-VEA Back-to-School Breakfast
-Tuesday, August 18th
-7AM-9AM
-Jesse Bethel High School Student Union
Teacher association dishes out school supplies, books
Click photo to enlarge
Parents help children select a free book Monday… (John Glidden — VALLEJO TIMES-HERALD)
All it took to enter the Continentals of Omega Boys & Girls Club gym Monday afternoon was a golden ticket.
Well, it wasn’t a ticket, just a golden piece of paper.
By 4:30 p.m. well over 100 Vallejo City Unified School District children had stopped by to pick up free school supplies during the “Helping Hands School Supply Outreach” hosted by the Vallejo Education Association.
“It’s great for the kids,” said A.J. Brock as he and his wife, Araceli, stopped by the event with their three children.
A.J. Brock said that he was impressed with the free book each child was able to pick out.
“The books will help kids learn about the fundamentals to reading,” he said.
The event, while helping with school supplies, also helped the family learn about the Continentals of Omega Boys & Girls Club, according to Araceli Brock.
“We came in the wrong way (into the building) and we had no idea about the club but it’s a good program,” she said, gesturing to a Continentals of Omega Boys & Girls Club packet held by her husband. “We were even given a tour.”
“It’s our way of giving back to the community,” said association president Sheila Gradwohl. “It shows that our teachers are part of the Vallejo community.”
Gradwohl said this was the sixth year the Vallejo Education Association had given away school supplies like paper, pencils, pens, highlighters and crayons.
Class Sizes
Per Article 10.2.1, site managers have 10 student days to adjust class sizes or caseloads. On the 11th student day, members start notifying their managers if they continue to be over. Payment for overages begin on the 11 student day, however, site managers have an additional five student days to bring class size or caseloads into compliance with the contract.
Evaluations
Per Article 11.3 – unit members need to be notified no later than the 3rd Friday of September that they are to be evaluated.
Process A
If you are probationary, received an unsatisfactory evaluation or were moved from Process B to A at the end of the school year (last year), you will jointly select 3 objectives from the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP’s). Please remember – the process is to jointly select 3 objectives – not have your site administrator select 3 whole standards.
If an agreement cannot be reached on the 3 objectives between the unit member and the site manager , the unit member selects two objectives and the site manager selects two objectives for a total of 4 objectives evaluated.
Process B
If you are permanent status, you will jointly select one objective from CSTP’s. Again, this should not be the WHOLE standard, rather it should be an objective from the standard itself.
If an agreement cannot be reached on the objectives between the unit member and the site manager , the unit member selects 1 objective and the site manager selects 1 objective for a total of 2 objectives evaluated.
Under both Process A and B – unit members need to meet with their evaluator no later than October 15th to select the objective(s).
Note:
Anything you sign on your evaluation plan, you are agreeing to be evaluated on. It is important to be actively engaged in this process. This is YOUR evaluation plan to help support YOUR practice.
Confidentiality Form
VEA supports the idea presented by the District on confidentiality. Our bottom line is and continues to be that confidentiality needs to be protected for our students and our members. Confidentiality is covered under Federal Law and State Law. We are in agreement that a form should be provided to members to remind them of the importance of confidentiality. We are in disagreement only on the language that is being provided to members.
We further believe that when it comes to the rights of our members, any changes that the District is proposing needs to be bargained with its bargaining units. Therefore, we are urging members to sign the attached form in lieu of the one provided by the District. We also believe that confidentiality is already codified as stated earlier and there may be some members who object to signing this form. Either way, we believe the decision to sign or not sign is up to each individual member and VEA will support the decision of each individual member.
VEA is excited to announce an exciting partnership between VEA and VCUSD (with support from CTA). We will be launching the Algebra Success Academy in the 2013-14 school year. Teachers will be provided with training on the Algebra Success Academy model and then will be able to use what they have learned directly into their classrooms.
The training is open to all teachers working in VCUSD, however, it is generally geared towards those teaching grade 2 through 6th grade. Each teacher attending will be provided with a stipend. Trainings are on Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and running from August 21st to September 25th. Dinner will be provided by VCUSD.
Please see the attached flyer for more information.
VEA is very proud of the work being done by VEA members and teachers Lynece Edwards and Charla Yakabe. Their program called, “Food to Grow On,” seeks to educate 5th and 6th grade students about where food comes from (with visits to local farms), to tasting and cooking with different locally grown food, and making healthy food choices.
Watch the video to learn more!
VEA members joined over 15 other organizations, including local churches, non-profits and labor, in the Common Ground Founding Convention held today at St. Patrick’s/St. Vincent’s in Vallejo, California. With almost 1,000 delegates present, community members were able to tell their stories regarding issues that concerned them to the over a dozen of local civic and political leaders in attendance.
We were thrilled to have our very own, CTA President Dean Vogel attend today’s event. We were also pleased to see VCUSD Vice President Tony Ubalde along with Superintendent Ramona Bishop.
While today’s convention was inspirational and energizing, VEA recognizes that this is just the first step in developing long-lasting positive change in our communities. Posted below is the tentative agenda that has been developed for the work of Common Ground in the upcoming months. We ask that if you are interested in making a difference, look at the list below and commit to attending at least one thing!
Homeless Teen Strategy Meeting
Thursday, August 22nd, 6 to 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church,
1600 Union Ave., Fairfield
“Ready for Reform” Immigration Gathering
Early Fall 2013 – Date/Time/Location TBD
Neighborhood and School Safety Strategy Meeting
Tuesday, October 8th, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Vincent Ferrer Memorial Center,
SW Corner of Sacramento and Florida Sts., Vallejo
Neighborhood and School Safety Neighborhood Walk
November 2013 – Exact date/Time/Location TBD
Common Ground in the News:
In unanimous support of solidarity, the Vallejo Education Association adopted the following resolution in support of our Seattle union brothers and sisters who have taken a courageous step. Teachers in Seattle are refusing to give the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), their states standardized test.
Ask a Vallejo teacher how many tests they are required to give to your child, their student, in a given year. Now ask how much better the resources used on testing could be used to restore music, PE, and other programs that we have not seen in Vallejo for quite some time.
At what point do we start saying that enough is enough & stand up for what we know is right for our children, our students?
WHEREAS, our nation’s future well-being relies on a high-quality public education system that prepares all students for college, careers, citizenship and lifelong learning, and strengthens the nation’s social and economic well-being; and
WHEREAS, our nation’s school systems have been spending growing amounts of time, money and energy on high-stakes standardized testing, in which student performance on standardized tests is used to make major decisions affecting individual students, educators and schools; and
WHEREAS, the over-reliance on high-stakes standardized testing in state and federal accountability systems is undermining educational quality and equity in U.S. public schools by hampering educators’ efforts to focus on the broad range of learning experiences that promote the innovation, creativity, problem solving, collaboration, communication, critical thinking and deep subject-matter knowledge that will allow students to thrive in a democracy and an increasingly global society and economy; and
WHEREAS, it is widely recognized that standardized testing is an inadequate and often unreliable measure of both student learning and educator effectiveness; and
WHEREAS, the over-emphasis on standardized testing has caused considerable collateral damage in too many schools, including narrowing the curriculum, teaching to the test, reducing love of learning, pushing students out of school, driving excellent teachers out of the profession, and undermining school climate; and
WHEREAS, high-stakes standardized testing has negative effects for students from all backgrounds, and especially for low-income students, English language learners, children of color, and those with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the culture and structure of the systems in which students learn must change in order to foster engaging school experiences that promote joy in learning, depth of thought and breadth of knowledge for students; therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Vallejo Education Association calls on the governor, state legislature and state education boards and administrators to reexamine public school accountability systems in this state, and to develop a system based on multiple forms of assessment which does not require extensive standardized testing, more accurately reflects the broad range of student learning, and is used to support students and improve schools; and
RESOLVED, that the Vallejo Education Association calls on the U.S. Congress and Administration to overhaul the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as the “No Child Left Behind Act,” reduce the testing mandates, promote multiple forms of evidence of student learning and school quality in accountability, and not mandate any fixed role for the use of student test scores in evaluating educators.
Teachers need to know that if a site administrator approaches you about changing a grade, they are breaking the law. This can be very intimidating for newer teachers, but know that the law is on your side.
According to California Education Code 49066, it states:
(a) When grades are given for any course of instruction taught in a school district, the grade given to each pupil shall be the grade determined by the teacher of the course and the determination of the pupil’s grade by the teacher, in the absence of clerical or mechanical mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency, shall be final.
(b) The governing board of the school district and the superintendent of such district shall not order a pupil’s grade to be changed unless the teacher who determined such grade is, to the extent practicable, given an opportunity to state orally, in writing,or both, the reasons for which such grade was given and is, to the extent practicable, included in all discussions relating to the changing of such grade.
Teachers need to contact VEA immediately if your site administrator is pressuring you to change a grade.
VEA has issued a demand to bargain on the letter that was sent today by VCUSD employee Denise Brogan-Whitford, most likely at the the direction of new District Administrator, Stephen Lane.
This letter was sent to all VEA members and issued the directive to stop immediate use of personal appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators, and coffee makers. This is supposedly due to an increase in energy usage.
No mention is made in this letter about the cold snap that has hit Vallejo and other parts of Northern California in the past couple of weeks.
Instead the blame for this increased energy use is placed on the usage of small appliances used by teachers in their classrooms.
The District has stated that if personal appliances are not removed by January 31st that they will “confiscate” these items.
VEA believes that perhaps the District has larger issues to address, such as the safety of their employees and the students of Vallejo, rather than the use of small appliances.
We also believes that in light of the fact that many teachers report having heaters that do not work in their classrooms, including VEA President Christal Watts’ 3rd grade classroom, that this District should spend more “energy” (no pun intended) on updating antiquated heating systems rather than seek to ban and illegally confiscate the personal property of VCUSD employees.
VEA’s Bargaining Team meets with the District’s bargaining team tomorrow. We will keep you posted!
Voting was held today for VEA unit members on a proposed calendar change. This calendar change was necessary in order to fully restore the 2012-13 Student/Teacher calendar. Ninety-five percent of the members who voted were in support of the calendar change.