NTU Update - December 8, 2017

Colleagues,

1)     December Pay Checks: Payroll Reminder! December is a three pay-check month. For full time ten month employees, you will be paid on December 1 (covering 11/20 to 12/01), December 15 (covering 12/04 to 12/15), and December 21

(covering 12/18 to 12/29).  The first paycheck in January will be January 12, 2018.

In order to get paid for the full Winter Break, if you are going to be absent on December 21 or January 2, you must take a personal day. The only way you can use a sick day for those days is if it is part of an approved medical leave.

2)     Coverage Survey: As with everything involving the Newark Public Schools, we need data!

During the flu season and in the middle of holiday preparation, there are a lot of staff who may not be in school. If this is happening at your school, please answer these questions.

This survey is anonymous. We will not share identifying information with the district or your administrators.

3)     Newark ERC Will be closed from December 18 until January 2, 2018.

4)     Trump Tax Scam: Along with President Trump, Senate Republicans—all but one—threw the middle class under the bus when they voted 51-49 to pass the Republican tax scam at 1:50 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Because the House and Senate passed different versions of this bill, we still have a chance to stop it before a final vote. There are already major divisions on things like the repeal of the Affordable Care Act individual mandate, deductions on healthcare and mortgage interest, the educator expenses credit, the federal deficit, and how permanent

Visit the following link, post it on social media, and send it to your friends and family to tell Congress, we will not allow the Trump Tax Scam to go through!

5)     Observations – IMPORTANT!  If you receive an Ineffective or Partial Effective on your observation, YOU SHOULD WRITE A REBUTTAL.  Without a rebuttal, the record has nothing to show except that you agreed with this negative observation.   And these observations can have a dramatic impact on your salary or tenure rights.  Please review these Rebuttal tips attached.

6)     Mid-Year Evaluation -  Under TeachNJ, Mid-Year Evaluations are only required for teachers on Corrective Action Plans (teachers who received an ineffective or partially effective on their end of the year evaluation). That said, the district can do Mid-Years for anyone they want.   As we said above, if you receive an Ineffective or Partial Effective on your mid-year, YOU SHOULD WRITE A REBUTTAL.  Without a rebuttal, the record has nothing to show except that you agreed with this negative evaluation.

7)     NTUniversity: NTUniversity's first two workshops were a great success, and we have received a lot of requests to do additional sessions. We will have that information out to you in the coming weeks.

If you are interested in presenting a future workshop to your fellow NTU members, please review the following requirements and draft a submission. All presenters will be given a stipend of $50.00/session.

In Solidarity,