PLEASE help our K-12 brothers and sisters

The Portland Association of Teachers have been in contract negotiations with the Portland School District since last spring and have been working without a contract since July 2013. From the beginning of the negotiations, Portland educators have been fighting for the Schools Portland Students Deserve.

After the Board unilaterally declared impasse in November, the two-sides have spent hundreds of hours at the table. The Board is claiming they have moved on the teachers’ priorities, but all they had really done was back away from a few of their take-backs on insurance and workload. At the same time, the Board is refusing to improve current teaching and learning conditions and is insisting that Portland educators continue to do more with less and less.

Recently, the Board announced they have nearly $30 million of unanticipated money available in their current budget. After spending millions on their own priorities outside of the classroom, the Board voted to put $11 million in reserves – bringing their contingency fund to over $34 million! The district has the money to settle a contract that’s fair for teachers and good for students, but so far is refusing to do so.

Portland educators’ top priorities are:

Real workload/class size relief: The status quo is unacceptable to teachers, students and parents. It's not enough for the Board to just maintain current workload and class size levels.

• Hold educators economically harmless: At a time when the district is on solid financial ground, there is no need to ask for additional financial sacrifices.
• Stop targeting individual groups of educators: The district is targeting veteran teachers who have dedicated their lives to their students by insisting on eliminating the early retirement benefit. Additionally, the district wants to gut protections - including eliminating all transfer rights - for school psychologists, who work with our most vulnerable students and families.
• Strike a balance: In an effort to reach a settlement, Portland teachers have expressed willingness to move on some of the Board's priorities. In return, the Board should provide some true improvements.

The two-sides are scheduled to return to mediation on Friday, January 31. Portland teachers are hopeful that the district is committed to making progress toward a settlement.
PAT members need your help and support. Here’s how:

·         Contact your substitute pool and tell them not to cross a picket line. Thank you to those locals - including East County, Canby and North Clackamas - for your recent calls to your subs!

·         Show your support directly to Portland educators:

o   Send encouraging words by mail, email or facebook (https://www.facebook.com/patpdx)

o   Send contributions that will help support their organizing efforts to:

§  345 NE 8^th, Portland, Oregon 97232

o   Show solidarity by showing up to an event – like PAT on facebook and visit their websites (www.pdxteachers.org) to keep updated.

Please support our K-12 brothers and sisters in Portland Assoc of Teachers

Friends,

PAT is pulling out all the stops to put pressure on Portland School Board Members for a settlement.  Having members – tons of them – send the emails to the attached email list would be one very good way to help.

 
Time is a real issue – it would be great if OEA members could send the emails as soon as possible.   A last push on the board members might help us bring home the best settlement for PAT members.

I am certain that OEA members and leaders are very interested in the struggle for a decent contract by educators at PPSD. Things are heading for a crisis quickly. PAT members have scheduled their strike vote for next week.

 

BELOW ARE THE SUPERINDENDENT AND PPS BOARD MEMBERS. PLEASE SEND THEM AN EMAIL, AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO SETTLE WITH P.A.T 

Cut and paste the email addresses below to send your email to the PPS Superintendent, and PPS Board Members:

 

Ruth Adkins	radkins@pps.net
Pam Knowles	pknowles@pps.net
Matt Morton	mmorton@pps.net
Tom Koehler	tkoehler@pps.net
Bobbie Regan	bobbie.regan@pps.net
Greg Belisle	gbelisle@pps.net
Steve Buel	sbuel@pps.net
Andrew Davidson	adavidson@pps.net
Carole Smith, Superintendent	csmith1@pps.net

SAMPLE EMAIL TEXT

 Dear Superintendent Smith and Portland Public School Board Members:

My name is __________ and I am an (educator/ESP employee) in the _____________ School District.  On behalf of parents, students and educators across the state of Oregon I urge you to do what is right and settle a contract NOW that’s fair to teachers and good for students. A fair contract would include real reductions class size and caseloads, equity in resources to all schools, and a contract that doesn’t force teachers to continue to lose ground financially.   Portland Public Schools can either be an example of leadership in Oregon or an obstacle to improvements for students and educators.  I urge you to be a leader.

Please do what is right.  Negotiate fairly, and settle the contract with the PAT to avoid a strike. 

Professional Development Opportunity

Hey fellow members here is an opportunity for Professional Development and it only costs $29.00.

Saturday, November 2

90 minute live Webinar

From the comfort of home or coffee shop, join PAPT and neuroscience/personality expert Dario Nardi to gain insights and skills for coaching and leading from the cutting edge of the neuroscience of personality.

You'll learn:

How brain wiring is influenced by the work we do

Why brain wiring looks different in college-aged versus midlife people

How brain wiring varies by background and career

Essential lessons from neuroscience for career counselors, leadership
coaches, parents, and teachers

You'll see examples of colorful 'brain maps' that demonstrate the connection between career choice, personality type, and brain development at different stages of life.

You'll receive:

PowerPoint slides for use with clients

The article,"Wired for Success: The Brain and Type at
Midlife," published in TypeFace British APT journal

Handouts on Motivation and Roles We Assume in Learning and at Work

Saturday, November 9

Group Discussion at Medical Teams

Here's your chance to challenge Dario's conclusions and to ask juicy questions based
on the webinar and Dario's handouts. Do we, in fact, become our career?

Join a panel of PAPT members who work in career counseling, leadership development, and executive coaching to explore your insights, reflections, and questions.

Two Events! One Price!

 

Below is the link for you to register!

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e8ck2cx140856fd8&llr=ydtfp5dab

OEA Class Size Campaign

What’s Your Class Size?

Oregon classrooms are in crisis. Our failure to invest in our public schools is shortchanging our students and our future. We now have the third largest class size in the country. Educators can't give their students the individual attention they need to succeed. This is unacceptable. What can we do about it? 

Tell Your Story!

To share your class size, please click on the link below. Your story will be shared with fellow educators, the public and Oregon legislators.

 

 

 

http://www.oregoned.org/action-center/class-size

ShareThis Copy and Paste

Membership Drive October 2013

MESSAGE TO MEMBERS:

“Dear PTFA members",

Philip Sahaayardhon and myself, Heidi Cropsey,  have volunteered to relieve Jennifer of the responsibility of maintaining the RoadScholar (spelling) Blog site.  Jennifer has been doing a great job fulfilling her duties as President,  but is feeling overwhelmed and we are hoping to help her by taking on this exciting project.  We plan to combine our efforts with Lauren Zavrel ,  in order to connect the blog site with Moodle.  We are looking forward to start working on the project in a couple of weeks!

In Unity,

Philip Sahaayaruban
Heidi Cropsey

Pro-Educaton / Social Justice organization

• marriage equality
• large corporations pay their fair share (to fund schools and social programs)
• protecting the environment

http://www.ouroregon.org/

Our Oregon is a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to fighting for economic and social fairness for all Oregonians. Our coalition represents organizations and individuals who care about a range of issues, from preserving funding for our schools and critical services to protecting the environment. (See our list of priorities for more details.)

Our accomplishments have included defeating Bill Sizemore’s many destructive ballot measures, securing the passage of crucial initiative protection bills, and bringing together an unprecedented coalition of groups to pass Measures 66 & 67. In November 2012, we successfully reformed the corporate kicker tax break and defeated Kevin Mannix's tax break for millionaires.

House Bill 3120: authority for HECC (Higher Ed Coordinating Council)

The OEA would like to see this bill passed. It is part of the overall OIEB reform. This bill would do the following:

  '  { - (2) Under the direction and control of the Oregon
Education Investment Board, the Higher Education Coordinating
Commission shall: - }
  '  { - (a) Develop a strategic plan for achieving state higher
education goals, identifying priority areas for attention and
taking into consideration the contributions of this state's
independent institutions and other organizations dedicated to
helping Oregonians reach state goals. Goals should include, but
need not be limited to: - }

It's too much for me to cut and paste the whole bill. See here for more info:

http://gov.oregonlive.com/bill/2013/HB3120/

OEA Leadership Conference in Bend

It's not too late to sign up (and, it's free). The PTFA will reimburse you for mileage and snacks / meals on the road. But...if you are teaching this summer, you probably can't go because the dates are July 30 thru August 1st.

Click here to sign up. http://www.oregoned.org/whats-new/summer-leadership-conference

HB 2305-A: If the corporate kicker "kicks", community colleges can get money

Please contact your senator to insure that CC's get the corporate kicker money (HB 2305-A).

You can find your senators here: http://whoismyrepresentative.com/

Important message: sent note to Legislative Ways and Means Committee (for college funding):

This is important. Please use the link (scroll down) to fight for money to go to community colleges. Otherwise, more cuts to our programs could happen.

I just got a call over the weekend where I learned that all of the spanish-speaking computer classes have been cut (as have driver's ed and the immigrant nurses program "win-win"). That shows me we are getting away from "community" college and closer to a place where degrees and transfers are more important. Jennifer Rueda

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <andrea.cooper@oregoned.org>
Date: Tue, May 28, 2013 at 9:47 AM
Subject: Take Action! Community College Budget Advocacy

Community College Council,

We are reaching a crucial point in the legislative session when Legislators are making final decisions on the budget. As many of you know, a few weeks ago we received good news that that states revenue forecast was up $271 million dollars. This was unanticipated revenue that can now be invested in higher education and other critical services. Unfortunately, this also means the corporate kicker is likely to kick -- and rather than putting funds towards education, corporations may get a $20.3 million kick back from the state. We need to reach out to Legislators and ask them to invest in Oregon's community colleges and redirect the kicker to the Community College Support fund.

Please follow the link below to send a message to Legislators about the critical need for adequate funding. This email system allows you to click the arrows and populate a pre-generated email or you can edit it and make it your own. I would highly recommend adding a personal touch and a personal story about how budget cuts have impacted you and your students.

http://capwiz.com/nea/or/issues/alert/?alertid=62681471&PROCESS=Take+Action


Please help spread the word to your members! (Note: since this is lobbying related, please send to personal email accounts)

As always, please let me know if you have any questions!

Best,

Andrea

---

Andrea Cooper
Public Affairs Consultant
Oregon Education Association
Office: (503) 495-2173
Cell: (971) 275-0068

Contingent faculty salaries

An article about unioned contingent faculty and our salaries: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/1303Advocate_final.pdf

Grant Writing Workshop at PSU

Professional Grant Development WorkshopMaster the techniques of writing superior and winning proposalsApril 24-26, 20138:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.To be held at:Portland State UniversityPortland, Oregon

Sponsored by: The Grant Training Center

This intense three-day proposal writing workshop is geared for: 1) experienced writers who wish to strengthen and update their proposal writing skills, and 2) beginners who wish to acquire and master the techniques of preparing and writing successful proposals from various funding agencies. Whether you are a researcher in the sciences or social sciences, or an education or non-profit professional, our training will provide you with the skills you need to write winning proposals!

Participants Will Learn How To:
• Navigate the world of grant procurement
• Research and identify potential funding sources
• Address the guidelines of private, foundation, corporation, and federal applications
• Find foundation and corporate giving sources specific to the State of Oregon
• Understand the new federal regulations for proposals
• Comprehend the review process, and attend to key points for reviewers
• Write winning proposals that stand out against competing submissions
• Develop focused and realistic budgets
• Ensure your proposal demonstrates excellence and innovation
• Package professional grant proposal submissions

Our goal is for you to walk away with a grant design, abstract, and budget outline specific to your project, research, or interests – and ultimately – submit winning proposals!.

*Space is limited, and since this class fills-up quickly, it is on a first-come, first-serve basis.*Workshop Fee: $595.00 (including tuition, materials, certificate of completion, and continental breakfast)
Rebate of $50.00 per person is given for two or more registrants from the same organization.
To Enroll:
Please visit our website,
Or call us toll free at (866)-704-7268 or (571) 257-8864

REGISTER NOW!!
April 24 - 26, 2013 Portland, OR	"Professional Development Grant Writing", Workshop Portland State University
April 26, 2013 2:00 - 4:00 pm (EST)	"Fundamentals of Proposal Writing" Webinar

Training for Women in the Labor Movement

SIUW Save the dates! — June 25th-29th, 2013 — University of Washington, Seattle WA VISIT LERC ONLINE • FORWARD THIS EMAIL Building Labor's Future: Women Work for Justice Topics for this year’s SIUW include: • Envisioning labor’s future in the global economy • Developing priorities for working women • Strategizing new ways of organizing • Holding elected officials accountable The SIUW is a 4-day residential school designed to empower women as leaders in the labor movement through participatory education and community. Hosted by the Washington State Labor Education & Research Center (South Seattle Community College) and sponsored by the UALE, the UW Bridges Center, the U of O LERC and the Washington State Labor Council Women’s Committee For questions or information contact Cheryl Coney at cheryl.coney@seattlecolleges.edu or (206) 934 - 5382. Please visit us online at http://georgetown.southseattle.edu/LERC/events.aspx for SIUW updates! The Summer Institute for Union Women welcomes participation regardless of race, creed, religion, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, or immigrant status Helen Moss hmoss@uoregon.edu Labor Education and Research Center lerc@uoregon.edu Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your browser.

Labor Education and Research Center • 1289 University of Oregon • Eugene, OR 97403-1289 • Ph 541.346.5054 • lerc@uoregon.edu • Click here to unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive these updates. The University of Oregon is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Part-timer / Adjunct Issues

Hello everyone, I recently attending an almost 4-day Higher Ed conference hosted by the NEA. It was GREAT. Very well put together with plenty of small group discussions. I attended a lot of part-timer/adjunct workshops, which led me to re-announce some of the good  organizations out there who want to build power for adjuncts. You may have heard of them- the biggest being The New Faculty Majority. Folks, it's up to US to make our working conditions better. The few folks who run the PTFA can't do it alone.

http://www.newfacultymajority.info/equity/

http://www.academicworkforce.org/

Compensation: Equity in Compensation: Equal Pay for Equal Work
		Job Security: Equity in Job Security: Automatic Contract Renewals after Probationary Period
		Academic Freedom: Equity in Academic Freedom: Freedom from Retaliation in All Teaching and Research
		Faculty Governance: Equity in Faculty Governance - Right to Participate Equally for All Faculty Members
		Professional Advancement: Equity in Professional Advancement: Progressive Salary Steps and Equal Access to Professional Development Opportunities for All Faculty
		Benefits: Equity in Benefits: Access to the Same Health Insurance & Retirement Benefits for All
		Unemployment Insurance: Equity in Unemployment Insurance: Access to the Same Benefits as Other Seasonal Employees

LERC class: Recruiting and Developing Leaders

I have attended several U of O Labor Educationa and Research Center classes. They are very professional and well-done. I always learn something new and relevant. The next class is on May 18th in Springfield.

If you attend, the PTFA will pay the costs ($65.00 for the class, plus milage and coffee / snacks). Lunch is part of the event. You must write a short summary (2-3 paragraphs) for the Spring newsletter, however.

Please let Jennifer (Pebblesmom1@gmail.com) know if you will go (you must promise, because we'll pre-pay the class). The link:

http://pages.uoregon.edu/lerc/pdfs/eugspr2013brochure.pdf

Thank you!!!!

OEA Lobby Day March 25th

 

The 2013 Legislative Session has begun! 2013 Legislature Convenes Budgets and PERS Dominate Agenda On Monday, February 4, 2013 the 77th Oregon Legislative Assembly officially began. Over the next six months, the 60 members of the House of Representatives and 30 members of the Oregon Senate will grapple with budgets for education, health care, public safety and will debate policy issues from the Public Employee Retirement System to paid sick leave. Throughout the session, we encourage educators from around the state to join together and tell their stories. It's critical that you use your on-the-ground experience in your classrooms and work sites to advocate for your students and your profession. Be sure to Save the Date (or better yet, register today!) for OEA's Lobby Day, on March 25. Stay informed by visiting OEA's 2013 Legislative webpage. Don't forget to check out OEA's Bill Tracking tool. You can monitor the progress of any bill before the Oregon Legislature. Get Involved. Make a Difference. Are you interested in helping build your local association's political strength? Would you like to work with coalitions, fellow members and elected officials to better our schools? Apply to be an OEA Political Cadre! As a cadre, you can assist your local union with anything from volunteer recruitment and training, communicating with members and the public, to coordinating local actions and organizing events. You can fill out a cadre application here. Only a limited number of positions are available. Please return completed applications to OEA's Government Relations Department. For questions and a position description, please contact Ken Volante in OEA's Public Affairs Department. Stipends are provided to all political cadres. Educators know first hand that we're facing a crisis in our classrooms. Oregon now has the third largest class size in the country. Our failure to invest in our public schools is shortchanging our students and our future. With soaring class sizes, educators are finding it increasingly more challenging to give their students the individual attention they need to succeed. This is unacceptable. What can we do about it? Join OEA's Class Size Campaign! Tell Us Your Number. Tell Your Story! Test Out the PERS Calculator Do you know that the Governor's proposal on PERS could cost educators more than $100,000? Kitzhaber's idea would limit the amount of the Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA) paid to retirees to the first $24,000 per year of benefits. Go here to learn more about the proposal and use our simple, online tool to calculate how the Governor's proposal would impact you and your family. Copyright © 2013 Oregon Education Association, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences

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NEA Higher Education Conference in PORTLAND

http://www.nea.org/home/53608.htm

To register: http://www.cvent.com/events/2013-nea-higher-education-conference/event-summary-7e44977cbbda46fba767eca3540daa23.aspx

“FACULTY, STUDENTS, AND THE COMMON GOOD”
The 2013 NEA Higher Education conference will be held at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront, Portland, Oregon, from March 22-24, 2013.

Visit the conference website to register and see a more detailed agenda of speakers and workshops.

This year's theme, "Faculty, Students, and the Common Good," asks, "As our nation becomes increasingly partisan and polarized, especially between rich and poor, and as public education becomes increasingly underfunded and targeted by anti-egalitarian forces, what is the role of faculty, academic professionals, higher education support professionals and students in creating a more democratic, more decent society? What is the public good, and what does it mean to fight for it?"

In order to develop a conference that meets the needs of our members, we are seeking your input. Consider submitting a paper or suggesting a proposal (see below), or participating in a brief survey about conference proceedings. Thank you!

How to suggest a conference panel or session:
Workshop sessions can be submitted in the areas of organizing, member recruitment and engagement, local association best practices, social media, political action best practices, bargaining, policy, pedagogy, or any other topic in keeping with this year's conference theme. The purpose of these workshops is to provide a forum for exchanging opinions and presenting ideas.

Proposals should include:
• Workshop name
• A 150- to 200-word overview of the workshop.
• A two- to three-sentence descriptor or your workshop. This is the descriptor that will be used in the program if your workshop is selected.
• Please denote whether this workshop can be a 45-minute flash session, a 75-minute breakout session, a 90-minute breakout session, or all three.
Workshop proposals should be submitted no later than December 1, 2012 to Phadra L. Williams Tuitt at pwilliams@nea.org. Proposals will be reviewed and you will be contacted no later than January 3, 2013.

How to submit a paper:
For the first time, we will publish conference proceedings through the submission of conference-themed papers, which, if accepted, have the possibility of being published in an edited ebook or other NEA publication.
We invite you to submit in the following areas:
• Union organizing in higher education
• The role of faculty, students, academic professionals, and higher education support professionals in creating a more democratic society
• The role of unions in creating a more democratic society
• Women and their leadership roles in unions
• Minorities and leadership in unions
• The public good in higher education

Please submit your 350-word abstract with name, e-mail, phone number, and institutional affiliation, as well as two page vitae, to Mary Ellen Flannery at mflannery@nea.org by January 3, 2013. Selected conference presenters will be notified by the end of January with further conference details.

Any questions regarding the NEA Higher Education Conference and paper submissions can be sent to Phadra Williams Tuitt, Ed.D., Organizational Specialist, NEA Center For Organizing, at pwilliams@nea.org or Mary Ellen Flannery, NEA Thought & Action Editor, NEA Center For Communications, at mflannery@nea.org.

Pilot Locals Soar (new OEA initiative)

Pilot Locals Soar! As a key component of OEA's Strategic Action Plan, the Powerful Locals Pilot Program is off and running. In October, 16 local associations from all corners of the state (representing K-12 teachers, education support professionals and community college faculty) were selected to participate in the Pilot Locals program. The program, under the direction of OEA's Union School, is providing education, training and support to local leadership teams, and working with locals to identify, recruit, train and engage members in core union areas. All 16 locals in the program continue to have individual meetings and support from the Union School to assess where they are, what their strengths are and to identify opportunities to engage, organize and empower members. Recently, teams from all of the Pilot Locals gathered in Eugene for their first two-day Convocation. The gathering allowed members, leaders and staff to look at the political, economic and historical context of the labor movement, and have deep conversations on specific topics such as member organizing and community outreach. The goal of the premier Convocation was to start creating a foundation for each local's strategic planning process and to build relationships across these locals for sharing of ideas and mutual support.

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Window sign / please comment

Please go HERE

 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzbec1gMkMbzSmZZQjV5bnpJMWc/edit

 

to comment on the new window poster (1/2 sheet). Would you hang it in

 

 your office? Any changes you'd like to see? Can you make a better poster?

 

 

LERC conference on Feb 2nd in Portland)

http://pages.uoregon.edu/lerc/


47th Annual Pacific NW Labor History Association Conference
• Portland • May 3-5, 2013
LABOR UNDER ATTACK:
Learning from the Past and Preparing for the Future2013 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, whose organizing in the northwest resulted in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia being one of the most strongly unionized regions of the US and Canada by the end of World War II. How will we preserve the gains of the CIO era, and build a new labor movement? What are the connections between the CIO and progressive political movements, and our own unions and popular movements like Occupy? The PNLHA Conference gives workers, unionists, scholars and community activists an opportunity to reflect on some of these themes and examine the prospects for a revitalized labor movement in our time.