Volume 18, Issue 11
July, 2010
MCALLEN AFT NEWS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
AFT CONVENTION JULY 6-11, 2010
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Cool, clean, crisp air surrounded by magnificent mountains, busy harbors, and historical buildings was the setting for the 81st AFT Convention in Seattle, Washington July 6-11, 2010. The theme of the convention this year was "Building Futures Together", hosted by AFT state and local affiliates in Washington and Oregon, attended by more than 3,200 delegates from across the country in the bustling Emerald City.
AFT also welcomed trade union leaders and special guests from around the world. Places such as Canada, Columbia, Finland, Georgia, Haiti, Ireland, Israel, Liberia, Netherlands, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe were represented by the international guests.
The 81st AFT Convention was a fun filled and knowledge filled experience for all. Throughout the convention, delegates were not only debating resolutions and amendments, presenting the committee reports and constitutional amendments and taking action on critical resolutions on the floor, they were also busy volunteering at the Tiny Tots Center in the community, attending special presentations, collecting information from the various vendor booths, taking action at the Take Action Center--emailing congress and their representatives in their areas, as well as building communities together.
Examples of collaboration that inspired and empowered delegates were:
Supporting residents of the Gulf Coast oil spill, supporting Special Olympics, forming alliances with the NFL players association, volunteering to work in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, parents and schools working together, PSRP's voiced their concerns, putting an end to childhood hunger campaign, just to name a few.
During any free time, delegates were able to choose from a wide variety of sight-seeing activities such as; Pike's Place Market (Seattle's best-known tourist attraction which includes local produce, flowers, flying fish, specialized boutiques, ethnic restaurants, various street musicians, as well as the very first Starbucks Coffee Store); Argosy Cruises--offering harbor cruises, lunch, dinner, and locks cruises, ferry rides; The world famous Needle--just a monorail ride away from downtown; Seattle Aquarium; The Underground Tour; Museum of Flight; Ride the Ducks tour; lots of restaurants, shopping galore, tons of coffee places (especially Starbucks- over 108 in the downtown radius; the Waterfront- bakeries, carousel, arcades; parks; baseball at Safeco Field; just to mention a few.
Did you know that Seattle only receives an average of 37.1 inches of rain per year, which is actually less precipitation than Atlanta, Houston, and New York City!
What's the difference between a local and a tourist? Only tourists carry umbrellas! After all the convention events, and tourist destinations, we were truly Sleepless in Seattle!
For more on the convention check the AFT.org website.
AG RULES
In a long awaited opinion, state Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled that districts must continue step increases and other locally approved supplements for classroom teachers, school librarians, counselors and speech pathologists for the upcoming (2010-11) school year based on the increases the employee would have received if the 2008-09 salary schedule had applied to the 2010-11 schedule.
The opinion further specifies that the educator will receive that amount even if the 2008-09 local salary schedule did not provide him or her with a salary increase in 2009-10 school year.
Texas AFT praised the opinion because it said it will prohibit many districts from denying step increases for many employees next school year.
D.A.T.E. RULE REVISIONS
The Texas Education Agency has adopted revised rules for the District Awards for Teacher Excellence program (DATE). The revisions became effective on June 24.
TEA had originally proposed dropping language that required that local awards programs provide evidence that a majority of teachers on participating campuses had voted for the plan. That language was reinserted in the final revision.
Although the rules revisions allow for non-monetary awards—such as privileges, travel, equipment, and other valuable considerations—a proposal to add professional development to the list of non-monetary awards was dropped.
Another change from the revisions as proposed was the addition of a requirement for the notification of staff and the public of what the awards criteria will be before the program starts.
Other changes were mandated by 2009 legislation, including the elimination of a 15 percent school-district matching funds requirement, which the TEA says will save districts about $30 million a year.
The legislature appropriated $196.5 million for the program for each year of the current biennium (roughly school years 2009-10 and 2010—11).
MAJOR DECISIONS
Judge Gisela Triana-Doyal said in a decision on June 28 that school districts can’t require teachers to give student minimum grades that are higher than what the student earned.
The judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by 11 school districts that sought to overturn an October 16, 2009, letter by Education Commissioner Robert Scott that gives guidance to districts on how to comply with 2009 legislation.
The legislation, and Scott’s letter, prohibited districts from adopting policies requiring teachers to give students at least a minimum grade, even if the student did not do assignments or failed to attend classes.
Among other things, the ISDs argued that the bill did not apply to cumulative grades given students because the bill did not specifically mention cumulative grades, including grades for report cards, semester grades, or six– or nine-week averages. The judge ruled otherwise.
Texas AFT filed a brief supporting Scott’s interpretation of the law.
The ISDs have the option of either appealing to a higher court or to work for changes in the law in the upcoming legislative session. Texas AFT applauded the decision having filed a brief in support of Scott’s interpretation of the law.
AFT Convention Policy Directives
--a major initiative to improve teacher development and evaluation that calls for multi-dimensional assessment of teachers' work, focusing on how teachers can improve their practice and rejecting the foolish idea of evaluation based solely or predominantly on students' standardized test scores;
--support for community schools, stressing the teamwork of teachers, paraprofessionals, and other school-related personnel inside the schoolhouse and community service providers wrapped around the schoolhouse to help students and their families;
--opposition to unjustified closure of neighborhood schools;
--a call for emergency aid to schools to avert layoffs and program cuts;
--a comprehensive statement of the resources and services every student deserves.
(More next month)