As mentioned (and voted) at Wednesday's BTA meeting, these are the revisions to the BTA Constitution and By-laws.  They will not be in effect until after they are approved at the next BTA meeting.  Please take a look at them and suggest any changes to Katie Brosnahan, who will bring your suggestions back to the By-laws Committee.  

Thanks to Katie Brosnahan, Maryellen Mullin, Marcia Sklar, Mandy Gersten, and Karin Coons for serving on the By-laws Committee.



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http://mac.nysut.org/


Oppose Tier 6.  Ask the legislator to support school funding and funding for higher education.

As of Friday afternoon, 35 BTA members (that I could find in the list) had signed this petition - will you add your name?
Sign on, and encourage your friends and family to sign on as well.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1846/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9252

Maryellen Mullin is a new grandma -  to Owen Brady Sallada - born to Maryellen's daughter Katie and her husband James on January 16th.  The whole family is "sooo delighted."

There is a lot of BTA News for you since last week.  I've received mixed feedback on this new format and, while I haven't made any permanent decision, I'm going to stick with this format for now.  

Why?

1.  It keeps a permanent record of BTA News items.  If there is a topic of interest or you have a question, you can very easily access old articles for reference.

2.  The blog format allows you to respond and be heard by your colleagues.  I am not the only one who has something to say, so this format is more open and collaborative.  Already, there have been comments posted by Donna Bianco, Anthony Angotta, and Christina Reidel.  I encourage more of you to comment on the postings you read.  That can make reading the BTA News more fun and interactive.

3.  Updating the BTA News is easy and quick.  Right now, I am updating the BTA News on a snowy Saturday morning before my house wakes up.  That's much easier than waiting for Monday morning and rushing to update before students arrive to my classroom.  

 

From NYSUT Leader Briefing:
Here are the low lights of the past week and, most importantly, next steps:


Gov. Cuomo rolled out as highest priority in his budget speech the need to reform the so-called education bureaucracy, a catch-all term he repeats endlessly when he lumps together the State Education Department and NYSUT. His budget was a combination of (little) carrots and (big) sticks. He said he would deliver on his promised restoration of education funds, but then announced restorations would be dependent on districts completing their teacher evaluation plans in a one-year drop-dead time frame.


Although he said education restorations would total 4 percent, his budget actually carves out $250 million of that amount for grants that would be awarded competitively. This approach, Iannuzzi said in a press release, creates "an uncertainty that districts cannot afford." Cuomo's budget, meanwhile, remains essentially flat for public higher education — despite laudatory words for the engine that drives New Yorks economy. We will have to push hard for CUNY, SUNY and our community colleges to get the investment they deserve. The one positive: there are no holes in the higher education budgets that would have to be filled by additional cuts or layoffs. For a detailed budget briefing prepared by NYSUT Legislative staff, go to K-12, Higher Education, Health Care, and Pension and Retirement.


For NYSUT's budget press release, click here.


NEXT STEPS: NYSUT Executive Vice President Andy Pallotta will present NYSUT's testimony at legislative hearings Monday scheduled on a stepped up time frame that seems to signal the budget is on a fast track. 


Another bad Tier 6 proposal


Cuomo outlined a second attempt at a Tier 6 proposal that is far worse than even last year's failed plan. Just two years after New York state instituted a Tier 5, Cuomo is pushing for another downgrade of pension benefits. And while a Tier 6 would apply only to future employees, it would also undercut the stability of the current pension system, by siphoning off thousands of new hires into a Defined Contribution plan that would do nothing to support the health of pension funding.

State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento made the point well: "We disagree with the contention that the current defined benefit pension is unsustainable. What is unsustainable is a society where each generation of middle class worker retires with less financial security than the one before."


NEXT STEPS: NYSUT is mounting a full-scale campaign in concert with the AFL-CIO to tell our legislators why they must say no to another tier. For starters, leaders are asked to blanket your local legislators with fliers that put a personal face on retirement security. NYSUT is developing a video and other materials as part of our concerted campaign. Meanwhile, tell your members to go now to the Albany Times Union's Capitol Confidential blog and leave your comment praising Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who is quoted as saying that dismantling current defined benefit plans is not a solution, noting that it would actually cost the state cost more to go to defined contributions and hurt the state's economy.


Threats on teacher evaluation


In speaking about implementation of the teacher evaluation law, Cuomo issued an ultimatum, threatening to impose his own process if NYSUT and SED cannot reach agreement on evaluation language in 30 days. The next few days will be critical as NYSUT presses SED to correct its regulations that the state Supreme Court found were in violation of the law. (SeeNYSUT press statement on discussions with SED.)


NYSUT members have buried the Regents in an avalanche of e-mails criticizing SED Commissioner John King for threatening to stop federal School Improvement Grants to needy districts if teacher evaluation plans aren't done to his satisfaction. NYSUT board members are sending letters to the editor, fueled by NYSUT talking points developed as part of our campaign, that hold King accountable for his decisions. For an excellent example, see Dona Murray's letter in the Binghamton Press. We need to keep up the pressure on SIG grants, so ask your members to keep e-mailing Regents through this link.

NEXT STEPS: A NYSUT ad campaign is in the works on evaluations. And NYSUT is recommending to local leaders that, if you can complete negotiations with your district on an acceptable evaluation plan, now is the time to do it. Meanwhile, NYSUT is calling on local leaders to contact your Regent in your home district and give them a clear and simple message (so short it could be Tweeted): Tell Commissioner King to do his job and work with NYSUT to move forward with implementation of the law. 

NYSUT Media Relations - January 10, 2012  ALBANY, N.Y. Jan. 10, 2012 - New York State United Teachers today respectfully disagreed with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's characterization of New York's teacher evaluation law enacted in 2010 in concert with the state's Race to the Top application.

"This legislation was not designed to protect unions but, in fact, was jointly supported by NYSUT and the State Education Department, and had strong bi-partisan support in the Assembly and Senate. In fact, it has been widely lauded for its focus on strengthening teacher effectiveness to enhance student learning," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. "The law has been recognized as a national model precisely because it emphasizes the value of collaboration."

"New York is ranked No. 2 by the U.S. Department of Education in the Race to the Top awards on the strength of the law being called into question," he added. "We share the governor's frustration with implementation. However, the failure lies not with the law, or with teachers and local school districts, but with the State Education Department's lack of capacity to provide what's needed to move implementation forward."

The U.S. Department of Education noted two shortcomings with New York's implementation - SED's failure to develop a working data system and delays caused by SED's appeal of a court decision that faulted it for issuing regulations at odds with state law. Iannuzzi stressed that issues with a working data system rest solely with SED, as does the appeal of the court's decision, noting that even after winning the lawsuit, NYSUT has offered language that would immediately resolve the matters under appeal.

"The commissioner and Regents have everything they need to settle this now and allow teachers and administrators to get back to creating the means to improve student performance," Iannuzzi continued. "The offer is on the table, but there has been no response."

NYSUT, the state's largest union, represents more than 600,000 teachers, school-related professionals, academic and professional faculty in higher education, professionals in education and health care and retirees. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.

NYSUT Media Relations - January 17, 2012  ALBANY, N.Y. Jan. 17, 2012 - New York State United Teachers today welcomed that Gov. Andrew Cuomo honored his commitment to boost education funding, but said this would still leave students with less state support than they need.

NYSUT also said the governor's plan to tie proposed school aid increases to agreements on a teacher and principal evaluation system, as well as competitive grants, is problematic and would create an uncertainty that districts cannot afford.

NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi said that while the union "shares the governor's frustration over delays in implementing the evaluation law and many of his points about the education bureaucracy at SED, we think there are better ways to achieve implementation rather than tying it to funding increases that benefit students."

Iannuzzi pointed to frustration also shown by districts and local teachers unions that have been hampered by the State Education Department's failure to develop a model to measure student growth; a working data system; and the Department's appeal of a state Supreme Court's ruling validating the existing law.

Iannuzzi added, "After the court decision, NYSUT gave the State Education Department a proposed settlement that meets the department's needs, and would immediately jumpstart the process in many school districts. There has been no response. We welcome the governor's leadership in helping to implement what he characterized as a 'real teacher evaluation' law by moving to settle the lawsuit, break the logjam and move implementation of the teacher evaluation law forward."


Related: NYSUT says SED undermines everything the governor was hoping to achieve


NYSUT Executive Vice President Andrew Pallotta said the budget's proposed Tier VI "would endanger the current workforce, as well as the pensions of retired public employees, by diverting or reducing contributions to state retirement funds." He noted that, just two years ago, unions worked collaboratively to deliver $35 billion in savings to taxpayers by agreeing to a new Tier V. "Enough is enough," Pallotta said. "Current and future public employees – just like all workers in the private sector – should have a measure of retirement security. This plan does the opposite."

Pallotta said the proposed budget also falls far short of what SUNY, CUNY and community colleges need. He said funding increases for public hospitals, colleges and universities - the economic lifeblood of communities likes Syracuse, Oswego, Cortland, Oneonta and Plattsburgh – must be a budget priority. "We agree with the governor that the answer is jobs, jobs, jobs. Our question is: Why don't we start with a greater investment in our public hospitals and higher education systems?" Pallotta said.

Pallotta pledged to work collaboratively with the governor and lawmakers to build on the positive elements in the proposed budget and to correct those that would shortchange students from pre-kindergarten all the way to the post-graduate level. "A new year brings a new opportunity for NYSUT and the Assembly, Senate and Governor's Office to work together in a positive way to improve education and enhance learning opportunities for all our students," he said.

NYSUT, the state's largest union, represents some 600,000 classroom teachers and other school employees; faculty and other professionals at the state's community colleges, State University of New York and City University of New York, and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.