Advocacy Website & Rally Reminder

Dear Colleagues,

It is imperative that we keep up the pressure and continue to make our voices heard as we advocate for our public schools. Our colleagues in Garden City have created a new website to give the GCTA advocacy tool (similar to the NYSUT MAC) a more generic look. The new link www.thegcta.org is a one page site that is just on advocacy. The campaign that is targeted at the senators is spotlighted on the page, allowing anyone to click on the banner and take action. Anyone that uses the old link (previously sent out) will be automatically redirected to the new site.

PLEASE feel free

Important Rally on Friday, March 21, 2014 3:30 pm

Rally at Senator Jack Martin's Office

151 Herricks Road

Garden City Park, NY 11040

Friday, March 21, 2014

3:30-5pm

Dear Colleagues,

This Friday, at several locations around the state, NYSUT activists and our allies in education are going to bring home the message that the budget proposals being negotiated in Albany are unacceptable.

As we enter the final two weeks of the state's budget process, the worst possible proposal is the Senate resolution. It includes many unacceptable positions that short change public schools, fund and empower charter and private schools at the expense of public schools

Middle School and High School Conferences

FYI, at the BOE meeting on Thurs., March 6, the parent who wrote the recent article in the local paper (regarding H.S. & M.S. Parent- Teacher conferences) asked the BOE to consider making the request for M.S. & H.S. parent teacher conferences a part of negotiations. The BOE's response was that they already had a lengthy list of requests which they had on the table. The BOE also stated that they would research by asking for data from nearby districts who had such conferences. They would look into what was done, how it was done, frequency, positive effects, and if stopped reason for doing so

Long Island Presidents Council

As mentioned in the recent "President's Pen", the Long Island Presidents Council provides information on how to contact legislators on the elimination of the GEA.

Please visit http://educationis.org/ for more information.

Important Information About Your Unum Benefits

Herricks Teachers' Association Upcoming UNUM

Benefit Meeting on Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 4 p.m

Click here for additional details.

Condolences Sent From HTA

Hi everyone,

Hope you had a relaxing February Break and enjoyed the time with family and friends. FYI, I received the information below on Monday afternoon.

It is my belief that during difficult personal times it is important to show our support for each other and our leaders. I attended the wake on Monday night and had a chance to speak to NYSUT President, Dick Iannuzzi. I expressed the HTA's condolences. Dick was surprised and touched by the thoughts and support I expressed on behalf of our members on the passing of his mother.

In unity,

Nidya Degliomini

President

Herricks Teachers' Association

Regents Update

The Board of Regents met on Feb. 10th and were poised to vote on some course corrections. The vote was held on Feb 11th with regard to the rollout of Common Core, state tests and APPR. You can read the press release and the proposed changes here. http://www.oms.nysed.gov/press/regents-adjust-common-core-implementation.html

The Governor did not agree with the Regents. You can read his brief comments here. http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/02102014-governor-cuomo-statement

At Feb. 11th's vote by the Regents, as the pressure from the Governor mounted, the Regents pulled their “course corrections”

Will Cuomo retreat from the Common Core?

Dear Colleagues,

Thought you'd find this article regarding the State legislature's latest push to delay implementing the Common Core informative.

We have now used the last Snow Day on the calendar, so school will be in session on the fourth contingency day, Mon., April 14th. I am looking into what will be done regarding making up any other Snow Days that may be called this year. Enjoy today and hope you are safe and warm.

In unity,

Nidya Degliomini

President

Herricks Teachers' Association

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/02/8539850/will-cuomo-retreat-common-core

Article in The Williston Times

Dear Colleagues,

In the interest of keeping you informed, I am including a link to an article found online from one of the local papers about negotiations in Herricks. This identical article can also be found in the Jan. 31, 2014 edition of the Williston Times, entitled, "Teachers, board clash after 1st meet - Union prez blasts district for posting contract proposal online, sending in e-mail."

You can see the article online by clicking here

In unity,

Nidya Degliomini

President

Herricks Teachers' Association

BOE's Negotiations Update for the Community on Herricks' Website

Dear Colleagues,

We recently began negotiations on the Teachers' and Teaching Assistants' Contracts with the BOE and met only once. At that meeting we exchanged proposals. Our second meeting was cancelled due to the snowstorm on Tuesday.

We entered this process with expectations that negotiations were going to be very difficult during these trying times, but forged ahead as professionals wanting to work toward attempting to reach a fair successor agreement with the BOE.

On Friday afternoon, Jan. 24th, the BOE sent out a listserve memo to the community providing a "Negotiations Update for the

News

Herricks Teachers' Association