws on the deep experience of a compassionate teacher who finds fault not with teachers, unions, or students, but with a society that refuses to take responsibility for the conditions in which its children live and learn.

Reducing the Risk: Teen Suicide

SOME CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO TEEN SUICIDE 5. School-related issues Most students want to succeed in school. Exams, homework, and competition for grades can be very stressful, as can the expectations of parents and other significant adults in students lives. Fear of academic failure can cause students to believe they will not be successful after high school in adult life. This fear can lead to feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness. Suicide often occurs shortly after a stress event (Gould et al, in press), most commonly a disciplinary crisis, a recent disappointment or rejection (e.g., dispute with a girlfriend, examination failure, or failure to get a job). [American Foundation for Suicide Prevention] 6. Pressure to succeed Young people may feel pressured to get good grades; be accepted at a good college; get a good job. For many young people, winning is everything. Theres no room for failure. [Some Possible Reasons for Suicide] 7. Traumatic events Another area of stress for adolescents is traumatic events in their lives which usually center around losses (even loss of self-esteem). Adolescents react strongly to losses of loved ones, to loss of face (the football player who does not make a C average; the girl who is not elected to class office), and, at an early age when these losses are suffered, they can provide a great deal of upset and dysfunction. In early adolescence the loss of selfesteem, of animals, friends, parents, and other loved ones can be enormously stressful and can result in severe depression and suicidal behavior. Other risk factors includeincarceration. [National Institute of Mental Health. *********************************

remain the same as FMLA under CFRA, except in the case of pregnancy. CFRA extends employees 12 additional weeks of unpaid, job protected leave for the purpose of baby bonding that should be taken within one year of a childs birth. *********************************

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Types of Needs: Physiological, Security, Social, Esteem, Know and Understand, Aesthetic-Beauty, Self-Actualizing, and Transcendence. Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior. Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are deficiency needs (also known as D-needs), meaning that these needs arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is important in order to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences. Maslow termed the highest-level of the pyramid as growth needs (also known as B-needs). Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person. *********************************

California Breastfeeding Laws and Resolutions

Here are some California laws and resolutions that may be of interest to employers and/or employees. For the full text of the law or resolution, click on the title of the legislation or go to www.assembly.ca.gov. 1997: Personal Rights: Breastfeeding Section 43.3 of the Civil Code. This law provides that a mother may breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, except the private home or residence of another, where the mother and child are authorized to be present. 1998: Breastfeeding at Work Resolution Chapter 152 The California legislature encourages the State of California and all California employers to strongly support and encourage the practice of breastfeeding by striving to accommodate the needs of employees, and by ensuring that employees are provided with adequate facilities for breastfeeding, or the expressing of milk for their children; and that the Governor declare by executive order that all State of California employees shall be provided with adequate facilities for breastfeeding or the expressing of milk.

PUSD Your Rights Under FMLA, CFRA, AND PDL

CFRA (California Family Rights Act) is a state mandated law that functions in conjunction with FMLA. Eligibility, reasons for taking leave, job benefits and protection, and requirements for advance notice and medical certification

Contract Tidbits... Please Address if you are Interested

Article 11.1.10 Bargaining unit members who are assigned to work with students who are prone to exhibit violent behavior shall be encouraged to voluntarily participate in assault prevention training at no cost to the unit member. Article 11.2.4 Unit members who have students with a written history of causing or attempting to cause serious bodily injury shall be informed as soon as practicable after the District receives such information. 11.1.6 The District shall provide each classroom with first aid kits with basic first aid supplies. Additionally, the District shall ensure that disaster preparedness materials such as blankets, bullhorns, radios, water, rope, food packages and the like are available at the school site. 6.2.2.5 Assigned Duties at the Elementary Level: All assigned duties at the elementary level shall be shared equitably by all bargaining members at the site. 8.3.4 The District shall make every reasonable effort to place special education students equitably at a school site. 25.2.5 In circumstances where rights to representation exist, an employee does not commit insubordination by refusing to participate in a meeting without a representative present. 6.3.3.3 Preparation and Planning - Junior High: No meeting shall begin sooner than 15 minutes after the end of the students' instructional day. *********************************

The General Duty of Fair Representation

The employee organization recognized or certified as the exclusive representative for the purpose of meeting and negotiating shall fairly represent each and every employee in the appropriate unit. Government Code 3544.9 GENERAL DUTY OF FAIR REPRESENTATION Application of the general duty of fair representation to specific situations has resulted in the development of the following specific duties that a union owes to all unit employees: 1. Duty to represent all unit employees. 2. Duty to negotiate on behalf of all unit employees and consider non-joiner views concerning negotiations. 3. Duty to be familiar with the contract. 4. Duty to advise unit employees of their legal rights in the context of the contract. 5. Duty to process grievance in a non-arbitrary, nondiscriminatory and good faith manner. 6. Duty to investigate grievances. 7. Duty to satisfy contractual time limits. 8. Duty to notify a grievant of union decisions. 9. Duty to present a good arbitration case. 10. Duty to allow a grievant to have his/her attorney present at arbitration proceedings. *********************************

Theultimatemeasureofaman isnotwherehestandsin momentsofcomfort,butwhere hestandsattimesofchallenge andcontroversy.

~MartinLutherKing,Jr.~

Certificated Roundtable

From 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the PUSD Board Room

January 10, 2013

PEA

Calendar
NOVEMBER 2012

4 Daylight Savings Time Ends 6 Election Day 7 PEA Executive Board PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM 11 Veterans Day 12 Veterans Day Observed No School 14 PEA Rep Council PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM 14 Sock Drive Ends 19-23 Thanksgiving Recess 22 Thanksgiving Day

DECEMBER 2012
5 8 19 21 24-4 24 25 26 31 PEA Executive Board PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM Hanukkah Begins at Sundown PEA Rep Council PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM Winter Begins Winter Break Christmas Eve Christmas Day Kwanzaa Begins New Years Eve Next Deadline for Articles is December 10, 2012
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