President’s Insights 1-28-19

I hope everyone finds this email while warm and preparing for the extreme cold ahead on Wednesday.  With wind chills up to 50 below zero in our area I always think about the safety of our staff and our students. In these conditions, exposed skin can cause frostbite in as little as 10 minutes.  It is important that we take care of ourselves as well as those around us when we have these extreme conditions. I hope that all of you stay safe and warm over the coming days as we continue on into the second half of the school year.  

Bargaining Update

On Friday, January 14, we officially filed the Unfair Labor Practice with the Illinois Labor Relations Board.  This was done to ensure that should we need it, we have the option to pursue this action. If you do not file it by the 180 day deadline, then you are unable to file it going forward.  This is not indicative of how bargaining is going at all. We have filed this as these are the steps we must take in order to protect our contract language regarding step increases. The ULP will be held in abeyance until such time we deem it necessary to be filed.  We did the same thing with the grievance earlier this year. At this time, we continue to go to the table with one goal in mind and that is to bring a Tentative Agreement to our members that we can all get behind.

We have a number of days scheduled for bargaining and hope to have more to share as we continue through the process.  If you wish to attend a bargaining session or have questions, feel free to reach out to me at etabarbbettis@gmail.com.

Upcoming School Board Elections

Our U-46 Unions are proud to endorse four candidates for the U-46 School Board election on April 2. Each of these exceptional candidates prioritizes the needs of students and understands that supporting students means supporting the professionals who work with them every day.

Kate Thommes
John Devereux
Eva Porter
Sue Kerr

Please click the link below for more information about each candidate. Candidates earn our endorsement after a process, which includes completing both a questionnaire and an interview. All School Board candidates were invited to participate in the recommendation meetings.

This is an extremely important School Board election. Kate, John, Eva and Sue will need our support to ensure that we have the best voices representing our students, staff and community. As we move closer to the election, you will receive many emails detailing opportunities to get involved.  Please plan to volunteer some time in the coming months for the future of our school district.

Endorses Candidates for Board of Education

ETA Elections

It is time for our Spring Elections.  We have a number of positions that are up for election on our board of directors including Secretary, Treasurer, and Section Directors for Elementary and Secondary sections 1, 3, and 5.  

In addition, we have a few spots available on Instructional Council and Special Education Committee.  

Finally, we are electing our 2019 NEA Delegates.  This year the NEA representative assembly will be held in Houston, Texas from July 3-7.  

These elections are a great opportunity for you to be involved and have a voice in the ETA.  If you or somebody you know would like to be nominated, click the link below to nominate yourself or others for the above positions.  

Nominations are due by Friday, February 8 at 5:00 PM.  We will hold elections in buildings on Tuesday, March 5.  We are in need of volunteers to help out with counting ballots on election night.  If you are interested in helping out please email Jim Krambeer at krambeers4@sbcgloabal.net.  

Nominate members here

Staffing and TAP Oversight

We had two guests at the RA this month.  Melanie Meidel came and discussed the staffing timeline.  The timeline was emailed out to teachers at the end of last week.  

Stacey Bartkowski and Amanda Sanders presented on TAP.  This presentation is available online. If you have questions or concerns about the appraisal process, you can send an email to TAPadm@u-46.org and someone will get back to you to assist you.  

TAP Oversight Presentation

SIP Presentations

I have received a number of questions and concerns from members about the SIP presentations that are happening at our schools.  We are in discussions with district administration to discuss these presentations. Members, as well as myself and our board, are concerned about these presentations and how it works within the framework of activity related to our SIP teams.

If you see me at your SIP presentation in the coming weeks, please know I am there to see what the process looks like and support our teachers.  I understand these have been stressful for many and have required a number of hours, and I intend to get a look at what is being done first hand.

Those Who Excel!

We are gearing up for our Those Who Excel bowling event as well as our scholarship night to honor many of our students.  We will have a lot of information for you at the February RA. For this month, we are asking for two things. First, if you have a donation or a business has a donation they wish to make we ask you fill out the form below so we can start to gather items that will be available for our raffle at the bowl.  Secondly, our buildings have created some amazing baskets for our raffle and we want to hear what your building has in mind so we can start to get that information on our website. If your building has a basket in the works or will, fill out the form below to let us know about it. We can’t wait to see everyone at Streamwood Lanes on April 18.

TWE Individual or Business Raffle Item

TWE Building Raffle Basket

Region 24

Members can sign a petition encouraging their representatives to sign a bill that repeals the 3% TRS cap.  You can find that petition here.  ETA Cares is looking for members to help get the word out about the work our members are going.  LA had a teacher strike and fought for what was right for students and teachers. You can find more information about all this in more, clicking the link below.  

January 2019 ETA RA Region 24 Update

Have a terrific rest of the week.  Stay safe, and stay warm.

Barb Bettis

ETA President

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