Natomas Teachers’ Association Newsletter, Jan. 2009

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