November Newsletter

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter
November 2009

Town Hall Meeting November 12th
**Upcoming on Nov 12th is a much-anticipated Town Hall Meeting held by Darrell Steinberg. Our goal is to encourage 10% of our membership to attend. CTA hopes to pack the house with members, parents and community leaders who will share their stories about: the impact of budget cuts, the Race To The Top program and the pending reauthorization of ESEA. Please let your parents know about this meeting too, where they can let our legislators know how the cuts are affecting them on a personal level.** See the flier attached to the newsletter email version.

State Council Update
(Ken MacPherson, CTA State Council for NTA):
Fellow Members of NTA,I have been asked to provide the general membership updates as to what goes on at CTA State Council. Perhaps I should give you a brief description of what it is and what it does. CTA State Council meets four weekends a year in Los Angeles. The purpose of the council is to be the guiding force behind CTA. From endorsing candidates for public office, supporting ballot initiatives, adjusting dues, electing numerous people to represent us (CTA) both nationally and statewide. State Council members also review bills introduced at the state capital, help direct our lobbying efforts. There are over six hundred state council members. The council meets in a gigantic meeting room where we use Roberts Rules of Order to run the general meetings and the numerous sub-committee meetings. (Oh, by the way there are twenty-one subcommittees, seventeen different districts and over a dozen caucuses.) That, very briefly, is what it is and what it does. We just had the first meeting of the year, and here are some of the highlights: Who is allowed by state law to administer drugs to students? Currently the State Nursing Board ruled only school nurses are allowed to administer drugs to students. Some legal changes on this may be forthcoming. We moved forward on discussions of "extra pay for extra work" versus "merit pay". Special Ed class size depending on the level student need was also discussed in the Special Education Committee. This committee's work will most likely become CTA policy by the end of the year. The Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee is moving forward with policy addressing "the inappropriate use of student data in teacher evaluation". This, too, should become policy by the year's end. A special CTA dues rate for RIFFed teachers so they can protect their rights in the re-hiring process is in the works as well. Oh, there is more but, I was told to try to keep it shortJ If any member has questions feel free to e-mail me at: kmacsac@gmail.com

Executive Board:
President: Cynthia Connell; clcsacto@yahoo.com
Vice-President: Scott MacMillan; unitednta@gmail.com
Treasurer: Mike Moyer; butterflyheartattck@yahoo.com
Secretary: Amber Allison; ambergallagher@hotmail.com

Negotiations :
Our Bargaining Team met this Wed 11/4, continuing to negotiate an agreement with the district to help resolve our financial crisis. An update will be sent on Friday.

Grievances
Several grievances have been resolved in the past month:
3 Resolved at Level 0
1 Resolved at level 2
There are 3 outstanding grievances at this time. If you believe the contract is being violated, please see your Faculty Representative or Grievance Rep for advice and help. Our Grievance Committee is made up of:
Joel Schweiger: Secondary
Patricia Hite-Leach: Secondary
Phil Cox: Elementary
***Special thanks to Joel for picking up the ball on several of these and ensuring they got settledJ***

Faculty Representatives:
American Lakes Naomi Nakahara
Bannon Creek Mahnaz Mohammadi,
Teri Slingerland
Discovery High Lundon Jackson
Heron School Maureen Ramos, Erin Ryan,
Peter Talbot
H.A. Hight Jill Crawford & Allyson Kirby
Inderkum Patricia Hite-Leach,
Ken McPherson
Jefferson Amy Hopkins
Leroy F Greene Brenda Borge & Kristen Rocha
Natomas High Maria Atherley, James Layne, Ruth Ward
Natomas Middle Anthony Katsaris, Emilio Moran
Natomas Park Lauren Frazer
Two Rivers Phil Cox
Witter Ranch Tanya Praest

School Board MembersTeri Burns: btburns@natomas.k12.ca.us
Sue Heredia: sheredia@natomas.k12.ca.us
Lisa Kaplan: lkaplan@natomas.k12.ca.us
Bruce Roberts: broberts@natomas.k12.ca.us
Jules Tran: jtran@natomas.k12.ca.us

November Calendar
Board Member Forums:
Mon November 8th: 3pm-6pm @ Panera:
2731 Del Paso RdSacramento, CA 95835-2316(916) 928-8295
Del Paso Road near Safeway

General:
Nov 10th: Public Hearing, Williams Act, DO, 6pm
Nov 10th: Regular Board Meeting, 6:30pm
Nov 11th: Holiday
**Nov 12th: CTA Town Hall Meeting, 5:30pm UCD Cancer Center 4501 X Street**
Nov 13th: Negotiations continue, DO
Nov 17th: Organizing Team, IHS Rm 223, 3:30pm
Nov 23rd: thru Friday Nov 27th: Holiday
Dec 1st: Executive Board Meeting, 3:30pm
Dec 3rd: Faculty Rep Meeting, IHS Rm D204, 3:30pm

Cynthia’s Site Visit Schedule:
11/6 JF 11/16 LFG
11/9 IHS 11/17 HAH and NMS
11/10 TR 11/19 NHS
11/12 ALE 11/20 DHS
11/13 HERON

Websites:
-Here’s a friendlier approach to finding the NTA contract on the District WebsiteJ: click on Departments, then Human Resources and its there: http://www.natomas.k12.ca.us/151110131231320607/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=55226&151110131231320607Nav=&NodeID=767

-Board Policy is also on District Website: click on Forms and Documents, and then click on Board Policies: http://www.natomas.k12.ca.us/151110131231320607/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=55226&151110131231320607Nav=&NodeID=767

-Check out the NTA Blog: http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com/search?q=newsletter
-California Ed Code Index: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/EDC
-CTA: http://www.cta.org/
-Natomas Buzz: http://www.natomasbuzz.com/

“AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL”