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Precinct Walk Tomorrow

1/31/2020

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Dear Members:

  • Tomorrow, we will hold a precinct walk with the union workers that represent all of the construction and tradespeople in San Joaquin County. If you would like to join us and walk around neighborhoods and place flyers at homes, be at our office for coffee, water, candy and snacks at about 830am. Our office location is 576 Commerce Court here in Manteca. The flyers are to support our endorsed candidates for the County Office of Education.​
  • If you can’t make it tomorrow, we are going to do this again next Saturday as well. Same time, same place, same MEA channel. 😊
  • On the election, you’ll find a LOT of misinformation about Prop 13 on social media. Prop 13 on the March ballot is about a $15 billion state school construction BOND. Bonds as you know are sold by governments to raise money, like Savings Bonds. It is not about property taxes in any way! That was the Prop 13 passed in 1978. It’s just a coincidence that it is the same number which happens with ballot propositions. Perhaps we should use names like they use for hurricanes. Sigh….
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To Resign, or Not to Resign

1/30/2020

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Dear Members:

  • We are getting close to non-reelect time unfortunately. The principal will encourage a person to resign for their own good. Job applications now require an answer to the question if you have ever resigned from a position or been non-reelected. Being untruthful on a job app is grounds for termination. Districts encourage employees to resign to avoid high unemployment insurance premiums, however. They’re not out for your best interest. They’re out for their bottom-line. So, if you’re non-reelected, you can collect unemployment. If you resign, you cannot.
  • Non-reelects used to be a dark stain on a person’s record but in today’s world, school districts are willing to take flyers on people and try them out for a couple years due to the teaching shortage. Districts are no longer living in the dark ages like the rest of us. We are all more tolerant nowadays and aware that some employees have personality conflicts with their bosses through no fault of their own.
  • Bottom line, it’s your call to resign or be non-reelected.
  • If you are non-reelected or receive a poor evaluation, I would take your supervisor’s opinion (which is what it is actually) with a grain of salt. Do I process it? Yes, any good teacher will try to improve and appreciate feedback. But, remember, it’s their opinion of a snapshot of your classroom. Only YOU know what you do in your classroom. And not to be too hard on admin, but frankly, ANYONE can get an administrative degree. I just prefer to make a difference in the classroom.
  • Whether you resign or non-reelected, there really is nothing the union can do about it UNLESS the supervisor explains to you why you’re being non-reelected. Principals are trained to say nothing about the rationale except that “You’re being non-reelected.” If they do say something else, then we have something to fight, possibly. In ten years, I’ve never been able to fight a non-reelect.
  • I’ve attached an image regarding MUSD employee statistics. It’s pretty interesting I think, but it shows we’re pretty average compared to the county and state. What stands out tho is the teacher numbers that are 50 and over. The teaching shortage is here and here to stay. Thank God for all you young folks! That’s why I said districts are willing to take a flyer on you. If you’re breathing and standing upright, you can practically get hired somewhere. Click here for the link to that website.
Picture
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In-School Suspension Form

1/28/2020

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Download the In-School Suspension Form

I've attached the District In School Suspension Form.  This form is to be used (and should be at your sites) when YOU need a student suspended from class.  Contrary to what some admin are telling their teachers, yes, YOU CAN teacher suspend a student for the rest of the day and the next day from your class.  All you have to do is send the student up to the office, and fill out the form and send that up later.  Then contact the parent for a conference to be held when the student returns to your class.  The student is required to sit in the office.  According to Ed Code, the student is NOT to be placed in another teacher's classroom.  Principals don't think you know the Ed Code, but now you do.  Or, they don't know it.  So, don't let them violate the law.  If a principal asks to put a suspended kid in your class, say no Ken do.  That's against Ed Code.  Otherwise, does the kid face any consequences?
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STRS is Coming Back!

1/28/2020

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Dear Members:
 
  • It’s time to sign up for the Black Oak Casino bus trip. Get a group of work friends and have some fun.  No cost to members, but $15 if you bring a spouse. Click here to sign up!
  • On April 7, STRS is coming back to MEA for an investment seminar.  403b is a tax deferred investment plan just like a 401k but a 403b is for an employee of a non-profits or government agency Pension2 offerssVERY low fees because it is managed by your non-profit pension system, CalSTRS.  Low fees are important because more of your money stays in your account making money for you. Your pension, on average, will only provide 60% of your income needs in retirement, so it's important to start socking away some money today!   When you have money taken out of your check for a 403b, it reduces your tax liability by about 20%. When you take the money out in retirement tho, that’s when it counts against your income.  But at that time, you’re income should be lower.  Click here to sign up!
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MEA Scholarship

1/17/2020

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 Dear Members:

•If you have petitions, please turn them into your reps make sure to sign and fill them out. One raffle ticket per petition submitted.

•As many of you know, McGrawHill/Study Sync is down for the second time this week so the precious BASE curriculum can’t be implemented.  Ridiculous to say the least.  Can you imagine if you had a substitute today? 

•Download the MEA Scholarship Application. Only children of members may apply. 
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Minimum Day Friday

1/14/2020

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  • Friday is an elementary flex day, but it is a district-directed minimum day for high schools.  Sorry secondary folks.  If you ever want to know upcoming days, wait for an email 🙂 or look at our flex calendar at mantecaeducators.org.  You have NO idea the number of principals that have contacted me to ask the same question.  😁
  • I am visiting each site to talk for 5 minutes, (time me!) about the upcoming district school bond.  The district $265 million bond is on the March ballot. Why do districts do this?  For example, as I mentioned before, East Union is getting a new roof on their older buildings to the tune of $1 million.  Either the public pitches in with a bond or we pay with salary cuts because just like your house...that roof will get done one way or the other.  School districts, up and down the state, can't budget in their yearly budgets for the type of repairs that schools need and students deserve.
  • Today is our first CalSTRS workshop at the MEA Office, and we have a couple of slots that have just opened up.  Click here to snag one of those two spots.
  • January...oh that dreaded month.  30 days hath September, April, June, and November.  February may have 28 or 29 but all the rest have 31...except for January which has about 973. January is the WORST month because it is so cold, dark and dreary.  I noticed though the other day that it was still light at 5:30pm.  But, I LOVE January because once that month is over, the year FLIES by.  February has the 4-day weeks, March has a week break in it, Easter in April sometimes, and once testing is over, you might as well call it a year.
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Staff Development

1/7/2020

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Dear Members:

  • This Thursday is our MEA Bowling Night from 5-7pm at Bowlero here in Manteca at Yosemite Avenue.  There are about 20 slots left if you want to play or just hang out, so get a group of staff members and come have some free fun, drink, and grub!  Click here to sign up!
 
  • Before break, I posted a message about student loans and high needs schools.  Manteca has no high needs schools, however.  Stockton Unified and Lodi Unified are the only ones that have them in the county.
 
  • The best staff development, in my opinion, is visiting other classrooms and picking up teaching strategies from fellow educators.  It’s all about adding more tools to one’s toolbox.  Some will work for you, and some won’t.  You use what is comfortable for you.  And quite frankly…the research out there is that devices do more harm than good, attendance matters, and socio-economic factors are far more important to a child’s learning than the latest silver bullet.
 
  • And quite FRANKLY…I wanted a longer lunch for those of us traveling to another site, but that was turned down by the higher ups because we have a schedule to keep.  SD Day USED to be a day where we could all go for a long lunch with our school buddies and buddettes.  It was a district tradition.  It was a day we actually looked forward to(believe it or not)because of that long lunch.
 
  • My last thoughts on SD Day is we should have had training on socio-emotional strategies.  As student suspension gets more difficult to do, the district should be teaching us how to deal with kids in our classes that bring their home issues to school.  There is a LOT of good training provided by CTA on that, but alas…I was turned down on that as well.  So…I will try schedule these workshops at the MEA office.
 
  • Finally, if YOU have thoughts or reactions on SD Day, it’s important for me to hear.  I can’t be your advocate unless I know what the rank and file are feeling.  As always, anything you say to me remains confidential.  But if I see a pattern from a lot of people, then the higher ups need to hear that.  We want to help people, not make anyone feel as if their best isn’t good enough.
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