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focus focus on educators  is an award winning publication of the Pittsburg Education Association/CTA/NEA www.peateachers.org 

California Teachers Association

Statement of Mission

The California Teachers Association exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions

teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education; to ensure that the human dign

and civil rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society.

DECEMBER 2015

Volume XXIV, Number 4

Dear PEA Members,

I hope your Thanksgiving break was ahappy time for you and your loved ones.My mom and older sister came down fromWashington State for part of the week.We had pork chops, candied yams,stuffing, and green beans all prepared bymy mother. It was a foodie’s dream,especially one that rarely cooks forherself.

My sister did a lot of those projects I setaside for the house and yard that I justhadn’t gotten to. Before they had arrived Ihad worked hard to clean up and organizethings in the house. It was definitely amotivator to have visitors coming to myhome. I’m sure you also had those times

of preparation and putting order to yourliving space.

Now we are in December and it’s time tolook at the end of 2015. As educatorswe’ve invested four months into ourstudents. We’ve analyzed their progress,structured our daily routines, improved ourpractice, blended strategies old and newinto how to reach the students ofPittsburg, and built relationships with themand their families. It goes back to thattime when you prepared in the beginning

of the year and set out to put order to yourworking environment. You’ve made achild feel like they have a real space andthat they are cared for. What will you takeaway from your time this school year sofar as we move into 2016?

Here are some of my take aways:

  I have made more steps in being abetter communicator with the parentsof my classroom.

 

I was consistent in my expectationsof my students.  The conversations I’ve had with the

students in my room about their lifeopened up more doors than closedthem.

  When I lost my voice and it was goingin and out, my students were highlyfocused when I spoke.

 

Some new things I did in myclassroom to motivate students toseek more and find answers weresuccessful.

So, we will be going into the next chapteof the school year. Here’s my question you. What motivates you to continuefighting for the best public education ofyour students? In the NEA Today Fall2015 magazine article “To Form a MorePerfect (and Enduring) Union”, you’ll reaabout educators that understand howeducation can move mountains forstudents and their families. There is apurpose to their work and they use that aa motivating factor.

 As all professional educators know, wehave the eyes, ears, and minds of thefuture daily. We can inspire or tire thosewe come into contact with Mondaythrough Friday. Be the change you seecomes to my mind thinking of this greatresponsibility. Let us take it forward one

step each day, remember the good daysforgiving ourselves for the bad days, andcherishing that future days have hope.

Sincerely,

Tammy CarrPEA President

On educators 

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PEA Leadership 2015-2016

President

Tammy Carr

Highlands Elementary/PEA Office

Elementary Vice President

Chris Coan

Willow Cove Elementary

Secondary Vice President

Bertha RamosRancho Medanos

Secretary

Michell Redfoot

Willow Cove Elementary

Treasurer

Vacant

Committee Chairs:

Grievance Committee

John Kleinjans – Pittsburg High

Chris Coan – Willow Cove Elementary

Negotiations TeamMark Maselli - Chair

Political Action Committee Chairs

Chris Coan

Jim Vaughan

Elections Chair

Ruth Foster

Human Rights & Women’s Issues Chairs 

Yvonne Burton

Najah Perkins

O-Team Chairs

Marissa Young-PadillaCTA State Council Representatives

Mark Maselli – PEA

Arthur Pruyn (Alt.) - PEA

Membership Chairs

Lisa Gunderson

Yvonne Burton

Technical Editor

Susan Harrison – PEA Office Administrator

Focus on Educators  

is a publication of the

Pittsburg Education Association CTA/NEA

159 East 4th Street

Pittsburg, CA 94565

Phone: (925) 432-0199 

email: info@peateachers.org

website: www.peateachers.org 

Rep. Council Meeting Calendar (Tuesdays)

December 15

January 19

February 16

March 15

April 19

May 17

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School Board Meeting Calendar

December 9

January – 13 & 27

February – 10 & 24

March – 16

April – 13 & 27

May – 11 & 25

June – 15 & 29

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Are You Getting Your PEA Information?

Having our Site Reps collect your input, attend the monthly Rep

meeting and then report back to you is vital in the

communication chain of our Association.

Roll call at last November 17th Rep Council Meeting:

Adult Ed. – present Stoneman – absent

Foothill – present Willow Cove – present

Heights –  present MLK Jr. – present 

Highlands – present Hillview - present

Los Medanos – present Rancho Medanos –present

Marina Vista – absent PHS - present

Parkside – present Black Diamond –present

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announcing… 

2016 CTA Scholarships

CTA is accepting applications for the following categories:

  Dependent Children  Del A. Weber for Dependent Children Attending

Continuation High School/Alternative Education 

Members  L. Gordon Bittle Memorial Scholarship for Student

CTA

 All applications must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. onFebruary 5, 2016. For more information on the individualcategories, please go to: www.cta.org./scholarships 

Cesar E. Chavez MemorialEducation Awards ProgramCTA is holding the 14th annual art andessay competition in honor of Cesar E.Chavez. Winners will receiverecognition and up to $550.00.Individual Projects can be either

Written Essays or Visual Arts. Allapplications and projects must be postmarked byJanuary 15, 2016.  For more information and applications,please go to: www.cta.org/scholarships 

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Martin Luther King Jr. MemorialScholarship Fund Drive. Thismemorial fund is designed to assist ethnicminority CTA members and their dependentchildren pursue degrees or credentials for

teaching-related careers in public education. Applicationsmust be submitted online or postmarked by February 19,2016. More information about contributions and applicationscan be found at: www.cta.org/ /Scholarships

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Update…School Board Election 

November 2016

So far, Jim Vaughan and I have received six (6) referralsfrom PEA members as to possible candidates for the SchoolBoard election in November of 2016. As you know, two ofthe present school board seats are opening up forfilling…either by the incumbents or by two new souls. Sincethe school board does so much that directly affects ourworking conditions, it is very important to have school boardmembers that are in touch with the schools, classrooms andthe needs of the teachers teaching. If you know of anyparents at your school site that are actively involved ineducation and might be interested in running for the schoolboard, please speak to them first and then send their namesand contact information to ChrisCoan123@comcast.net. 

Thank you for your help.

By, Chris Coan & Jim VaughanPolitical Action Chairs

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PEA Tailgate and Rally 

On Wednesday, November 18, PEAmembers joined together outside theDistrict office for a tailgate and rallyevent before the school boardmeeting. It was cold and dark, but our members usedtheir collective strength and voices to show support ofthe PEA Bargaining Team. Folks from MDEA, SEIU-UHW, and the community participated in the event aswell. The rally attendees filled the board room duringthe school board meeting with signs and yellow shirts.Tammy Carr, Mark Maselli, and Iris Contreras spoke onthe behalf of the membership in support of returning tothe table after impasse had been called in the lastbargaining session on November 2, 2015. Thank youall for your active participation and support of our PEABargaining Team. You truly make a difference!

Raffle Winners:

  Sharie Chmura (Parkside Elementary) - $25,Maya Cinemas

 

Rick Pyle (Black Diamond High School) - $10,Jamba Juice

  Rebecca Cariaso (Heights Elementary) - $5,Starbucks

  Jennifer Foster (Rancho Medanos Junior HighSchool) - $5, Starbucks

 

Virgilio Capupus (Pittsburg High School) - $5,Starbucks

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This Month in Politics 

By, Chris Coan & Jim VaughanPolitical Action Chairs

Happy Holidays, Indeed!

 As we approach the holidays and Winter Break, it isimportant to consider what has been accomplished in theyear past. Our students and our schools are first on ourminds as teachers, and that’s as it should be. We have avery powerful organization that works constantly to make

sure that we have the resources and the support to do justthat. This year, through the efforts of CTA, we have wonseveral significant legislative battles that go a very long waytoward helping us with our job helping students learn.

First, I want to remind our members that the President ofCTA is a teacher from Pittsburg, Eric Heins. He was ourchapter president and bargaining chair before winning a seaton the CTA Executive Board. We have very good friends inhigh places in our union.

Because public schools are publicly funded, politicians think

it is appropriate for them to dictate requirements for schoolsand teachers that are, at best, ill-conceived or poorlyconstructed. Among them is the insistence upon high stakesstandardized testing. This year, through the dedicated workof CTA and NEA, the House has passed a reauthorization ofthe Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) thateliminates the requirements of No Child Left Behind that waspromoted by the Bush (W) Administration. Tying schoolfunding to test scores will become a thing of the past (fornow) if the Senate passes the bill when they return in

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January. This, as you can imagine, will be a huge stepforward after having to deal with NCLB. For our students, ourhigh school seniors have attended school from 1st grade onunder the requirements of NCLB.

Here in California, bills proposed in the Assembly andSenate to allow school districts to increase their reserves upto 17% of their budget were defeated before even beingallowed out of committee. Baker, AD16 (remember thatelection?), proposed the bill in the Assembly and Glazer, SD7 (remember that special election?) sponsored the bill in theSenate. Allowing school districts to store away funds given toit for the education of our children substantially above the 3%requirement, and the currently allowed 6% limit, is primafacie evidence of fiscal irresponsibility to students and to theemployees of a school district, in my opinion.

If you have been wondering why you are told that “we don’thave the money” for materials and other support in yourclassroom – OR that you don’t even GET a classroom, the

bill our two local legislative representatives wanted to passwould have made that EVEN WORSE! If you have beenwondering why we need to be involved in politics locally andnationally, these two examples should be quite informativefor you in arriving at a decision about that.

Enjoy the holidays! When you return in January, we have agreat deal to accomplish together politically next year. Pleasebecome a participant with us in doing just that!

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Know Your Contract  

How to write and file a grievance:

1.  If you feel that an article in thecontract has been violated locate that article FIRSTand then meet with your Principal to discuss itFIRST. You are to begin acting on this violationwithin 10 days of this violation occurring.

2. 

If you do not feel that the violation has beenremedied and the contract violation continues then,

via email, write to your principal and state that this isnow an INFORMAL grievance. Please note thedate. A remedy or response from the principal mustoccur within 10 business days. Make sure you keeptrack of the time. Hopefully you can meet personallyand discuss the issue and settle it. It helps to keep ahard copy of the informal email you sent.

3. 

If you still have not gotten the contract violationremedied, then you can begin a Level 1 grievance.

You must get a grievance form from the PEA office,then, write it up. Remember you are on a timeline.The entire grievance can be dismissed if thetimeline is not followed.

Grievance Form Completion Process  Print your full name

 

Your home address  Your phone number

  Those who also are affected by the grievance. Itcould be the entire school site.

  Your school and your position at the school

  The date when the grievance occurredGrievance:

  Simply explain in your own words what happened.Keep it short.

Contract Provisions:

  Write the article of the contract that was violated.

Just the numbers are okay.

Specific Remedy Sought:

  How do you want this violation remedied? Simplywrite it out.

  Check the box for requesting a conference

  You sign and date it

4.  Now you need to immediately fax or hand deliverthe grievance and get either a signature at thebottom or stamp the time and date because YOU

 ARE NOW ON THE TIMELINE.

5. 

The principal has 10 business days to formallyrespond to your grievance. Yes you can meet todiscuss but take notes.

Hopefully this will come to a happy end. If not, thencontact either Chris Coan the Elementary GrievanceChair or John Kleinjans the Secondary Grievance Chair.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Coan, Elementary Grievance Chair

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Calendar 

DECEMBER 2015

1 PEA Executive Board – PEA Office – 159 East 4th

 St. – 3:45 PM6 Hannukah begins at Sundown9 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 6:30 PM15 PEA Rep Council – PEA Office – 159 East 4

th St. – 3:45 PM

21-1 Winter Recess21 Winter begins24 Christmas Eve 25 Christmas Day26 Kwanzaa begins31 New Year’s Eve

JANUARY 2016

1 New Year’s Day 5 PEA Executive Board – PEA Office – 159 East 4

th St. – 3:45 PM

13 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 6:30 PM15-17 Issues Conference, Rio All-Suite Hotel, Las Vegas, NV17 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 6:30 PM18 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – No School

19 PEA Rep Council – PEA Office – 159 East 4

th

 St. – 3:45 PM23 School Board Breakfast, Double Tree Hotel, Pleasanton

Next Deadline for Articles is Monday, January 11, 2016

STAY INFORMED @ peateachers.orgcta.org & nea.org