News Messenger 9-22-17

The News Messenger
September 22, 2017             Volume 37, No. 4

How to Raise Graduation Rates?
Raise Salaries, Lower Class Sizes

On Wednesday evening, September 20, the first meeting of the Superintendent’s Graduation Task Force was held.

The keynote speaker was UC Santa Barbara Education professor Russell Rumberger, and author of Dropping Out, a strongly reviewed study of students

who drop out of high school recently published by Harvard University Press. According to Rumberger, two of the most cost efficient and effective tools: raising teacher salaries and lowering class sizes.

For SCTA President David Fisher, who has been appointed to the task force, it was a deja vu moment. “It is the same thing we’ve been trying to communicate to the District for the past twelve months we’ve been in bargaining,” Fisher noted. “Maybe hearing those common-sense suggestions from the District’s own outside keynote speaker will finally make it easier for the District to bargain in good faith when we’re in fact-finding.”

Fact-Finding Scheduled For October 2nd
Strike Votes Continue

Following last Friday’s disappointing bargaining session, negotiations move to the formal fact-finding hearing on Monday, October 2nd. The hearing will be at the Serna Center. The start time has not yet been determined.

The parties are also scheduled to bargain on Wednesday, September 27 at 4 p.m. at the SCTA office, and, if determined to be useful by the parties, again on Thursday, September 28th.

In the meantime, strike votes continue to be held throughout the District. With approximately twenty (20) schools having already voted, educators are approving a strike by an overwhelming 97.5%.

Let’s continue to show the District we’re strong and united!

At strike vote meetings we have been sharing copies of our proposed salary schedules. Our proposal includes:

• A restructured salary schedule retroactive to July 1, 2016, which includes at least a minimum 4% salary increase for every educator. Our July 1, 2016 proposal can viewed here.
• An additional increase to the salary schedule of 3.5%, retroactive to July 1, 2017. Our July 1, 2017 proposal can be viewed here.
• An additional increase to the salary schedule of 3.5%, effective July 1, 2018. Our July 1, 2018 proposal can be viewed here.
• A copy of the salary schedules for psychologists and program specialists.

We know Sac City is the Destination District for administrators.

Isn’t it time to be the Destination District for students and educators too?

Classroom Management Training
For new (and experienced) educators

Among the things we hear repeatedly from new educators (and some experienced ones too) is how useful many would find a basic, “classroom management” training.

Building off the success of the training we provided last spring, this fall SCTA will be offering three courses in classroom management. The three classes will build off each other, but can also be taken individually.

The dates for each class will be on the last Thursday of every month:
September 28th
October 26th
November 30th
All classes will be held at no cost from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the SCTA office.

A light meal will be offered.

Please RSVP to SCTA by clicking here.

More information can be found here.

Human Rights Report
By Melanie Bean

Recognize Awesome Teachers in SCTA: Nominate for the 2018 HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS:

http://www.cta.org/en/About-CTA/Forms/Human-Rights-Awards-Nomination-Form.aspx

Purpose of the Program
The CTA Human Rights Awards Program was adopted by the CTA State Council of Education in October, 1984, and was further augmented to include eight new categories of awards in the ensuing years. The goal of the Awards Program is to promote the development of programs for the advancement and protection of human and civil rights within the Association.
Nomination Categories
Human Rights Awards are given annually to CTA Chapters, Service Center Councils, and Members in the following categories:

CTA Chapter/Service Center Council Categories

• CTA Chapter Human Rights Award*
• CTA Service Center Council Human Rights Award*
• Nominations must be made in the name of the Chapter and/or Service Center Council only
• American Indian/Alaska Native Human Rights Award in Honor of Jim Clark
• César Chávez “Si Se Puede” Human Rights Award
• CTA Member Human Rights Award
• CTA Peace and Justice Human Rights Award
• Human Rights Award in Honor of Lois Tinson
• Leadership in Lesbian and Gay Human Rights Award in Honor of Nancy Bailey
• Pacific Asian American Human Rights Award
• Physically/Mentally Challenged Students’ Issues Human Rights Award
• Women’s Issues Human Rights Award

Individual Member Award Categories

September 20: Graduation Task Force meeting! If you have any concerns you would like the task force to address, please email David Fisher.

September 25-29: LGBTQ Ally Week! Free resources at GLSEN

https://www.glsen.org/allyweekhttps://www.glsen.org/allyweek

September 25, 6-8 pm: Banned Book Week Panel at Sac City College, Room LR 105. SCTA member Amanda Turkie and Gayle Pitman, author of the picture books This Day in June and When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community, will be speaking. RSVP at poszp@scc.losrios.edu.

University to hold week of events celebrating teachers

Sacramento State is set to host a week of events celebrating the educators, partners, and innovators who are working to make positive change in California schools.

The week, called “Celebrate Ed,” will take place on campus from Sept. 25 through Sept. 29. The week will include a lecture by Linda Darling-Hammond, a longtime educator and former advisor to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign whose research and policy work focuses on issues of educational equity, teaching quality, and school reform; and the finals of Reinvent Ed competition, an event organized by the College of Education encouraging the use of innovation and technology in the classroom.

The aim, says College of Education Dean Alexander Sidorkin, is to promote the importance of education in providing the human capital that fuels economic growth, as well as highlighting Sacramento State’s role as the institution that “teaches the teachers” who are enacting change and innovation the classroom.