Time for work; yet take much Holiday
for art’s and friendship’s sake.

–George James de Wilde

For the New Year, may 2008 bring us all:

• more truth and less spinning
• increased teacher autonomy
• a functional method of district-wide communication
• more time in the classroom and less time at unnecessary trainings and/pull-outs
• less testing and more instructional time

and…

• respect and appreciation; respect and appreciation; respect and appreciation; respect and appreciation; respect and appreciation

Finally, I can think of no better wish for all of you than to enjoy the upcoming vacation.  May the time off bring opportunities for rest, relaxation and enjoyment!

Sheila

This letter was submitted to the MTA Executive Board and is re-printed with permission.

November 28, 2007

Dear MTA Executive Board Members,

At this point in my professional career I wanted to send a message to our members and felt the only proper way was through our elected leadership.  Historically, I was raised in Middletown, graduated from Middletown High School in 1969, and started a second career as a teacher in 1982.  I am in my 25th year as a teacher in this district and I am in my fifth year as a union representative.  My career has had ups and downs—the loss of a full time teaching position, the loss of my soccer coaching career, and despite fifteen years of summer school teaching experience, the denial of Summer Institute employment.  So, I speak from experience.

My concerns are with us as a unit of 600 plus.  We now appear to be fractionated when we should be unified and strong.  Due to some things out of our control it seems as if our district is made up of seven different entities, each school with its own distinct issues and problems.  We all need to understand this and allow our union leadership to act for all of us.  My personal opinion is that this is what has been occurring through our MTA leadership for the past five years.

We need to recognize the different issues that large buildings have over smaller ones, older buildings over newer ones, the diversity of our population, and our administrators’ styles, etc.  With 25% of our staff untenured we are in a tenuous postion.  We must educate ourselves in how our union operates.  An issue should go to a union representative first, then a senior building rep who can guide the member about whether an issue is contractual or not.  We should not be going over our representatives’ heads to building or district level administrators on our own.  Issues should be addressed at the building level and only brought to Representative Council if deemed necessary.  I could continue, but brevity is an issue as well.

Finally, all should refer to Sheila MacKay’s article in the October MTA
newsletter about the Union Code of Conduct and read it as often as necessary.

Thanks again for all that you do for all of us.

Sincerely,

Frank Lentino

My husband and I had our wills drawn up at Will Day on December 6th. Are there plans for another Will Day so that we can meet with the attorneys and get them signed?  There are plans to conduct a second Will Day in May.  However, you should receive your wills in a few weeks and you can get them signed prior to the next Will Day by contacting one of the lawyers that will be listed on the memo attached to your wills.

I need to change my beneficiary with TRS.  How do I go about doing this?  You can download a new beneficiary form through the TRS website (NYSTRS.org).  Keep in mind that you must have your signature notarized and that the completed form should be mailed to TRS.

This is my 11th year in the district but my memorandum still says I am on step 10? Why doesn’t it say step 11?  That’s because our salary schedule only has 10 steps. Once reaching step 10 your future memorandums will remain at step 10. Additional salary is earned through the longevities which are earned at the beginning of years 13, 16, 19, 22, 25 and 28.

I am Tier 3, age 57 with 28 years of service.  If I retire in June, what difference would there be in my pension if the 55/25 legislation was enacted?  The difference is dramatic.  With 55/25 legislation you would receive 56% of your FAS.  Without 55/25 legislation your maximum pension would only be 44.2% of your FAS.  Currently, Tiers 2, 3 & 4 members are subject to penalties if they retire prior to age 62 with less than 30 years of service.

Any questions regarding retirement, salary, or the Benefit Fund, may be e-mailed to: questions@middletownteachers.org. All questions will receive a reply; some may appear in future newsletters.

The MTA acknowledged the efforts of the teaching assistants and nurses on this year’s SRP Recognition Day.  It was held on November 20th and as a result of recent legislation, the day to recognize the school related professionals across the state will always be held on the 3rd Tuesday in November.

Many thanks go out to Wendy Bartocci and Rochelle Weiler for their culinary activities which created candy apples for each of the TAs and nurses.

On Saturday, December 2nd, 38 people attended the defensive driving course held at the MTA office.  They will now get a 10% reduction on part of their car insurance.  The MTA has been offering this course for several years.  It is scattered throughout the year, but one is held sometime in the fall and one in the spring.  It is always well received and grateful, smiling people leave with a better knowledge of how to prevent accidents while driving.  Look for the course late next spring!

by Lynann Day

It appears that the efforts made by MTA members and other NYSUT and AFT members made a difference as the reauthorization of the Federal No Child Left Behind Act will probably not occur this year.

The thousands of faxes that were sent to the members of the Senate and Congress urged the lawmakers not to rush the reauthorization of NCLB.  Leaders in the House of Representatives have said that it is unlikely that a bill would get to the floor in 2007.  NYSUT had hoped that the delay would occur and that would allow changes to be made to the flawed NCLB legislation.