Crisis Update 03.09.10
Colleagues:
The purpose of this update is to inform you about the possible “vote of no confidence” as well as two important events this week.
Wednesday, March 10th: Mediation Day #2, VTA Office
The mediation will be held at the VTA office starting at 9:00 AM. Parent groups are organizing to spend the day there, but we would like you to involve yourself as well. Please come after school in black to line the halls and street with signs, letting the District Management know that we continue to be committed to pressuring them into a fair and equitable solution to the impasse.
There are three possible outcomes at this mediation. 1) A solution to the impasse is discovered which will be brought to the membership for approval. 2) The mediator decides to have a 3rd meeting next month. 3) The mediator decides that no resolution is possible and that the fact-finding process should begin.
Thursday, March 11th: Board Meeting, FoothillOakElementary School, 7:00 PM
We are looking for 100% of the membership to come to the board meeting to show our commitment to maintaining a strong educational experience in VUSD schools. The Board needs to look more closely at the Budget Advisory Committee list of recommendations and your presence at the meeting can help.
When the Board sees our numbers, it helps them to understand that they need to continue a dialogue with the Association if it is going to find a reasonable solution to the budget crisis.
Have no doubt-- you matter at all these meetings and rallies to keep them talking. Every person matters.
Vote of No Confidence: VTA Reps voted to pursue a dialogue with each school site about a vote of no confidence in our superintendent. More information will come in site rep meetings and in future emails.
Stay active. Stay informed.
Respectfully,
Your VTA Crisis Team
Crisis Update 02.15.10
Colleagues:
What a remarkable day. Thank you to the over 800 teachers, parents, and students who arrived early in the morning on Monday, February 15th to demonstrate our resolve and dedication to maintaining a high quality educational experience in VUSD. Our determination to let VUSD management know that we are willing to come out in huge numbers to support teachers and students is outstanding.
As it stands, after a full day of intense mediation, the district management made NO movement from their last offer. Although initially this may seem like nothing was accomplished today, it is important that you are clear on what impact your participation had.
•Our solidarity was covered by the media in a positive light.
•Our solidarity continued the process of enhancing community support.
•Our solidarity increased the number of parents and students directly participating with us.
•Our solidarity had an immeasurable impact on our bargaining team’s resolve.
•Our solidarity showed board members the effect their priorities will have on the educational experience of students if they do not consider reasonable alternatives to the budget crisis other than slashing only teacher salaries.
They thought today would be easy; it wasn’t.
This fight was never going to be easy for anyone, and it will NOT be successful without your continued participation in this process. It is critical that we continue to exert pressure on the board and the district to resolve the budget crisis fairly and with equivalent sacrifice.
That said, we need 50% of each school’s staff to come to the Thursday, February 18th Board meeting at Foothill Oak at 7:00. We understand that it is difficult to find the time to go to another meeting, but continued pressure on the board and VUSD management is critical. Make no mistake, you are fighting for a fair and reasonable resolution to this crisis and you have a lot to lose of you do nothing.
We need you to work even harder; you can do it. We can do it TOGETHER.
See you Thursday.
Respectfully,
Your Crisis Team
Crisis Update 02.08.10
Colleagues:Please come to the first Total Unit Member Meeting of the year on Wednesday, February 10th from 4-5 o’clock at TempleHeights. The purpose of this meeting for the entire VTA membership is provide an opportunity to hear from both VTA and CTA speakers about the “state of our union,” the state of the impasse, and the future state of education in California.VTA is committed to providing as many opportunities for you to inform yourself through as many media platforms as possible. Please participate as often as you can in these opportunities so you can help us maintain the powerful experiences of teaching and learning in the VistaUnifiedSchool District.Please take a moment to go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5JRGY35 to help us gather important information about your experience as a teacher in VUSD.Remember the following important dates for the month of February: Wednesday, February 10th: Total Member Unit MeetingMonday, February 15th: Mediation Rally (specific information to come)Thursday, February 18th: Board Meeting (specific information to come)Finally, the “YouTube Q&A with VTA President, Jan O’Reilly,” will be posted later in the week.Respectfully,Your VTA Crisis Team
Crisis Update 02.04.10
Colleagues,
Once again, thank you to everyone who came to the board meeting last Thursday at Roosevelt Middle School. Despite the fact that the venue is twice as big as Foothill’s, once again the seats were packed with hundreds of teachers dressed in black sitting along side parents, students, and community members who are concerned with the budgeting priorities of our district. It was powerful. Given the large number of teachers making signs, distributing informational fliers, and lining the entrance as board members and community members entered the meeting, it is clear that our membership is strong and committed to protecting the powerful educational experiences provided by teachers in our district.
Our next challenge is to support our negotiating team on the first mediation day scheduled for Monday, February 15th at 9:00am at the district office. More specific information on that event will come later, but please plan to attend the mediation in the morning and then in shifts throughout the day to let the district and community know that supporting teachers equals supporting students.
To prepare for this mediation and to provide more platforms for important information, VTA plans to have a “youtube Q & A with VTA leadership.” Please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FSGFYMM to submit questions to Jan O’ Reilly about the current impasse. At the beginning of next week, we will post a video of responses on youtube to the most frequently asked questions as a way of better disseminating information. Questions are due by Saturday, February 6th at midnight.
Please check your private e-mail accounts, the Facebook group (Support VUSD Teachers) and/or the VTA website at http://www.vistata.org/ for more information concerning activities at the upcoming Board meetings and mediation.
Again, thank you for your continued support and persistence.
VTA Crisis Team
Crisis Update 01.22.10
Fellow Teachers,
Thank you to the over 300 teachers who attended last Thursday night’s school board meeting in an amazing show of solidarity and resolve. Your Crisis Team is looking for your thoughts and input in an effort to harness the passion of Thursday’s meeting. Your Crisis Team is asking for your ideas to help us communicate our message of shared sacrifice and fairness in ways that can be displayed in a variety of media. We want you to add to our list of slogans that will engage the support of the public.
We have listed a few below to prime your creativity:
Teachers, The Real Success Makers
Shame on You (On the backs of Teachers Again)
Or (Sacrificing Vista’s Students Again)
Shared Sacrifice
Class Size Matters
Supporting Teachers = Supporting Students
The Crisis Team is moving swiftly and will need your ideas by Tuesday, January 26th so we can move forward on Wednesday.
Please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5S3H3RS and type in as many slogan ideas as you would like into the provided text box.
Respectfully,
Your VTA Crisis Team
Crisis Update 01.19.10
To all of our colleagues that were able to attend Thursday's school board meeting, "YOU WERE AWESOME"!!! Watching the gestures and eye movements of each school board member, it was obvious that they had never anticipated this level of teachers supporting one another.
I do not think these school board members or "their" superintendent ever expected this level of outrage! It is my belief that the District Office Administration had convinced the Board members that "we" would be more complacent. THEY WERE WRONG!!! Collectively, your voices rang strong, consistent and resolved to no longer accept whatever "they" might decide as "a reasonable" reduction to your salary.
There must have been in the neighborhood of 300 +teachers at this meeting! The seats and walls of Foothill Oaks Elementary had no voids and allowed for no hiding places for either School Board Members or Administration.
Every speaking member from each of our schools: elementary school, middle school, continuation school and high school demonstrated the unity of interest and concern for each other well being!
The speakers were eloquent, passionate and powerful in telling each of their stories as well as those stories of our teacher communities. They let the Board know the value of the teacher not as $Dollar figure but as value to students, their sites and even to our district. These speakers made it clear that the unseen and unreported value of each teacher is really that teachers' ongoing commitment to student needs while personal contributing both the teachers time and talents over and above their "regular" teaching time.
Make sure that you say thank you to all of those teachers who attended this school board meeting and those other teachers and staff that contributed to getting our concerns to the school board members!
Our challenge is now who will attend the School Boards' Work Study Session at 5:00 PM January 28th (location to be announced). We will need new and additional faces to show that this type of activity will be ongoing for the long haul and not just a momentary blip on the radar screen. We would especially like to have parents come and speak to the Board and show their support for teachers. If you haven't spoken to your PTA or parents please try to do so soon.
This meeting will most likely be the time and location where the school board members must determine and finalize the 2010-11 Budget and therein their priorities of how they "truly" values teachers. Please have as many teachers attend this meeting as possible! We are attempting to get the Superintendent and Board members to hold this next meeting at a larger facility (possibly Roosevelt or Madison Middle School) where there would be more seating for the audience members.
Again, Thank you all for the support and persistence in staying to support each other and your families!
The VTA Crisis Team