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VTA President's Message 02.12.10
Dear Colleagues,
Be sure to visit the Crisis Update section of our website for current information that is pertinent to our members and community.
Please read this speech written by our Barbara Benavidez. It clearly expresses the thoughts and feelings of many VTA members and inspires our call to action.
Sincerely,
Jan O'Reilly
VTA President
Sitting On the Sidelines
Until 3 weeks ago, I had a phobia of public speaking. I would much prefer getting a root canal without Novocain than to speak in front of my peers, let alone the Board and our Superintendent. But I have been pushed to a breaking point and it is no longer an option for me to allow my weaknesses to prevail.
I wanted to speak to you today because I want to apologize to you. I want to say I am sorry for many of the problems we are facing today. I am part of the reason we are facing them. I take 100% responsibility for the part I played in teaching our district office that teachers don’t matter. I have never been interested in getting involved in the union or political matters of the district. I teach. That is my passion and that is all I cared about. We have union reps to do the bargaining for us. That’s what I pay my union dues for. They would time after time ask for the help of the teachers, but I was always too busy. I work full time and have 3 kids at home. I didn’t have time to involve myself.
Our district has never feared the strength of the mass teacher group because there has never been a mass teacher group. In the end of most every negotiation, the teachers would come up short. And what did we do about it in mass? Not a darn thing. We’d go about our individual business and do what we do best.
When I started in the district 30 years ago, Vista had a great reputation. We were a top ranking district and our teachers were well paid. If you taught in Vista, you were lucky.
Today, I hear comments like “The best thing that ever happened to me was to get fired by Vista. I was hired in another district and got a $4,400.00 raise.”
At the last board meeting, Donna Caperton presented charts that implied that Vista was right up there with the rest of the districts with teacher salaries; not at the top, not at the bottom.
I printed out 11 local school district salary schedules. In doing a comparison of the salary for a first year teacher, the difference between the top paying district and Vista is $11, 484. Vista ranks dead last. In the BA + 60 column, the difference between the top salary and Vista is $20, 093. Not even looking at the top salary, if we just go across the road to San Marcos, the difference in salary between San Marcos and Vista is $7,395 and Oceanside $15, 594. And, in the column of the highest pay possible, we are second to last with a difference of $670.
The point is, we weren’t always on the bottom. We are at the bottom because of choices and decisions made by the DO and our Board. This is about priorities (of which we clearly are not.) This isn’t about our district not getting enough money, but how the money has been spent.
Randy Weins eloquently told the board that the exorbitant cost of the LMB program would prevent teachers from getting a raise. They obviously did not care. They also thought it was more important to redecorate the district office and invest in furniture. And our board saw more value in hiring a superintendent for over a quarter of a million dollars with a car allowance and a very nice benefit package. I don’t know about you, but I don’t see the superintendent teaching Johnny how to read!
I’ve said this before, but it is worth repeating for those of you who don’t know this. A few years ago, the DO Administrators decided that their salary was not up to par with our neighboring districts. They decided they needed a raise and gave themselves an unprecedented raise never before seen in this district, the lowest being 14 % and the highest, depending on who I talk with, varies between 24 – 26%. The highest doesn’t matter; they lost me at 14%. The board approved the raises.
There is something systemically very wrong when the DO places such a high value on themselves and such a low value on teachers, and for the board to go along with this type of thinking.
Over the last 30 years, I think the highest raise we have ever received is 5%, but usually either 1-2%, or no raise at all. Or, if we do get a raise, they take it away with the other hand by raising the cost of benefits. There was one year that the state gave a special allotment of money to school districts for pay raises in which teachers received a raise of 10% or higher. When all other districts received their raise, our district made us work 3 extra days for this money (hence, the Buy Back Days) to earn our 10 %. So in essence, we did not get at 10% raise.
If we are insignificant to the very people we entrust our livelihood to, then it is up to us to show them we matter.
With very few exceptions, along with parents, the teacher is the vehicle that drives students towards their goals in life. Every educated person, every doctor, every judge, every president, has become who they are through the nurturing, wisdom and lessons provided by teachers. Their livelihood made possible due to the planning and dedication of teachers.
We are the backbone of society. We are important and we do matter. The time has come for us to take a stand.
At the last board meeting, Christina Cross, the head counselor at RBV, presented her case as to why they should not cut a counselor from each high school. When it was time to discuss that item, the two counselors were cut. All of the RBV counselors stood together in unison and walked out in front of the board. Before the evening was over, they decided to revisit this issue before making their final decision.
At the board meeting before that, teachers, parents and students from Mission Vista High school also spoke out in great numbers to keep the 4 x 4 schedule. The district is proposing this cut. To date, the board has not cut the 4 x 4 schedule. The collective voices were heard.
Last week, I begged the board to keep the cuts away from the classroom. Today I beg you to get involved and stand united. On February 15th, we must all be at the district office before the mediator shows up and walks through those doors. She needs to see. She needs to know. And that job belongs to all of you. Bring your families, bring your friends, tell your student’s parents. If every one of us brings one person, we will double in size.
If you look around this room, you will see that many of your colleagues are missing. We need you to convince each teacher to stand united with us. Let them know if we continue doing what we’ve always done, we will continue getting what we’ve always been given. Little to nothing! We need to change our level of involvement.
This is a Unified District. Let’s show them what that means. What letter does unified begin with? That’s right, “U” and it will take each and every one of you to stand together to show our district we matter.
VTA President's Message 01.20.10
Dear Colleagues,
The following message was written by JB Barton and I believe it expresses the sentiments of all teachers who participated in last Thursday’s Board meeting.
To all of our colleagues who 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 Oak 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, middle, continuation and high school demonstrated the unity of interest and concern for each other’s 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 a dollar figure but as a 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. Teachers are personally contributing both their 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 to 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 at Roosevelt Middle School. 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 make it a point to do so soon. We need someone to videotape and take photos at this meeting. Please contact Rosemary Smithfield at1rickrose@msn.com to volunteer.
This meeting will determine the Board Members priorities since they must determine and finalize the 2010-11 Budget. Will teachers be a priority? Please have as many teachers attend this meeting as possible! Please check your personal e-mail accounts and www.vistata.orgfor more information concerning activities at the Board meeting.
Again, thank you all for the support and persistence in staying to support each other and your families!
JB Barton and your VTA Crisis Team
Impasse Update:
The State Mediator has scheduled Monday, February 15th for our first mediation session. The meeting will commence at 9:00 AM at the School District Office. A rally will be planned. Stay tuned for more information but plan on attending…your bargaining team needs your support.
SB 472 Training:
I have received several calls regarding teacher attendance at SB 472 trainings. Trainings are being offered over the course of several Saturdays and the first week of Spring break. Teachers are not required to attend these trainings. The only time a teacher is required to attend is when the District hires a substitute teacher to release a teacher during their contract day. Do not feel pressured to attend. If asked by your administrator to participate, a simple no thank you should suffice. If you feel pressured contact your VTA Rep.
Merit Pay….Does It Have Merit?
NEA President Dennis Van Roekel will appear on a taped segment this Friday morning on CBS News’ The Early Show. Reporter Kelly Wallace talked to Dennis about merit pay. The piece profiles a school that offers a merit pay program for teachers, but also explores the effectiveness of such incentive programs.
The story will air nationally, Friday, January 22. The Early Show is a television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City, 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday. The Early Show features celebrity interviews, light entertainment and news pieces. The show reaches 500,000 viewers a week, airing on 200 local CBS stations and in several international markets. For more on this news outlet:
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earlyshow/main500202.shtml
Health Net Cards are Here!
By now you should have received your new Health Net Card. Contact Jarrod Madrusso atjarrodmadrusso@vusd.k12.ca.us with any questions.
Sincerely,
Jan O'Reilly
VTA President
VTA President's Message 01.04.10
Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year! I trust your holiday was restful, providing you with a bit of time to enjoy family, friends and time to reflect on your new year resolutions.
As we head into the second half of this school year we find ourselves in a crisis situation in our negotiations. We are currently establishing days in which to meet with a state appointed mediator, most likely sometime in February.
Your VTA Crisis Team met over the holiday and created an action plan. Today, January 4th, we held an emergency Rep Council meeting to share this plan. What does this mean to you and what can you do to help?
· Plan to attend a site 20 minute emergency meeting this week. Your Site Rep should announce date, time & place tomorrow
· If you haven’t already, submit your private email address to your Site Rep or go to the contact us link above to submit it electronically to the VTA office
· Beginning this Thursday, January 7th, and every Thursday during this crisis wear black to school as a sign of our disapproval of the Board’s action of declaring impasse
· Do not use District email to discuss negotiations….use your private email account
Your Crisis Team members are:
Rosemary Smithfield, GV 1rickrose@msn.com
Matt Lattuada, AVHS rule_number_62@sbcglobal.net
Randy Wiens, RBVHS vonwiener@gmail.com
Brenda Del Maestro, GV brendel1@cox.net
Doug Beanan, MMS dbeanan@aol.com
JB Barton, RBVHS jbmbbbsbab@aol.com
Barbara Franklin, VMMS bf1120@cox.netChris Grainger, VHS legrainge@cox.net
Debbie Morton debmort@sbcglobal.net
Georgine Tomasi, CTA gtsmrrc@aol.com
Contact them with questions, concerns and ideas.
For a look back on the negotiation process and the steps explaining impasse, please visit the President's Message Archive section of this website.
Stay tuned....and informed!
Sincerely,
Jan O'Reilly
VTA President
President's Message 12.17.09
Dear Colleagues,
Holiday time is fast approaching and we are all looking forward to precious time to spend with family and friends. The negotiation impasse is a serious crisis for our members. Impasse was not the Association’s choice but we are gearing up for the challenge and ready to face management. We know impasse may cause stress and worry for you and your families but we believe together we will prevail. Enjoy your well earned winter break and know that come January VTA will be calling on you to participate in planned events at your site and at Board meetings.
Retirement Incentive -
One bit of good news! For those certificated employees (non-management) VTA has negotiated a retirement incentive. Employees with at least 10 years of service to VUSD who will be at least 55 by June 30, 2010 are eligible for the incentive. These employees will receive a packet of information (meeting dates, times, specifics of the offerings, etc) in their home mail. The District office will be mailing the packets Thursday, December 17, 2009. Additionally, the information will be emailed from VTA via the District email system late Thursday afternoon. Should you have any questions please contact Myrna Vallely, extension 2269.
Impasse, Mediation, Fact Finding…what does it all mean?
Friday, December 11, 2009 the District unilaterally declared impasse. What does this mean? The following is a delineation and explanation of the process.
Impasse—The District must inform PERB (Public Employees Relation Board) that they declared impasse. In their declaration they must explain the articles still not meeting agreement, their rationale and how they have negotiated in good faith.
PERB will then ask for VTA’s positions and our rationale for deadlock (if we agree) and how we have negotiated in good faith.
Mediation-When PERB determines that we are indeed at impasse they will assign a state mediator to induce agreement between VTA and VUSD. The mediator will set up at least three sessions for negotiations. If the two parties cannot reach agreement at these sessions the mediator will certify the dispute to Factfinding.
Factfinding-A neutral party is assigned (by the state) to the assessment of the parties’ bargaining dispute. Two additional members are assigned to the panel, one from each of the parties. The panel hears arguments and then makes a non-binding recommendation for settling the dispute. If the parties do not agree to the recommendation then they are at true impasse.
Suspension of Bargaining- If all sections of EERA (Educational Employment Relations Act) procedures are exhausted then this holds drastic legal consequences for both parties.
VUSD-Suspension of duty to bargain in good faith, unilaterally impose its “Last, Best, and Final Offer.”
VTA- Members may refuse to perform mandatory job duties (i.e. strike).
Timeline-
- PERB assignment of a mediator can take a few weeks to a month to set up sessions. These are based on the workload of the mediator and their schedule. Sessions can take place over three days or the course of a few weeks. This has no hard and fast timelines but is based on availability of the mediator.
- Factfinding has a timeline set up for when the information from both parties must be submitted. Both parties must present a report within 10-30 days of declaration of Factfinding. The panel has time to study the information before submitting their written report.
Charts-Please download the following Informational Charts on the right:
1. VTA and VUSD contract proposals comparison chart
2. Salary schedule comparison of current salaries and what a 4.7% pay cut would look like (this is the District’s current proposals)
To all members, please e-mail your personal (home) e-mail address to your site rep immediately. This will allow VTA to set up e-mail distribution lists for contacting members regarding action items such as rallies, Board meeting activities and other concerted events.
Sincerely,
Jan O'Reilly
VTA President
VTA President's Message 11.04.09
Dear Colleagues,
Insurance Update:
Insurance packets have been delivered to every school site and should be in teacher mail boxes. The packet contains all necessary information for selecting medical insurance, directions for enrolling online and the Section 125 Pre-tax Plan. Enrollment must be completed by Thursday, November 19th.
American Fidelity has already begun visiting school sites to meet with teachers who are interested in participating in the Section 125 Pre-tax Plan. Please see your office manager for your site's scheduled visit.
Remember, insurance premiums will be deducted from your December pay warrant.
Bargaining Update:
Since the last President's Message VTA and VUSD have meet twice to negotiate. The process seems to be working better without the assistance of the District lawyer. Although we are not much closer to an agreement we are making progress. We have tentatively agreed to some smaller items but no agreement yet on salary and class size.
Good news reported from the Budget Advisory Committee.....$13.5 million required cuts instead of $15.1 million! This is still grim news for our district but it helps mitigate the problem.....a little bit.
A retirement incentive is being explored. Currently, three companies are analyzing district provided information to determine the feasibility. The District anticipates receiving information from these companies within the next two weeks. At that time we will work together to bring forth an offer to employees.
Our next bargaining session is Tuesday, December 1st.
Working to Contract:
I hear complaints on a daily basis that teachers feel they are being taken advantage of by being asked to take on additional responsibilities. According to Article 18 in our contract teachers must work 7.5 hours per day which includes preparation activities, before and or after school duties, etc. It is the professional obligation of each bargaining unit member to participate in activities that serve to encourage, support and direct student learning. Such activities include Back-to-School Night, Open House, various meetings such as staff meetings, IEP/SSTs and parent conferences. Teachers may be required to attend and supervise events/activities per school year. Individual events/activities shall not exceed three (3) hours above and beyond the individual's contracted workday. Event supervision may be assigned from extracurricular events, athletic events and/or non-teaching duties and activities.
These activities and duties require a substantial amount of time. Given the current changes going on in the educational field within VUSD such as the implementation of SIOP, EnVision Math, Learning Cycle/Walk, posting of daily goals and objectives, etc., feeling guilty about giving more of your time is not acceptable. Anything over and above these obligations are not required by our members. Don't allow yourself to be pressured, and exercise your option to say no.
Tutoring:
Funds for before and after school tutorials are from a categorical fund that allows the District flexibility in using these funds for other uses. Our District is using the funds to help reduce the budget deficit. Each site administrator was informed that the District would no longer provide the funding to the site and that the site leadership team should reevaluate their own site budget and determine whether they have the funds to continue the tutorials. What does this mean to you? Possibly no more tutorials for your site which means a loss of additional income for you. I am aware that some teachers are choosing to continue with the tutorials without pay. This is a personal choice but keep in mind what one does affects all.
Stay tuned!
Jan O' Reilly
VTA President
www.vistata.org
VTA President's Message 10.19.09
Dear Colleagues,
Insurance Update
Look for your Open Enrollment packet the week of November 2nd. Each person will have the option to enroll online or attend an Open Enrollment meeting to have questions answered by a representative from Health Net or Kaiser. To enroll, employees may use any computer with internet access. For your availability, computer labs at the meeting sites will be open for employees to complete their on-line enrollment during these meetings.Like Open Enrollment meetings of the past dental, vision, and life insurance vendors will be participating to provided the opportunity for Q & A’s. The Standard (CTA disability) and American Fidelity will also be in attendance.
The dates, locations and times are as follow:
Monday 11/9/09 3-6pm
Temple Heights Elementary School MPR
Wednesday 11/18/09 3-6pm
Crestview Elementary School MPR
All current Aetna members must respond during the Open Enrollment period to select a new plan for 2010 since the Aetna medical plan will no longer be offered. If a current Aetna member does not respond they will automatically be enrolled in the Health Net high deductible PPO plan (with their current dental selection). Current Kaiser members will remain on the same plan should they not respond during the Open Enrollment period. Please refer to your Open Enrollment packet for payroll deductions. All enrollment changes made during this enrollment period will take effect 1/1/2010 but the monthly deduction will occur in your December pay warrant.
Bargaining Update
The District and VTA Bargaining Teams will be meeting on Thursday, October 29th. At last week's school board meeting I shared with the Board that our negotiations process is highly ineffective and must be changed. Currently, both sides share proposals, discuss them then part to write counterproposals then meet a couple of weeks later to go through the same process. VTA 's bargaining team has stated repeatedly that we would like to meet and work through the process until we come to agreement on all proposals. The management team often states that they must get direction from the Board. If the District's management team does not have the authority to make decisions then the Board needs to provide the team who can do so. VTA also believes the District lawyer, who leads the district team, is a hindrance to the process. After recent discussions with the Board we anticipate we will see a change in how negotiations are conducted. The VTA members of the District Budget Advisory Committee have reported to the Bargaining Team that the District needs to cut an additional $15 million for the 2010/2011 school year. The Budget Committee has generated two lists; one for nonnegotiable items that include programs and positions and the other for negotiable items. Even if all the nonnegotiable items were cut the budget would still need additional items cut to balance the budget. Ultimately, the Board makes the final decision on the nonnegotiable items and are hoping through negotiations other cuts will be made to meet the $15 million. Given that teachers will soon be paying more out of their pockets for insurance and that we are the lowest paid teachers in North San Diego county, yet our test scores continue to rise, it hardly seems right that the cuts are on our backs.VUSD and VTA are exploring the possibility of offering a one time retirement incentive. The study will exam the number of teachers eligible and the minimum number needed to take the incentive for it to be a cost savings measure for the District. VTA believes there are substantial savings to be made. We will keep you posted as more information becomes available. Our next scheduled bargaining meeting is October 29, 2009. Expect a more detailed report after that meeting.
Grades 1-5 Physical Education
According to California Ed Code 51223 & 51210 it is mandated that all K-5 students receive 200 minutes of physical education every 10 school days. Each school may configure the time and activity to their needs as long as they meet the minimum requirements. Any questions or concerns please contact me.
Miscellaneous Be sure and visit the 6th Annual VUSD Art Festival at the Vista Village Center/Krikorian Center this Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Hundreds of VUSD students will have the opportunity to share their art work, perform in their school's choir, band or dance troupe. This is an amazing demonstration of how the visual and performing arts are utilized in our schools. Bring a friend and be an eye witness to the artistic and musical talents of our students. You won't be disappointed!
Stay Tuned!
Jan O' Reilly
VTA President
www.vistata.org
President's Message 09.19.09
Dear Colleagues,
As we’ve settled into our eighth week of school…..learning our student’s names, implementing new curriculum, administering our first Benchmark exams, we all realize that the challenges we face as educators and union members seem to fluctuate as much as the state and federal budgets. In order to maintain our contract, build a stronger and more effective union we need to rely on our very dedicated Site Reps. They are the eyes and ears of our Association at our schools. In order to more effectively carry out their duties they attend monthly association meetings where district and state information is shared and discussed. Contract language is reviewed and Reps are to return to their site to hold monthly 10 minute site meetings to share and or gather information. It is at the sites that our union strength resides. Support your Site Reps by attending your 10 minute meeting. If a Site Rep cannot answer your question they know how to access it for you.
Insurance Update
Our insurance carrier for the 2010 coverage year will be Health Net and Kaiser. Each person will receive an Open Enrollment packet prior to the open enrollment period of November 5-19. This year each person will have the option to enroll online or attend an enrollment meeting to have questions answered by a representative from Health Net or Kaiser. Like Open Enrollment meetings of the past dental, vision, and life insurance vendors will be participating to provided the opportunity for Q & A’s. Dates and locations will be forthcoming as soon as they are formally scheduled.
For those members who will be changing plans that will result in a monthly salary deduction American Fidelity will visit every school site to allow each person to register for the flexible spending plan and or the pre taxed deduction of insurance premiums. These site meetings will occur during the month of November. Expect an email from Jarrod Madrusso, Employee Benefits Technician with this information. The information will also be in the Open Enrollment packet.
Please note that insurance deductions will occur in your December pay warrant. This is due to the fact that insurance premiums must be paid a month ahead of the coverage.
More information is to follow.
Bargaining Update
The District and VTA have both submitted their proposals but no bargaining has occurred. The District’s most recent proposals included salary cuts, increased class sizes for all grade levels, and furlough days. VTA’s counter proposals included no salary cuts, no increases in class size and our position on furlough days.
Your bargaining team is well aware that we are the only district in the county that has not settled a contract in three years. We are highly frustrated and concerned about the lack of progress. An example of one stumbling block to progress is the management team’s use of a lawyer who leads the district team. This is costly and prohibitive to working together to finding fair and reasonable agreements. Currently, we are pursuing options to change the process by which bargaining occurs so that our contract is settled by December….2009.
Our next scheduled bargaining meeting is October 29, 2009, where you can expect a more detailed report.
SB 472
For those teachers who attended the SB 472 training this past summer look for your $500 stipend in your October pay warrant.
Miscellaneous
VUSD Art Festival: October 24th, 10-4 at the Vista Village Center/Krikorian Center. Please try to attend the festival to witness the artistic and musical talent of our students.
Congratulations to Vista Magnet Middle School teacher, Jennifer Eckle, who was one of ten finalists in the San Diego County Office of Education and Cox Communication “Salute to Teachers” on October 10, 2009. Kudos to one of our many top notch teachers!
Look for your next VTA President’s message Thursday, October 22nd.
Stay Tuned!
Jan O' Reilly
VTA President
www.vistata.org
President's Message 06.14.09
Dear Colleagues,
The end of the school year is near but the looming budget crisis is on the minds of all of our members. The Executive Board, Bargaining Team and the VTA members of the Budget Committee have written an update for our members. Please read it below. We also asked at the Rep Council meeting for all Reps to gather summer contact information from Prob 1's, Prob 2's and Permanent Status teachers who have ten (10) years or less service to VUSD as a precautionary measure in case of late summer RIF notices. Please send the contact information to the VTA office. As we hear news over the summer we will contact all teachers via email.
VTA Budget and Bargaining Update:
As you know, times are tough in California. The California Budget is the worst in history. Layoffs, program cuts, and reduced services of this magnitude have not been experienced since the Great Depression.
So where are we?
Negotiations-we are near agreements on the following:
· Per contract a Buy Back Day will be cut, most likely in January but we have not worked out the final language.
· K-5 collaboration time.
The district has expressed interest in:
· Cutting calendar days (i.e. furloughs, release days)
· Cutting salary
· Freezing step and column movement
· Eliminating or modifying K-3 CSR
· Increasing class sizes at 6-12
· Expanding District rights for involuntary transfers
Note: If a tentative agreement is reached, even over the summer, then the following steps must occur:
1) Executive Board must approve tentative agreement(s)
2) Rep. Assembly meeting must be scheduled in order to authorize a vote of the general membership to ratify the contract
3) A 10-day posting period and subsequent 14-day voting period are required by VTA by-laws
4) A majority vote would send the agreement to the VUSD School Board for approval
New Round of Layoffs
As a precautionary measure we are requesting summer contact information from Prob 1, Prob 2 and Permanent Status teachers who have ten years or less of service in VUSD. Site Reps have the information sheets and should have held a 10 minute meeting to disseminate this information.
The current economic crisis, by state law, allows school districts to expand the cut-off date for employee layoffs to August 15th. We anticipate the Board to take action on June 18th (at their 5 PM public meeting at Temple Heights) to authorize Human Resources to notify additional employees that they are being RIF’ed.
The VTA Executive Board will do our best to stay on top of the budget crisis and keep you informed. Please ask your Reps if you have any questions and let them know how they can contact you over the summer. We will try to have a Unit Member meeting in August before the first Buy Back Day. Stay tuned!
Jan O' Reilly
VTA President
President's Message 05.19.09
Dear Colleagues,
These truly are trying times for Education in the state of California. The unsettling economic situation has left all of us feeling concerned for our profession. On a daily basis we hear horror stories about people losing their jobs after years of employment. We are fortunate to be educators yet we are facing our own set of financial hurdles. Severe cuts to the California education profession in California are just that....severe.
At the state level CTA is working hard to prevent cuts but do know that if
Propositions 1A & 1B do not pass more cuts are imminent. $3.6 billion will be cut in the 09-10 school year. What does $3.6 billion equal? According to the Department of Finance this could result in laying off over 51,000 teachers state-wide, reducing per pupil spending by $600+, closing schools for several days (10-20 days est.), increasing class size by 15%, laying off 85,000 classified employees and eliminating ALL music and art programs.
At our local level VTA is working hard to prevent further cuts. At this point in time the following has been maintained: *Class Size Reduction has been maintained at 20:1 (including those five sites who have CSR at the Kindergarten level).
* Class sizes at all other grades have been maintain also. * Our salaries have not been frozen.
* Step and column is still in place. * Stipends have been maintained. * VTA members on budget committee have worked to keep cuts away from the classroom. Daily state budget woes are reported out from CTA, the Department of Education, California School Board Association, California School Services and the Classified Connection to mention a few all sharing the same dismal news. What can we do? Encourage and educate voters to support the pass of Propositions 1A & 1B. CTA will be hosting phone banks and information meetings up and down our state. For more information about these propositions and how to volunteer see page 2. I know this special election comes at a bad time, falling in the middle of state testing and year-end exams, and I want to thank everyone who has been making phone calls and urging the public to support these propositions. We must keep up the hard work. Proposition 1A stabilizes future state funding, creates a long-term reserve fund to prevent further cuts to schools and works with Prop 1B to repay $9.3 billion owed to public schools. Proposition 1B repays schools more than $9 billion: money that would help rehire teachers and restore vital student programs. I urge you to continue talking to colleagues, family members and friends. Ask them to vote on May 19th and stand up for public schools once again.
Sincerely,
Jan O’Reilly
VTA President
www.vistata.org