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Red River United Packs the Room for the Legislative Dinner

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Mission statement for the event: “We gather here today, as educational professionals and elected leaders, to break bread while discussing the working, teaching, and learning realities of our public school system. We hope to find common ground and a shared purpose of reclaiming the promise of public education in the upcoming legislative session.”  

Over 60 members and potential members from Caddo, Bossier, Red River, and Webster Parishes were in attendance.

MP Wray, Legislative Director of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers led the discussion of solution-driven initiatives and legislation that the union is pursuing this year. Members gave moving testimony and shared personal stories, at times challenging the legislators in attendance to understand the reality of teaching and working in the public school system. The discussion centered around eight policy areas: “standards” and the overuse of standardized test scores (testimony on the importance of planning time); lack of stakeholder inclusion in policy making; compensation and leave policy improvements (testimony on maternity leave, extended sick leave, evaluations, and tenure); student nutrition as a foundation for learning (spirited testimony and debate arose on the importance of seated lunch time for students); local autonomy for local dollars; prioritizing spending in our state budget (testimony on the importance of increasing MFP dollars and making sure our support personnel are not left out!); pensions (testimony on the PBI); and paycheck choice (testimony on the importance of leaving our right to payroll deduction alone).

Red River United urges all members to get involved in our legislative initiatives. Our COPE Committee (Committee on Political Education) is centered around member’s advocating for policy that will preserve public education and advance the health and welfare of our members. Legislators need to hear from you, so get involved with the RRU COPE Committee: https://redriverunited.org/category/ace-legs-cope/

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PARCC Taskforce – Red River United Members Are At The Table

Red River United is At the Table! Princess Hill and Nikki Doughty represent RRU at PARCC. 

The American Federation of Teachers, in conjunction with Red River President Jackie Lansdale and Caddo Parish School Board Chief Academic Officer Keith Burton, have nominated Princess Hill (Summer Grove Elementary) and Nikki Doughty (Keithville Elementary) for a rare opportunity to work with the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).

This opportunity will allow access for Princess and Nikki to the work of the assessment consortia developing Common Core-aligned assessments. Finally educators are at the table! We believe this work will be a tremendous benefit to our union and to all of our local educators in Caddo and Bossier Parishes. The project is being supported by a grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, a New York City-based foundation, to PARCC to work with members of both the AFT and the NEA.

PARCC Project Information: Recruiting a total of 36 teachers for the project-18 English Language Arts and 18 mathematics teachers (NATION WIDE).

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Patrick Woolbert joins RRU as the In-House Attorney!

Red River United Adds an In-House Attorney! 

A Shreveport native, Patrick Woolbert, Esq. is the newest addition to the Red River United business attorneys. Mr. Woolbert earned his J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at LSU, and his B.A. in Psychology from Centenary College of Louisiana.

While representing members of Red River United in grievance proceedings, Mr. Woolbert is able to analyze issues not only under school policy, but also according to Louisiana and Federal law. Mr. Woolbert is available to meet with you concerning your work-related issues, as well as other legal issues that you may have.

Outside of his duties at Red River United, Mr. Woolbert operates a client-focused law practice, specializing in personal injury, criminal defense, estate planning, and divorce.

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Louisiana Federation of Teachers Agrees to Principles of Unity

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Breaking News: Louisiana Federation of Teachers Agrees to Principles of Unity

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers has endorsed a set of general principles that a number of public education stakeholders have pledged to honor in the upcoming legislative session.

“For the past six years, education reform has been defined by politicians, corporate profiteers and ideological extremists,” Federation President Steve Monaghan said. “The result has been an avalanche of unconstitutional laws, a raid on public education funds and baseless attacks on teachers in our public schools.

“The leaders of this bogus reform movement have manipulated data and used misleading statistics to justify the destruction of public education in Louisiana,” he said. “We are proud to stand with other public education stakeholders to correct the narrative touted by the current administration and offer real hope for our children’s future.”

In an invitation asking educators to adopt principles of unity, Louisiana School Boards Association Executive Director Scott Richard wrote, “We are experiencing unprecedented times during this era of ‘education reform’ in our state. It is of the utmost importance that we strive to work collaboratively as stakeholders in order to facilitate practical initiatives that truly work to improve student achievement.”

The principles adopted by the signers of the agreement include:

  • United advocacy for prioritizing public education funding regarding the state funding formula.
  • United advocacy for a more strategic and comprehensive transition to raising standards and adopting accompanying assessments.
  • United advocacy for a non-punitive accountability system and a flexible employee evaluation system during the transition to higher standards.
  • United advocacy for addressing issues regarding privatization of public education in Louisiana.
  • United advocacy regarding meaningful and sincere stakeholder input in all policy matters so that we are all working together to improve student achievement in Louisiana.
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Red River United Demands a #StrongStart for ALL Children!

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Let’s continue to push for more access to early childhood education! 

Last week, Red River United asked you to join a national effort to ask President Barack Obama to prioritize early childhood education in his State of the Union address by tweeting your support of a #StrongStart for every boy and girl. 

 

Check out all of the #StrongStart tweets from across the nation here!

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RRU Member Orlisa Johnson Wins $1000 grant!

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 Red River United congratulates Pine Grove Elementary teacher and RRU Executive Board member Orlisa Johnson for her grant! 
An elementary school teacher hopes to give her students a jump start on Common Core standards. Our latest  One Class At a Time Winner comes to us from Caddo schools.
 Pine Grove Elementary teacher OrLisa Johnson was completely surprised when she was presented with a one thousand dollar check this week.
The fourth grade teacher says the money will be used to buy materials for her Rrace to Excitement and Discovery” reading program.
It aims to increase the reading comprehension of her students as well as to expand their writing; language; and technology skills through the use of outside reading material.

“Thank you thank you thank you!  It’s for books that I ordered. Each 9 weeks my children read chapter books when they’re getting ready for the LEAP test.  So now every child will be afforded a book to have in my class to read,” said Johnson.

Congratulations again to Or’Lisa Johnson.
And many thanks to our “One Class At a Time” sponsors, Barksdale Federal Credit Union and Sudden Link.
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National School Counseling Week: Feb 3-7 2014

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Red River United honors counselors as part of National School Counseling Week! 

 

 

National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), is celebrated during the week of February 3-7, 2014, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of professional school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact that counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career

This video highlights the struggles our public schools face to address issues of security and mental health. Our counselors are on the front lines, and Red River United honors the selfless work you do for the boys and girls of Caddo and Bossier Parishes.

 

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LFT Principles of Unity!

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Breaking News: Louisiana Federation of Teachers Agrees to Principles of Unity

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers has endorsed a set of general principles that a number of public education stakeholders have pledged to honor in the upcoming legislative session.

“For the past six years, education reform has been defined by politicians, corporate profiteers and ideological extremists,” Federation President Steve Monaghan said. “The result has been an avalanche of unconstitutional laws, a raid on public education funds and baseless attacks on teachers in our public schools.

“The leaders of this bogus reform movement have manipulated data and used misleading statistics to justify the destruction of public education in Louisiana,” he said. “We are proud to stand with other public education stakeholders to correct the narrative touted by the current administration and offer real hope for our children’s future.”

In an invitation asking educators to adopt principles of unity, Louisiana School Boards Association Executive Director Scott Richard wrote, “We are experiencing unprecedented times during this era of ‘education reform’ in our state. It is of the utmost importance that we strive to work collaboratively as stakeholders in order to facilitate practical initiatives that truly work to improve student achievement.”

The principles adopted by the signers of the agreement include:

  • United advocacy for prioritizing public education funding regarding the state funding formula.
  • United advocacy for a more strategic and comprehensive transition to raising standards and adopting accompanying assessments.
  • United advocacy for a non-punitive accountability system and a flexible employee evaluation system during the transition to higher standards.
  • United advocacy for addressing issues regarding privatization of public education in Louisiana.
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AFT’s Robert C Porter Scholarship Program

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Are you working to help your union find ways for its members to join in reclaiming the promise of a more just society for all?

Or do you have a child who is a senior in high school with plans to attend college? 

We can help! As part of the Robert G. Porter Scholars Program, the AFT offers $8,000 scholarships to four high-achieving high school seniors who are the dependents of AFT members. And 10 grants of $1,000 each are available to AFT members from all divisions who seek to implement ideas for their union about the role union members can play in collectively reclaiming the promise.

Applications are now available online HERE.

 Robert G. Porter was a dedicated union activist from the time he joined his first AFT local in East St. Louis, Ill., until his death in 1991. For nearly four decades, the late AFT secretary-treasurer gave his all to championing the rights of working people, promoting civil rights, and ensuring that the union was a vehicle for helping members achieve justice. Since its inception in 1993, the Robert G. Porter Scholars Program has awarded more than $500,000 to AFT members and their dependents to further their education and to help grow our union’s capacity to achieve our goals. 

Your application is now available online.

This year’s winners will be announced by June 30 and will be recognized at the AFT convention, July 11-14, in Los Angeles. The deadline for submitting the 2014 application to the AFT is March 31.

APPLY ONLINE