Colleagues,
1) Respect the Contract: Attendance Counselors - Teachers, Aides and Clerks are NOT Attendance Counselors!! If the NPS wants Attendance Counselors then they should call them back to work. Schools have been asking staff to call parents any time their students are absent during their lunch or perp periods. There isn't enough time in your day; instruction, prep periods, etc are NOT to be used to do someone else's job. Use the tools in our Respect the Contract toolkit to protect yourself!
2) Respect the Contract: Prep Period Survey - Prep Periods are NOT free periods...they are periods where you, as a teacher, prepare your lessons or prepare for your lessons, meet with principal or his/her designee, meet with parents, or students, or other teachers (PLCs). You need this VALUABLE time to review and prepare so you can continue to be an effective teacher.
If you have been compelled to COVER CLASSES, or LOSE PREPS for ANY reason, please complete this IMPORTANT form so the NTU can assist you in recovering your CONTRACTUALLY PROTECTED TIME
3) Respect the Contract Toolkit – On the NTU website, we have posted a variety of resources that you can use to help with the Respect the Contract campaign, including forms to ensure you get paid for additional duties and coverage.
4) Walk-In – On Thursday, October 6, several Newark schools joined over 200 cities across the nation in participating in the National Walk-In. It is vital to bring attention to the many shared problems public schools face across the nation. Thank you to the staff and community leaders who participated! We hope to see an even bigger turn out next time! Check out the pictures on our website!
5) Teacher Coaches – In many schools, we are hearing concerns that teacher coaches are being used as quasi-administrators. Teacher Coaches should be supporting teachers. They should not be doing formal observations or evaluations. If you are a teacher coach being asked to do duties outside of your job description and certification, including being asked to testify against other teachers, email mmaillaro@newarkteachersunion.com and let us know immediately! If you have a teacher coach at your school who is being asked to do duties outside of their job description, let us know immediately!
6) Kudos – The new NTU website is regularly updated with a wide variety of important information, including a calendar of events, and how to’s for topics like FMLA’s. If you have anything you’d like added to the website (kudos, pictures/videos from your school, etc), just send it to mmaillaro@newarkteachersunion.com. There a lot of amazing things going on in the Newark Public Schools, and it’s important to highlight them!
7) Upcoming meetings
NPS Business Meeting - Tuesday, October 18, 2016 5:30 PM
Newark Public Schools
10th Floor Conference Room, 1010
2 Cedar Street
Newark, NJ 07102
NTU Executive Board - Wednesday, October 19, 2016 4:00 PM
Newark Teachers Union
1st Floor Conference Room
1019 Broad Street
Newark, NJ 07102
NPS Board Meeting - Monday, October 24, 2016 6 PM
Malcolm X Shabazz
80 Johnson Avenue
Newark, NJ 07106
In Solidarity,
John M. Abeigon President & Director of Organization Newark Teachers Union Local 481 AFT, AFL-CIO | Michael Maillaro Director of Research & Communication Newark Teachers Union Local 481 AFT, AFL-CIO | Michael R. Iovino Newark Teachers Union Local 481 AFT, AFL-CIO |
****Please note that this email does not receive incoming emails. If you need to get a hold of someone at the NTU, please use our @newarkteachersunion.com emails. Thank you****