Valued VTA Members,
As a lead in to our March 4th bargaining meeting, Dr. Devin Vodicka distributed a letter on March 3rd assuring us that the VUSD team will continue to model our VUSD values. He listed respect, trust and collaboration. After years of furlough days, larger class sizes and increased health care costs VTA was finally able to negotiate a raise, return class sizes to previous language and a very small addition to the insurance CAP. These advances only came about due to the VTA bargaining team's dedication to a fair agreement and the support of all VTA members. We were able to bargain this agreement because the facts supported the VTA team. VUSD had increased their reserve over five years due to concessions by VTA members and with the new funding formula the District received millions of dollars more in their budget. For the 2015-2016 the District will receive additional monies. In their own words: "Based on what the District received for 14/15 and the Governors Budget Proposal we are expecting to receive $13.45 million in additional funding. Of that $13.45 million, $5.26 million is Supplemental & Concentration leaving $8.19 million for base." Heading into bargaining sessions with this good news we trust to collaboratively reach an agreement that respects our contribution to student success. We will be keeping you updated as the sessions progress. Stayed tuned. Sincerely, Barbara J Dawson
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Common Core Staff Development Day- March 30, 2015
This day is optional and was bargained with the District last year to have two common core staff development days. The State gave each District one time money to use for professional development and hardware or software. Since it is one-time money it was bargained as optional and the pay is per diem. You must submit a timesheet for this day to your office manager. It is not necessary to call in if you chose not to attend. 2015 NEA-RA State Delegate Elections This is the first time the voting will be offered electronically Members serviced by the San Diego County Service Center will have three (3) ways to vote for NEA-RA State delegates. 1. Electronic Voting. On or before February 13, 2015, members will receive an e-mail message from Simply Voting, Inc. The e-mail will contain a link which will lead members to a secure website where they will be able to vote online. A personal identification number plus an assigned password will be provided in the e-mail message. Members who receive an e-mail, but do not wish to vote electronically can request a physical ballot from Simply Voting, Inc. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot from Simply Voting, Inc. is February 20, 2015. Requests should be made to: SDSC@simplyvoting.com. 2. Mail-In Voting. On or before February 13, 2015, members who do not have a valid e-mail address registered with CTA will receive a mail-in ballot automatically from Simply Voting, Inc. 3. Walk-in voting. A mail-in ballot that has been acquired from Simply Voting, Inc. can be hand-delivered to the San Diego RRC. Ballots must be sealed in the return envelope provided by Simply Voting, Inc., and hand-delivered by the deadline. The CTA San Diego RRC is located at: 5333 Mission Center Road, Suite 200 San Diego, CA 92108 Do not mail your ballot to the CTA San Diego RRC – it will not be accepted. Replacement materials (ballots, bio’s, envelopes) will not be available at the CTA office. Members, who have not received an e-mail or a mail-in ballot by February 18th, should contact Simply Voting, Inc. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot from Simply Voting, Inc. is February 20, 2015. Requests should be made to: SDSC@simplyvoting.com. Members are responsible to ensure that their ballot is submitted by March 13, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. TB tests- The District working with our school nurses have developed an alternative to the traditional tuberculin skin test. It is called the Adult Tuberculosis Risk Assessment questionnaire. It will be conducted by school nurses at no cost to employees. If you are able to answer no to the five risk assessment questions then you are not required to have the TB skin test or x-ray. If a TB skin test is required or a x-ray then the employee will be responsible for the cost. Elementary missing Monday collaboration days- The District agreed to hourly pay for elementary teachers to make up the five Monday holidays. You must inform your principal beforehand and submit a timesheet and agenda. The time must be in collaboration with a co-worker. While VTA knows this is not a perfect solution it is what is in place for this school year and we will work on a more equitable permanent solution. CTA Good teaching conference- This conference is being held at the Sheraton Harbor Island in San Diego, March 20-22, 2015. At this point VTA is sending 30 teachers to the conference. If you would like to attend we are keeping a wait list. If anyone cancels we will fill in with other interested teachers. Please call Lisa, VTA secretary, at 760-758-2690 to add your name to our list. VTA Scholarship Foundation- The chair of the VTA scholarship fund is Paul Farrar, a retired VUSD teacher. Paul wrote an article about our scholarship fund and gave a historical perspective of where it started and the amazing amount of funds the teachers of Vista have raised. Please consider donating at least $3.00 a month or $30 a year to continue the great tradition our foundation has served in our community. Please take a moment to read Paul's article. About VTA Scholarship Fund VISTA TEACHERS GO WAY BEYOND Vista Unified is a diverse school district in northern San Diego County with 22,000 students, 60% of whom are Hispanic and 30% Anglo. Some of you old-timers may recall Vista as the town that gained state and national notoriety in the early ‘90’s when the school board majority mandated the teaching of creationism and a religiously oriented approach to sex ed. Fortunately, the Vista Teachers Association and other supporters of public education in the community rallied together, and the majority was ousted in a recall election. But the teachers of Vista deserve recognition for an entirely different effort, a 27 year endeavor to provide scholarships to deserving students. It all began as the brainchild of Len Defabio, two-time VTA President and a 1994 recipient of the CTA State WHO Award. Len believed that if hundreds of us were to donate a small amount monthly through voluntary payroll deductions, we could reward and encourage many Vista students beyond teaching them in our classrooms. Thus, the Vista Teachers Association Scholarship Fund (VTASF) was formed as a California Public Benefit Corporation in 1988. From its modest beginning, when six seniors shared $4125, the VTASF has grown immensely. Last year, $38,000 was divided among 94 recipients. In its 27 years, the VTASF has provided nearly $634,000 to approximately 1500 students! Perhaps a voluntary teachers association scholarship fund isn’t exactly unique. However, VTASF is exceptional in several ways: · Only about a third of the total money distributed each year goes to teacher dependents; the majority is given to graduating seniors at Vista’s high schools. · Dependents are allowed to apply an additional three years after high school graduation. · A $250 scholarship is set aside yearly for a graduating senior from each of the district’s three continuation high schools. · $1000 is provided yearly to the high school for the handicapped for students who need financial help for wheelchair repair, field trips, etc. For more than 20 years, I have stressed that it’s more important that teachers participate, not how much they contribute. A few dollars monthly, multiplied by several hundred can provide some recognition to students who might otherwise receive none at all. Several recipients each year are the first in their family to graduate from high school, and many more the first to attend college. A frequent theme is financial need, not for dormitory accommodations or incidentals, but for the very basics like tuition or books. The teachers of Vista, like teachers everywhere, can be proud of their efforts to help their students along their individual paths. I’d like to think that we in Vista have gone way beyond. Paul Farrar VTASF Chair (Retired Teacher, 2004) pfarr222@yahoo.com Vista Education Foundation-The Vista Education Foundation awards grants to teachers, students and sites to further the arts, technology and scholarship. The Foundation is a non-profit organization and all funds raised are donated to the school District through grant applications. If you would like to apply for a grant go to the VEF website and download the grant application. The foundation board meets the first Tuesday of every month and you may submit grant applications anytime during the school year. The website is: http://www.vistaedfoundation.org Evaluations-The new evaluation procedures are outlined in the VUSD/VTA contract. All Probationary 1 & 2 teachers should have their evaluations completed by March 1st . For permanent status teachers your final evaluation summary and observation must be completed by May 1st. If you have any questions contact me at vistateachers@gmail.com. VTA Elections-When we return from Spring Break we will be accepting nominations for VTA President, Vice-President, CTA State Council Representative and eight(8) NEA/RA representatives. The NEA/RA is being held in Orlando, Florida this year and will be June 30-July 6, 2015. The local NEA/RA delegate elections are for two year terms. The NEA/RA in 2016 will be held in Washington, DC. While VTA is eligible to send eight (8) Reps to the RA we only budgeted to send three(3) members so the top three (3) vote getters will attend and the other candidates will fill in if needed. If you would like to know more about the NEA/RA please email me at vistateachers@gmail.com. We will also be accepting nominations for site Reps at each site. These are two year terms for site Reps. Each school site is eligible for one (1) site Rep per 20 members or major portion thereof. If your site has 32 teachers you can have two (2) reps, if you have 51 teachers you are eligible for three (3) reps. We would like every site to have the correct number of reps; this will increase communication between the VTA executive Board, Rep Council and the school sites. Please consider taking on this important role at your school site. Site Reps also receive three event credits for their service. As I am termed out as President and ineligible to run we will be electing a new VTA President. This is a two-year term beginning June 26, 2015-June 25, 2017. More information will be sent out as the nomination deadline approaches. Happy Holidays:
VTA wishes all our members a Happy Holiday season. May you enjoy your well deserved rest and spending time with family and friends. The VTA office will be closed December 20-January 4th and re-open January 5th. If you have an emergency please email me at vistateachers@gmail.com. I will be checking my email. CTA Good Teaching Conference South: VTA will be sending 30-35 teachers to the Good Teaching Conference. It is on a first come basis please contact VTA Secretary, Lisa Ingles, to reserve your spot at the conference. The CTA Good Teaching Conferences are designed to support excellent teaching and learning practices for classroom teachers. Offering a variety of diverse workshops in curriculum content areas for K-12 teachers, the conferences provide opportunities for professional development and offer time to network and share ideas with colleagues and experts in the field. The Good Teaching Conference also features two different, full-day pre-conferences on Friday. One pre-conference focuses on the new Common Core Statewide Standards in the areas of curriculum, literacy strategies, technology and assessments. The other pre-conference concentrates on planning now for retirement and what educators need to know to prepare for retirement and to make good financial decisions. Click Register Online to find out more about these great additions to the Good Teaching Conference. You may be eligible for release time for the Retirement Planning Pre-Conference. Date: March 20-22, 2015 | Location: Sheraton San Diego New Evaluation System: The new evaluation system has a Personnel handbook to explain the different procedures and even includes a rubric for each of the standards and sub strands. You can find it on the District website: http://vistausdca.schoolloop.com/file/1346929853202/1346929755224/4166738374462020987.pdf You can also find a link to it on the VTA website at www.vistata.org Unit members with permanent status who have been employed by the District for at least ten (10) years shall be evaluated only once every five (5) years if the employee is highly qualified under State and Federal Law and if the teacher’s previous performance evaluation certifies that the employee meets or exceeds District standards. The other new section is: The evaluator may withdraw consent for this evaluation option at any time with cause. Previously the administrator could refuse the five year evaluation for any reason, now they must show cause. Along with having a five year evaluation cycle you are not responsible for writing goals on non-evaluation years. For probationary or temporary teachers: 26.1.2.1. Probationary/temporary employees (hereinafter referred to as "Probationary" for purposes of evaluation) shall be notified in writing after April 30 of the preceding year or before September 15 of the current year regarding their evaluation and the process. 26.1.2.2 The written notification shall also include the following information and directions: The evaluator’s(s’) suggested time and date for the pre-evaluation orientation meeting to be held no later than October 1. Probationary teachers will be observed twice before November 20th and the observations will cover three of the sixth Standards for the Teaching profession. Another observation will be conducted between November 20th and March 1st. For adult Education or hourly certificated teachers working more than twenty (20) hours a week: 26.1.3.1 The employee and evaluator(s) shall determine the date of the pre-evaluation orientation meeting. There will be one observation conducted for teachers being evaluated. Contact barbara49@gmail.com or vistateachers@gmail.com if you have any questions about your evaluation. JB Barton-Vice President steps down:
On Tuesday, September 30th VTA 1st Vice-President JB Barton, teacher at RBV, steps down as VP after four plus years. We are grateful for the many years JB has given in service to the Vista Teachers Association. JB has been a teacher in Vista Unified since 1975. JB has served on Bargaining, grievance and Executive Board in many roles over the years. He is our Association historian and we value his input and his guidance. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of all teachers in Vista and spoken up for us at Board meetings and as a representative on committees. We understand that JB is ready for the next adventures in his life and we wish him the best. Please take the time to thank JB for his service if you see him or in emails. He is a modest man who doesn't like to be fussed over but he deserves our thanks. Thank you JB Collaboration Time: As we complete our sixth week of school some progress reports are being submitted, the rhythm of the classroom and students is meshing and you should be well into your collaboration Mondays. VTA is interested in how the collaboration time is being spent and what you value about the time and what you think could change. Since this was a bargained item we thought it was time to check in with our members and get your feedback. Please take a minute to fill out this very short survey. We will look closely over your responses and comments to share with the District to avoid conflicts and problems. We would also like to share the things that are working well and that you like about the time in collaboration. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TWMK92G New Evaluation System: By this time of year you should know if you are in an evaluation year or not. For permanent status teachers the deadline to notify you is October 1st. Another new section of the contract is: Unit members with permanent status who have been employed by the District for at least ten (10) years shall be evaluated only once every five (5) years if the employee is highly qualified under State and Federal Law and if the teacher’s previous performance evaluation certifies that the employee meets or exceeds District standards. The other new section is: The evaluator may withdraw consent for this evaluation option at any time with cause. Previously the administrator could refuse the five year evaluation for any reason, now they must show cause. Along with having a five year evaluation cycle you are not responsible for writing goals on non-evaluation years. For probationary or temporary teachers: 26.1.2.1. Probationary/temporary employees (hereinafter referred to as "Probationary" for purposes of evaluation) shall be notified in writing after April 30 of the preceding year or before September 15 of the current year regarding their evaluation and the process. 26.1.2.2 The written notification shall also include the following information and directions: The evaluator’s(s’) suggested time and date for the pre-evaluation orientation meeting to be held no later than October 1. Probationary teachers will be observed twice before November 20th and the observations will cover three of the sixth Standards for the Teaching profession. Another observation will be conducted between November 20th and March 1st. For adult Education or hourly certificated teachers working more than twenty (20) hours a week: 26.1.3.1 The employee and evaluator(s) shall determine the date of the pre-evaluation orientation meeting. There will be one observation conducted for teachers being evaluated. Contact barbara49@gmail.com or vistateachers@gmail.com if you have any questions about your evaluation. Welcome to the 2014-2015 School year:
This new school year started out with the District hiring 170 new teachers. With the lower class sizes there was a need to hire more teachers throughout the District. Please make these new members welcome and invite them to the VTA social on September 19th at the Vista Entertainment Center for an afternoon of bowling and socializing. Please RSVP to VTASecretary@gmail.com. New Contract Highlights: · Lower class sizes o TK-3 School wide average of 24-1 and no class larger than 26. If you have more than 26 students please let your site rep know. o Grades 6-8 class cap of 34 but 190 daily contacts o Grades 9-12 class cap of 38 but 165 daily contacts · Monday PLC o Elementary schools are early release o Middle school and high school late start o New language from the contract: Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, weekly collaboration time will be established at all elementary, middle, and high schools (excluding alternative high schools).Collaboration will be focused on teaching and student learning aligned with the implementation of the California Common Core State Standards. Collaboration time will be teacher directed with accountability through an agenda and minutes. Administration is a recognized participant in the collaboration process. During this collaboration hour, teachers are required to be working with peers and may not use this time for individual preparation. o Teachers are in charge of the agenda with input and participation of their administrator. If you have grade level leads or department chairs in charge make sure that all teachers have a say in the agendas. If you have any questions about your PLC please contact your site Rep or VTA at vistateachers@gmail.com · Teacher Evaluation o New Evaluation process will begin this school year. o Veteran teachers who are on an evaluation cycle will choose two of the standards for the teaching profession and your admin will choose one. o New teachers will have the administrator pick for them. o If you have 10 years of teaching experience or more in Vista and you have had exceeds or meets on previous evaluations you may be placed on a five year evaluation cycle. The principal can only remove you for cause (this is different than in the past). · Special Education o Co-Teaching” (Supported Teaching) is defined as having two teachers in the classroom (one general education and one education specialist) for the purpose of providing an inclusive setting for students with exceptional needs in the least restrictive environment as recommended by the Individualized Education Plan (IEP)in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act(2004). o Co-teachers (general education and education specialist) in grades 6-12 shall have a common preparation period. o 20.2.3.8 Caseloads for Education Specialists § 20.2.3.8.1 Education Specialist- Mild/Moderate Pre-School: 16 § 20.2.3.8.2 Education Specialist- Mild/Moderate Elementary (TK-5): 20 § 20.2.3.8.3 Education Specialist- Mild/Moderate Secondary (6-12): 22 § 20.2.3.8.4 Education Specialist- Moderate/Severe: 12 · Hourly Prep time teachers now are VTA members o As of this school year all hourly teachers, art prep, ASES or intervention will be VTA members. Please have them contact VTA to sign a membership form § They will receive prep time § Lunch if they work for six hours § Sick hours based on hours worked § Eligibility for health insurance Standard Disability Insurance · As a VTA member you are eligible to sign up for the Standard Disability Insurance. Teachers are not eligible for the State Disability and must purchase their own. Standard is a company endorsed by CTA. In November we will be conducting a special enrollment period. This means if we are able to get 55 members to sign up then you do not have to get a doctor’s clearance and it will cover pre-existing conditions; such as pregnancy, cancer, or other illnesses from injuries. We will have more information as we get closer. · For new employees you have 120 calendar days from your date of employment to sign up without a Doctor’s clearance. You can sign up online at https://go.standard.com/cta/newhire/ Vista Education Foundation · http://www.vistaedfoundation.org/ · Visit the Vista Education Foundation website to apply for grants in the arts or technology. Even if you received a grant last year you are still eligible to apply again. · A Night at the Moonlight with the VEF – September 9, 2014. There will be dinner and a play. If you would like to support the foundation and purchase a ticket please contact me at barbara49@gmail.com Dear Colleagues,
The First day with students is a late start Monday for middle and high school and an early release for elementary. There will probably not be PLC on the first day but time for you to prepare for teaching. Thursday, August 14th is a paid per diem extra day if you choose to come. It is not mandatory. The pay will show on your September pay warrant. The days are passing quickly now and I wanted to get a message out to help with some logistics for the beginning of the school year. The first day for teachers is Wednesday, August 13th and this is now called a staff development day, formerly a Buy Back Day. This day is mandatory and you must sign in and sign out. If you miss this day there will be a make-up day in the Spring. Information for this day will be coming out from the District. On Thursday, August 14th there will be a Common Core Staff development day that is not mandatory but if you come you will sign in and receive a time sheet. When you submit the time sheet at the end of the day you will be paid per diem for attending the training. The pay will come in your September pay warrant. Friday, August 15th is the staff development day, this includes only a 90 minute meeting with your administrator at your site and then the rest of the day is yours to prepare your room and curriculum. Monday, August 18th is the first student day of school. This first day of school will be a late start Monday for middle and high schools and an early release Monday for elementary schools. VTA will be holding our first annual bowling social on Friday, September 19, 2014 @ 4:00 PM at the Vista Entertainment Center. Please RSVP to vtasecretary@gmail.com. We would love to have members attend and get to know each other from different school sites. We could even have a little competition between school sites. This year the District is hiring over 100 new teachers and this would be a great way to welcome them to Vista Unified and VTA. In other news I have to share, I married Don Dawson on July 23rd. I will be changing over to my new name so if you see correspondence from Barbara Dawson that will be me. I hope your summer has been restful and refreshing. See you on August 13th. Sincerely, Barbara Dawson (Franklin) President Vista Teachers Association 760-758-2690 June 12, 2014
Dear Colleagues, Follow this link to see the new salary schedules for the Retro January pay and for the January 2015 increase. This will help you when you look at your June pay warrant. http://www.vistata.org/salary-schedules.html Have a wonderful summer and let me know if you need anything. You can contact me over the summer at vistateachers@gmail.com. I will try to check my email daily. In July I will be getting married so when we get back in August I will have a new name: Barbara Dawson. Thank you, Barbara ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ June 5, 2014 Dear Colleagues, The VTA election results are as follows: 388 valid ballots cast 2nd Vice-President Tod Critchlow: 374 votes Write in candidates: Tom Berger 1 vote Carrie Svien 1 vote Paul Chapman 1 vote Rebecca Watters 1 vote Pete Brooks 1 vote Secretary: Valerie Holseth: 355 votes Write in candidates: Rebecca Watters 1 vote Pete Brooks 1 vote Treasurer: Barb Spinosa withdrew her candidacy so the votes for her do not count write in candidate: Pat Eamus 1 vote Elementary Reps: two positions available Gail Cantrell 305 votes April Sparks 275 votes Nikki Binkinz 164 votes Middle Reps: two positions available Debi Wheelock 296 votes Erin Dayus 308 votes State Council Rep Tod Critchlow 339 votes Write in candidates Rebecca Watters 1 vote Reagan Duncan 1 vote Results: Tod Critchlow 2nd Vice-President Valerie Holseth Secretary Treasurer: Pat Eamus is Eboard member already and not eligible, will re-run election in August Elementary Reps: Gail Cantrell and April Sparks Middle Reps: Debi Wheelock and Erin Dayus State Council Rep: Tod Critchlow Congratulations to the new Executive Board members and thank you to all the candidates who ran for Eboard. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ January 30, 2014 Read Across America: Monday, March 3rd is Read Across America the national day to celebrate reading sponsored by the NEA and CTA. Go to cta.org/californiareads for more information. If you contact the VTA office we can send you bookmarks for your students to color. Phone number: 760-758-2690. Alpine Teachers Association: Our colleagues in Alpine are suffering through a terrible imposed contract from their District. The membership has taken a strike vote and could be out on strike next week. CTA members at State Council this past weekend collected funds for their strike fund and donated nearly $20,000. This will help our friends but they need our support as they proceed with their efforts. If any of you live in or near Alpine or have friends who do please support them by joining them on the picket line or sending a note of support. From their website: Alpine Teachers Association members voted overwhelmingly to give their executive board authority to call for a strike. They did so in response to draconian salary and benefits cuts callously imposed by the Alpine Unified School District Board of Education. A significant number of ATA members will be financially crippled, losing up to 35 percent of their annual compensation. "None of us want to strike," said ATA President Gayle Malone, "but the board's punitive imposition leaves us no viable alternative if they persist in failing to bargain with us fairly." Vista Education Foundation: The Vista Education Foundation (VEF) seeks and responds to funding requests from VUSD Schools, PTAs, and Community Organizations. The Vista Education Foundation was established to serve as an alternative-funding source to the Vista Unified School District. We aid and assist in achieving and maintaining a superior primary and secondary public education system. We provide these services to students in the North County of San Diego. The three areas we support are the arts, technology and scholarship. As a teacher in Vista you are invited to apply for a grant for your class or your school. The grant application is on the VEF website: http://www.vistaedfoundation.org/GetInvolved/RequestFunding.aspx Bargaining Update: Thursday, January 30, 2014 VTA and VUSD met to bargain. At this meeting VTA passed across proposals for salary, class size, evaluation procedures, duty hours and medical benefits. VTA believes that with the increased funding for public education this year and for years to come we are in a position to ask for and receive a substantial raise and have our class sizes restored to pre-MOU levels. The District still has a 25% reserve of money amounting to $44 million and they are receiving nearly $7 million in additional funding this year and $12.6 million for the 2014/15 school year. School Districts are not required to have more than a 3% reserve of funds; the money is to be spent on programs, materials, student services and employees. Ask your site rep what you can do to help with bargaining. We need all of our members to join us in wearing our black “No larger class sizes” T-shirts on Thursdays, ask your friends, neighbors and parents to attend School Board meetings to let the Board know how important lower class sizes are to you and your students. We want to hear how the larger class sizes have impacted your students and your instruction. VTA is a strong association because of you, our members. We rally together when needed, help out our friends and colleagues and are dedicated professionals. I am very proud to stand with you all and work to make Vista School District again a great place to work, learn and live. The next bargaining date is February 13, 2014 from 9-4:00 PM at the District office. The next School Board meeting is February 20, 2014 at City Hall beginning at 7:00PM. I have included one of the posters that the bargaining team made to highlight how much our members have given to the District. We have helped out VUSD over and over again through the years and now it is their turn to step up and give us lower class sizes and a raise; our students deserve it and we deserve it. December 13, 2013
Dear Colleagues, The year is slipping by quickly and the holiday break will soon be here. With all the new work for common core, learning new technology devices and software and the changes in special education program delivery this has been a stressful and busy first semester. I hope you all find the time to recharge your batteries, connect with family and friends and enjoy your well deserved break. HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Bargaining Update: Our team has met three times with the District team. Our first official meeting was on October 23rd and the District proposed changes to the teacher evaluation process. We are working through the language and specifics of the Article. There is talk about using the California Standards for the Teaching Profession as a guide for teachers and administrators. We will let you know about the development of this Article. Our next meeting was on November 19th and the District made several proposals about Article 12 (salaries), Article 13 (Benefits), Article 18(Teachers Duties) and Article 20(Class Size). Both sides have also worked through minor changes and additions and deletions for Articles 1-11. For now the entire contract is open, but we are currently spending the majority of our time on four(4 )articles: Article 12 - we are fighting for a meaningful salary increase. Article 18 - Two pieces - looking at duty hours/event credits and providing a weekly collaboration time via a late start or early release day at ALL sites. Article 20 - We expect the district to honor its commitment to return class sizes to their pre-MOU levels while recognizing that the state has changed its funding for K-3 CSR. Article 26 - we are collaborating on a more meaningful evaluation process The next bargaining session will be on January 30 from 1-4. We will continue to update our members and to request feedback from all of you through surveymonkey. Thank you to the members for taking the time to respond to our short surveys. It assists us in making sure we are serving the needs of all of our members. As I go out and visit school sites the number one question on everyone’s mind is: “Are we getting a raise?” Please know that the Executive Board and the bargaining team hear you loud and clear. We know that it is long past due for us to receive a raise. We are also bargaining for the State funding for implementing the common core. This is one time money and must be spent by June of 2015. We want the money to be used for meaningful professional development and are discussing adding two Professional Development days to the calendar for the next school year. Details will be coming to you in January hopefully. I am including in this message a copy of my speech at the School Board meeting last night. Beginning in January we will be asking members to attend the meetings to show our support for a meaningful raise, lower class sizes and fair and just contract. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ September 25, 2013 Permanent Status: VTA would like to take this time to congratulate the new members who received their Permanent Status certification. We are excited to have so many members attain permanent status and we know how important a step this is in your career. Congratulations!! Messina, Laura from Beaumont Cimino, Leticia from Beaumont Conforme, Sonia from Vista Magnet Middle Contreras, Lydia from Vista High Corso, Jennifer from Vista High DeSantiago, Soo-Yeohn from Mission Vista HS Easterling, Dana from Special Ed Eby, Daphne from Beaumont Erford, Kelly from Vista Magnet Middle Eyton, Stacy from Mission Vista HS Frohlich, Linda from Breeze Hill Elem. Gann, Kristina from Grapevine Gelrud, Keeghan from Foothill Oak Green, Tracy from Special Ed Gutierrez, Laura from Foothill Oak Hall, James from Mission Vista HS Harrison, Lisa from Rancho Minerva MS Hayward, Carol from Maryland Homer, Cara from VAPA Lohmeyer, Emily from Special ED McCracken, Ashleigh from Vista Magnet Middle Miller, Keri from St. Services O'Brien, Elizabeth from Mission Vista HS Orozco-Neri, Olga from C&I Paradee, Alexandra from Rancho Minerva MS Parli, Chivon from Mission Vista HS Perez, Luke from Casita Phillips, Lisa from Olive Pina, Kristen from Rancho Buena Vista HS Prillaman, Jennifer from Madison MS Purvis, Clarke from Olive Quintanilla, Shannon from Grapevine Richmond, Teresa from Beaumont Sanchez, Stephanie from Vista Magnet Middle Spina, Georgina from Empresa Stull, Kimberly from Special Ed Tilden, Lindsey from Special Ed Weiser, Elizabeth from Casita Wilson, Annette from Washington MS Wong, Christine from Maryland Yip-Wineman, Stephen from Mission Vista HS Ziegler, Annjeanette from Monte Vista Fall Leadership Conference: San Diego Service Center is sponsoring our annual Fall Leadership Conference November 8-10, 2013 in Palm Springs. The conference will be held at the Hilton Palm Springs Resort and Spa. There are grants and scholarships for teachers to attend at no cost to you. This is an opportunity to join other teachers in our region to discuss our profession. Some of the workshops offered are on Special Education, Current legal issues, Evaluation, Retirement, New Tech Skills, Bargaining and grievance training. If you are interested in attending please contact Lisa Ingles, VTA secretary, for information and registration: 760-758-2690. Special Education Issues: With the new school year there have been some challenging changes to delivery of services to our Special Education population. Many of you know that Elementary aides were reduced in SDC classes across the District. Some schools are piloting team teaching between RSP and general Ed teachers. There are also additional support personnel that have been hired to assist with Behavior plans and issues as they arise. With these new changes there are always challenges and our focus should be on first, the child and second adjusting plans that are not working without placing blame. This is a collaborative effort and there will be mistakes. If you have concerns or special circumstances that need our attention please don’t hesitant to call on VTA. It is also important that all members know their rights and I would like to point out a few issues here for you. · As a classroom teacher you should have a copy of the IEP 24 hours before a child enters your classroom. · As a classroom teacher you have the right to speak up at an IEP and ask for services you believe are important to the education of your students. If a decision is made during an IEP meeting that you disagree with you can sign it but under your name write: Dissent. This fact relates to the team that in your “professional opinion” you believe some goals or many goals cannot be met with the plan as written. · As a classroom teacher participating in the pilot team teaching program you have the right to be first, volunteering to team teach and second your class size must remain within the guidelines of the contract. No class can violate the class sizes agreed to in the contract. Even though there are two teachers in the room the class size remains the same as for one teacher, which is the only agreement in our contract. · If you have a student who has an IEP or Behavior plan you still have the right to suspend them from your class for the day and the following day but you must notify the parent and call or meet with them before the child returns to your class. Only an administrator can suspend a child from the school, teachers only suspend from their class. Also, if you suspend a child from your class they may not be placed in another teacher’s class for the time they would be in your class. For elementary that would be the remainder of the day, for middle and high school it would be the periods you have the student in your class. This is part of California Ed Code section 48910 b, “A pupil suspended from a class shall not be placed in another regular class during the period of suspension. However, if the pupil is assigned to more than one class per day this subdivision shall apply only to other regular classes scheduled at the same time as the class from which the pupil was suspended.” You also have the right to request an emergency SST or IEP for a student you deem to exhibit extreme or dangerous behavior that threatens the safety of your other students or yourself. Bargaining Update: The VTA and VUSD bargaining teams will be meeting on October 9th to begin bargaining based on the conditions from the MOU( memorandum of understanding) dated August 3, 2012. In the MOU #2 part d it states: If the district receives additional unrestricted state or federal funding in an amount in excess of $500,000 that may legally be expended for employee compensation, the parties agree to meet and negotiate the use of those funds. VTA has been informed that the District has indeed received funding over the $500,000 threshold. We will meet to discuss those funds and additional issues related to the Common Core additional funding the District received from the State for implementation of the Standards. We will send a bargaining update and survey to all members after our meeting. Trainings and Workshops: This year more than any other we have seen requests and offers of trainings and workshops for teachers to attend voluntarily. VTA is advising all members to not voluntarily attend these workshops. We believe we are professionals and as such our time is valuable and we deserve to be compensated for our time. The workshops and trainings are important and valuable for us to educate our students but as such we should be paid to attend. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ July 14, 2013 Moving- The VTA office is moving July 31st. We will be located at: 2141 Industrial Court Suite C, Vista, CA 92081 Our phone number will remain the same. Buy Back Day- The District Buy Back Day will be August 15th. Information will be coming for you with times and locations. Remember that you cannot use sick days for the Buy Back Day and if you have to miss you will need to make it up or be docked a full days pay. Student's first day- The first day of school for students is August 19th. The bell schedules are posted on the District website. Bonus- The negotiated bonus will be in the September pay warrant. It is a one time .83% salary schedule bonus. Since the governor has signed the state budget we will be learning what that means for our District and use the information in our bargaining with the District. The bargaining team will be putting together a survey for our members to complete in order to guide VTA in negotiations. NEA/RA in Atlanta, Georgia 2013- Four VTA members, Jan O'Reilly, Reagan Duncan, Patrick Emaus and Barbara Franklin were elected to attend this year's RA. There were five days of meetings in Atlanta. Some of the business items voted on were: 1. Standing Rule amendments to go green for all NEA/RA business. 2. Bylaw amendment to increase NEA dues by three dollars per year for a special fund to assist NEA affiliates advance great public schools. This fund will be used to fight back some of the attacks on public education happening around the nation. 3. New business items were passed to work with states and the Obama administration to ensure that the common core standards will be enacted without excessive and inappropriate use of high stakes test. We believe that educators need adequate time and tools to implement the new standards. Enjoy your summer break. See you August 15th Barbara Franklin President Vista Teachers Association __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ June 26, 2013 Dear Colleagues, I wanted to share the news posted on the District website today with you. Dr. Vodicka announced: It is a pleasure to announce a number new hires and changes in Vista Unified School District administrator assignments for the 2013-14 school year. The following is a concise summary: Brett Killeen will be the new Assistant Superintendent of Human Relations. Mr. Killeen has been serving as principal at Torrey Pines High School in the San Dieguito Union School District for the past seven years. When asked for a comment, Mr. Killeen stated "I am very excited to get to know the Vista community, about whom I've heard so many great things. I'm particularly drawn to the values that are great for kids and staff--respect, trust, and collaboration. I'm honored to have this opportunity." Ben Gaines will be the new principal at Rancho Minerva Middle School. Mr. Gaines has been working in the Temecula Valley High School District as an Assistant Principal and he is currently completing his doctoral degree from University of California San Diego. Anthony Barela will be the new principal at Roosevelt Middle School. Mr. Barela comes to us from the San Marcos Unified School District where his experience includes service as an elementary principal and a high school Assistant Principal. Mr. Barela was recognized as the NAESP Principal of the Year when he worked in Colorado. Meg Jacobsen assumed the principal position at Vista Magnet Middle School on June 1st. She was a member of the founding faculty at VMMS and she has been recognized as a Golden Apple Award winner. Ebon Brown will assume responsibilities as principal at Vista Visions School in addition to his role as principal of the Vista Adult School. Mr. Brown also has oversight duties for the districtwide career-technical education programs. Jo Ann Jones will serve exclusively as principal at Alta Vista High School. She previously was also responsible for Vista Visions School. Susie Reese will be the new Transportation Director. Ms. Reese has been Interim Director since February of 2013. Susie has over thirty-five (35) years of experience with the Grossmont Union High School District in various transportation assignments. I believe that these leaders will help us to actualize our values of respect, trust, and collaboration. As we do so, we will move in the direction of achieving our vision to the model of educational excellence and innovation. Devin Vodicka, EdD Superintendent of Schools __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ June 3, 2013 Only three more days left in our school year. I hope you all have a peaceful, restful and well deserved summer. I just wanted to pass on some information to you before you pack up your rooms and head home. Assignments and Transfer Requests All VTA members should be informed by June 6th of their tentative assignment for the 2013-2014 school year. If you are not told by the last day of school let VTA know. If you submitted transfer requests and an opening comes up at the school you requested you are guaranteed an interview. You must watch Edjoin and check when openings appear. If you request the transfer but are not offered an interview please contact the VTA. All transfer requests are valid until September 1st. Cleaning out Rooms Personal items such as refrigerators, microwaves or other appliances should be taken home for your safety, especially if your administration has asked for you to remove them. Also, some schools are getting new carpeting, if you are asked to pack up your materials the District is obligated to move them for you. You do need to ask for them to move materials. IPADS and laptops The District is requiring members to sign a VUSD Employee Equipment Use Request form. If you sign this and take the equipment home you may find yourself financially responsible for any damage or loss. We are recommending that you NOT take the equipment home. If the District wants you to use it or requests you to use it over the summer, then they need to release you from financial liability. Summer Trainings With the new technology being proposed for implementation in our District there may be many schools wanting to put on summer trainings. If you are asked to attend trainings over the summer the District should pay you the prevailing hourly rate of $28 an hour. If they send you to a conference out of town for training ask first if they will pay you hourly or just cover expenses or both. Your time is valuable and should be treated as such. CTA State Council Meeting On May 31-June 2, 2013 was the summer meeting of CTA State Council. At this meeting we had many discussions and action items about the Governor’s Budget Proposal or the Local Control Funding Formula. We won’t know exactly how it will impact VUSD until it is passed by the Legislature on hopefully June 15th. Also, at this meeting we honored and celebrated the career of CTA Executive Director, Carolyn Doggett. Carolyn has been CTA’s Executive Director for 15 years and is retiring. Carolyn was one of only five (5) female State Executive Directors in the nation. We wish her good luck in her retirement. One of the most important responsibilities of CTA is to monitor California Assembly and Senate bills that will impact what you do in your classroom. Every year 100-200 bills are proposed that are directly related to Education. Without the support of CTA and State Council members we would not be able to oppose and help stop damaging bills and also work with Assembly members and Senators to pass bills that benefit our schools and students. Much of the work that is done at State Council is reading over the bills in our committees and making recommendations on actions to take in Sacramento. We have ranking systems from strongly oppose to Support. One bill that is tied to the Governor’s budget that we are trying to get passed is reverting back to 20-1 in grades K-3 sooner than planned. We will keep you updated on progress. Dues At the CTA State Council meeting we voted on the CTA budget for the next year. According to our dues structure there will be a decrease in CTA dues for the next year. The decrease is $3 based on a formula that is followed every year. This is the first decrease in dues in many years. On other dues news, the VTA Representative Assembly voted on May 13 to adopt VTA’s budget which included a $30 dues increase. The increase is necessary to meet our obligations on your behalf and prepare for bargaining next spring. These increases will be with your other dues which are taken out 10 months a year. VTA Summer Hours Lisa Ingles, VTA secretary, will be in the office from 8:30-4:30 Monday through Friday during the summer except for the following dates. The VTA office will be closed July 29-August 9th. If you need to get ahold of us please email me at barbara49@gmail.com or vistateachers@gmail.com. We will get back to you as soon as possible. We are looking into finding new offices, all the details have not been worked out yet but we will keep you updated. See you August 15th for Buy Back Day Have a great summer Barbara Franklin, President __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 8, 2013 Teacher and Nurse Appreciation Day: Today, May 8th, is set aside as Teacher and Nurse Appreciation Day. I would like to take this time to congratulate each of you for the amazing job you do each day as educators in our District. Through the trying tough years, good days and bad each of you put forth your best effort for our students. Together we have worked for our students, families and the District to maintain and increase the achievement of all students. It is time to pat yourself on the back, hold your head high and be proud to be the true professional you all are and I would like to say how proud I am of each and every one of you. VTA State Council Elections: The VTA State Council election results are in and you have elected Sue Martin from RBV to serve as our representative for the 2013-2016 term. Sue will join Reagan Duncan from Maryland and me as VTA State Council Reps. The members in this position are your voice at the CTA level. We vote on decisions about leadership, dues structure and legislative positions. You can visit the CTA website at www.cta.org<http://www.cta.org/> and learn more about State Council. State Council has four meetings annually with the next one occurring on May 31-June 2nd. At this meeting the State Council will be voting on the CTA budget. Since 2008, CTA has lost nearly 35,000 members. The budget proposal that will be voted on June 1st reflects this loss of membership and proposes a $3 per YEAR dues decrease. We will report out after the meeting about the vote. We have also elected Patrick Eamus from RBV as our alternate in case an elected member is unable to attend. Congratulations to Sue and Pat. Health Benefits Committee: Since our move to SISC in January we will now have an October 1-September 30 year for benefits. The new rates are in and there will be informational meetings on May 15 at Lake Elementary from 3-5:30 PM and May 21 at Empresa Elementary from 3-5:30 PM. The meetings will be your opportunity to ask questions and meet with representatives from Kaiser and SISC. The open enrollment period is Monday, May 13, 2013 through Friday, May 24, 2013 . If you will not be making any Medical, Dental, Vision, or Life/AD&D benefit changes effective October 1, 2013, you do not need to do anything! CTA 150 Anniversary: CTA has been making a positive impact on education for 150 years now. Our victories during that time include the establishment of free public schools for all children, the creation of our higher education system, due process rights for teachers, and class size reduction. We continue to be engaged in and lead the efforts to improve education for all students in this state, now and for the future. Help us celebrate California Day of the Teacher on Wednesday, May 8 and CTA’s 150th Anniversary on Thursday, May 9. The budget proposal that will be voted on June 1st reflects this loss of membership and proposes a $3 per year dues decrease. We will report out after the meeting about the vote. Thank you, Barbara Franklin President __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ March 19, 2013 VAPA status and Board action: Thursday, March 14, 2013 at the School Board meeting the VUSD Board voted to: 1. Close the 6-8 program at VAPA as of June 30, 2013. The 13 teachers at the middle school will be displaced and we are working with the District to get them all placed in positions they are credentialed for and wish to teach. This is a sad end to a wonderful program and we will be there to support the teachers and the students during this transition. We urge you all to take a moment to wish them well and offer them your support. 2. For the school year 2014-2015, convert Washington Middle School to a magnet school. The focus for this new magnet school is still to be determined. Adult Education and Pink-slipped Teachers Last night hundreds of community members came out to support our adult Ed teachers who have all been pink slipped based on the unknowns in the Governor's budget. The teachers will have a RIF hearing on April 26th at the District Office. CTA will be representing them at the hearing. Thursday, March 21 we will be meeting at the VTA office with all the Adult Ed teachers and the five counselors who were pink-slipped. We will help them with the paperwork to prepare for the RIF hearing. Grades: teacher's rights. Grades—EC sections 49066 and 49070(b) The grade given to a pupil by the teacher of the course (in the absence of clerical or mechanical error, bad faith, incompetency, or fraud) shall be final. Neither the local governing board nor superintendent shall order a grade changed without first giving the teacher who has assigned the grade the opportunity to state orally or in writing the reasons for which the grade in question was given. This includes ELD grades and no person can require you to change a student's grade. VTA believes it is the teachers right to assign grades per their grading plan. Please let VTA know if you are feeling pressured to change a student's grade. Teacher responsibility for use and care of district equipment: We have had several instances where teachers are being told they are financially responsible for damaged or stolen IPADS. This has not been the practice in the District before and we are investigating the legality of charging members for using District equipment. We have also heard rumors of charging teachers for rekeying doors and other miscellaneous items. If you are asked to pay for any of your job supplies please contact the VTA office. Time sheets and deadlines: It has come to our attention that some members are submitting timesheets for extra work months late. The timesheets are due at the end of the month that the work was performed. The District is being charged a late fee by STRS if the timesheets and pay are 60 days late. The District is now passing on this cost to the local school sites. Please make sure your timesheets are submitted on time. Thank you. CTA Opportunities to present: The CTA planning committees for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Conference, the CTA Good Teaching Conferences and the CTA Equity and Human Rights Conference are looking for potential presenters for the conferences in 2013-14. The GLBT Conference will be held at the Riviera Hotel, Palm Springs on November 15-17, 2013. The Good Teaching Conference North will be held at the Fairmont Hotel, San Jose on January 10-12, 2014 and the Good Teaching Conference South will be held in Southern California on March 14-16, 2014 with location TBD. The Equity and Human Rights Conference will be held in Southern California on February 28-March 2, 2014 with location TBD. VTA would love to have many of our talented teachers share their knowledge with their peers. Bernice King Dedication Ceremony: As many of you know we lost a longtime colleague and member of VUSD, Bernice King. Bernice taught in Vista for 38 years. On April 1st at 3:30, the RBV History Department will be dedicating a tree, bench and presenting a plaque in Bernice’s honor. This will be in front of room 231 at RBV. Why switch to CTA-endorsed disability and life insurance? CTA members have unique insurance needs. That's why CTA makes voluntary disability and life insurance plans available to members through Standard Insurance Company (The Standard). The plans have unique features specifically designed for education professionals, including: Provisions to allow for continuation of coverage during temporary layoffs and labor disputes. Access to the CTA Advisory Panel on Endorsed Services. Coverage for extra-duty pay such as coaching and tutoring. The need for disability and life insurance is very real. Each year, almost 5,000* of your peers receive much-needed help from the CTA-endorsed plans. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ January 29, 2013 Superintendent Devin Vodicka Every VUSD employee went to a presentation by our new Superintendent on January 18, 2013. The Superintendent thanked teachers for doing a wonderful job educating our students. Dr. Vodicka shared his vision for Vista and some of his educational philosophies. In meetings with Dr. Vodicka he shared that he would like to set up task forces to deal with: bell schedules, kindergarten schedules, digital learning, magnet schools, duty hours and events, strategic planning for the arts and teacher evaluation. Some of these task forces are bargaining so the bargaining team is involved, some are already formed but others will need members to participate. If you would like to work on the bell schedules, kindergarten schedules or planning for the arts, please contact me at vistateachers@gmail.com. Along with the different task forces, VTA and Dr. Vodicka will be meeting to go over every school’s site safety plan. If you have safety issues you would like us to discuss and solve please email them to vistateachers@gmail.com. We also will be sharing the results of the VTA School Site Climate Survey, so if you haven’t taken the survey yet please complete it by January 31, 2013. Retirement 101: What Every Educator Needs to Know about 403(b) & 457 Plans This special one day pre-conference will cover the basics of 403(b) & 457 plans, strategies and resources to make informed investment decisions, along with how to deal with aggressive insurance agents. Registration is open to all CTA members. Release time will be provided for up to two members from each chapter (approval by the chapter president is required). This pre-conference is free. Friday, March 22, 2013, Los Angeles, CA Location: Los Angeles Airport Marriott Contact Lisa Ingles, VTA secretary, if you are interested in attending. vistateachers@gmail.com Become a NEA/RA Delegate You still have time to register your nomination to run as a state delegate for the NEA/RA being held in Atlanta, Georgia this summer. All nomination forms must be submitted to the San Diego RRC office by Thursday, January 31, 2013. The Representative Assembly is from June 30-July 6th. Mail or fax your declaration of candidacy to San Diego RRC, 5333 Mission Center Rd. Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92108. Fax 619-683-3994. The form is attached to this email. Common Core Opportunity to Participate English Language Development Supplemental Instructional Materials Review The California Department of Education (CDE) and State Board of Education (SBE) are seeking reviewers to participate in the English Language Development supplemental instructional materials review (ELD SIMR) of materials that are aligned to the new California English Language Development Standards (ELD Standards) adopted by the SBE on November 7, 2012. Reviewers will evaluate the ELD supplemental instructional materials for alignment to the new California ELD Standards and the ELD SIMR evaluation criteria, pending approval by the SBE at their March 13–14, 2013 meeting. Reviewers will attend a two-day training held at the San Joaquin County Office of Education July 18–19, 2013. They will review supplemental instructional materials independently at home and will then reconvene in panels in San Joaquin for two to three days of deliberations and the preparation of a report of findings November 14–16, 2013. The CDE will reimburse travel costs and substitute costs for current classroom teachers for the meeting days. There is no stipend or honorarium available. Information about this review and the online application process is available on the CDE ELD SIMR Web page. The deadline for submission of applications is March 15, 2013. Please forward this information to any and all qualified candidates who might be interested. Any questions related to this review should be directed to Jim Long, Lead Consultant, Instructional Resources Unit, at 916-323-4583 or jlong@cde.ca.gov. CTA State Council Ses·qui·cen·ten·ni·al: adjective 1. marking the completion of a period of 150 years. noun 2. a 150th anniversary or its celebration. 150 Years of Advocacy This year, CTA marks 150 years of advocacy for our profession, our students and our public schools. And we will be celebrating the entire year. Over the next year, we will explore and celebrate our past via social media, our website, our publications, and our conferences. At the same time we will set the course for our future through a new Strategic Planning Process. It’s an exciting year, especially just coming from a successful election in which Californians demonstrated their commitment to public education by approving the first statewide tax increase in 20 years. CTA's accomplishments over the past 150 years Did you know? Each month, we'll share facts of our involvement in the betterment of public education. For example: The first CTA sponsored class size legislation, in 1895, set the maximum class size at 80 students. By 1917, the average class size was between 35 and 40, and then they started to creep back up after World War I. In 1920 CTA had to lobby the legislature to cap class size at a maximum of 70. Mikki Cichocki-Semo Re-elected: San Bernardino teacher Mikki Cichocki-Semo was re-elected to a second two-year term as secretary-treasurer of the 325,000-member California Teachers Association Saturday. Running unopposed, Cichocki was elected by acclamation by CTA’s 760-member State Council of Education, the union’s top governing body of democratically elected representatives, during its quarterly meeting in Los Angeles. Governor Jerry Brown speaks to CTA members Governor Jerry Brown spoke at the CTA State Council meeting on Sunday, January 27th. He came to join state council members as we celebrated our victories in the November elections. Governor Brown spoke about educators and the impact we have on the lives of our students. He shared stories of his teachers and how their influence still drives him today. Governor Brown thanked CTA and all the teachers in California for the tremendous work we do in education. Business items from State Council In other business at State Council, the Teacher Evaluation and Academic Freedom sub-committee took an oppose position to a bill (SB10) introduced by State Senator Alex Padilla that would eliminate all teacher due process rights. This is the same bill we helped defeat last year and it is being brought back in exactly the same language but with a new title. We will keep you updated. The Early Childhood Education Committee reported that Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has made recommendations to suspend testing of second (2) grade students for the 2013-2014 school year. Mr. Torlakson also recommended suspending other tests in middle school and high school. To see a list of the recommendations go to: http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr13/yr13rel4.asp#att This is good news for our students and will help prepare us to transition to the Common Core. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ January 7, 2013 Happy New Year The year 2013 has begun and it seems like the school year is going by so quickly. I hope that you each had a chance to relax and enjoy time with your families and friends. Tomorrow we begin the fast pace of the year preparing our students for tests, instilling in them a love of learning and gearing up for graduation in June. Buy Back Day On Friday, January 18th the District will be holding the second Buy Back Day of the School Year. This year it is being held differently than in the past. Most of the employees will meet at Mission Vista High School and we all got a chance to choose our workshops. Also, Dr. Vodicka will get a chance to present to every group once throughout the day. This is a great opportunity for each of you to hear him speak and ask questions. Remember if you miss this day you can make it up on a Saturday in the spring. The date and place will be announced later this spring. If you miss this date and can’t attend the makeup date you will be docked one day’s pay. If you have any questions please email or call the VTA office. VTA website VTA webmaster and VTA secretary, Lisa Ingles, have been working on the VTA website to make it more user friendly and easier to navigate. Please check it out and send in any suggestions you have for how to make it more efficient. www.vistata.org Off schedule one-time bonus The agreement between VTA and VUSD signed in August 2012 included a one-time off schedule bonus based on revenues over projections. Based on the formula each member will receive a bonus of .83% this year. The details of when members would receive this bonus have not been settled yet but as soon it is determined we will let members know. This is due to the hard work of the VTA bargaining team. Thank you! CTA Scholarship opportunities for members and dependents CTA is offering scholarships for members returning to school to further their education. There are five (5) scholarships of $3000 awarded yearly. The applications are due on February 8th 2013. For members’ dependent children, CTA offers a maximum of thirty-four (34) scholarships of up to $5,000 are awarded each year. Along with these scholarships CTA has others that are for minorities, student CTA members, students attending continuation schools or GLBT related issues. Please visit the CTA website for applications or more information. http://www.cta.org/About-CTA/CTA-Foundation/Scholarships.aspx Donors Choose.org If you haven’t heard of this website you may want to check it out. Steve Barker from Horace Mann has offered to have his company donate to any Vista teacher who posts a project on Donors choose. If you post please email VTA or call 760-758-2690 and we will let him know about your project. From their website: DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that makes it easy for anyone to help students in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America post classroom project requests on our site, and you can give any amount to the project that most inspires you. When a project reaches its funding goal, we ship the materials to the school. You'll get photos of the project taking place, a letter from the teacher, and insight into how every dollar was spent. Give over $50 and you'll also receive hand-written thank-you from the students. CTA Member Benefits As a member of CTA you are entitled to many discounts at amusement parks, movies, zoos and other entertainment choices. Go to the CTA website under member benefits to find out about discounts. Theme Parks & Entertainment TSA special services offer discounts to our members on a majority of entertainment tickets. There are so many venues and attractions offered that we won't list them all here. Be sure to check the special member services Buying Guide for a full listing. Check out some highlights: Disneyland, Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament, San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park Also: Great America LEGOLAND Monterey Bay Aquarium SeaWorld Six Flags Discovery Kingdom Universal Studios Movies, movies, movies Barbara Franklin VTA President |
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