Reminder:  Foundation Grant deadline is Monday March 4, 2013.

 

Did you know that Bronxville School teachers have successfully submitted 510 grants for $5.8 million over the past 20 years!

It starts with you and an idea!



2012 Library E-Reader Devices Grant submitted by Eileen Mann

We look forward to receiving your grant applications and to being able to continue to support you and our school with potential new resources for the next school year.

Applications may be found here:

http://www.edline.net/pages/bxv/Spring_2009_Grant_Application

or the Foundation Grants link at the right side of the Bronxville School Edline pages.

Many families have generously donated to the Bronxville School Foundation again this year, so we hope that we can fund some innovative ideas and enhancements for our classrooms.

Please call or email us, and we will gladly work with you to complete your application.

Christine Fitzgibbons: 337-8960 or cwfitzg@optonline.net

Ashley Hanrahan: 914-793-3687 or Ashleyhanrahan@aol.com

Peggy Williams in the Foundation Office:Williamp@bronxville.k12.ny.us

Again the application deadline is Monday March 4, 2013; will review and vote all of the grant applications and award grants in May.

                                               

Friday afternoon

Please let me know if you are interested in tickets for the Rockland Boulders game on Sunday, June 2 at 2:00.  Tickets are along the first or third base line and are about $12 each.  The BTA will provide a tailgate lunch in the parking lot before the game.  It's a great family day.

The Boulders are an independent league professional baseball team in Rockland County, and the games are a whole lot of fun (the Katz family are big fans!).  There's a playground in the ballpark for the little ones, too.  

So far, I have interest from 2 other BTA families.  We'd love to have as many BTA families as possible join us for a fun day at the ballpark.  

A NYSUT 5k Race for Solidarity.  Who's in?

Saturday, May 18th in Yorktown.

Another fundraiser for NYSUT Disaster Relief.


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BTA elections are on March 20th. Serving as an officer of the BTA or member of the executive council are ways in which you can serve your colleagues in a productive, meaningful way. Please get involved.

If you already hold one of these positions, please let Mandy know of your intention to seek election again or of your intention to vacate the seat.

In Solidarity,

David
　
Please see the below from BTA Vice President, Mandy Gersten:

BTA ELECTIONS WILL TAKE PLACE ON WED. MARCH 20

Nominations are being accepted for the following openings and should be submitted in writing or email to Mandy Gersten by March 13, 2011.

Nominations must include the nominee’s signature or come from the nominee's email account. Candidates may nominate themselves for any position.



Elections take place on March 20.

Positions available:
● President
● Treasurer
● 6 representatives to the BTA Executive Council
● Two members of the Salary Committee
● Two NYSUT Representatives
● One Representative to NYS Teachers Retirement System

For Your Information:

1) Executive Council Representatives are required to attend one Monday meeting each month from 3:00 until approximately 4:15. The Council discusses issues and concerns of the BTA members, and serves as a
planning committee for the year’s programs and activities. Members of the executive council will serve on various committees and act as liaisons to the membership.

2) Officers and Council Reps serve two year terms. Salary Committee members serve three year terms.

3) NYSUT Representatives attend regular ED meetings and the NYSUT representative assembly and report to the membership.

Volunteers needed to person the polls in the Faculty Room on Wed. March 20 from 11-3. Please submit your name to Mandy Gersten by Wed. March 13.

Please join us on Thursday morning for a BTA breakfast in the teachers' room.  Please consider donating to the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund to help our brothers and sisters in need after Hurricane Sandy. 

Executive Council meets in the board room at 3ish this afternoon. 

TENURE: Protecting Education


Tenure, which has removed much of the injustice and politics from the discipline or dismissal of teachers  remains one of the most misunderstood provisions of New York’s Education Law.

Perhaps the most widely believed myth associated with tenure – spread by critics of public education – is that tenure provides teachers with a job for life. That is just not true!

Teachers do have certain job protections, and history has shown that they need them.However, tenured teachers can be, and have been, dismissed. The tenure law in New York simply guarantees that if charges are brought against teachers who have completed a probationary period they have the right to due process – a concept grounded in the U.S. Constitution.

For tenured teachers, due process is a formal, legal procedure that guarantees them the right to have allegations against them – such as misconduct, incompetence or insubordination – heard by an impartial hearing officer or a three-member panel. Tenured teachers may be represented by a lawyer, present evidence on their own behalf and cross-examine witnesses.

If the hearing officer or panel ultimately sustains the charges made against a tenured teacher, the teacher can be disciplined or discharged for reasons specified by law. The law requires that administrators follow proper procedures when disciplining a teacher or risk losing their case because of procedural errors.



History
The tenure system is well-established in New York. The state’s first tenure law, which affected only teachers in New York City districts, took effect in 1917. Teachers in all other districts continued to be employed by contract, subject to arbitrary dismissal, until 1937, when tenure was broadened to protect teachers in certain Union Free School Districts. By 1945, the law was amended to provide virtually all New York State public school teachers with some basic due process rights. However, the law didn’t provide adequate protection for teachers. For the next quarter-century, right through the 1960s, tenured teachers were still subject to the disciplinary whims of school administrators who could bring them up on a catch-all charge of “conduct unbecoming a teacher,” and turn the matter over to the local school board to conduct a hearing.

Depending on the local board’s political agenda and judgment on what was considered improper conduct, a teacher could face dismissal for anything from marrying or divorcing to supporting the “wrong” political candidate or the “incorrect political issues.” In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that women had to leave their teaching positions when they became pregnant.

It was not until 1970 that partisan school board hearing panels were replaced with independent panels whose members were selected by the school district and the teacher. The three- member panels could hold a disciplinary hearing and then make recommendations that school boards could follow or ignore. In 1977, the law was strengthened to give the panels power to issue decisions that were binding on all parties, unless they were successfully appealed to the Commissioner of Education or the courts.

Attacks on Tenure
Despite modifications to the teacher tenure law, the concept of tenure, and the process guaranteed by the statute, continue to be attacked. There remains a basic misunderstanding about what having tenure really means, often fueled by some who would rather abolish the law than apply it fairly and competently. Many school boards find it easier to blame the tenure law than to demand accountability from the supervisors who hire and evaluate teachers – and who are empowered by the law to dismiss them.

Few people are familiar with the laws that govern tenure. That makes it easier for school boards to perpetuate the myth that tenure provides lifetime job security for all teachers and protects the incompetent – rather than admit they are not meeting their own responsibilities as employers.

Protecting Education
Beyond providing due process for teachers, tenure protects the educational system and students from abuses that threaten the quality of our schools. It ensures that school districts will not be tempted to get rid of experienced teachers to save money. It keeps a competent teacher from being fired to make way for someone who is less qualified academically, but better connected politically.

The rights given to teachers through tenure are like the rights provided all Americans through our criminal justice system. Tenured teachers cannot be “convicted” without due process and are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Tenure, which protects academic freedom the way the First Amendment protects free speech, was born out of the basic realization that teachers can engage their students in a free exchange of ideas only if they are protected from arbitrary dismissal for doing so.

Tenure laws ensure that competent teachers can function as professionals, free from political influence and without fear of reprisals for exercising the right to exchange ideas with students in a forum that benefits the entire community.

BTA Breakfast

February 14

Teachers' Room

NYSUT is asking its members to contribute $250,000 in 25 days -- Feb. 4-28 for the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund. This is an unprecedented undertaking to meet an unprecedented need. 

Months after Sandy, thousands of members have no power, water, homes and basic comforts. The kickoff coincides with school counseling week to highlight the invaluable support mental health professionals provide during such life-changing events.

Please bring a donation to the NYSUT Disaster Relief Fund.

What a great day we had outside the A & P.  Thanks to the leadership of Glenn Stockton and Meg Weiss, BTA members and students collected more than 40 boxes filled with peanut butter, toothpaste, deodorant, canned vegetables...

Many thanks to Glenn and Meg and also Katie Brosnahan, Mary Schenck, Jenn Zopp, Liz Fleisig, Millie Guzman, Janet Corvini, Beth Agarabi, Eileen Mann, Maria Pizzolato, and Michael Mari.