May 28, 2008

Programmer & Lunchroom Coordinator
If you are interested in either the Programmer or Lunchroom Coordinator positions, please inform Mrs. Greene in writing ASAP. Legally, a teacher may hold only one of these positions. Any teacher may apply for these positions.

Fall Organization Sheet
All teachers must have one of their three choices. This applies to ALL teachers, regardless of tenure status.

According to Article Seven of our contract, grievances may be lodged if:

1) In any year an elementary school teacher fails to be granted one of his/her stated program preferences; or

(2) For two years in succession the elementary school teacher has been denied his/her first priority of program preference.

Grievances must be filed within 48 hours of the distribution of the organization sheets. If the organization sheet comes out on Friday, June 13, then they must be filed by June 16th.


Fax The Chancellor
Trying to avoid accountability for deep funding cuts in the city’s most successful and stable schools, Chancellor Klein is stooping to “divide-and-conquer” tactics, pitting neighborhood against neighborhood, school against school, and parents against parents. As the June 7 deadline for adopting a city budget fast approaches, we need to keep the pressure on the mayor and the Council to increase school funding as they promised last year. If the city used a small portion of its $4.5 billion surplus, no city school would have to suffer any budget cuts.

Our school’s budget is being cut drastically! Please send an online fax now. Go to:
http://uftproviders.org/the_city_must_keep_its_promises_to_kids
Also use the “forward to a friend” function in our new online fax tool to ask your friends and family to help us win this budget fight.

Monday, June 2 is the Brooklyn 311 call-in day. Call during your free time to demand that the mayor keep the promise to fund city schools. Call 311 or call the mayor at 1-800-961-6198. You can also call your City Council member.


Know Your Rights
If you are asked to sign a document, whether a counseling memo, letter in the file, extention of probation, termination, or ANY document, you have the legal right to representation before signing. You must consult me, Kathy Sharko, or in certain instances, a NYSUT lawyer. No one can deny you your guaranteed right to union representation.


Spring Cleaning

Letters in the file that have not been used in a disciplinary proceeding should be removed three years from the date placed in the file, per Article 21A of the contract. You have the right to photocopy any material in your file. You should not review your file by yourself. Take either the chapter leader or a colleague with you when you look at your file. Make an appointment with the principal to see the file. Click on http://www.uft.org/member/rights/your_rights/ for more details. You should review your file annually.

Randi Weingarten is holding an emergency chapter leader meeting on June 9. I will hold a meeting that week to report the details to the chapter. Randi says that it is very important.