November 9 New Teacher Academy CANCELLED
PSRP Conference November 16: RSVP Now!
(Click to RSVP)
Red River United’s local PSRP committee is hosting its local PSRP conference on November 16, 2013 from 9am – 2pm. All PSRPs in Caddo and Bossier Parishes, member or non- member, are invited to come!
We will have people from the Louisiana State Retirement systems, TSRL and LSERs, talk about and answer questions about retiring as a school employee. We will have people from our national affiliate talk to you about dealing with workplace bullying and workplace stress. We will have our RRU lawyer discuss and answer questions about your rights in the workplace and as a member of a union. Jackie Lansdale, the President of Red River United, will speak on what we are working on locally for PSRPs and answer questions that you might have, and Red River United staff will teach you about the resources and ways in which Red River United can help you advocate for yourself at your worksite. We have a fun and informative event, and want to fill our office.
If you want to RSVP or have any questions, please contact Summer Lollie via cell phone (318-453-1671) or email (slollie@redriverunited.org) or fill out this quick and simple form.
Red River United welcomes members to showcase and sell their products at this conference. Email redriverunited@redriverunited.org or call the office at 318-424-4579 if you are interested.
Don’t forget to attend our regularly scheduled PSRP committee meetings. All PSRP committee meetings are scheduled the second Saturday of each month at 11 am at our office on 1726 Line Ave, Shreveport, LA 71105.
Press Release for 11/5/13: Reclaiming the Promise of Caddo Parish
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jackie Lansdale – 318-424-4579
WHERE: Caddo Parish School Board Office – 1961 Midway Ave., Shreveport, LA 71130
WHEN: 4:00 PM Tuesday, November 5, 2013
WHO: Jackie Lansdale, President, Red River United
WHAT: RECLAIMING THE PROMISE OF CADDO PARISH – DOING WHAT WORKS – REJECTING WHAT DOESN’T – RED RIVER UNITED’S PLAN FOR CADDO PARISH.
On November 5, 2013 at 4:00 PM at the Caddo Parish School Board office on Midway Avenue, Red River United will be holding a press conference encouraging the Caddo Parish School Board to look beyond the Recovery School District (RSD) as a solution. Red River United believes that students are best served by community controlled schools, and that the Caddo Parish School System is best equipped to raise academic standards. Here is how we can improve our Caddo Schools:
- Caddo should focus on creating K-8 models. They are stabilizing for students and have provided academic success in our district.
- Caddo should focus on choice. One area proven successful has been our programmatic magnet schools. These schools should be standalone, and not part of any existing school.
- Caddo should concentrate the focus on where we can be the most effective in overall student achievement – we should provide Pre-k for every student in our district, with wraparound services for at-risk youngsters.
- Caddo should focus on strong professional development for all of our teachers. TAP, for example, has proven successful in other districts and in Caddo Parish where it has been implemented in several schools.
- Caddo should focus on academic standards and disciplinary codes of conduct in all of our schools. Teachers cannot teach, and students cannot learn in an atmosphere full of disruption and discord.
- Caddo should be willing to reach out to the community, the public for their help and input. After all, it is the Public’s Education.
Red River United does not believe turning our students over to the RSD meets the promise of providing a quality public education to our students. This is a question of civil rights. All children deserve a stable, quality education. The RSD does not have a proven track record of turning around AU schools. Parents and students are demonstrating a lack of confidence in the RSD through participation in community actions and petitions.
What is the promise of public education? Public schools provide transportation to and from school, provide healthy breakfasts and lunches for our children, a clean and safe environment to learn, a certified classroom teacher, and a promise to provide services to ALL children, even those with special needs. These are all promises of public education. Will we be able to keep these promises once we have torn apart our Caddo Parish Schools, relinquished community control of our schools, and parsed control of our schools to private- monied and political interests?
Local Member Discounts
Paula’s Educational Supplies
302 Ockley Drive
Shreveport, LA 71105
Paula’s Educational Supplies is offering 15% discount for all Red River United
Across the Pond and Beyond – Tours to Ireland
This business was founded by a former teacher and RRU member.
$100 off tours to Ireland for all Caddo and Bossier school employees.
Contact 318-658-3738 or brianonounain@hotmail.com for more information.
More will be coming shortly!
Know Your Rights! Your Weingarten Rights!
YOU HAVE RIGHTS ON THE JOB.
WHAT ARE WEINGARTEN RIGHTS?
Weingarten rights guarantee an employee the right to Union representation during an investigatory interview. These rights, established by the Supreme Court, in 1975 in the case of J’. Weingarten Inc,, must be claimed by the employee. The supervisor has no obligation to inform an employee that s/he is entitled to Union representation.
If called to a meeting with a supervisor, repeat the following to administration when the meeting begins: “If this discussion could in any way lead to my being disciplined or terminated, or affect my personal working conditions, I respectfully request that my union representative or worksite leader be present at this meeting.
Without representation, I choose not to answer any questions.”
What is an Investigatory Interview?
An investigatory interview is one in which a Supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his/her conduct. If an employee has a reasonable belief that discipline or discharge may result from what s/he says, the employee has the right to request Union representation.
Examples of such an interview are:
- The interview is part of the employer’s disciplinary procedure or is a component of the employer’s procedure for determining whether discipline will be imposed.
- The purpose of the interview is to investigate an employee’s performance where discipline, demotion or other adverse consequences to the employee’s job status or working conditions are a possible result.
- The purpose of the interview is to elicit facts from the employee to support disciplinary action that is probable or that is being considered, or to obtain admissions of misconduct or other evidence to support a disciplinary decision already made.
- The employee is required to explain his/her conduct, or defend it during the interview, or is compelled to answer questions or give evidence.
An employee must state to the employer that he/she wants a Union representative present; the employer has no obligation to ask the employee if she/he wants a representative.
Weingarten Rules
When an investigatory interview occurs, the following rules apply:
Rule 1 – The employee must make a clear request for Union representation before or during the interview. The employee can’t be punished for making this request.
Rule 2 – After the employee makes the request, the supervisor has 3 options. S/he must either:
- Grant the request and delay the interview until the Union representative arrives and has a chance to consult privately with the employee: or
- Deny the request and end the interview immediately; or
- Give the employee a Choice of: 1)having the interview without representation or 2) ending the interview
Rule 3 – If the supervisor denies the request and continues to ask questions, this is an unfair labor practice and the employee has a right to refuse to answer. The employee cannot be disciplined for such refusal but is required to sit there until the supervisor terminates the interview. Leaving before this happens may constitute punishable insubordination.
An employee has NO right to the presence of a Union representative where:
- The meeting is merely for the purpose of conveying work instructions, training, or communicating needed corrections in the employee’s work techniques.
- The employee is assured by the employer prior to the interview that no discipline or employment consequences can result from the interview.
- The employer has reached a final decision to impose certain discipline on the employee prior to the interview, and the purpose of the interview is to inform the employee of the discipline or to impose it.
- Any conversation or discussion about the previously determined discipline which is initiated by the employee and without employer encouragement or instigation after the employee is informed of the action.
Even in the above four (4) circumstances, the employee can still ask for representation. Most employers will permit a representative to attend even when not required to.
October BESE Meeting an Endurance Trial
Long meeting, disappointing results
At a marathon BESE meeting, members punted the Common Core controversy to local school boards and teachers, ignored educators’ requests for help with curricula and resources, and promised little relief from a flawed and unaccountable Value Added evaluation model.
October BESE meeting an endurance trial
The October meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education was an endurance trial. Ever since BESE reduced its monthly meetings from two days of committee hearings to one, the agenda has been very crowded. The board’s current practice is to hold committee meetings on a Tuesday, during which all testimony is heard on agenda items. A full board meeting is then held on a Wednesday, when the full board votes on recommendations made by committees. The full board meetings generally conclude within a couple of hours, while committee meetings have been stretching late into the night. The October committee meetings strained everyone’s patience. A meeting on the controversial Common Core State Standards that was supposed to begin at 2:30 P.M. was three hours late getting started. Citizens who came expecting to speak were not allowed to begin their testimony until about 6: 30 P.M., and were limited to two minutes apiece. Even so, the meeting did not end until nearly 11 P.M. Parents who had traveled from as far away as Shreveport and spent the night in Baton Rouge waiting to speak were disappointed to learn that they would only be allowed to make brief comments. BESE President Chas Roemer said that board members travel the state and hold public meetings on issues, and voiced no support for a meeting schedule that is more convenient for the public.
Heated debate, little change on Value Added evaluation model
Several hours of sometimes heated discussion, the board decided to seek a new opinion on the validity of the Value Added Model formula and to increase training offered to educators about the model, but took no action on a request to investigate changes apparently made to some teachers’ value added scores. On the agenda was a request from BESE Member Lottie Beebe to create a panel of statisticians and mathematicians to determine if Louisiana’s Value Added formula is reliable and credible. LFT President Steve Monaghan asked, “Is the Value Added Model a valid instrument for measuring teacher effectiveness? Some respected mathematicians believe that Value Added formulae have margins of error better than 30 percent. If that is true, then it is simply wrong to judge our teachers, our schools and our students by such a shaky instrument.” The formula has been frequently criticized, and there have apparently been several behind the scenes adjustments made to the formula and to individual teacher’s scores. While Dr. Beebe recommended three qualified individuals to look into the formula, the board approved Roemer‘s substitute motion to instead seek a “third party” review of the formula. Dr. Beebe’s motion would have incurred no additional expense by BESE; it is unclear whether Roemer’s substitute will require a contract, or how much the review will cost. The board declined to act on Dr. Beebe’s request for a look into waivers of VAM scores that may have been granted to some teachers. Monaghan said that no written policies have been developed by the Department of Education to guide the issuance of waivers by anyone on either the state or local level. “Teachers evaluated under VAM have no way to legally challenge the scores imposed on them, and yet an unknown number of scores have apparently been either waived or otherwise adjusted,” Monaghan said. Even after LFT Legislative Director Mary-Patricia Wray pointed out that alterations to Teacher Effectiveness Ratings made by the state superintendent of education may violate the law, the board took no further action on the matter. On the agenda’s final Value Added item, Superintendent of Education John White conceded that more stakeholder training is needed. The board unanimously approved a motion to conduct more training in the future.
BESE shifts Common Core responsibility to local school boards
Turning a deaf ear to complaints that controversial Common Core State Standards are not being properly implemented in Louisiana, the state education board tried to deflect criticism by shifting responsibility for the standards to local school systems. The BESE action was contained in a hastily contrived agenda item that was not properly advertised, and will probably have to be reconsidered in order to be legally adopted. The board’s tweaks to Common Core rules were aimed at angry parents who fear that a national curriculum is being imposed. BESE members reaffirmed their commitment to Common Core, but did nothing to satisfy educators who said the state has been derelict in its duty to prepare teachers and students for more demanding curricula. “We believe that the ideas behind Common Core have merit,” LFT President Steve Monaghan said, “but like so many other education reforms that have been imposed recently, there has been a failure to prepare and provision our teachers, our children, and communities for the changes.” At a committee meeting Tuesday, BESE members listened to hours of testimony. Much of it came from parents who fear federal intrusion into schools. Comments favoring Common Core were given by corporate sponsors and some teachers who were asked leading questions by pro-CCSS board members. At Wednesday’s meeting of the full board, a new agenda item was introduced in response to the parental concerns. Part of that resolution says no curriculum can be forced on a local school system, “including any that may be recommended, endorsed or supported by any federal or state program or agency.” Instead, BESE intends to give local districts and teachers more autonomy in choosing textbooks and learning materials. That did not sit well with educators like Monaghan, who said from the start that BESE and the department of education have shirked their duty to prepare for more demanding course work. The LFT president pointed out that the state had promised to provide curriculum information as part of an agreement to waive some sections of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. BESE, he said, is “passing the burden on to teachers and schools.” The motion also guaranteed the public the right to review textbooks and other materials, and promised that student social security numbers won’t be used as test identification numbers. When audience members objected to a new agenda item being adopted without proper notification or a committee hearing, BESE President Chas Roemer said he believed the item was “germane” to the issues under discussion.
Charters approved over parental objections
Two charter school organizations that currently operate in Louisiana were given permission to open schools in Lafayette, East Jefferson and East Baton Rouge Parishes, despite parental and school board opposition. Lafayette parents and concerned citizens voiced opposition to decision, after the parish school board voted 8-2 to reject the charter applications at the local level. Lafayette Superintendent of Schools Pat Cooper spoke against his board’s decision. Cooper said the need for new facilities in Lafayette convinced him to support the charter expansion. Some Lafayette parents, however, said that voters are ready to pass a tax to cover the cost of new construction. The charter schools, they argued, will exclude the most needy children because of their geographic location and their “first come, first serve” enrollment style.
New rule favors private voucher schools
A new rule approved by BESE will allow non-public tuition organizations to advertise in ways that promote particular private schools. If the change goes into effect, it will overturn a current regulation prohibiting the promotion of a particular school over other qualified schools. The tuition organizations allow Louisiana taxpayers to get a 95% rebate on donations, which are sent to non-public schools on behalf of parents and students. The rebate has been controversial because of its cost to the state, and because the governor vetoed a similar measure that would have allowed rebates for donations to public schools. The new rule must still be published in the Louisiana Register and opened for public comment before it can go into effect.
We Must Reclaim It!
This is the tale of two visions.
Join us in Reclaiming the Promise.
Proponents of one vision, disguised as reform, hold closed-door meetings to design a plan to shut the public out of public schools by fixating on testing, cutting investments in education, promoting austerity, and using the remaining funds to turn a profit—not to help kids.
Believers in the other vision want parents, educators, school staff, students and community partners to unite to ensure great neighborhood public schools that help each and every child succeed, no matter his or her ZIP code.
Support our vision to Reclaim the Promise of public education for all children.
Reclaiming the promise of public education is about:
* Fighting for neighborhood public schools that are safe, welcoming places for teaching and learning;
* Ensuring teachers and school staff are well-prepared, are supported, have manageable class sizes and have time to collaborate so they can meet the individual needs of every child;
* Making sure our children have an engaging curriculum that focuses on teaching, not testing, and includes art, music and the sciences; and
* Ensuring children, their families and the community have access to wraparound services to meet their social, emotional and health needs.
This is a vision that works. It’s a vision of what parents want for their kids and what communities want for their future. It’s a movement that can stop the privatizers, profiteers and austerity hawks in their tracks. It will help our public schools become centers of communities, give voice to those closest to the classroom, and fulfill public education’s purpose as an anchor of democracy; a gateway to racial, social and economic justice; and a propeller of our economy.
Reclaiming the Promise is not a top-down edict; it’s solution-driven unionism and community-driven reform. And speaking of that, today, we proudly announced the winners of the 2013 AFT Prize for Solution-Driven Unionism. This prize recognizes groups that collaborated to develop programs with concrete results. One winner developed a successful student-learning alternative to high-stakes testing assessments, while another reduced its state’s healthcare costs by $1.6 billion. They are proof that when the community joins forces with those who serve our children and the public every day, we can reclaim the promise.
This is why we are asking you to stand with us and push back on privatization, austerity, mass schools closures, and test fixation, which have not moved the needle in the right direction. It is time we reclaim the promise of public education—not as it is today or as it was in the past, but as it can be—to fulfill our collective obligation to help all children succeed. This will be central to our work in the coming years, and the AFT executive council passed a resolution this week formalizing this as AFT policy.
Stand with us to Reclaim the Promise of public education.
We are at a pivotal moment—a moment we must seize without further detours, distractions and delays.
In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President
P.S. Find out more about Reclaiming the Promise by visiting aft.org/promise. To read more about the AFT Prize for Solution-Driven Unionism, go to aft.org/about/sdu/
RSVP NOW: Local Paraprofessional And School-Related Personnel (PSRP) Conference
PSRPs: Leaders in our Unions, Foundation of our Schools
Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education One Brick at a Time
Saturday, 16 November 2013
9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
RSVP TODAY BY CALLING 318-424-4579 or e-mailing Summer Lollie at slollie@redriverunited.org
Reclaiming the promise of public education will take the helping hand of ALL school employees. PSRPs are our office employees, custodians, maintenance workers, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, food service workers, school nurses and health aides, technicians, groundskeepers, security coordinators, secretaries, bookkeepers, mechanics, special education assistants, and hundreds of other job titles.
PSRPs are “leaders in our unions, foundations of our schools.” This union cannot succeed without the support and leadership of the PSRPs. PSRPs are educators, working every day to ensure that our children are receiving a quality public education. Whether you are a paraprofessional assisting in a lesson, maintenance making sure our schools are running, food service providing a good and nutritious meal, or an office worker helping students, teachers, and parents, PSRPs are essential to the education of our children.
Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect. RSVP TODAY BY CALLING 318-424-4579 or e-mailing Summer Lollie at slollie@redriverunited.org
Reclaiming the Promise – Latoyia Smith
Math teacher Latoyia Smith poses with her former math teacher Marian Howard. Ms. Smith is in her 6th year of teaching. Ms. Howard recently retired after 30 plus years.
Member Spotlight: Amye Megee
Bossier City teacher turned author dives into ‘imagination’ for book
Written by Derick Jones
| Jul. 9, 2013 | | shreveporttimes.com |
School may be out for summer but that’s no reason to put down the books —especially if you’re a parent.
Amye Megee, a first-grade teacher at Sun City Elementary in Bossier City, is the author of “In My Imagination,” a children’s book she hopes will inspire other teachers, and of course, children.
“The purpose of it really is to get kids to see their imagination as a tool, to escape from the worldly things they get so trapped in,” she said.
Like computers. Video games. Cell phones. All of which are not a part of the young girl’s journey, though she does meet interesting characters like a surfing polar bear and housecleaning pig.
“She just wants children to understand that in your imagination you really can make anything happen,” said Megee, who explained that she kept the young girl nameless so that anyone could identify with her.
“It’s a little girl that thinks the unthinkable,” she said. “Isn’t that fun?”
Megee said she’s been working on this story, along with two others, for nearly 10 years.
“I wrote for fun with no intent to publish,” she said. The 34-year-old mother of two had but one thing on her mind, taking care of her kids at home and taking care of her kids at school.
That changed however when she unearthed a zip drive of a few stories she had written, including “In My Imagination” and “School Day Blues.” Both stories were accepted by Tate Publishing, though Megee ultimately went with “Imagination.”
“‘School Day Blues’ takes you into the life of a little boy,” Megee said. “It looks at things that we think are really not all that a big of a deal, like getting picked on or losing your homework. In the end it’s all about discovering that tomorrow is a brand new day.”
“Imagination” was picked up by Tate over a year ago, and the process she said for the 24-page book was a tedious one. Ten to 11 months were spent compiling the book, and “Imagination” became available to the public on May 7.
“The more and more you read to children you really feel like you really really know what they find is entertaining and what they don’t,” said Megee, who has been teaching for nearly 13 years. “I’m just glad that it’s out there and people from all over the place are getting to read and see it.”