Natomas Teachers' Association

Tentative Agreement Ratifies

2011-01-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

The tentative agreement for 7.9 % in concessions has been ratified by the membership this week. Next steps are for it to be brought to the school board for a vote, and then the county for acceptance. CSEA will be negotiating next week for the same amount, 7.9%
The 7.9 consists of 7 furlough days, and the layoffs in the form of class size increases, of which the district received a state waiver to raise class sizes.

Bargaining Update - December 1st, 2010

2010-12-01T22:57:00.001-08:00

NTA met with the district today, Wed. Dec. 1st, to continue negotiations. The meeting was productive, as NTA and the district clarified our respective proposals, particularly in the area of the fed. jobs funds. NTA inquired about the county's Nov. 30th deadline, and the district responded that it assumed the county had gone ahead with filing for state receivership. Indeed, as KCRA has reported today, in an interview with County superintendent Gordon, he indicates that he began that process. He also acknowledged that employee negotiations continue. As such, NTA meets again with the district on Monday, Dec. 6th. To view the current proposals from NTA and the district, and to provide the bargaining team with your input on bargaining, please do attend the NTA Communication Committee's site-level meetings occuring this week and next. We look forward to your participation and input.

Impasse Delayed, by PERB ruling

2010-11-29T18:16:00.000-08:00

NTA received the word from PERB that based on our opposition letter, the District has agreed to withdraw its request for appointment of a mediator. Therefore, we (NTA) will meet on December 1 & 6 to continue bargaining.

Natomas in the news - November 2010

2010-11-29T18:11:00.000-08:00

Sacramento Bee Articles in the last few weeks:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/03/3229397/infusion-of-school-leadership.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/02/3226706/sacramentos-natomas-school-district.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/02/3226702/stimulus-schools.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/30/3221972/natomas-unified-sets-meeting-with.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/20/3200285/natomas-school-district-teachers.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/26/3212347/clock-ticking-in-natomas.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/19/3197035/facing-takeover-school-district.html

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/11/19/3197353/natomas-unified-wants-mediator.html

Bargaining Update, November 18, 2010

2010-11-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

Natomas Teachers’ Association

BARGAINING UPDATE – NOVEMBER 18, 2010

Yesterday, the NTA Bargaining team met with the district from 10:00am until 8:00 pm. NUSD countered our proposals on Safety, Leaves, and Hours with significant movement towards agreement on these articles. The Association countered with the revised proposal outlined below, that includes budget cuts days and other potential savings. At the end of the session, however, the district responded that they are seeking to go to impasse unilaterally. NTA believes that it is premature to declare impasse, and we did not agree to it, because we continued to bargain and made significant progress in this latest bargaining session.

To date, the Natomas teachers have taken 5 budget cut days for 2009-2010 and 6 days for 2010-2011. A county appointed financial consultant has determined the district’s cash flow puts it in jeopardy of state receivership. While the Association does not believe teachers contributed to the financial predicament in which the District finds itself, it recognizes that there are financial difficulties. The Association has made a new proposal to address the district’s cash flow problem for the 2011-2012 school year.

NUSD Demands Concessions
Based on the currently improved state budget outlook, the district has reduced its previous demand for concessions from 10.1% to 7.9% for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years. The district is seeking:
7.9% = the equivalent of 16 budget cut days (by law, we can only give up to 8.5 days/year total)
2011-2012 7.9% Cut to employee salaries and benefits (16 Days)
2012-2013 7.9% Cut to employee Salaries and Benefits (16 Days)
This is the equivalent of 32 days cut

NTA’s Revised Proposal
Currently, the 6 days lost this year will be restored in 2011-2012. To address the district’s financial situation, the Association has proposed
2011-2012 7 days cut (3.39%)
IF
-The parties reach agreement on the Association’s proposals to improve:
• Article V (Hours), Article VIII (Safety), Article VII (Leaves), Article IV Salaries, Article III (Grievances)
-The Staff Development Days become teacher-directed work days
-The District agrees to enhanced fiscal accountability
+
2011-2012 a half year delay on step movement (saves .8%)
IF
-The parties reach agreement on the Association’s proposals to improve:
• Stricter policies and practices regarding interdistrict student transfers (may save approximately 1 million or the equivalent of 2.87%)
-The District reduces its spending on Services and Other Operating Expenditures by $330K
• the parties reach agreement to resolve their disputes over the Athletic Director positions

TOTAL OFFER would save the district 7.75% (approximately 5% of this coming from NTA concessions and the rest from improved district policies and practices)

These concessions would sunset at the end of the 2011-2012 school year.

Contact your organizing team or bargaining team to see what you can do to support your association.

2010 STAR API (Student Test Scores) are published

2010-09-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

To view the Sacramento County schools test scores, access this link:

http://api.cde.ca.gov/AcntRpt2010/2010GrthAPICo.aspx?cYear=2009-10&cSelect=34,SACRAMENTO

September 2010 Negotiations Update

2010-09-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

NTA Negotiators had our first meeting of this school year on Monday, Sept. 13th, with NUSD. The district presented counters to NTA proposals from last spring on contract articles IV (salary) and VIII (safety). The district also proposed the equivalent of a 10% salary cut on all employment groups in an attempt to balance their 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 budget scenario to be presented to the County. As the district's unaudited actuals were presented to the public and NTA as recently as last week's school board meeting, NTA, with the assistance of CTA staff, will be reviewing the district's budget documents in the upcoming weeks. Future negotiations sessions have been scheduled for this month and next. For clarification and input, seek out the bargaining team or NTA executive board, and CTA staff.

School Closure Decision Made

2010-03-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

The NUSD school board, upon recommendation of NUSD district office staff, voted tonight to close Leroy Greene Middle School starting 2010-2011. Board comments ranged from citing budgetary concerns (puzzling, because closing the school does not save the district money), to concerns about adults getting along (which adults are they referring to?). Despite a two year plan for middle school design, a one and a half year plan for program improvement (guess we didn't wear enough "blue-ribbons"?), and other committees such as a school closure committee that met for six months - this current decision regarding Leroy Greene has spanned approximately three weeks with no regard or collaboration with site staff. NTA questions how anything meaningful and sustainable can be implemented in the eight weeks left of the school year. As one board member noted, this board has been known to make snap decisions they later regretted and/or found to not get the results they expected, such as the claim to save rent on the old NP3 site on which the district is still paying $600,000 (empty building). Yes, the board has made decisions that have not been well thought out or were ill-advised. Well guess what? Apparently, yet another one was made again tonight. Who really loses in this one? The students who lost their school, and all the time they will spend in-transit to Natomas Middle. Finally, as always, their teachers (a combination of LFG and NMS teachers who remain) will be there to welcome them with open arms. And the district staff that can't even correctly identify the curriculum that we are using, will continue to be entrusted to conjure up more new scenarios (greener pastures anyone?) to be implemented at some future date. With this kind of track record, it's no wonder that we once again shake our heads in disbelief at another opportunity lost.

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter March 2010

2010-03-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

CTA DAY OF ACTION

Stood Up For Students!
Thanks to everyone who participated in the March 4th Day of Action. Ken MacPherson led the charge with a mock funeral at the traffic island at Inderkum High between 7-8am on Thursday morning. He and students painted a coffin, tombstones and a large sign indicating the death of school programs and personnel. Dana Dillon, CTA Board Member, passed out a California Initiative Petition calling for rescinding corporate tax loopholes. At our other sites, teachers and staff handed out fliers to parents, and wore black to signify mourning or white to signify layoffs. Some teachers incorporated curricular activities to support the event. Thanks again to everyone who helped draw attention to the plight of Education in California today.
_________________________________________________________________________________

IN DISTRICT NEWS……..

New Recommendations include closing LFG
The following recommendations were presented to the School Board as part of what appeared to be a ‘package deal’. It is my interpretation that the Board tabled a decision about which elementary school (and whether or not) to close until March 24th, and also voted to give themselves until March 24th to decide on this ‘package’ recommendation. It was not clear if they will make a decision about each item separately or together. For instance, they might vote to close an elementary and LFG, or neither, or one etc. Recommendations:
1. Not close an elementary school
2. Retain 5th graders at elementary schools for 2010-2011
3. Close Leroy Greene Middle for Program Redesign and Repair/Remodel of Facilities
Again, these are recommendations from the District; the School Board still needs to render their decision regarding approval. Dr Davie emphasized that this new recommendation to close LFG is based on academics, as opposed to financial considerations, and Teri Burns reminded everyone that the original reason for deciding to close a school was financial. If you have an opinion, please send a letter to our school board members. The entire proposal is also on the NUSD Website under Board Agendas for Feb 24th.

What have Teachers in NUSD contributed to the District Budget?
Here’s some math I did recently, and I thank every one of our hardworking and dedicated NTA members for continuing to provide our students with an outstanding educational opportunity despite the hardship of teaching in such a difficult time. Teachers are amazing!
Retired teachers $640,000
RIFed teachers $7,500,000
Furlough Days $2,200,000
Classroom Supplies $450,000
In addition, many teachers have increased their workload by 25-50% without an increase in pay. That’s another $3,450,000!

*A Reason to Celebrate!*
NTA member Christine Lanphere recently received a Commendation to NUSD from State Superintendent Jack O’Connell for her valued participation on the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission. As a 2-year member of this commission, she chaired the World Language Subject Matter Committee (SMC), was a member of the Executive Committee, was a member of the History-Social Science SMC and as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Education and the Environment Initiative she facilitated an Instructional Materials Reviewer/Content Review Expert Panel. According to Superintendent O’Connell, this Commission has accomplished important goals in to creating a world-class standards-based education system for California Public schools with a specific focus on closing the achievement gap. Thank you for representing NUSD and NTA in your efforts, Christine. And Congratulations!

March Calendar (Tracks A, B,C on; Track D off)

Board Member Forums:
ü Mon Mar 8th: 4:30pm-5:30pm ( Lisa)
5:00pm-6:00pm (Sue)
ü Tue Mar 9th: 4:00pm-5:30pm (Jules)
5:30pm -7pm (Teri,Bruce)
@ Panera: 2731 Del Paso Rd; 928-8295
Regular Board Meeting
ü Wed Mar 10th: 6:30pm IHS

Special Board Meeting:School Closure/LFG/5th Grade Retention
ü Tue Mar 23th: 6:00pm place TBD

Cynthia’s Site Visit Schedule:
ü 3/8 NPE
ü 3/16 DHS/NHS
ü 3/17 LFG
ü 3/18 IHS
ü 3/22 HAH/NMS
ü 3/25 AL
ü 3/29 BC

School Board Members’ non-District Email: Teri Burns: TeriB@sia-us.com
Sue Heredia: heredias@csus.edu
Lisa Kaplan: kaplan4kids@yahoo.com
Bruce Roberts: bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com
Jules Tran: jules.tran@sbcglobal.net

Websites:
- NTA contract on the District WebsiteJ: click on Departments> Human Resources> Bargaining Unit Agreements: http://www.natomas.k12.ca.us
-Board Policy is also on District Website: click on Forms and Documents> Board Policies: http://www.natomas.k12.ca.us
- NTA Blog: http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com
-California Ed Code Index: http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/EDC
-CTA: http://www.CTA.org
-The Standard: http://www3.standard.com
-Natomas Buzz: http://www.natomasbuzz.com
- Day of Action: www.Standupforschools.org

“AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL”

News from NUSD re: Natomas High School

2010-03-08T10:12:00.000-08:00

Sent by the district today:

Good Morning,

We have some important news to share with you today about Natomas High School. We have just been notified by the California Department of Education that Natomas High is eligible to receive a three-year grant of up to $2 million a year as part of a new federal program to help under-performing schools.

Natomas High is one of 200 schools in California that has been named a “persistently lowest-achieving school” based on recent student achievement tests.

While some may see this as a negative reflection on our hard-working staff, administrators and students at Natomas High, this truly is an opportunity to forever change for the better our Natomas High.

In the midst of our state and district fiscal crisis, we have been given a “gift” in a way of potentially millions of dollars in new funds to change course for Natomas High.

More details on this grant will be available in the coming weeks along with the next steps we will be taking with the Natomas High community to draft the grant application. The grants range from $50,000 to $2 million, and we can tell you now that we want to “think big” and ask for the maximum grant.

Dr. General Davie Jr.,
Superintendent

Howard Kornblum,
Assistant Superintendent Educational Services

Heidi Van Zant
Public Information Officer
Natomas Unified School District
916.561.5253

Natomas USD in the News

2010-02-15T21:27:00.000-08:00

Natomas Land Deal attorney fees as reported by the Bee:

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2537370.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

Natomas USD in the News, Jan.26, 2010

2010-01-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

NUSD approved a budget Jan. 25th. Sac Bee story below.

http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/2489257.html

Sacramento Bee Article on Natomas schools - Dec. 27th

2010-01-04T23:40:00.000-08:00

Natomas budget cuts hit classrooms; parents worried

By Diana Lambert dlambert@sacbee.com q{

Published: Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009 - 12:00 am Page 5B
Natomas Unified School District officials have reached deep into classrooms to balance their budget.
They have cut days from the school year, reduced class periods for most juniors and seniors, relaxed graduation requirements and eliminated summer school.
And parents are worried.
"They need to start putting the kids first," said Elena Quintero, president of the Inderkum High School Parent Teacher Student Association.
She is concerned about the district's decision to reduce the number of units required for graduation and to cut counselors.
"Counselors now don't even have the time to go over a schedule with kids, let alone go over graduation requirements and college applications," said Quintero, whose son is a freshman at the school.
Quintero and a handful of other parents were at a meeting last week at Inderkum High School where interim Natomas Unified Superintendent General Davie Jr. and other district staff talked about plans to cut another $20 million over this year and the following two.
Many of the parents in the room that night have already enrolled their children in charter schools.
Chana Wynne has three children in district charter schools.
"I think eventually the charters will be affected too," Wynne said.
This year 400 students migrated from district schools to Natomas Pathways Preparatory School after the charter school added middle grades. This migration will cost the district $2.5 million in state funding by the end of the school year.
The 12,000-student district also has lost 807 students to Natomas Charter, 321 to Westlake Charter and 512 to Natomas Pathways Preparatory School's high school.
Davie said charters offer healthy competition to districts. "They are part of the fabric of educational offerings in the Natomas community," he said.
But district officials are concerned enough about the bleeding charters are causing that they have made retaining and attracting students part of their budget recovery plan.
"We need to attract students that left us," Assistant Superintendent John Christ told the parents.
But that may be a hard sell in a district that has had to make over $11 million in cuts this school year alone. Cuts over a three-year period include closing a school, increasing class sizes, eliminating all elementary and middle school counselors, ending all but special education transportation, reducing library technicians, limiting athletics and postponing the adoption of new textbooks.
District officials have so far identified $15.5 million in potential cuts to help offset the nearly $20 million still needed. The only options left to reduce the budget are to lay off more staff, negotiate more concessions from unions, close a second school, generate new income or make more cuts to schools, according to district staff.
"As desperate as it is, we may have to look at more cuts," Christ said.
All California schools are struggling with state budget cuts. They received $18 billion less than anticipated in state funding a year ago, said state schools chief Jack O'Connell in a previous Bee interview. That was despite an influx of federal dollars from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
The Folsom Cordova Unified School District will close two schools at the end of the school year, as will the San Juan Unified School District. The Sacramento City Unified School District closed four schools at the end of the 2008-09 school year.
The Elk Grove Unified School District also is struggling with budget cuts, voting recently to reduce spending on district sports programs, increase K-3 class sizes and eliminate 592 positions.
Like Natomas, Folsom Cordova officials voted to shave a class period off the school day for high school juniors and seniors. But no other Sacramento County school district has taken the drastic measure of cutting the school year.
So how did Natomas Unified get into this situation?
District leaders didn't make timely decisions, Davie told The Bee last week. He said the district's decision in May to postpone layoffs was a mistake. Instead, the district waited until August to lay off 59 teachers and counselors.
The picture could be even more grim next month when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presents his proposed budget for next year. Educators are hoping there are no more cuts to school districts.
"We're worried," Davie said. "We hope education has had its turn. We're preparing."

Race to the Top (RTTT) information from CDE

2010-01-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

Natomas USD is applying for the RTTT funds. For information on RTTT, below is a link to the Calif. Dept of Educ. website which covers this topic. NTA will be negotiating the terms and limits as to the use of these funds, when and if the grant is received. We are monitoring our neighboring districts' practices, as well as receiving guidance from CTA staff.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr09/yr09rel164.asp

Press Release from Lisa Kaplan, NUSD School Board Member

2010-01-01T08:46:00.000-08:00

Press Release
Contact: Lisa Kaplan
916/996-1474
kaplan4kids@yahoo.com

Kaplan to Run for Third Term on Natomas School Board

Sacramento - Natomas School Board member Lisa Kaplan has announced her intention to seek re-election to the Natomas School Board in 2010, opting out of the race for Sacramento City Council, District 1.

"When I decided to run for Sacramento City Council, I promised myself that I would stick true to why I first decided to run for School Board. I first ran for school board because I knew I could make a difference and had a passion for changing the lives of the children of Natomas for the better. My passion is for the children of Natomas and I want the opportunity to continue to make a positive difference in their lives. I cannot knowingly vacate my school board seat without setting the District right financially as we weather this economic downturn," said Kaplan. "I wish to thank everyone who has stood with me from the very beginning, especially my friends like the Northern California Carpenters, Griselda Barajas, Dr. George King, Grantland Jonson, Matthew Bunch, John Vigna and Scott Dosick."

In support of Kaplan’s bid for re-election to the Natomas School Board, are several key supporters in her bid for City Council. In a statement from the Northern California Carpenters Local #46, they affirm their support with the following statement. “Northern California Carpenters Local #46, stands solidly behind and in support of Lisa Kaplan in her re-election for a third term to the Natomas School Board.”

Also indicating support is, Scott Dosick, a Westlake Charter Board member and President of the North Natomas Transportation Management Association, who states, “I fully stand behind Lisa, and her decision to run for re-election to the Natomas School Board.” Further indicating support is fellow School Board Member, Bruce Roberts, who declares, “I look forward to working with Lisa on the Natomas School Board and support her in her re-election to the Board in November 2010.”

###
Lisa Kaplan, A New LeaderCandidate, Sacramento City Council - District 1
Trustee, Natomas School Board (2002 - Present)
www.kaplan4council.com
916/996-1474 (cell)

Call to Action

2009-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

Stop Schwarzenegger’s Attack on Educators
Tell the California Senate “Vote NO on Romero’s SB X5 1”
Join CFT, CTA, CSEA and the California Labor Federation
Call Darrell Steinberg today!
916- 651-1529
Senate Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg, Senator Gloria Romero have teamed up with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to push education reforms that would create chaos in local school districts, undermine local control, interfere with collective bargaining and drain money from local classrooms at a time when the state has already cut school funding by more than $17 billion.

Schwarzenegger’s plan would:
Create chaos in local school districts and drain resources from local classrooms.
· Disguised as parental choice, the Romero bill requires open enrollment between school districts without providing resources for busing or transportation. Without adequate resources only wealthy parents would be able to afford to provide transportation and change schools.
· The Romero bill increases charter schools without any regulations to hold them accountable.
· This Bill is an unfunded state mandate at a time when the legislature has cut more than $17 billion from public education.
· This plan would create chaos in local school districts as districts would not be able to adequately plan for the upcoming year.

Undermine local control and state collective bargaining laws.
· The Romero bill allows the State Board of Education to grant a blanket waiver of the Education Code for any school districts applying for specified Federal grant dollars.
· This means a local school district could be exempt from state collective bargaining laws, all fiscal reporting requirements, criminal background checks for staff, open meeting laws, and the high school exit exam.
· Educators and parents should be partners in any education reform. It is the only way to improve student learning. Romero’s bill doesn’t even allow hard working educators to be part of the process as President Obama has called for.

Zak Ford
Mobilization Coordinator
Sacramento Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Tel: 916-927-9772, ext. 229
Fax: 916-927-1643
http://www.sacramentolabor.org/

Race to the Top Update

2009-12-10T19:52:00.000-08:00

LegAlert 10 December 2009
Victory in the Assembly:
Now Urge Senate to Approve Brownley’s RTTT Bill ABx5 8
With your help, CTA-supported Assembly Bill X5 8 by Assembly Education Chair Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) cleared the Assembly earlier today (Thursday). This important Race to the Top measure is now on the way to the state Senate.
The passage of the Brownley bill is just part of the good news. At the same time, the Assembly Education Committee refused to pass CTA-opposed SB5x 1, a rival and incomplete measure by Sen. Gloria Romero that was drafted before the federal Race to the Top (RTTT) regulations were released.
Right now, your help is needed to secure the Brownley bill’s passage in the Senate. Once approved there, ABX5 8 will head to the governor for his signature.
The bill could be taken up by the state Senate as early as next week, December 14.
That’s why it’s urgent that you make contact with your state Senator right now.
Background: $700M Weighs in the Balance
The enactment of ABX5 8 will put California in the running for up to $700 million in federal RTTT program grants. The CTA-supported Brownley measure – a special session measure called ABX5 8 -- is a carefully thought-out bill created after the federal Department of Education released its regulations governing the grants.
Assembly Education Chair Brownley drafted her measure in response to the final federal regulations. The bill maximizes California’s chances of qualifying for the new federal money. CTA analysts have calculated that the Brownley measure will give California the best chance of securing the rating points – up to 500 – that will put the state in the best position to receive the new federal appropriations.
Most importantly, Assembly Member Brownley’s ABX5 8 is a strong, well thought-out bill:
Ö It builds upon California’s already stringent standards and focuses on maximizing student achievement and shrinking the achievement gap.
Ö It holds charter schools to the same tough accountability standards that govern regular public schools.
Ö It creates a coherent system of reform that links the state’s education priorities with RTTT criteria.
Contact Your State Senator Now!
Contact your State Senator and urge other CTA members at your school to do the same. The message is short and simple: Vote for AB X5 8 (Brownley).
Be aware that some Senators may want to know why CTA is supporting ABX5 8 and opposing the version by Sen. Gloria Romero, SBX5 1. Let them know that:
Sen. Romero’s SBX5 1 has numerous problems:
Ö It is incomplete, and it lacks coherence and fails to provide legislative guidance to address the RTTT criteria.
Ö It forces unnecessary changes in teacher and administrator evaluations and undermines local collective bargaining.
Ö It allows unfettered increases in under-regulated charter schools that are not responsible to the community.
Ö It increases costs and mandates at a time schools are staggering under $17 billion in cuts and 20,000 educator layoffs.
For more information, contact CTA Manager of Legislative Relations Lori Easterling at 916.325.1500 or GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at lfeldman@cta.org.

November Newsletter

2009-11-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

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”

Natomas Budget in the News

2009-09-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

This is the latest Sac Bee article on the Natomas budget and recent school board meeting:

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2208157.html

How does the Sac Bee, which has been critical of the district, fail to get the straight story on the continuing contract negotiations between NTA and the district? Possibly, a simple inability to reach the NTA leadership before the article ran? A need to make an unsensational story sensational?
The facts are that the customary negotiation process is continuing as scheduled. NTA is surveying the membership this week, and then using these results to guide negotiations. The fact that the county has sent letters to the district on several occasions since January, causing an sudden urgency for the district is besides the fact that negotiations have been progressing on the same time-line as it does year after year. Also not relevant are the concessions that administration and classified staff felt pressure to complete during the summer months while the teachers were off for the summer.
If one were to look at NTA's past history of negotiations, one would see the same timeline as always for each year as we await the district's actuals this same time every year. One would not, however, see the district practicing the same process this year as they are showing more impatience than ever and more expenses than ever, all with the goal to paint the teachers out to be the "bad guys." Shame on anyone who goes along with these nasty tactics. If you know and love your Natomas teachers, you would know we aren't that way.

Natomas USD in the News, Sept. 18th, 2009

2009-09-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

District sues over land deal

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2191394.html?pageNum=2&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

More Natomas USD News in the Bee

2009-09-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

Land Deal news:
http://www.sacbee.com/city/story/2157454.html

School Resource Officers:
http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/2145007.html

Natomas USD in the News

2009-08-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

Superintendent Farrar announces his retirement from the district after 5 years in Natomas:

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2142090.html

Upcoming Meetings

2009-08-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Community Meeting
Subject: Community Day School
Thursday, August 20, 2009, 6 p.m.
Witter Ranch Elementary School
Multi Purpose Room
Special Board Meeting/Workshop
----------------------------------------------
Special School Board Meeting
August 26, 2009
6:00 p.m.
1901 Arena Blvd.
Workshop Title: School Safety Plan

Reminder - for August 10th - First day of school

2009-08-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

A reminder from our superintendent below. Please do use this as a reminder to our community to use patience when noticing longer lines, and longer wait times for the customary level of services.

“…We know our schools will look vastly different this year with the budget cuts in place – there will be larger class sizes, fewer intervention services for at-risk students, significant cuts in supply budgets, fewer counseling and library services.”

Dr. Steve M. Farrar, Superintendent
Natomas Unified School District
August 05, 2009 3:54 PM

In the News (thanks to the Buzz for these stories)

2009-08-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

Sac Bee Story on Natomas Board Meeting on Layoffs today, 8-5-09:
http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/2086256.html

News 10 story on Folsom Cordova USD and NUSD Farrar to be on upcoming program:
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=64636&catid=2

KCRA does story on Natomas Schools Budget Cuts

2009-07-27T18:42:00.001-07:00

http://www.kcra.com/money/20196658/detail.html

Why are Natomas USD cuts confusing and perhaps not equitable compared to other districts?

2009-07-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

Diana Lambert, reporter from the Sacramento Bee, requested information related to why the Natomas Unified School District had to make such huge cuts compared to other districts of similar size. Following is John Christ’s (Assistant Superintendent of Business Services) response to Diana Lambert for your information:

Hi Diana,

You asked why does Natomas Unified have to make such huge cuts compared to other district? The answer is can be very complex because we do not know if we are comparing apples to apples.

There are many assumptions and variables that go into what a school district may include in a list. First of all, what period of time did their list cover? Natomas’ is a list of adjustments developed and approved over the course of the entire 2008-09 year. Were other district reporting the adjustments they made through the whole year or just the adjustments they needed for the immediate impact of the May Revise?

What have the other district’s included on their lists? Natomas Unified has included a whole range of adjustments, not just budget cuts. Other districts may not have grouped their adjustments through the year in the same way that Natomas did. For example, looking at the attached list that is also in the 2009-10 Adopted Budget on the District’s web site, the first item listed is reducing or eliminating the 2008-09 Beginning Balance ($7,967,027). This is undoubtedly going to happen as the District spends down its reserve, but did or would other districts consider this appropriate to put on their lists? Natomas Unified recognized $5,281,790 in one-time Federal Stimulus revenues as part of adjustments needed to balance the budget. Would other districts put revenue adjustments on their list of budget cuts? Would other districts categorize their adjustments in the same way Natomas Unified did? Natomas Unified has the good fortune of being a growing school district, and thus has to plan for increased staffing in future years based on projected enrollment growth. Natomas has reduced projected staffing increases for 2009-10 and 2010-11 by $473,011. Did other district adjust future staffing projections, and did they consider those as cuts to put on their list? No district is right or wrong in what they include on their lists. There is no uniform prescribed requirement or format. It is mostly a matter of how their Board wants to consider adjustments and what they want to see on any given list.

We may have more cuts now, because Natomas Unified held off in doing program cuts and layoffs as long as it could until it was absolutely necessary and clear what the legislature would and wouldn’t prioritize and allow. The District remained optimistic that a Legislature that claims education is its number one priority would not make $6 billion in additional cuts to schools. Other district’s may have started making cuts a lot earlier than Natomas did. Other districts started laying off staff in 2007-08 in preparation for the 2008-09 school year, and most gave layoff notices in March 2009 for the 2009-10 year. For the reasons given above, Natomas Unified has postponed giving layoff notices until it became absolutely necessary this Summer. The projected savings of these layoffs are included in the Natomas list. Other districts may or may not have included their earlier layoffs on their recent cut list.

I finished the survey last night that the Sacramento Bee has asked all school districts to submit on July 24th. I want to point a few things out to you as you look at our numbers. In the survey you ask for the number of employees by category for December 2008, and projected for 2009-10. I gave you the number of employees Natomas had on payroll on December, and not the number of positions. This is a factor when you look at the classified employees numbers. I reported the District had 418 on payroll on December 2008, and is projected to have 417 in 2009-10. This does not reflect the 15 layoffs, because the District filled 14 vacancies since December, showing a net reduction of one. For your information, a number of these vacancies were in Food Services.

When you look at middle and high school student to teacher ratios you will find little or no change, and in fact, you will find that the ratio is going down in middle schools. The reason that there is little change is because the District is already staffed to the maximum class size cap in the teachers’ contract at these grade levels. The reason the middle school ratio is going down is because the District staffed over the cap in 2008-09.

The Total Budget amount I posted in the survey of $76,206,471 is not the amount you will find in the 2009-10 Adopted Budget. The total General Fund budgeted expenditures reported in the 2009-10 Adopted Budget is $83,341,353. As was reported in the Budget there were $7,134,882 in “additional adjustments” that were approved too late to get into the official State Budget forms. This is all explained on pages 3 through 14 in the 2009-10 Adopted Budget on the District’s web site. The Sacramento County Office of Education understands fully what we did and why. It was a timing issue.

You will see that when you look at projected spending per student that it goes down from $8,132.18 in 2008-09 to $7,003.03 in 2009-10, which is to be expected with all the budget adjustments. What you might not expect is to see it go up in 2010-11 to $7,274.51. The reason for this is because a lot of the adjustments in 2009-10, particularly the Federal Stimulus funding are one-time and will not repeat in 2010-11.

You really need to refer to the attached list for the survey question “Other Program Cuts 2009-10.” There was no way I could include all these adjustments in your little survey box.

It is never simple to explain comparisons of one school district to another, but I hope this is of some help.

John Christ
Assistant Superintendent, Business Services
(916) 567-5457

Dolly McClellan
Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
Natomas Unified School District
916.567.5401
dmcclellan@natomas.k12.ca.us

Call Your Legislators Today

2009-07-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

ACTION NEEDED TODAY!
Urge Lawmakers to Pass Compromise Budget
California educators are calling on the Legislature and the Governor to quickly approve the budget plan crafted by the "Big 5", which will restore the billions of dollars our schools and colleges are owed by law.
Contact your lawmaker and tell them toPASS THIS BUDGET NOWand VOTE 'YES' ON AB 3 AND SB 3!
Call Toll-Free (888) 268-4334
E-mail Your Lawmaker

Natomas USD in the News, July 23rd, 2009

2009-07-23T21:25:00.001-07:00

http://www.sacbee.com/budget/story/2048693.html

This Week's Events

2009-07-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 13th 4:30 - Meeting with Board member Lisa Kaplan, Giovanni's Pizzaria
Monday, July 13th 6:00 pm - Meeting with Board member, Jules Tran, Giovanni's Pizzaria
Tuesday, July 14th 9:30 am -12:30 - Layoff hearing for teachers at District Office
Tuesday, July 14th 4:00 pm - Meeting with Board member, Bruce Roberts, Giovanni's Pizzaria
Tuesday, July 14th 5;30 pm - Meeting with Board member, Teri Burns, Giovanni's Pizzaria
Wednesday, July 15th 9:30 am - Layoff hearings for teachers at District Office
Wednesday, July 15th 11;30 pm - Teacher rally at Capitol
Wednesday, July 15th 6:30 pm - NUSD School Board Meeting

Call to Action - Teachers please attend this rally next week

2009-07-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

GOVERNOR, DON’T LET
CALIFORNIA GO UP IN SMOKE!
“Schwarzenegger reclined deeply in his chair, lighted an eight-inch cigar and declared himself ‘perfectly fine,’ the fiscal debacle and personal heartsickness all around him. ‘Someone else might walk out of here every day depressed, but I don’t walk out of here depressed,’ Schwarzenegger said. Whatever happens, ‘I will sit down in my Jacuzzi tonight,’ he said. ‘I’m going to lay back with a stogie.” New York Times Magazine, 7/5/09

Governor Schwarzenegger’s fiscal mismanagement has led to a 26.3 billion budget.
Middle Class families are suffering. Police and firefighters are facing layoffs. Seniors, kids and people with disabilities are getting hit hardest by the leadership to solve these historic problems, our Governor is puffing on cigars.

Join a coalition of seniors, educators, people with disabilities, interfaith leaders, labor leaders and others to tell the governor:

GOVERNOR, DON’T LET CALIFORNIA GO UP IN SMOKE!
CA State Capitol
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009, 11:30 AM – South Steps

Hearing Dates Set

2009-07-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

Layoff teacher hearing are being held July 14 and July 15th at the NUSD District Office next week. If you have not met with the attorney and need to, please contact us to get their contact information so you can be represented.

A Message from David Sanchez, CTA President

2009-07-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

California’s Assembly recently passed a compromise budget fix that repays schools more than $3.9 billion in desperately needed funding, but because a few Republican Senators failed to act and the governor threatened a veto, the governor is now calling a special session of the Legislature and is asking for the suspension of Proposition 98, the minimum school funding law.

We must let the governor and our friends in the Senate know that it is unacceptable to suspend Prop. 98 and take more money away from students. That’s why I am urging you to call them today and tell them to vote against suspending Prop. 98. Click here for more details and numbers.

Instead of trying to balance the budget on the backs of public school and students, the governor and the legislature need to sign a fair budget that limits cuts and closes corporate tax loopholes.

Make These Important Points with your Legislator:
· Do not suspend Proposition 98!
· The proposed cuts would have a devastating impact on our students and public schools (give local examples).
· The Governor’s call to suspend the state’s minimum school funding guarantee is unacceptable.
· California public schools have already been cut by a record $12 billion!
· Any approach to solving the state budget crisis must include increased revenues.
· It is time to rescind the corporate tax breaks handed out earlier this year!
· Big Oil and Big Tobacco need to pay, too!
· Stop the political games! The partisan politics and gridlock are destroying our state.

http://www.cta.org/media/newsroom/releases/20090702_1.htm
http://www.cta.org/action/alert/Alert20090702.htm

David A. Sanchez, CTA President

Second Meeting for Layoff Teachers

2009-07-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 6th, 3;30 at NUSD District Office - to meet with the CTA Attorney regarding hearings for layoff teachers.

Reminder - CTA Meeting for NTA Members

2009-06-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

If you are an member of the Natomas Teachers' Association, and if you receive a letter (next week) and/or email (check Friday's school email) stating a layoff, please attend a meeting next Thursday, June 25th, at 3:30 in the District Office Boardroom, to meet with the CTA attorney, for a Q & A, and to set up your hearing appointment.
If you are a "fee-payer" (not an NTA member) or did not receive the email on Friday, there is no need for you to attend this meeting.

As you might imagine, this news comes with deep regret and anguish for our teaching and counseling staff. :-(

A Message from David Sanchez, CTA President

2009-06-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

June 16, 2009 - State Budget Deficit Grows

CTA Calls for Rescinding Tax Breaks to Businesses
With the defeat of the Special Election initiatives and further declining revenues, the state budget deficit is once again at $24 billion and Governor Schwarzenegger has once again proposed cuts to education, health care and other vital services. Public schools and colleges are looking at another $6 billion in cuts on top of the $11.6 billion as part of the budget agreement approved in February.

First, I want to thank everyone for all their work in the May Special Election. From the beginning, we knew this was going to be a tough campaign as voters were rightfully upset with lawmakers for failing to do their jobs, but I am proud of all of the phone calls and work by CTA members in this effort. CTA has already started legal action to ensure that our schools and colleges are paid the money they are owed under the state�s minimum school funding law and is working with legislative leaders to include a payback provision as part of the final state budget legislation. The �maintenance factor� owed to schools and community colleges is now nearly $10 billion.

May Revision and More Revenues
Technically, the state budget has been approved, but the Legislature must now make final �adjustments� to close the growing deficit. CTA, the Education Coalition and other labor unions are calling on lawmakers to support additional revenues as part of the adjusted budget agreement. It starts with rescinding the corporate tax breaks approved by lawmakers over the past two years, which would raise more than $2.5 billion annually. Students and public schools should not be taking additional budget cuts, while businesses are getting tax breaks. CTA also supports proposals for an oil severance tax. Democratic leaders are putting together a compromise budget proposal and are expected to send it to the Budget Conference Committee this week. State Controller John Chiang has warned lawmakers that a final budget must be approved by the end of the month to avoid a complete fiscal meltdown in the state by July 28.

August Layoffs
CTA�s Legal Department is helping chapters prepare for August layoff notices. About 17 school districts have indicated they are planning summer layoffs. The final deadline is August 15. So far, nearly 16,000 of the layoff notices sent in March have been confirmed, while more than 11,000 notices have been rescinded.

Duncan and Data
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been talking a lot about California lately and, unfortunately, he has a few facts wrong. Following a visit to a school in San Francisco, Duncan attacked California�s statewide data system for failing to uniformly link student test scores to teachers and determine teacher effectiveness. In reality, California law reflects CTA�s strong belief in local control. It allows student data, including scores on criterion referenced tests, to be used in local districts to improve student learning, help guide instruction, identify professional development needs and evaluate teachers. CTA believes those decisions are best made at the local level, rather than creating another costly statewide bureaucracy.

New Hope for National Health Care Reform
With more than 47 million people, including 6.6 million in California, without health insurance, it is way past time for health care reform. CTA and NEA are working with a broad coalition of organizations to support affordable and quality health care for all as President Obama rolls out his plan this week. CTA and NEA support health care reforms that guarantee a choice of health care plans and providers through existing insurance plans, and that provide a government-sponsored public health insurance plan. Visit the Health Care Action Center at www.nea.org for more information.

Getting a Complete Count
The 2010 Census is just around the corner and as the state prepares to ensure that every Californian is counted, I have been appointed to serve on the state�s California Complete Count Committee. The committee represents the diverse population, geography and organizations in California and will work with the Census Bureau to coordinate outreach. The Census determines how federal funds are distributed throughout the state and the number of congressional seats designated for California. For the first time in its 150 year history, California could lose a seat.

Time for CTA Summer Conferences
As the traditional school year ends, CTA Summer Conferences begin. The National Education Association�s Annual Representative Assembly will be held over the July 4th weekend in San Diego. More than 1,200 CTA delegates will attend. A number of policies and issues will be discussed, including the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is now scheduled for next January. Education Secretary Duncan will listen to educator concerns during a town hall meeting at the RA on July 2.
The 54th CTA President�s Conference will be held at the end of July in Monterey. With state budget cuts and a gubernatorial election, it is going to be a busy year. And finally, whether you are looking to polish your bargaining skills, understand school finance, organize your local community, or build a culture for success at your school, register to attend the CTA Summer Institute. The Summer Institute will be held August 2-7 at UCLA in Los Angeles. You can register online at www.cta.org.
California Teachers Association

Teacher Layoff Hearings Mtg- Updated Date and Location

2009-06-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

Announcing a meeting for potential layoff teachers, tentatively scheduled to be held at the District Office Board Room for Thursday, June 25th, at 3:30 pm.
Although the names have not been finalized, and those teachers have not been notified, please keep this date and time open for you to attend if you are in the bottom of the district seniority list - we have approx.540 teachers on the list, so anyone over 400 should save the date, just to be on the safe side. We will know more after Wednesday night's school board meeting.
Update - as of 5:00 pm Thursday - still no list given to NTA!
Update #2 = as of 8:30 am Friday - still no list. !!
Update #3 = Email went out on district email. Teachers, please check your school emails.

General Membership Meeting

2009-06-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

Announcing a General Membership meeting for all NTA members on Tuesday, June 9th, 4:00 pm at Natomas High School Library. (note change from other notices)

We need to hear from members on negotiable items before the traditional school year is out, so that NTA can move forward with negotiations, and the ever-changing and unprecendented state budget crisis affecting our district budget.

Natomas USD in the News

2009-06-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

The following articles have come out in the past week regarding the Natomas USD:

http://www.sacbee.com/latest/story/1917562.html (regarding the latest budget cuts)

http://www.sacbee.com/breton/story/1913928.html (addressing the SRO cuts)

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1893840.html (regarding Grand Jury Report)

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1893291.html (regarding Grand Jury report)

http://www.sacgrandjury.org/ (Grand Jury report)

A Message from the Natomas USD Superintendent

2009-06-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon Everyone:

Last night our school board met again to address the worst budget crisis of our time. They approved a $2.9 million package of budget cuts, and are scheduled to meet weekly throughout the month of June to consider up to $8 million more in cuts by month’s end.

These are the highlights of the reductions approved last night:

- Reassign teachers facing layoffs into a pool of longterm substitute teachers, savings to be determined – potentially up to $1 million
- Increase class sizes in grades 2 and 3 to 30 students to 1 teacher, $750,000
- Close under-enrolled Regional Occupational Program (ROP) classes, $232,000
- Increase student meal prices by 50 cents and open new points of sale at Natomas High’s Terrace Cafe to generate more sales, $230,000
- Cut 2.5 positions for secondary social studies, $145,000
- Make further reductions in the support staff at the Education Center, $166,000
- Increase the distance students walk before busing is provided, $100,000
- Eliminate an unfilled elementary vice principal position, $96,000
- Reduce use of the Tungsten program, $45,000
- Cancel elementary summer school but keep high school summer school (middle school summer school will be addressed next week), $28,000
- Implement further energy savings including keeping the swimming pool at Natomas High open only June-September and turning off the stadium lights at Natomas High and Inderkum High in the evenings, $24,500
- Trim staff development budget for certificated staff, $21,516
- Reduce the contribution to the Natomas Schools Foundation, $16,000
- Reduce school decentralized supply budgets by 10 percent, $70,000

As you may know, the state budget crisis is worsening by the day and school districts across the state are having their state income reduced even more drastically than anticipated just weeks ago.

To put this in some context – during the Great Depression, budgets for education were cut by 25 percent over a five-year period. In California, we are facing a 25 percent reduction in state funding over just two years, according to some estimates.

Below are some of the possible budget cuts that may be under consideration at the June 11 special meeting of the Board of Trustees:

- Closing schools, $300,000 to $400,000
- Temporarily closing Bannon Creek Elementary for construction safety concerns during the conversion of the campus from a K-5 to a K-8 school (this construction project is using bond dollars that cannot be used for other expenses such as staff salaries and student supplies), $250,000
- Authorizing targeted layoffs, variable savings
- Eliminating athletics, $357,425
- Putting more/all schools on multi-track year-round schedules with a school closure, $400,000
- Having a four-day school week, $250,000
- More energy savings that include letting our lawns go brown, $40,000 or more
- Not purchasing school workbooks, $300,000
- Eliminating all bus transportation except for special education students (a mandated service), $862,000
- Eliminating all Tier III categorical programs, $1.4 million
- Staff furloughs, variable savings
- Eliminating P.E. for high school juniors and seniors and only offering the class at the freshman/sophomore level, $232,000
- Further review of increasing class sizes at the K-1 level (the Board already approved increasing class sizes at every grade level by 1), savings to be determined

Still to be addressed are issues of employee compensation that are subject to negotiations. Please note the following potential savings:

- Freeze step-and-column increases, $1.68 million or the equivalent of 29 teaching positions
- Implement furlough days, $283,363 per each furlough day or the equivalent of 5 teaching positions
- 3 percent salary reduction for all employees and administrators, $1.644 million or the equivalent of 28 teaching positions
- Eliminate compensation for class size overages, $236,000 or the equivalent of 4 teaching positions

In a related matter, our district is working to resolve the issue of School Resource Officers at Inderkum High and Natomas High. I’d like to note that we are in discussions with other agencies to provide this service at a lower cost than our contract with the Sacramento Police Department which ends June 30.

I’d also like to provide clarification on another important issue: How we pay for one-time land purchases/school construction vs. how we pay for ongoing expenses like salaries and school supplies:

- The funds for land purchases/school construction come from separate money “pots,” if you will, and can’t be comingled with funds for salaries and school supplies.

- We have built our new schools, modernized our campuses and purchased the West Lakeside property for future school use with voter-approved school bond money and land developer fees, among other sources dedicated just for this use.

-We pay for our salaries, school supplies and all other ongoing educational expenses out of the general fund – typically money that comes from state and federal sources.

As I said in yesterday’s message, I wish there was better news to report on the state budget crisis and how it’s affecting school districts across the state. I look forward to the day when education once again is made the top financial priority that it deserves to be in California.

NTA Election Results

2009-05-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

Partial ratification of contract - passed by an official vote count of 266 to 29.

Incoming officers:
President - Cynthia Connell
Vice President - Scott MacMillan
Secretary - Amber Allison (incumbent)
All officers were voted in by a vote of at least 97% of all official ballots.

May Events

2009-05-10T16:36:00.001-07:00

May 11th - 3:30 - NTA General Membership Meeting at Leroy Greene Middle School Library
May 11th - 5:00 - Meeting with Board Members Jules Tran, and Sue Heredia at Starbucks on Gateway Oaks [note change in time and place]
May 12th - 4:00 - Meeting with Board Members Bruce Roberts and Lisa Kaplan at Giovanni's Pizza
May 12-14 - Contract Ratification Voting and NTA Officers Voting

May 13th - DAY OF THE TEACHER - Congratulations Everyone!

May 13th - 6:30 pm - Natomas USD School Board Meeting
May 27th - 5:00 - Natomas Retirement Celebration at Inderkum HS Theater
May 27th - 6:00 - Natomas USD School Board Workshop on the District Budget

General Membership Meeting

2009-05-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

All NTA members are encouraged to attend a general membership meeting on Monday, May 11th at 3:30 in the Leroy Greene Middle School Library. Information and questions about the partial contract ratification will be provided at the meeting.
Voting will take place at the sites on May 12-14, ballots to be returned by 4:00 pm on Thursday, May 14th so that results can be reported on Friday, May 15th. Once the contract is ratified, then Transfer and Reassignment can proceed.
In the event that the contract is not ratified, then the district will proceed to perform additonal collapses of classes before starting T & R.
We hope to commence T & R with the district immediately after the ratification.

May 19th Special Election

2009-04-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

May 19th – Special Election to keep schools funded – please don’t forget to vote and ask how you can help!

All initiatives below will appear on May 19, 2009 Special Election ballot.
If these initiatives don't pass, we can expect teacher layoffs in July and August of this year.

Prop. 1A – Reform and Stabilize State Budget (Budget Stabilization Fund). Prop. 1A provides long-term reform to our broken budget system by stabilizing future state spending and creating an enhanced rainy day reserve fund. Without impacting the state’s minimum school funding guarantee, Prop. 1A requires the state to direct 3% of revenues into a rainy day fund each year, except when the fund is full or during economic downturns. It increases the overall size of the state’s rainy day reserve from 5% to 12.5% of the budget. Part of the money from the Prop. 1A reserve fund is used to repay the $9 billion owed to public schools. If Prop. 1A fails, there will be no mechanism in place to restore the funding to schools and community colleges. Prop. 1A does not downsize government, or give the governor authority to make midyear cuts to education. By stabilizing state spending, Prop. 1A puts the brakes on the state budget roller coaster; prevents wild peaks and valleys in state spending; and helps protect funding for vital programs like education, public safety and health care. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1A.

Prop. 1B – Protect Education Funding (Prop. 98 Restoration). Read Ballot Argument on Prop. 1B.The budget crisis has cut more than $12 billion from our schools and colleges. Over 5,000 teachers and education support professionals have been laid off and thousands more are threatened. Prop. 1B starts the process of paying back our schools and community colleges as economic conditions improve. Prop. 1B sets up a repayment plan to ensure schools are repaid the $9 billion they are owed under the state’s minimum school funding law. The payments to schools would come out of the newly-created rainy day fund established in Prop. 1A and are dependent on the passage of Prop. 1A. Payments would not begin until 2011-2012. If we don’t pass 1B, CA will be permanetly downgrading its public school system. The future of our state depends on the investment we make in our public schools. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1B.

Prop. 1C – Lottery Modernization Act. Prop. 1C will increase the performance and accountability of the state lottery and bring immediate funding to the state without raising taxes. By modernizing the lottery, Prop. 1C will immediately raise $5 billion in new revenues to immediately help with this year’s budget deficit and billions more in future years. The measure also guarantees that public schools will receive the same amount of funds they currently receive from the lottery. In fact, Prop. 1C takes education funding out of future lottery proceeds and places that money under the Prop. 98 minimum school funding guarantee. So schools will actually receive more money in future years due to cost of living increases. If Prop. 1C fails, there will be a $5 billion hole in the state budget, meaning schools and other programs could face additional cuts. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1C.

Prop. 1D – Children’s Services Funding. Prop. 1D temporarily redirects a portion of excess funds from the voter-approved tobacco tax to pay for children’s health and social services over the next two years. Currently the Children and Families Trust Fund has about $2.5 billion that has not been spent. Prop. 1D diverts a portion of this unexpended money to prevent deeper cuts to Children’s health care and other human services programs. Only a portion of these tobacco tax funds would be redirected, thereby protecting existing programs currently funded by the tax. Failure of Prop. 1D creates a more than $600 million hole in the state budget and means deeper cuts for children’s health and social service programs. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1D.

Prop. 1E – Mental Health Funding. Prop. 1E would temporarily redirect a portion of the funds from the Mental Health Services Trust Fund approved by voters in 2004 to fund children’s health programs that are at risk of elimination due to the state budget crisis, including health care screenings, diagnosis and treatment for children’s health. Failure of Prop. 1E means the state budget deficit grows by $227 million and means those programs face deeper cuts or even elimination. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1E.

Prop. 1F – Restricts Elected Officials’ Salaries. Prop. 1F prohibits legislators, the governor and other state politicians from getting pay raises whenever our state budget is running a deficit. By stopping legislative pay raises during state budget deficits, we can save CA millions of dollars when they’re needed most and bring accountability to the Legislature and governor’s office. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1F.

April Newsletter

2009-04-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter April 2009

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, April. 1st 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Apr. 8th, D.O. 6:30 pm

Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan - Monday, Apr. 6th, 4:30
§ Jules Tran- Monday, Apr. 6th, 5:30 pm
§ Bruce Roberts- Tues. Apr. 7th, 4:00
§ Teri Burns – Tues. Apr. 7th, 5:30pm

Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.

Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com

Negotiations Update
There were no negotiations were held in March. The details of the district’s PIE and BRIDGE classes at the elementary level have been discussed and will be resolved shortly. Negotiations are scheduled to resume in April.

May 19th State Initiatives – 1A through 1F – please vote yes! Learn how you can help get the word out to the community.

Natomas Budget Watch
At the last board meeting, it was decided to save 2 million dollars and not open up Hight Middle School. Instead, Natomas Middle School will move to the Hight site, and NP3 Charter will move to the old Natomas Middle site. Other budget saving items that were added to the balance sheet are listed on http://www.natomasteachers.blogspot.com/

Stand Up For Schools
Thanks to all the Natomas teachers who represented Natomas at the Pink Friday event on March 13th at the Capitol.
You can see pictures of us at the event at the http://www.standupforschools.org/ website
or http://www.pinkfriday09.org/ (same site)

Future Events of interest:

Transfer and Reassignment paperwork and processing – April 20th and May 1st

May 3-9th – Teacher Appreciation Week

California Day of the Teacher – May 13th

Election of NTA Officers – May

May 19th – Special Election to keep schools funded – please don’t forget to vote and ask how you can help!

May 19, 2009 Special Election
All initiatives below will appear on May 19, 2009 Special Election ballot. If these initiatives don't pass, there could be more teacher layoffs in July and August of this year.

Prop. 1A – Reform and Stabilize State Budget (Budget Stabilization Fund). Prop. 1A provides long-term reform to our broken budget system by stabilizing future state spending and creating an enhanced rainy day reserve fund. Without impacting the state’s minimum school funding guarantee, Prop. 1A requires the state to direct 3% of revenues into a rainy day fund each year, except when the fund is full or during economic downturns. It increases the overall size of the state’s rainy day reserve from 5% to 12.5% of the budget. Part of the money from the Prop. 1A reserve fund is used to repay the $9 billion owed to public schools. If Prop. 1A fails, there will be no mechanism in place to restore the funding to schools and community colleges. Prop. 1A does not downsize government, or give the governor authority to make midyear cuts to education. By stabilizing state spending, Prop. 1A puts the brakes on the state budget roller coaster; prevents wild peaks and valleys in state spending; and helps protect funding for vital programs like education, public safety and health care. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1A.

Prop. 1B – Protect Education Funding (Prop. 98 Restoration). Read Ballot Argument on Prop. 1B.The budget crisis has cut more than $12 billion from our schools and colleges. Over 5,000 teachers and education support professionals have been laid off and thousands more are threatened. Prop. 1B starts the process of paying back our schools and community colleges as economic conditions improve. Prop. 1B sets up a repayment plan to ensure schools are repaid the $9 billion they are owed under the state’s minimum school funding law. The payments to schools would come out of the newly-created rainy day fund established in Prop. 1A and are dependent on the passage of Prop. 1A. Payments would not begin until 2011-2012. If we don’t pass 1B, CA will be permanetly downgrading its public school system. The future of our state depends on the investment we make in our public schools. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1B.

Prop. 1C – Lottery Modernization Act. Prop. 1C will increase the performance and accountability of the state lottery and bring immediate funding to the state without raising taxes. By modernizing the lottery, Prop. 1C will immediately raise $5 billion in new revenues to immediately help with this year’s budget deficit and billions more in future years. The measure also guarantees that public schools will receive the same amount of funds they currently receive from the lottery. In fact, Prop. 1C takes education funding out of future lottery proceeds and places that money under the Prop. 98 minimum school funding guarantee. So schools will actually receive more money in future years due to cost of living increases. If Prop. 1C fails, there will be a $5 billion hole in the state budget, meaning schools and other programs could face additional cuts. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1C.

Prop. 1D – Children’s Services Funding. Prop. 1D temporarily redirects a portion of excess funds from the voter-approved tobacco tax to pay for children’s health and social services over the next two years. Currently the Children and Families Trust Fund has about $2.5 billion that has not been spent. Prop. 1D diverts a portion of this unexpended money to prevent deeper cuts to Children’s health care and other human services programs. Only a portion of these tobacco tax funds would be redirected, thereby protecting existing programs currently funded by the tax. Failure of Prop. 1D creates a more than $600 million hole in the state budget and means deeper cuts for children’s health and social service programs. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1D.

Prop. 1E – Mental Health Funding. Prop. 1E would temporarily redirect a portion of the funds from the Mental Health Services Trust Fund approved by voters in 2004 to fund children’s health programs that are at risk of elimination due to the state budget crisis, including health care screenings, diagnosis and treatment for children’s health. Failure of Prop. 1E means the state budget deficit grows by $227 million and means those programs face deeper cuts or even elimination. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1E.

Prop. 1F – Restricts Elected Officials’ Salaries. Prop. 1F prohibits legislators, the governor and other state politicians from getting pay raises whenever our state budget is running a deficit. By stopping legislative pay raises during state budget deficits, we can save CA millions of dollars when they’re needed most and bring accountability to the Legislature and governor’s office. CTA has taken a SUPPORT position on Prop. 1F.

Transfer and Reassignment
For this year only, T & R timelines have been extended. Teachers will receive their T & R form by April 20th, to return the forms by May 1st. You will then be notified of first round changes by May 15th. By delaying this process, teachers will have a better idea of what job might be opened for the upcoming year. We advise teacher to put on the list your ideal position because you never know what could open up at the last minute.

Capitol Bathed in Pink on the Eve of Pink Friday

2009-03-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

PINK FRIDAY - A teacher rally was held today at the west steps of the Capitol and the President of CTA was joined by the presidents of the Sacramento area school districts to speak to the crowd of pink shirted educators.
See video:
http://www.kcra.com/video/18928725/index.html
http://www.cbs13.com/video/?id=49910@kovr.dayport.com

School Board Meeting Update - March 11, 2009

2009-03-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

The following was written by school board member Lisa Kaplan. Thank you Lisa for your summary, and thanks to the board and Dr. Farrar for demonstrating that you are truly working with your bargaining units on budget saving ideas. Much appreciated!

Good Evening:
In a short version since it is late tonight, the following is a brief summary of the major actions the Natomas School District made tonight:

1) The Board approved expanding NP3 from a 9-12 to include 6-8, thus creating a 6-12 charter school.

2) The Board approved opening HAH middle school by moving next year all existing students at Natomas Middle School over to HAH middle as a full middle school - by doing this the District saved the start-up costs associated with opening a brand new middle school and ordering all new text books and supplies.

3) The Board approved moving NP3 over to the Natomas Middle School campus to share with Westlake Charter School. This decision saved the District approximately $1.2 million dollars its first year and approximately $700,000 thereafter by not renting property in the community to house NP3. NP3 middle will open next year with 150 - 6th graders / 50 - 7th graders and 50 - 8th graders, thereby easing overcrowding at both middle schools.

4) The Board gave direction to the district to work with the middle school design team (MSDT) to create partnership academies at each middle school (the intent is to create 2 small schools within each middle school with approximately 450 kids at each school)

5) The Board approved approximately $ 6million dollars in cuts (including savings by moving NP3 to NMS campus / increasing class size by 1 student district wide approx $1 million - the other cuts include deferring retirement costs / moving categorical money around with the flexibility given to us in the State budget and a host of other cuts that none of the board really like making). These cuts were needed because the State already reduced our budget by 15% this year and is cutting the District funding by 20% next year.

Don't hesitate to call the District 567-5400 (ask for John Christ - email our business director jchrist@natomas. k12.ca.us) or send me an email if you have further questions.

Lisa Kaplan
General Counsel, L&B AssociatesTrustee, Natomas School Board

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter, March 2009

2009-03-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter
March 2009

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Mar. 5th 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Mar. 11th, D.O. 6:30 pm
§ Sacramento Educ. Coalition, Tues. Mar. 10th, 5:30 pm at CTA on Truxel.

Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan - Monday, Mar. 9th, 4:00
§ Jules Tran, Sue Heredia- Monday, Mar. 9th, 6:00 pm
§ Bruce Roberts- Tues. Mar. 10th, 4:00
§ Teri Burns – Tues. Mar. 10th, 5:30pm

Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.

Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com

Negotiations Update
Negotiations were held Thursday, February 19th You should have received an update last week. T & R, Class Size, Special Education, Compensation, and Calendar were among the items discussed. Please refer to the update or your site rep for the details.
May 19th State Initiatives – 1A through 1F – please vote yes!

Transfer and Reassignment
For this year only, T & R timelines have been extended. Teachers will receive their T & R form by April 20th, to return the forms by May 1st. You will then be notified of first round changes by May 15th. By delaying this process, teachers will have a better idea of what job might be opened for the upcoming year. We advise teacher to put on the list your ideal position because you never know what could open up at the last minute.

Natomas Budget Watch
A community forum was held this week to discuss the opening or delaying of Hight Middle, and the best use of categorical flexibility. There was some Natomas staff that attended, as well as parents that spoke. In general, the teachers/staff that spoke were concerned about spending the million it would cost to open Hight, but the parents that spoke all spoke in favor of opening. And on the catagoricals, GATE parents spoke up for maintaining and increasing GATE, while others expressed concern about a lack of instructional materials and resources for classrooms, recognizing the need to increase resources. Yes, even the parents can see we are short on resources in the classrooms!
Next Wednesday’s Board meeting – March 11th – will be when board members make their final decisions on budget cuts.

Stand Up For Schools
Pink Friday is March 13th – a gathering /event at the Capitol at 4:30 – supporting teachers across Sacramento County, and our schools that have substantially lost precious funding. There will be stickers and signs at the event for teachers to wear and hold. Teachers can wear their NTA shirts to that event, if they have one, so don’t let the “pink” attire thing keep anyone away.
If you are planning to attend, please let your site rep know or email exec bd so that we can let the organizers know.

Did you know that you can save money as a CTA member and Natomas teacher? Here are some ways:
Cell Phone companies will give you a discount on your plan– call them and find out how.
If you have BlueShield PERS Choice – go to their on-line contact and complete a survey and you can receive $50.

THE 2009 BICYCLE AND BICYCLE ACCESSORY REBATE Opened NOW through April 30th
Who is eligible?
Because you work in North Natomas, YOU are!
How do I sign up?
Just fill out an application and visit a local bike shop for a quote! They will help you get fitted for the correct bike for your needs, abilities and body type.
Just looking for an accessory to make your riding better?
A bike shop can help you pick up just what you need to make cycling a reality.
Detailed instructions are on the application and are available online at NorthNatomasTMA.org or in hardcopy in Heidi Van Zant's Office. If you
have questions, contact the North Natomas TMA at 916.419.9955 or sarah@northnatomastma.org.

If you have any association questions or issues please contact your site rep(s):
· American Lakes: Naomi Nakahara
· Bannon Creek: Linda Wells
· Discovery HS: Therese Collentine
· H. Allen Hight: Allyson Kirby
· Heron: Kou Moua, Peter Talbot, Cara Kruse
· Inderkum HS: Patricia Hite-Leach, Ken MacPherson, Scott MacMillan
· Jefferson: Maureen Ramos
· Leroy Green MS: Kristen Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
· Natomas HS: Joel Schweiger, Ruth Ward, Ben Layne
· Natomas MS: Emilio Moran, Anthony Katsaris
· Natomas Park: Lauren Frazer
· Two Rivers: Phil Cox, Jerry Lovejoy
· Witter Ranch: Tanya Praest, Jim Clarke, Kim Chambers

Here are the school board members home
e-mails. Feel free to contact them:

Bruce Roberts bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com
Jules Tran jules.tran@sbcglobal.net
Sue Heredia heredias@csus.edu
Teri Burns terib@sia-us.com
Lisa Kaplan kaplan4kids@yahoo.com

Future Events of interest:

Pink Friday – March 13th – Capitol at 4:30 pm

Transfer and Reassignment paperwork and processing – April/May

May 3-9th – Teacher Appreciation Week

California Day of the Teacher – May 13th

Election of NTA Officers – May

District Outlines New Priority List at February Board Workshop
The district outlined at a recent board workshop their own personal wish list of priorities for the categorical flexibility and here is what they mentioned:

1. 90 minute weekly collaboration time ($500,000)- [NTA estimated the cost to be $1,300,000]
2. Hire instructional coaches for ELA, Math and EL – 4 for Elem, 3 for Middle and 3 for HS, at approx. $900,000. [Maybe TESA?]
3. Professional development, Professional Learning Communities, Cultural Competency $100,000+ instructional materials adoption at approx. $1,000,000
4. Basic Core Instructional Materials approx $1,000,000 + intervention, acceleration, culturally diverse pops. $250,000.

These are items we might want to speak with board members and district office staff about. I am not sure what teachers groups were consulted when coming up with these priorities. Maybe this was gathered by talking with administrators. In any case, it doesn’t appear that the catagoricals in Tier 3 add up to these amounts, but perhaps as funds permit these will be looked at to be adopted. Although all of these are aimed at teacher training and classroom materials, I would be interested in gathering further information from teachers as to their thoughts on these items. Please send us your input!

PINK FRIDAY IS MARCH 13th

2009-03-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

Fight Pink Slips, Stand Up For Schools

Join teachers, parents, students and community members and Stand Up For Schools on March 13, the deadline for teacher layoff notices from school districts. Thousands of educators are expected to receive pink slips -- or Reduction in Force (RIF) notices -- this year. In fact, 17,777 pink slips have already been issued!
For more information, please go to http://www.cta.org/

Here is our local activity - please join us:
On March 13 (Fri) we are planning a 4:30 rally of our members converging on the capital. WE would love to have a show of solidary with all of the teachers from districts surrounding the capital to join us. We will ask our teachers to wear their NTA T-shirts or school shirts and we will have stickers and some will wear pink armbands. I know there will be a lot of frustration and anger and this provides an outlet with an organized activity, and it would publicize how teachers are being effected by the budget cuts. Please let us know if this is something you can participate in. Other local districts will be joining us such as Sac City TA and San Juan TA among others. It would be a great show of solidarity for ALL CTA TEACHERS in the area to join together - "an injury to one is an injury to all".

In the Sacramento Bee Today

2009-02-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

Stockpile could save Natomas district from making job cuts
By Robert Faturechirfaturechi@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 - 12:00 am Page 6B

Next month, school officials across the state will notify teachers and librarians that they might be laid off. But at Sacramento's Natomas Unified School District, employees are breathing easy because the district is not expected to send out the warnings, despite one of the worst economic downturns in recent memory. District administrators have stockpiled reserve funds to insulate staff and programs from cuts in state funding. State law requires layoff notices for certified employees – mostly teachers and librarians – who might be let go by the end of the school year.
With deep midyear cuts expected from the state, more of these notes will go out this spring, and from more districts, which makes Natomas' situation even more unusual. For years the district has enjoyed growing enrollment – a major source of funding. It has built a hefty rainy day reserve of more than $10 million, about four times greater than the 3 percent reserve most districts strive for. "This is certainly a rainy day," said board President Teri Burns. "But we are counting on those reserves."
The district expects to use $5.4 million of those funds this school year, allowing it to avoid layoffs. That's a sharp contrast to neighboring districts where dozens, and in some cases hundreds, of employees will receive layoff notifications. By March 15, notices are expected to go to 600 to 700 employees of the Elk Grove Unified district, 100 to 200 at Folsom Cordova Unified, more than 100 at Rocklin Unified, and up to 3,000 at San Juan Unified.
Though districts don't usually lay off all, or even most, employees they notify, the notices can give an idea of the upper limits for layoffs. Natomas Unified's skipping the notices cannot be attributed solely to good planning. Enrollment at the district has grown in recent years as the district rode a wave of development in the area. Propped up by years of prosperity, and motivated by a budget scare caused by overstaffing in 2001, district administrators have been able to slowly build their reserves better than most other districts. "At that time we had vowed we'd start to rebuild reserves and have been steadily doing that since," said John Christ, assistant superintendent of business services. "Everyone's spending a little less than their budget."
Without the reserves, Burns said, some athletic programs and reduced class sizes would likely have been on the chopping block this year. "At the end of the year, if we have extra money, we put it in the reserve rather than just spend it," Burns said. "Unlike the state of California."

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter, Feb. 2009

2009-02-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Feb. 5th 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Feb. 11th, D.O. 6:30 pm
§ Sacramento Educ. Coalition, Thurs. Feb 5th, 6:00 pm at CTA on Truxel.

Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan - Monday, Feb. 9th, 4:30
§ Jules Tran, Sue Heredia- Monday, Feb. 9th, 6:00 pm
§ Bruce Roberts- Tues., Feb. 10th, 4:00
§ Teri Burns – Tues. Feb. 10th, 5:30pm

Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.

Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com

Negotiations Update
A negotiation session was held Thursday, February 5th (today) so there are no details at the time of this publishing, however we know that the retirement incentive is being discussed. Site reps will be updated as soon as details are known.

Budget Watch
District: The superintendent told NTA leadership that they will post an updated list of possible budget cuts on the website and additionally send through email to employees. As soon as NTA receives any definitive information, it will be disseminated to site reps. If need be, we’ll call a General Membership meeting for our members to get more information and for a forum for you to ask questions.
We believe the board will be discussing the budget at the Feb. 11th Board Meeting, and then again at a special board meeting Feb. 25th. In talking with other surrounding districts (Elk Grove, Sac City, San Juan and Folsom-Cordova) their association leadership have been notified of several special emergency board meetings dealing with possible budget cuts (you may have seen some of this in the media). Ultimately, our own school board will be making these decisions, but in speaking with our superintendent, as of Tuesday, Feb. 3rd, he says he does not plan to do layoffs. He is, however, very interested in categorical flexibility and is likely to recommend this towards CSR. Again, this is up to the board to decide. (Items regarding the contract will of course have to be negotiated and you will be notified of these.) Dr. Farrar says the district’s list will have a lot of ideas on the table. It appears that the superintendents are frequently talking to each other. You can view Folsom-Cordova’s similar list at their web site:
http://www.fcusd.org/budget/Budget%20Reduction%20Brainstorming.asp

If you have any association questions or issues please contact your site rep(s):
· American Lakes: Naomi Nakahara
· Bannon Creek: Linda Wells
· Discovery HS: Therese Collentine
· H. Allen Hight: Allyson Kirby
· Heron: Kou Moua, Peter Talbot, Cara Kruse
· Inderkum HS: Patricia Hite-Leach, Ken MacPherson, Scott MacMillan
· Jefferson: Maureen Ramos
· Leroy Green MS: Kristen Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
· Natomas HS: Joel Schweiger, Ruth Ward, Ben Layne
· Natomas MS: Emilio Moran, Anthony Katsaris
· Natomas Park: Lauren Frazer
· Two Rivers: Phil Cox, Jerry Lovejoy
· Witter Ranch: Tanya Praest, Jim Clarke, Kim Chambers

Here are the school board members home
e-mails. Feel free to contact them:

Bruce Roberts bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com

Jules Tran jules.tran@sbcglobal.net

Sue Heredia heredias@csus.edu

Teri Burns terib@sia-us.com

Lisa Kaplan kaplan4kids@yahoo.com

Brenda’s School Visitation Schedule

Thurs. Feb. 5th – Natomas Park Elem.
Tues. Feb. 10th – Leroy Greene MS
Wed. Feb. 11th – Natomas HS,
Discovery HS
Thurs. Feb. 12th – Natomas Middle
Friday, Feb. 13th – Inderkum HS
Wed. Feb. 18th – Bannon Creek Elem.
Friday, Feb. 20th – Jefferson Elem.
Wed. Feb. 25th – American Lakes
Thurs. Feb. 26th – Heron K-8

You are invited
to an
NTA social
WHEN: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20TH
WHERE: MALABAR RESTAURANT
2960 Del Paso Road
TIME: 2:30PM-6:30PM
Come relax, and enjoy the company of your fellow colleagues
Hors D’oeuvres provided by NTA - drinks on your own
Raffles will be held throughout the evening (must be present to win)

Future Events of interest:

Feb 13th – Budget Action Day (everyone please wear blue in solidarity)

Non-re-elect deadline and RIF deadline (also known as “black Friday”) –March 12th (March 13th is a non-work day in Natomas)

Transfer and Reassignment paperwork and processing – March/April

May 3-9th – Teacher Appreciation Week

California Day of the Teacher – May 13th

Election of NTA Officers – May

State Budget: CTA is monitoring the latest budget activities from the legislature and governor. You can check out the CTA website for what is happening and things that you can do at www.cta.org

Also, CTA is hosting the Sacramento Education Coalition, which will be meeting on Thursday, Feb. 5th at CTA on Truxel, 6:00 pm. The Ed. Coalition includes CSEA, PTA, superintendents, board members… etc. Last year we also worked with state workers, daycare and elder care agency workers, and even firefighters on activities to help get the budget passed (to try to break the stalemate.)

BLUE BUDGET FRIDAY

2009-02-07T21:51:00.000-08:00

REMINDER

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009

BLUE DAY

WEAR BLUE IN SOLIDARITY TO MOURN THE BUDGET THREATS

Education in the News, Across the State

2009-02-04T13:11:00.000-08:00

State deficit puts schools in 'precarious' position(San Francisco Chronicle © 02/04/2009)
(02-03) 20:15 PST -- In his grimmest State of Education address yet, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell pointed to a "precarious" school system all but collapsing under the weight of California's fiscal crisis. Schools expect to lose $10 billion this year alone, resulting in teacher layoffs, soaring class sizes and fewer librarians and nurses, O'Connell said in his sixt...
Hayward parents outraged by education cuts(KTVU-TV (Fox) Oakland © 02/04/2009)
Hayward Education Association President Kathleen Crummey, along with Hayward Unified parents and teachers, express outrage over state education cuts and plans by Hayward Unified to eliminate K-3 smaller class sizes....
Teachers protest education cuts(KGO-TV San Francisco © 02/04/2009)
By Lyanne Melendez SAN FRANCISCO (KGO-TV) -- The proposed cuts to education compelled teachers and parents in San Francisco to take to the streets. A major rally was underway around 5 p.m. Tuesday evening at San Francisco's City Hall. The state superintendent of schools says it's a precarious time for education. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell said if these cuts go...
California's low credit rating: Investors win, taxpayers lose(Los Angeles Times © 02/04/2009)
When the state of Georgia sold 10-year bonds on Monday, it paid an annualized tax-free interest yield of 2.99% to the investors who bought the IOUs. If California tried to sell 10-year bonds now, it probably would have to pay about 4%. That shows the hard-money penalty that taxpayers of the Golden State incur for its low credit rating, which sank even further on Tuesday: Standard & Poor’s do...
O'Connell urges education improvements despite likely funding cuts(Inland Valley Daily Bulletin © 02/04/2009)
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell urged educators and policymakers to continue closing the achievement gap even as their schools prepare for staggering cuts in funding. "These times are turbulent with no clear skies ahead," O'Connell said in his state of education address. "The national economic downturn and the budget shortfall facing our state are creating...
Possible budget cuts draw parents concerns(Riverside Press Enterprise © 02/04/2009)
10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, February 3, 2009 By ERIN WALDNER The Press-Enterprise BEAUMONT - Dozens of parents voiced concerns and asked questions about possible budget cuts at the Beaumont Unified School District during a public forum Tuesday night. The district is facing a $7 million shortfall for the 2009-10 school year. As a result, a budget review committee has proposed the district elimina...
Salinas Union High School District plans no layoffs this year, but still needs to cut its budget(Californian © 02/04/2009)
Salinas Union High School District leaders on the one hand are vowing no layoffs this year but on the other are drawing up an employee seniority list - just in case. The board of trustees met Tuesday night in a special session focused solely on discussing the district's budget for the remainder of this year and the next two years. But with no one knowing what cuts the deficit-ridden state may...
LIVERMORE: OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS STATE BUDGET'S IMPACT ON COMMUNITY COLLEGES(KPIX CBS Channel 5 © 02/04/2009)
* Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:55E-mail PrintLIVERMORE: OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS STATE BUDGET'S IMPACT ON COMMUNITY COLLEGES LIVERMORE (BCN) Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi and state Chancellor of California Community Colleges Jack Scott will hold a briefing today at Las Positas College in Livermore to discuss the impact of the state budget on community colleges, workforce development in the green tech indu...
Tulare, Tipton school districts brace for more cuts(Visalia Times-Delta © 02/04/2009)
BY VICTOR GARCIA vdgarcia@visalia.gannett.com Tulare-area school districts are preparing for midyear budget reductions by making spending cuts outside the classroom. The Tulare City School District is expecting as much as $3 million in midyear cuts. It plans on cutting summer school altogether this year and curtailing its energy usage. The district has also implemented a hiring freeze, a confe...
Fears of fiscal solvency arise as area school districts work toward positive certifications(Santa Maria Times © 02/04/2009)
Several Central Coast school districts say they might not be able to meet their financial obligations through 2011 if the state Legislature passes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget. State law requires districts to file budgets with their respective county Office of Education that certify they will remain fiscally solvent for at least three years. By filing a “positive cert...
Novato schools plan would cut 60 teachers and all sports(Marin Independent-Journal © 02/04/2009)
The wide-ranging cuts, which the district board will consider at a Feb. 10 meeting, are based on the assumption that the state will eliminate the funding the Novato district receives to reduce the number of students in a classroom. Officials will not know the actual cost of the state's cuts until the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can agree on a solution to California's $42 million bud...
Controller, unions keep California furlough fight alive in 2 courts(Sacramento Bee © 02/04/2009)
With thousands of state workers facing their first unpaid day off on Friday, the fight over whether Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can legally cut employee hours and pay split into two courts on Tuesday. State Controller John Chiang asked a Sacramento Superior Court judge to clarify an earlier ruling that Schwarzenegger interprets as license to furlough 15,600 employees previously thought outside of ...

NTA SOCIAL - FEBRUARY 20th

2009-01-22T17:13:00.000-08:00

NTA Teachers are invited
to an
NTA Social

WHEN: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20TH
WHERE: MALABAR RESTAURANT
TIME: 2:30PM-6:30PM

Come relax, and enjoy the company of your fellow colleagues

Hors D’oeuvres provided by NTA - drinks on your own

Raffles will be held throughout the evening
(must be present to win)

CA Initiative to Focus on Classrooms Only

2009-01-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

Below is an article from the Sacramento Bee on the CTA Initiative designed to take education out of the political football game of the State each year. Because it looks as though education will be taking the largest hit in this current budget, classrooms somehow need a way to be funded directly and not keep allowing the money to be funneled through the administrative offices at each district that fail to ensure that resources reach the classrooms. After reading many of the comments from readers this article generated, it appears that voters are angry about the state of education, and in not appearing to get a noticable return for the investment education seems to be receiving. In reality, not much of the money coming in really reaches the classroom and students in the way site budgets keep shrinking and schools are understaffed - both classified and certificated. Nevertheless, from our perspective, this step is an attempt to correct this perpetual and unfortunate educational bureaucracy.

California teachers prepare a tax-hike initiative
By Steve Wiegand swiegand@sacbee.com q{

Published: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009 Page 3A

The California Teachers Association has put together an initiative that would raise the state sales tax by a penny and dedicate all of the resulting revenue to education.
But whether the group pulls the trigger on gathering signatures to qualify the measure for a special election ballot later this year will depend on what happens in the next few weeks in budget negotiations between legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Our State Council of Education (CTA's top governing body) meets late this month and will make the final decision on how we move forward," CTA spokeswoman Sandra Jackson said, "after doing some internal research and looking at what the possibilities are with the governor's proposal."
Schwarzenegger has proposed a 1.5-cent hike in the sales tax for three years, as part of an effort to close the state's gaping $40 billion budget deficit.
The governor's 2-month-old plan has gone nowhere, mainly because tax increases require two-thirds approval of the Legislature, and Republican lawmakers have vowed to fall on their swords before voting for any tax increase.
Another part of Schwarzenegger's proposal would slice $5.2 billion from elementary and high schools and community colleges through the rest of this fiscal year and in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The CTA initiative would generate an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion a year. Of that, 89 percent would go to K-12 schools, and the rest to community colleges.
The measure would restrict use of the revenue to specific purposes that include class size reduction, funding art, music and vocation education courses, and salaries for teachers and other school employees.
The money couldn't be used for administrative costs, and legislators and the governor couldn't touch the revenue. The money would be allocated to school districts based on their average daily student attendance.
There is little question the 340,000-member group, which is one of the most powerful interests in the state, could muster the money and troops to gather the 433,971 signatures of registered voters to qualify the initiative, and to run a politically credible campaign.
But the budget situation is so murky, it's difficult to handicap its chances with voters, who polls have shown love schools and hate taxes in about equal measures.
"Initiatives generally occur when the Legislature fails to solve the problem," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
"In virtually every revenue proposal (being discussed in negotiations), the sales tax is included. So if we solve the problem, then in all practicality it would be difficult to go to the voters to raise the state sales taxes for education."
Steinberg also said, however, that if no deal is reached and the initiative appears on the ballot, he would "most probably" support it.
Call Steve Wiegand, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1076.

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter, Jan. 2009

2009-01-13T07:48:00.000-08:00

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter
January 2009

Happy New Year!

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Jan. 15th 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Jan. 14th, D.O. 6:00 pm
§ Sacramento Educ. Coalition, Tues. Jan. 13th, 6:00 pm at CTA on Truxel.

Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan and Teri Burns- Monday, Jan. 12th, 4:30
§ Jules Tran- Monday, Jan. 12th, 6:00 pm
§ Bruce Roberts and Sue Heredia- Tues., Jan. 13th, 4:00

Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.

Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com

Budget Watch

District: The district office has released a proposal of budget cuts for the next 3 years. Site reps receive copies of the budget as it is updated. Please be sure to look over the proposal and provide any input that you have to your site rep.

State: CTA has been monitoring the latest budget activities from the legislature and governor and provides us with details and what it means for teachers. Our latest update was provided on Wed. Jan 7th and will be given to site reps at our monthly meeting. Please check out the CTA website for things that you can do.

Also, CTA is hosting the Sacramento Education Coalition, which will be meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 13th at CTA on Truxel, 6:00 pm. The Ed. Coalition includes CSEA, PTA, superintendents, board members… etc. Last year we also worked with state workers, daycare and elder care agency workers, and even firefighters on activities to help get the budget passed (break the stalemate.)
If you are interested in activities related to the budget, feel free to attend with Brenda (she will be there). We are encouraging our board members, superintendent and other Natomas leaders to attend the Coalition and participate. Participation could include planning and executing letter writing and office visits to legislators to encourage an education-friendly budget.

CTA recommends that we notify our teachers as to how serious the CA budget crisis currently is, and for members to expect RIF notices in March if movement has not been made to settle the budget. The difference this time, evidently, is the state of the state economy.

Negotiations Update
Nothing new to report as everyone seems to be waiting for the budget negotiations at the state level to settle.

If you have any association questions or issues please contact your site rep(s):
· American Lakes: Naomi Nakahara
· Bannon Creek: Linda Wells
· Discovery HS: Therese Collentine
· H. Allen Hight: Allyson Kirby
· Heron: Kou Moua, Peter Talbot, Cara Kruse
· Inderkum HS: Patricia Hite-Leach, Ken MacPherson, Scott MacMillan
· Jefferson: Maureen Ramos
· Leroy Green MS: Kristen Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
· Natomas HS: Joel Schweiger, Ruth Ward Ben Layne
· Natomas MS: Emilio Moran, Anthony Katsaris
· Natomas Park: Lauren Frazer
· Two Rivers: Phil Cox, Jerry Lovejoy
· Witter Ranch: Tanya Praest, Jim Clarke, Kim Chambers

CTA will participate in the Martin Luther King Day march in Sacramento on January 19th, at the Convention Center. If you are interested in participating, please contact CTA for more information.

If you are interested in getting involved, CTA is offering the following academy for future PAC activities:
Region 2 Political Academy
Feb. 6-8 at Jackson Rancheria – Sierra Foothills
Please notify a member of the exec. board if you are interested in attending.

Here are the school board members home
e-mails. Feel free to contact them:

Bruce Roberts bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com

Jules Tran jules.tran@sbcglobal.net

Sue Heredia heredias@csus.edu

Teri Burns terib@sia-us.com

Lisa Kaplan kaplan4kids@yahoo.com

Brenda’s School Visitation Schedule

Wed. Jan 14th – Two Rivers Elem. (might be rescheduled)
Tues. Jan. 20th – Witter Ranch
Tues. Jan. 27th – Leroy Greene MSThurs. Jan. 29th – Natomas Park Elem
Friday, Jan. 30th – Hight Elem.
Wed. Feb. 4th – Inderkum HS
Wed. Feb. 11th – Natomas HS, Dicovery HS
Wed. Feb. 18th – Natomas Middle
Wed. Feb. 25th – Bannon Creek Elem.
Thurs. Feb. 26th – Jefferson Elem.
Fri. March 6th – American Lakes
Wed. March 11th – Heron K-8

Future Events of interest:

NTA Social – February TBA

Transfer and Reassignment paperwork and process - March

Day of the Teacher – May TBA

Election of NTA Officers – May

LFGMS SafetyTask Force to be created

2008-12-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

A Notice from Dr. Hanson, Associate Superintendent:

A Task Force with the new secondary director and new assistant principal will be created to review, revise, implement the LFG school safety plan and all student discipline policies, practices and procedures. The first meeting will be held in January, and the membership will reflect a cross section of staff members who are committed to working through some tough discussions and willing to create, examine and support viable solutions during these tough budgetary times.
Any LFG teacher interested in serving on this Task Force should contact Dr. Hanson either by email or phone. The LFG Leadership Team, NTA site reps & principal will be apprised once the task force has been formed. After school meetings will be compensated, and Heyman Matlock, Coordinator of Student Services, Mr. Evans, & Dr. Hanson will serve as ad-hoc members and provide any support that may be requested.

Dr. Hanson and Mr, Kenley, Secondary Director, will attend the next regularly scheduled LFG staff meeting on December 17th and will be available to answer any questions that teachers may have about the work of this Task Force.

She also concluded:
We must continue to work together and continue our commitment to doing all that we can to ensure the academic success of the students @ LFGMS.

Editorial - Why a Lack of District Support for LFG?

2008-12-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

The following was written in response to the district's response so far to the safety concerns from the LFG teachers:

So it's my classroom instruction, is it? Yes, that's got to be it. I think instead of concentrating on my classroom instruction, I am being forced to concentrate on other things such as performing extra tasks: hallway duty, bus duty, breaking up student fighting, writing citations for tardies, serving detention, etc. I know what I can do to be a better teacher! I can stop doing non-instructional activities and focus on being the best classroom teacher that I can be. Yes, that's what I will spend my time on instead. In order to do that, I will have to say no to hallway duty and after school tutoring. I'm glad that parents were in agreement with our flyer, because that's exactly what what we are letting them know. I guess the district will also eventually make that connection. Teacher success = student success

Parent Flyers at Leroy Greene Middle School

2008-12-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

Parents received the flyer below today at Leroy Greene Middle School. Parents were so supportive and positive about the flyer and the reasons that teachers wanted to improve their school, that some parents asked for more information and let teachers know that they shared the teachers' concerns. http://cbs13.com/local/natomas.middle.school.2.884843.html

URGENT CONCERNS AT LFGMS FORCE TEACHER ACTION!

WE TEACHERS WANT YOUR CHILD TO SUCCEED.
IF YOU WANT CHANGE TOO, YOU CAN SUPPORT US BY LETTING YOUR VOICE BE HEARD HERE AND AT THE DISTRICT OFFICE
Please contact Dr. Farrar at 567-5400, sfarrar@natomas.k12.ca.us

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter

2008-12-05T15:15:00.000-08:00

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter
December 2008

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Dec. 4th, 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Dec. 10th, D.O. 6:00 pm

Board Member Meetings:
§ Lisa Kaplan- Monday, Dec. 8th, 4:30
§ Sue Heredia and Jules Tran- Monday, Dec. 8th, 6:00 pm
§ Bruce Roberts- Tues., Dec. 9th, 4:00
§ Teri Burns – Tues., Dec. 9th , 5:30
Board member meetings will all be held at Giovanni’s Pizzeria (2701 Del Paso Rd) and are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month.

Here are the school board members
e-mails. Feel free to contact them:

Bruce Roberts bruceroberts4natomas@yahoo.com

Jules Tran jules.tran@sbcglobal.net

Sue Heredia heredias@csus.edu

Teri Burns terib@sia-us.com

Lisa Kaplan kaplan4kids@yahoo.com

Don’t forget to check out the NTA blog:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to the winners of the school board election….

Bruce Roberts
Susan Heredia
Jules Tran

Thanks to Volunteers!
Thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the successful campaign. Many dedicated NTA members volunteered their time to help hang door hangers, attend campaign activities and hand out fliers at the polls the day of the election. NTA looks forward to a successful partnership with each the new board members.

Budget Update
The district office has released a proposal of budget cuts for the next 3 years. Site reps have received copies of the budget. Please be sure to look over the proposal and provide any input that you have to your site rep.

NTA Social a Success
On November 4th, NTA hosted a social at Malabar restaurant. Attendees enjoyed delicious appetizers while watching the results of the presidential election. Fun was had by all who attended. Keep your eyes posted for more NTA socials in the future.

Negotiations Update – from Nov. 7th notice:
The district has stated: “The district does not have a proposal to increase employee compensation or benefits at this time.” Although the district has stated that they will provide “More teacher collaboration and preparation time” they have not presented a collaboration time counter to NTA.
The atmosphere at the table has been cordial, but the bargaining team & NTA executive board have agreed that we will not resume negotiations until the district has put forth a compensation offer. The district is considering offering a retirement incentive. Contact Cynthia Bluewater with any questions.

Site Rep List:
If you have any association questions or issues please contact your site rep(s):
· American Lakes: Naomi Nakahara
· Bannon Creek: Linda Wells
· Discovery HS: Therese Collentine
· H. Allen Hight: Allyson Kirby
· Heron: Kou Moua, Peter Talbot, Cara Kruse
· Inderkum HS: Patricia Hite-Leach, Ken MacPherson, Scott MacMillan
· Jefferson: Maureen Ramos
· Leroy Green MS: Kristen Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
· Natomas HS: Joel Schwieger, Ruth Ward Ben Layne
· Natomas MS: Emilio Moran, Anthony Katsaris
· Natomas Park: Lauren Frazer
· Two Rivers: Phil Cox, Jerry Lovejoy
· Witter Ranch: Tanya Praest, Jim Clarke, Kim Chambers

Your Executive Board:
President: Brenda Borge, LFG
Vice-President: Jeanne Gute, TR
Treasurer: Carey Resch, LFG
Co-Secretary: Amber Allison, JF
Co-Secretary: Cora Victorine, HE, WR

Appointments:
Membership Chair: Cynthia Connell, LFG
Grievance Chair: Leslie Levine-McGhie, HE
Bargaining Chair: Cynthia Bluewater, D.O.
PAC Chair: Fred Lavell, AL

Conferences Announced
Natomas Teachers’ Association would like to sponsor some teachers to attend these CTA conferences. If you are interested in attending any of these conferences below, please email the executive board to be considered for a scholarship for registration, travel, and accommodations.

CTA Winter Conference Season!!

Good Teaching Conference-NorthJanuary 9-11, 2009 The Hyatt Regency San Francisco AirportBurlingame, CA

Region 2 Political Academy
Feb. 6-8 at Jackson Rancheria – Sierra Foothills

Urban Issues ConferenceFebruary 27-March 1, 2009The Fairmont HotelNewport Beach, CA
Equity and Human Rights ConferenceMarch 6-8, 2009The Fairmont HotelSan Jose, CA

Good Teaching Conference-SouthMarch 13-15, 2009The Hyatt Regency Orange County, AnaheimGarden Grove, CA

Summer Conferences in Asilomar and UCLA.
Each conference features outstanding keynote speakers, interactive workshops, breakout sessions, and plenty of time to network and share experiences with other CTA members.

Contact the NTA Executive Board for a sponsored registration.

Have a terrific and relaxing holiday break!

November Newsletter

2008-11-05T07:20:00.000-08:00

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Nov. 6th, 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ Meeting with Lisa Kaplan @ It’s a Grind, Mon Nov. 10th , 4:30
§ Meeting with Teri Burns – Tues., Nov. 11th, 5:30 @ Graziano's Pizza (near It's Grind)
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Nov. 12th, D.O. 6:00 pm

(Board Member meetings are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month @ It’s a Grind. Please feel free to attend or send us items of interest to address with board members.)

CTA Scholarships Offered
Please ask your site reps about CTA scholarships.

Safety Survey
Please complete the safety survey and return to your site rep as soon as possible.

Communication Committee – as part of the board goals, the district is looking for teacher input – please contact your site rep for details

Updates from The Standard
Want help figuring out how much insurance you and your family need? We’ve made it simple! If you’re wondering how much Life Insurance to get for you and your family or your need for Disability Insurance, then the Insurance Needs Calculators can help! Simply login to MyCTA at www.cta.org and go to The Standard pages. There you’ll find links to the new calculators that will help you determine your need for Disability income protection and Life Insurance for you and your dependents. It’s a free tool to help you get one step closer to a complete financial plan. Newly hired CTA member, or new to your district? We have good news about coverage! If you’re a newly hired CTA member, or transferring to a new district, now’s the time to get coverage. During your first 120 days of new employment, you have a one-time opportunity to enroll in Disability Insurance and/or up to $200,000 of Life Insurance – without showing proof of good health! The Standard’s Member Enrollment Brochure has details and enrollment materials – or even easier, you can enroll online by visiting MyCTA at www.cta.org.
Are you enrolled in a non CTA-endorsed plan? If you have enrolled in non CTA-endorsed coverage and would like to switch into the only CTA-endorsed Life and Disability plans, The Standard will offer special enrollment periods from October 1 through November 30, 2008 and from April 1 through May 31, 2009. You’ll be able to transfer without providing proof of good health! You can transfer to an equal amount of coverage. If an equal amount is not available, you can choose the next closest option — higher or lower! Has your family status changed? Within 31 days of a Family Status Change, you can add or increase Life coverage up to $200,000 and/or add Disability coverage, all without providing proof of good health! A Family Status Change includes birth/adoption, marriage/domestic partnership, divorce/dissolution or other qualifying events. Questions? The Standard is there to help! Call The Standard’s dedicated CTA Customer Service Department at 800.522.0406 (TTY). Or, email ctaservice@standard.com. And if you haven’t taken a look at CTA’s Web site, visit MyCTA at http://www.cta.org/.

You are invited to a NTA Social Event!!
DATE: November 4th
TIME: 5-9pm
PLACE: Malabar Restaurant
(2960 Del Paso Rd. Natomas)
Watch the election results while hanging out with your fellow colleagues
hors d'oeuvres will be provided
No Host Bar

NTA is proud to endorse the following slate in the Natomas School Board Elections:
*Jules Tran
*Susan Heredia
*Bruce Roberts

Be sure to vote November 4th

(Please contact your site rep if you can help hold a sign at polling places on Tuesday)

Events around Natomas

NTA executive board assisted 150 REI employees and the arbor foundation in planting trees on the Regional Park behind Inderkum on Oct. 18th

On October 19th, NTA hosted a booth at the Creekside community festival. The booth helped get the word out about the Natomas School board candidates.

New employees are invited to attend the new employee party in December -date and time TBD.

CTA Winter Conference Season!!
Good Teaching Conference-North
January 9-11, 2009
The Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport,Burlingame, CA

Rural Issues Conference
January 16-18, 2009
The Orleans Hotel and Casino,Las Vegas, NV

Urban Issues Conference
February 27-March 1, 2009
The Fairmont Hotel,Newport Beach, CA

Equity and Human Rights Conference
March 6-8, 2009
The Fairmont Hotel,San Jose, CA

Good Teaching Conference-South
March 13-15, 2009
The Hyatt Regency Orange County, Anaheim,Garden Grove, CA

Each conference features outstanding keynote speakers, interactive workshops, breakout sessions, and plenty of time to network and share experiences with other CTA members.

Register at: http://cta.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5bee87be6102a8bb0cb7c97dc&id=7a11d1605c&e=9322a213b7.

Did you know that NTA has a blog? Stop by and add your thoughts or comments!
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com

Close School Board Election in Natomas USD

2008-11-05T07:10:00.000-08:00

The Sacramento County Board of Elections has reported these results this morning:

Governing Board Member NATOMAS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Vote for 3 (WITH 50 OF 50 PRECINCTS COUNTED)

SUSAN M. HEREDIA . . . . . . . . 7,675 29.54
BRUCE ROBERTS . . . . . . . . . 6,095 23.46
JULES A. TRAN . . . . . . . . . 4,029 15.51
PATRICIA A. ADAMS. . . . . . . . 3,031 11.67
BRIZA TRUJILLO CARDENAS. . . .2,610 10.05
FREDRICK S. (RICK) COHEN . . . . 2,477 9.53
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 61 .23
Over Votes . . . . . . . . . 9 Under Votes . . . . . . . . . 26,414

NTA wants to thank every teacher who helped in the elections for local offices, city, state and national. Thank you for all of your precious time volunteered, your civic-minded efforts, and your willingness to be part of history in the making. Yes, it was that important. Our students will benefit from your generosity.

NTA SOCIAL EVENT

2008-10-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

Natomas Teachers: You are invited to an NTA social event

Date: Tuesday, November 4th

Time: 5:00-9:00pm

Place: Malabar Restaurant (upstairs room)

Drop in anytime!

Join your colleagues and relax after work at

one of the Natomas area’s finest dining establishments!

Party room is upstairs and has big screen TVs to watch election results

Hors d’oeuvres provided

No Host Bar

Election Season Information from CTA

2008-10-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

Dear Chapter Presidents: We’re less than two weeks away from one of the most important elections of our time. Your vote will make the difference in the lives of our students and their families. Earlier this year, the 800 democratically elected members of CTA’s State Council of Education made recommendations for this election. At the same time, State Council voted to allocate up to $5 million to fund these recommendations as well as our efforts in the state budget crisis.
Those recommendations are:
· Barack Obama for U.S. President
· Congressional, State Assembly and Senate Recommendations
· YES on Proposition 3 - Children's Hospital Bond Act of 2008
· NO on Proposition 4 - Protect Teen Safety
· NO Proposition 6 - Fund Schools not Prisons
· NO Proposition 8 - Support Equality for All
· NO Proposition 9 - Costly, Unnecessary and Misleading

You may have heard from the public and some members concerned about CTA’s position on Prop. 8. The Yes on 8 Campaign is using lies and scare tactics to deliberately mislead voters. Prop. 8 will not change any state education law. It has no impact on public schools at all. A California Superior Court Judge has ruled these claims by Prop. 8 proponents as “false and misleading.”
The California Teachers Empowerment Network, which is supported by National Right to Work, has jumped on these distortions in an effort to undermine the strength and unity of CTA. You or some of your members may have received an email from CTEN encouraging people to resign from CTA. This is the same group that organized in support of the anti-teacher and anti-union initiatives that were soundly defeated in 2005.
CTA has a long and proud history of standing up for the civil rights of all people. It is part of our mission: The California Teachers Association exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education; to ensure that the human dignity and civil rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society.California’s constitution should guarantee the same freedoms and rights to everyone. Prop. 8 singles out some people to be treated differently. CTA’s recommendation to vote No on Prop. 8 is the latest in a long line of positions that promote equality for all.
Below are two links to information that can help you when answering questions about CTA’s recommendation process and No on 8.
· CTA’s recommendation process (Prop. 8 example)
· Fact vs. Fiction: the false accusations by the Yes on Prop 8 Campaign You can find more about all CTA recommendations www.cta.org.
David A. Sanchez, CTA President

NTA SOCIAL EVENT

2008-10-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

Natomas Teachers:
You are invited to an NTA social event

Date: Tuesday, November 4th
Time: 5:00-9:00pm
Place: Malabar Restaurant (upstairs room)

Drop in anytime! Join your colleagues and relax after work at one of the Natomas area’s finest dining establishments!

Party room is upstairs and has big screen TVs to watch election results

Hors d’oeuvres provided
No Host Bar

Education Forum

2008-10-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

THE NATOMAS COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
And
THE NATOMAS JOURNAL
PRESENT

THURSDAY, OCT. 23, 2008
7:00 pm
Patricia A. Adams
Briza Trujillo Cardenas
Fredrick S. “Rick” Cohen
Susan M. Heredia (Incumbent)
Bruce Roberts
Jules A. Tran

Will Craig, Moderator
Publisher, Natomas Journal

Natomas Community Center
2921 Truxel Road
Sacramento, CA 95833

Please join us

WESTLAKE - NTA EVENT

2008-10-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

NATOMAS TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION

INVITES YOU TO AN EVENING RECEPTION FOR THE
Natomas School Board Team
BRUCE ROBERTS, SUSAN HEREDIA & JULES TRAN

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
5:30 to 7:30 PM

AT THE WESTLAKE RESIDENCE OF
Dave Lardner
12 Ost Place, Sacramento

(Please RSVP to Fred Lavell, PAC Chair)

Food donated by Griselda Catering

October/November Events for Teachers

2008-10-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

Natomas Teachers - we would love to have you involved in any and all of the following upcoming activities:

Wednesday, Oct. 15th - The Club at Natomas - School Board Candidate's Forum 6:30 pm
Thursday, Oct. 16th - New teacher seniority number lottery - 3:30 at the District Office (HR)
Saturday, Oct. 18th - Tree Planting in Natomas Regional Park (behind Inderkum) 8:30-12:30
Sunday, Oct. 19th - Creekside Festival at Kokomo Park (behind the Safeway) - NTA booth from 1:00-4:00pm
Wednesday, Oct. 22nd - Evening Reception in Westlake fro School Board Candidates, 5:30 - 7:30, 12 Ost Place (private home)
Thursday, Oct. 23rd - South Natomas Community Center - School Board Candidate's Forum, 7:00 pm
Friday, Oct, 24th - Witter Ranch School Festival, NTA booth from 5:00-8:00 pm
Tuesday, Nov. 4th - Election Night Celebration - Location TBD

Election Party

2008-10-12T18:04:00.000-07:00

Please plan to attend a gathering of NTA members on Nov 4th to watch the election results on a big screen tv, somewhere in Natomas at a venue to be determined. Watch this post for updates. We have NUSD Board members, a US President and the Sacramento Mayor races making history this year.

October Newsletter

2008-10-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Oct. 2nd, 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ Meeting with Lisa Kaplan @It’s a Grind, Monday, Oct. 6th, 4:30 pm
§ Meeting with Sue Heredia & Jen Baker @ It’s a Grind, Mon. Oct. 6th, 7:00 pm
§ Meeting with Ron Dwyer-Voss @ It’s a Grind, Tuesday, Oct. 7th, 3:30pm
§ Meeting with Teri Burns @ It’s a Grind, Tues. Oct. 7th, 5:30pm
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Oct. 8th, D.O. 6:00 pm

(Board Member meetings are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month. Please feel free to attend or send us items of interest to address with board members.)

Your Executive Board:

President: Brenda Borge, LFG
Vice-President: Jeanne Gute, TR
Treasurer: Carey Resch, LFG
Co-Secretary: Amber Allison, JF
Co-Secretary: Cora Victorine, HE, WR

Appointments:
Membership Chair: Cynthia Connell, LFG
Grievance Chair: Leslie Levine-McGhie, HE
Bargaining Chair: Cynthia Bluewater, D.O.
PAC Chair: Fred Lavell, AL

CA Budget Update
Please visit your CTA website at: www.CTA.org
Political Action Committee

The Natomas Teachers have endorsed the following candidates for school board:

Bruce Roberts
Jules Tran
Sue Heredia

Please contact Fred Lavell, PAC Chair, to help with the school board elections from now until November.

Safety Committee

We are committed to solving the many school safety issues currently going on in the district, and need your help to address these issues in a systematic and proactive way. Please contact your site rep if you have a story, information, or want to help with teacher and student safety issues.

GO GREEN? Let NTA know if you prefer us to save paper & post more info on the blog:
Please visit our new blog site:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com
Please check it as often as you can!
Coming soon - our own NING (a secured social network site for Natomas teachers)

Your Site Reps:
(if your site has held an election and have new site reps, please let us know)

American Lakes – Naomi Nakahara
Bannon Creek – Linda Wells
Jefferson Elem – Maureen Ramos
Two Rivers Elem – Jerry Lovejoy, Kris
Nanry
Witter Ranch – Tanya Praest, Jim
Clarke, Kimberly Chambers
Natomas Park Elem – Bret Greenfield,
Lauren Frazier
Heron – Peter Talbot
Hight Elem – Allyson Kirby
Leroy Greene MS – Kristen Rocha,
Justin Vorhauer
Natomas Middle – Anthony Katsaris,
Emilio Moran
Natomas High – Joel Schweiger, Ruth
Ward, Ben Layne
Inderkum High – Ken MacPherson, Scott
Macmillan, Patricia Hite-Leech
Discovery High – Terese Collentine

Negotiations Update:
Contract negotiations are set to resume in October with the district.

New Board Goals
Please give your input to your site reps and the NTA leadership on the new board goals. We need to hear from you. Keep us updated as to what is happening (or not happening) at your sites.

California’s Educators Say Lawmakers Turned Their Backs On the Public and Passed a Reckless Budget that Hurts Students and Public Schools Now and in the Future, Taking $3 Billion from Schools
David A. Sanchez, president of the 340,000-member CTA, released the following statement in response to the state budget package passed by lawmakers tonight and sent to the governor for signing:
September 19, 2008
“The governor and lawmakers have passed a rushed and shameful ‘get out of town’ state budget that leaves the state’s millions of students in their dust. This gimmick-filled budget, which is more than 81 days late, will hurt public schools, colleges, health care, working families and communities for years. This disastrous spending plan still does nothing to solve the state’s structural deficit. It sets our schools and students up for more funding shortfalls and sets California up for the same budget problems next year. “This budget cuts $3 billion from public education this year and never restores those funds. It gives the governor new powers to cut funding for some education programs mid-year, undermines Proposition 98, the minimum school funding law, and will certainly guarantee that the amount California spends on its students remains locked at the bottom nationwide. “Failing to provide any ongoing new revenues, this ‘new deal’ budget is no real budget at all. It continues to rely on borrowing money from the lottery and future state revenues in order to close the $15 billion budget deficit. It takes $1.4 billion from hospitals and human services for the elderly, disabled, and children. It means a quarter-million children will be denied health insurance. It eliminates the eight-hour work day for some workers, while providing new tax loopholes for corporations that will cost the state billions. Working families will suffer.“Our elected officials missed their opportunity to lead. This is not the responsible state budget plan that our public schools, educators and voters have been waiting for. CTA will be looking into all options available to ensure that our budget process better serves California students and their right to a quality education.”

A Reminder to Vote Fargo for Mayor in November

2008-09-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

In the Sacramento Bee, more news on the dangers of not choosing wisely for the right person to run Sacramento and support teachers' associations and all of the hard work teachers do for our students. More problems with candidate KJ:
http://www.sacbee.com/city/story/1264412-p2.html
http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/1267585.html

Natomas School Board Campaign Activities

2008-09-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

Natomas School Board Campaign Activities
- Bruce Roberts, Susan Heredia & Jules Tran

Thank you to all who attended the kick-off and to all others who have express support for our campaign.

With less than 6 weeks until Election Day there is a lot to do.

Phone Banking will be every Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday, from 5:30 to 8:30. We began our phone banking last night and we are still looking for volunteers.

Phone Bank Mon/Tue/Wen 5:30 to 8:30;
4714 Duckhorn Drive, Sacramento CA 95834
(MME Consulting, West of 1-5, just south of Del Paso Road)

Precint Walks Begin this Saturday at 10:00am
We need additional volunteers for this Saturday's start.

Walk Location;
We will meet at the house of Jules Tran
15 Nautica Court, Sac, CA 95833 ( Near Two Rivers)

Thank you and we look forward to your help.
Bruce Roberts
916-396-9083

Teachers - Need Volunteers

2008-09-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

Please see the flyer attached - the Friends of the Parks and Schools in North Natomas are planning to help with this tree planting project at the still developing Regional Park. Please come and help plant trees. You don't have to have experience - the Sacramento Tree Foundation people will train us. And for you dog lovers (like us), the trees will hopefully be the start of a dog park in that area.

This area in located north and west of Inderkum HS.

Please call Brenda Borge if you are able to come help.

(916) 419-8933

Thank you!

Sept. 20th Campaign Kick-Off

2008-09-20T08:24:00.000-07:00

Natomas Community and teachers - we need volunteers. We would love to see you if you can make a campaign kick-off event (with refreshments) today between 3:00 and 7:00 pm, please call Fred Lavell or Brenda Borge for directions. (916) 419-8933
Time to get the word out about the November school board election!

Natomas Teachers' Association has endorsed:

Jules Tran
Bruce Roberts and
Sue Heredia

State Budget Update and Call to Action

2008-09-12T10:58:00.000-07:00

Please make your own calls and send the following alert out to your networks:

The Senate has announced another budget vote for Friday September 12th, on the Governor’s August Revise – once again, deep cuts to vital services for all Californians are at stake, both now and into the future.
CALL YOUR SENATOR NOW -- and forward this message to your networks statewide!
1. Call 1-888-268-4334, the "Cuts Hurt Hotline."
2. Press 1, to enter your zip code and be connected directly to your Senator.
3. Tell your Senator:
"OPPOSE the Governor's August Revise because it has:
n EVEN DEEPER CUTS to our students, seniors, people with disabilities, families and all Californians – putting even more strain on our schools, hospitals, home care, and all vital services.
n A SHORT-SIGHTED CAP that would have taken away $8 billion in investment in education, health care, and other vital services this year, if it had been put in place a decade ago.
n A TEMPORARY FIX (via a 1 cent sales tax boost for 3 years, and then a drop by 1 ¼ cent), rather than the long-term revenue we need to prevent deeper cuts and invest in our future."
Your calls have made a *substantial* difference, especially in the last two weeks: On Monday, the Senate defeated the proposed Republican Budget, which had the most devastating cuts yet and only irresponsible borrowing. (The Assembly followed suit on Tuesday). And as Labor Day weekend began, your calls helped defeat Sen. Perata’s modified version of the Governor’s August Revise. Now, we need to do it again – defeat the Governor’s August Revise and make sure our legislators passes a responsible, compassionate budget with no more cuts and the real revenues we need.

For more background on the Governor's August Revise:

n Talking Points from T4CF -- http://www.togetherforca.org/information/GovAugustReviseSummary0829.doc

n Comparisons of the budget proposals – from Education Coalition, Health Access, and County Welfare Directors Association -- are also posted at http://www.togetherforca.org/index.php/resources

n CA Department of Finance, Governor’s August Revise -- http://www.dof.ca.gov/budget/historical/2008-09/documents/August_Revision_R2-w.pdf

School Board Candidate Endorsements Announced

2008-09-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

The Natomas TA Political Action Committee (PAC) interviewed all six of the school board candidates running for this November's election and based on the interview questions (listed below), have decided to endorse the following three candidates:
Bruce Roberts, Sue Heredia and Jules Tran.

For a list of questions we asked candidates, please see the list below. These questions will show you what the Natomas Teachers' Association's values and priorities are. Please visit our booth at the Celebrate Natomas event this Saturday for more information.

Interview Questions:
1. Why are you running for the Natomas School Board? What do you hope to add to make this district better?
2. What do you feel are the greatest strengths and the greatest weaknesses of the Natomas Unified School District?
3. What school board decision in the past three years would you change and why?
4. Many parents are concerned especially at the secondary level about the safety of the schools. What plans do you have to support resolutions that will increase safety in the schools?
5. Teacher morale is very important to the success of our students’ educational programs. How would you improve teacher morale?
6. We believe retaining high quality, dedicated teachers is of great importance to the health of our district; however, we have one of the worst turnover rates in the area. What is your plan to reverse this trend?
7. If elected to the school board, what plans do you have to improve teacher and parent communication and support throughout the district?
8. As a school board member, you will receive the majority of your information regarding the state of the district from the administration, via their written reports and in the monthly closed session meetings. What are your plans to look beyond the administration and seek out other perspectives on important issues?
9. Often, as a board member, you will have an individual opinion that may conflict with other board members, the administration or teachers. How do you assert yourself under this kind of pressure?
10. NTA is concerned about the proliferation of charter schools in our district. They take away facility and ADA revenue from our schools. What is your view on charter schools and what kind of accountability do they have to the Natomas School Board?
11. Strategy Four of the District’s Strategic Plan calls for “consistently communicating information, increasing public awareness and soliciting public support.” What plans do you have to showcase the Natomas schools to the public?
12. NTA holds regularly schedule monthly meeting with board members. Would you uphold this tradition to meet with us monthly?
13. Teacher’s salaries can help retain well-qualified people and help attract well-qualified teachers to the district. As far as salaries go, our district has a low ranking when compared to surrounding districts. How important are teacher’s salaries are when compared to the other important budget issues?

Statewide Day of Action This Friday, September 5

2008-09-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

A message from CTA President, David Sanchez:

Welcome back to school. I know every time we’ve seen each other over the summer at various conferences, I’ve been talking about the state budget crisis. I wish I could deliver a different message with this e-mail, but there has been no resolution on the state budget. It is unacceptable that legislators haven’t been able to compromise on a responsible solution to California’s enormous deficit—especially when a balanced and fair plan exists with the original Conference Committee Report.
If lawmakers don’t pass a budget by mid-September, schools will suffer another $2.5 billion in lost cash flow. We can’t sit back while this happens. CTA is calling for a statewide day of action this Friday, September 5, to urge lawmakers to find the additional revenues needed to save our students and schools from further cuts. We already rank 46th in per-pupil spending. Many of you have already been working with your local CTA representatives to plan events and demonstrations. Thank you for your continued commitment to our students and our profession.
We have online resources for you to use this Friday available at www.cta.org/issues/current/Budget_Crisis_2008-09.htm . They include:
• Where We Stand: Day of Action Talking Points • A “Cuts Hurt” Hotline Day of Action Flier • A Sample Day of Action Event Flier
Please know we are making a difference in this state budget. Together, we’ve fought off some very damaging “solutions” and borrowing schemes in this budget crisis already. And together, we will do everything possible to secure a budget that protects our students, schools, and community colleges from deeper cuts.
David A. SanchezCTA President

Go Green

2008-09-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

In an effort to use less paper, NTA Rep Council has requested that we publish as much as we can do at this blog site. Stay tuned for more postings and less paper! We're working to save the environment, one post at a time.

September Newsletter

2008-09-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter
September 2008

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, Sept 4th, 4:00 pm, LFG, Room 406
§ Meeting with Lisa Kaplan @It’s a Grind, Monday, Sept. 8th, 3:30 pm
§ Meeting with Ron Dwyer-Voss @ It’s a Grind, Tuesday, Sept. 9th, 3:30pm
§ Meeting with Teri Burns @ It’s a Grind, Tues. Sept. 9th, 5:30pm
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, Sept. 10th, D.O. 6:00 pm
§ Celebrate Natomas, Saturday, Sept. 13th at Natomas Community Center

(Board Member meetings are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month. Please feel free to attend or send us items of interest to address with board members.)

Your Executive Board:

President: Brenda Borge, LFG
Vice-President: Jeanne Gute, TR
Treasurer: Carey Resch, LFG
Co-Secretary: Amber Allison, JF
Co-Secretary: Cora Victorine, HE, WR

Appointments:
Membership Chair: Cynthia Connell, LFG
Grievance Chair: Leslie Levine-McGhie, HE
Bargaining Chair: Cynthia Bluewater, D.O.
PAC Chair: Fred Lavell, AL

Welcome to all of the new teachers to the NTA and NUSD, and also we welcome another new school opening - H. Allen Hight Elementary School. As we keep growing, we keep getting better and better!

Political Action Committee

If you love the political season and want to get involved, let us know if you can help with the PAC Committee.
Please contact Fred Lavell to help with the school board elections from now until November.

Celebrate Natomas Event

Come visit your NTA booth on Saturday, Sept. 13th anytime between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm – there is always food, arts and entertainment by Natomas students. It’s a blast!

SITE REP ELECTIONS IN SEPTEMBER
If you would like to use your personal strengths to help with any association activities, we want you! So please contact us and we will find you something to do! Put the U back in Union!

Please visit our new blog site:
http://natomasteachers.blogspot.com
Please note - comments are moderated for public consumption.
Coming soon - our own NING (a secured social network site for Natomas teachers)

CA Budget Crisis Update - Please visit your CTA website at: www.CTA.org

Site Rep Council Meeting, Sept. 4th

2008-08-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Elected representatives from each of the 13 school sites will meet Thursday, Sept. 4th, our first meeting for the 2008-2009 school year. Rep council will hear a negotiations update, vote to endorse candidate(s) in the Novemeber school board election, and meet with our new CTA Representative, Kenya Spearman.

Here is a list of the site representatives from last year:
American Lakes - Naomi Nakahara
Bannon Creek - Barbara Martinez
Heron K-8 - Cora Victorine, Mike Turner
Jefferson - Amber Allison
Natomas Park Elementary - Lauren Frazier, Bret Greenfield
Two Rivers - Jerry Lovejoy, Kris Nanry
Witter Ranch - Jim Clarke
Natomas Middle - Anthony Katsaris, Emilio Moran
Leroy Greene Middle - Kristin Rocha, Justin Vorhauer
Discovery High - Mike Torres
Inderkum HS - Jill Blunk, Ken MacPherson, Patricia Hite-Leech
Natomas HS - Joel Schweiger, Mara Harvey, Sally West-Morgan

How Does the Negotiations Process Work?

2008-08-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

After sending an recent update to teachers, we received some questions about how we communicate and how some items get negotiated. In fact, one of the most frequent questions NTA gets from teachers and parents are about how our calendar becomes finalized. With other districts that surround Natomas USD, such as Sac City, with a school calendar that begins after Labor Day, many ask why and how we have arrived at the calendar we have.

In Natomas, we have schools coming off of a year-round schedule, so our current calendar reflects a compromise between the YR and traditional schedules. Indeed, across this state, many districts believe a shortened summer positively benefits students. They have also felt that the traditional calendar is a leftover from an outdated agrarian lifestyle. Fad? Could be. Will the pendulum eventually swing the other way? Probably. Child care, vacations, and student employment all are affected by the calendar in some way. We hear from teachers on both sides of this...some who want more breaks in the year, and others who want less to keep the summer break... so how do we balance all of the points of view of our 580 members?

In the meantime, NTA uses a survey to determine membership priority. An idea that might be important to a small number of members might not reach the top of the priority list, or might be negotiated in another year, as we have to operate in the manner that best supports the majority. For example, we have more elementary teachers in this district than secondary. Often, they are the majority. However, we work hard each time to cover as much of the members' priorities that we can - both secondary and others. Also, the district must be willing to listen.

Depending on how many teachers complete a survey, it's possible that a vocal minority can get their point across. If members can rally their site’s members to fill out the survey, and make something such as the holiday breaks a big priority then it can become a priority. Also, if the union and the district do not come to an agreement on the calendar, the district has the right to simply declare what the calendar will look like in terms of start dates and break dates.

Finally, a word on communication - because there have been questions about how members can communicate effectively. Formally, NTA sends out a paper newsletter every month to all members, as well as holding monthly meetings with an elected representative or two from every school to make decisions and discuss current issues affecting our teachers and schools.
CTA and NEA help us by sending us information we need to know about, and guide us in legal and fiscal matters, as well as other helpful practices for associations. CTA Legal helps us know about our rights - for example, we are informed that it is not advised for district email to be used for NTA business, except for general meeting and specific notifications from elected site reps, as it is not secure. Whenever possible, we ask members for their home email addresses, and officers are available by phone as well. Formally and informally, elected officers and site representatives gather information from teachers across the district to inform NTA leadership of what is going on, and helps ensure the contract is being followed. Often, we spend our time working with the district to improve working conditions in the classroom, and working with the community to partner with and appreciate our teachers and their continued and daily hard work.
NTA and the district have a mutually agreed upon contract. We are currently negotiating the 2008-2009 contract with the district. As everyone else in CA is doing, we are waiting for a satisfactory state budget to be reached soon!

Negotiations Update

2008-08-23T23:05:00.000-07:00

NTA Negotiations Update August 2008

The NTA would like to welcome back our current bargaining members and offer a warm welcome to our new bargaining unit members.

The following is a reminder of items currently on the bargaining table. While the district is waiting for the state budget to be settled your NTA bargaining team is eager to get back to the table. It is hopeful that we will begin negotiations in September.

Contract Proposals:
The Natomas Teachers bear the responsibility of educating the students of the Natomas Unified School District. Teachers work diligently providing a quality education by delivering knowledge and instruction, planning lessons, providing assessments to cover the California State Standards, and other essential tasks related to the education of our students. It is recognized that teachers are the best resource the NUSD has to offer its’ students. In order to preserve this vital resource the NUSD must recruit, retain, and reward its teachers. Our proposals will recruit, retain, and reward highly qualified teachers, increase student achievement, and close the achievement gap by:

Article IV and Article VI Salaries & Benefits
v Increasing salaries including adult education wages
v Increasing district contributions to health benefits
v Reconfiguring longevity
v Increasing substitution pay for retirees and off-track teachers
v Increasing tutoring wages & stipends
v Providing retirement incentives

Currently on the table:

Ø NTA’s Compensation Proposal: All bargaining unit members will receive 100% of state funded COLA to be added to the salary schedule. In years of no COLA or deficit COLA, a 2% increase will be added to the salary schedule. Increase in adult education salaries.

Ø NTA’s Health Benefits Proposal: All bargaining unit members will receive 100% of the dollar amount of the median family medical plan. This would eliminate any mandatory out of pocket expenditures.

Article X Class size
Lowering class sizes in grades 4-12

Article V Hours of employment
· Adjusting the school calendar for paid collaboration time.
Increasing elementary preparation time
Decreasing time spent on duties outside the classroom

Article XIII Special Education and Special Subjects Specialists
Developing language for special educations programs.

Currently on the table:

Special Education Issues: NTA presented specific Special Education language that focused on caseloads and/or class size using a formula that assigns point values dependent upon the severity of the disability. This point value would be used throughout all special education programs.

Ø Full Inclusion Program: NTA presented language regarding full inclusion programs at all sites and on all tracks and the need to have the previously agreed upon language in the contract.

Ø Psychologist Evaluation: A new form was presented by NTA regarding psychologists’ evaluations.

Ø Learning Center models: NTA proposed that each learning center be staffed by a min. of two FTE’s.

Ø Special Education class loads/caseloads to be lowered

Ø ILS classes will have a caseload of 10 students.

We wish you all an enjoyable and successful year.

NTA Bargaining Team
Cynthia Bluewater
Anthony Agrella
Susan Jellema

August 2008

2008-08-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Another school year begins and NTA welcomed in to the district over 50 new teachers to the Natomas Teachers' Association. The new teachers attended orientation this past week, and enrolled in NEA/CTA and NTA as well as disability and other helpful resources and services for teachers. The wonderful thing for these teachers are that they are part of a larger organization in CA that provides workshops and support for teachers in many, many ways - and we will be checking in with the new teachers to see what needs they have.
WELCOME TO NATOMAS and the teaching profession!

July News

2008-07-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

July brings the following events: workshops for NTA officers, applying for ABC funds for the November school board election, and a new school opening in north Natomas (H. Allen Hight K-5) with over 400 students so far.
At the school board meeting, the community day school was delayed for further planning with several members of the community offering to help partner with the district to problem-solve the juvenile crime issues in Natomas.
School has begun at Two Rivers, Witter and Natomas Park Elementary schools. For the rest of the schools, first day for students will be Monday, August 11th. Have a great rest of your summer!

Board Meeting Date Change

2008-06-15T19:07:00.001-07:00

The School Board meeting that was to be held last week is being held this week, Wed. June 18th at 6:00 pm. Our newsletter reported the incorrect dates. Our apologies.

Know Your Contract

2008-05-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

For the NTA contract, click on the link for Natomas Unified School District.

June 2008 Newsletter

2008-05-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

Calendar of Events:
§ Rep Council Meeting – Thurs, June 5th, 4:00 pm, TR, Room D-16 (across from library) NOTE THIS CHANGE******
§ Meeting with Lisa Kaplan @ Gordito Burrito, June 9th, 5:30 pm
§ Meeting with Jennifer Baker & Sue Heredia @ Starbucks, June 9th, 6:45
§ Meeting with Ron Dwyer-Voss – Tues, June 10th, 3:30 @ Gordito Burrito
§ Meeting with Teri Burns – Tues., June 10th, 5:30 @ Gordito Burrito
§ School Board Mtg. – Wed, June 11th, D.O. 6:00 pm

(Board Member meetings are generally the Monday and Tuesday before board meetings each month @ Gordito Burrito. Please feel free to attend or send us items of interest to address with board members.)

NTA Election Results
Vice-President: Jeanne Gute, TR
Treasurer: Carey Resch, LFG
Co-Secretary: Amber Allison, JF
Co-Secretary: Cora Victorine, HE, WR

Appointments:
Membership Chair: Cynthia Connell, LFG
Grievance Chair: Leslie Levine-McGhie, HE
Bargaining Chair: Cynthia Bluewater, D.O.
PAC Chair: Fred Lavell, AL

Looking for: webmaster, sunshine, etc…

If you would like to use your personal strengths to help with any association activities, we want you! So please contact us and we will find you something to do! Put the U back in Union!

Political Action Committee

If you love the political season and want to get involved, let us know if you can help with the PAC Committee.
Please contact Fred Lavell to be on the interview panel for school board candidates. We need you!

Safety Issues

We are committed to solving the many school safety issues currently going on in the district, so we have a meeting this week with district officials in order to address these issues in a systematic and proactive way. Our goal is to start the 2008-2009 school year with a different, more informed and workable environment at all schools. Will update everyone as to the next steps.

Change in Taxation of Summer Pay
(New Deferred Payroll Process)

The district business office advises that you contact the payroll department to find out how your paychecks might change with this new process.

CA Budget Crisis Update

Mayoral Race - Our viewpoint

2008-05-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

The Natomas Teachers' Association have several former Sac High Charter teachers who report, first-hand, the many serious problems they had working for Kevin Johnson. The take-over of Sac High Charter was not only illegal, but also an anti-labor action - therefore, we do not endorse any candidate who displays such blatant anti-labor actions against teachers. We plan to back candidates who share our values of a free and public education for all children, and who demonstrate that they beleive all people are created equal regardless of race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, etc. Because we think that Natomas, despite it's rapid growth, is the greatest area of Sacramento, we are pleased with our current mayor's efforts these past few years. Can we do better? Always. Do we need change? We will always have changes. We need to keep Natomas great and make it greater. We need a mayor who knows Natomas and will advocate for Natomas. Therefore, we support Mayor Fargo to continue these efforts.

Saturday, May 17th - Spirit of Natomas

2008-05-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

Please join us at the Spirit of Natomas event at the Regional Park at Natomas Blvd. and North Park Drive from 11-2 for information about the development of the park - organized by the Parks and Schools Committee at the Club at North Natomas. Learn about new school opening, H. Allen Hight Elementary, K-5, for 2008-2009.

California Day of the Teacher

2008-05-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

This week we celebrate the California Day of the Teacher on Wednesday, May 14th. Thanks very much to Chipolte restaurant for recognizing teachers last week.