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"
More money is put into prisons than into schools.
That, in itself, is the description of a nation bent
on suicide. I mean, what is more precious to us than
our own children? We are going to build a lot more
prisons if we do not deal with the schools and their
inequalities."
--Jonathan
Kozol |
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Today
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LATEST
NEWS FROM:
 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
HOUSE EDUCATION
Bill:HB6017 – CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL LOCAL SCHOOL
Sponsors: Senator Hendon (D-Chicago), Rep. Colvin (D-Chicago)
IFT Position: SUPPORT
Bill Status: Passed both houses
HB6017 amends the CPS article in School Code. This legislation allows a local school council (LSC) for each attendance center to increase their voting membership by one. That one new member of the LSC must be a non-teacher employee of the school district with the majority of their work duties at the attendance center.
Bill:HB4886 – FOUR DAY SCHOOL WEEK
Sponsors: Senator Frerichs (D-Champaign), Rep. Black (R-Danville)
IFT Position: OPPOSED
Bill Status: Died in Senate Education
HB4886 amends the school code an allows a school district by resolution of a school board to operate on a four-day school week plan approved by the Illinois State Board of Education.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Bill:SB642 – UNIVERSITY BORROWING
Sponsors: Sen. William Haine (D-Alton), Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion)
IFT Position: SUPPORT
Bill Status: Passed Both House & Senate
Senate Bill 642 has passed both the Senate on May 6, and the House earlier, allowing public universities to borrow money to address the delay in state reimbursements. The bill will be sent to the Governor for his signature to become law. Universities are owed over $840 million in state funding for the current school year, 2009-10. The lack of state payments has forced universities to cut budgets, lay off personnel, impose unpaid furlough days on staff and other measures that have impacted the ability of public universities to operate. This borrowing for “cash flow” will help alleviate some of the financial pressures on the universities. This is yet another symptom of the underlying revenue problem that is troubling Illinois state government.
 Pink Hearts Provide Powerful Symbol in Cleveland
Scores of pink hearts, symbolizing the almost 600 Cleveland teachers who have received layoff notices in recent weeks, were a powerful prop on May 11 when members of the Cleveland Teachers Union and their allies staged a rally and a march to the school board meeting.
Despite a cold rain, the event attracted more than 600 people representing the CTU, as well as political, religious, community, student and parent groups. The lawn in front of the Cleveland Browns stadium was covered with signs bearing the "Pink Hearts, Not Pink Slips" motto of the AFT's campaign to avert educator layoffs around the country.
After the rally, the participants marched to the school board meeting with everyone carrying a pink heart postcard bearing the name of a teacher who has been given a pink slip. The cards were carried into the board meeting and dropped one at a time on the desk of the board members.
In late April, the school board approved schools CEO Eugene Sanders' plan to lay off 545 teachers and 118 nonteaching personnel to close a $54 million budget gap. CTU president David Quolke says the union has made its own cost-savings proposals that would not involve hundreds of layoffs, but Sanders has ignored them.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer quoted one teacher who will be laid off—Emmett Keller, an award-winning biology teacher at the Garrett Morgan School of Science, whose work with students includes building and maintaining a vegetable garden, and a hands-on composting project. "I feel like they cut me first and didn't look at other options," he said, adding that he is scaling back his July wedding plans after receiving the layoff notice. "Numbers equal lives, and I think downtown they sometimes they forget that equation."
[Dan Gursky, Darrin Nedrow, Cleveland Plain Dealer]
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RESPONSE TO SCHOOL BOARD STAFF CUTS
Click below to download a copy of the release given to School Board members just prior to the Monday, March 8th Board meeting. This document has been revised slightly since Monday.
Letter to School Board Members
Click below to download a copy of the Union's response to Monday evening's cuts. This was sent to Dr. Morris, Mr. Rosilez and School Board President Sandi Johnson the morning of March 10th.
Letter to Dr. Morris
IFT PRESIDENT ED GEPPERT ADDRESSES HFT BUILDING REPRESENTATIVES
During May’s Building Representative meeting, Ed Geppert, President of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, addressed HFT reps regarding the state of Illinois’ current budget crisis, and how these issues are and will be impacting education and the IFT. The highlights:
Mr. Geppert started by giving an update about the “Fighting for Our Future” rally that recently occurred in Springfield. Educators were well represented at this event.
Mr. Geppert then stressed that Illinois is experiencing the worst budget crisis in 70 years. He shared that the state must find new sources of revenue, and cannot rely solely on budget cuts. In spite of this, the state of Illinois is looking at pushing back per pupil spending to the 2006 rate.
Related to this, Mr. Geppert shared that there is a federal stimulus bill being sponsored by Tom Harkin, Dick Durbin and Roland Burris that is working its way through the Senate. This bill would provide funds for Pre-K through college programs.
The state budget crisis has also had direct consequences for the IFT. The IFT has estimated that 10% of its current membership have lost their jobs due to reduction in force notices. As a result, the IFT will be reducing services that are not considered essential. They will not reduce positions that are responsible for providing direct services to locals as that is the sole purpose of the IFT. He also indicated that members should expect a modest dues increase (IFT) to be recommended in the fall.
Finally, Mr. Geppert touched on the 2 tier pension system which is so punitive to new members and will not help pay off the pension debt. He told the group that any candidate who supports the 2 tier pension reform will not receive any COPE money from the IFT.
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NEGOTIATIONS UPDATES
Negotiations updates are now online, and will be updated as information becomes available. To access negotiations information, please log in to the Member Area (you must be a registered HFT member to access this area).
HFT ELECTION RESULTS AND NEWS
The May 10th elections ended with the following results: Janine Langkamp and Nicole Gallaher were elected fist vice-presidents, and Vanessa Eaton and Robert Lockwood were elected as vice-presidents of transportation.
During May’s Building Representative meeting, several council offices were elected by acclamation to due running unopposed; Kim Brandt was elected president and Tim Loos elected vice-president of the custodial council; Martha Berg was elected president of the secretarial council.
An election will be held on Friday, June 4 to elect delegates to the AFT convention this summer. Elections will be held in all buildings and the IFT office.
SICK BANK UPDATE
During May’s Building Representative meeting, Mary Beth Westin reported that the sick bank has approved withdrawals totaling 465.76 days as of the meeting date. These include some requests pending for the May 24 Board meeting. We currently have a balance of 227.25 days. Members are once again reminded that we will most likely be asking for a day from each member again next year.
MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES
The meeting minutes for the May 24th, 2010 Building Representative meeting are now online; you can read them by logging in to the Member Area.
More news...
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Keep
Tabs on Your Elected Officials
Our
civic duties don't stop with
just voting. All citizens have
a duty to keep informed of what
elected officials are up to,
how they're voting on issues,
and what issues they're giving
voice to in the legislative
process.
The
HFT has made it super-easy for
its members to keep tabs on
our elected officials! Below
the navigation menu on this
page is a small form that will
help you search for your elected
officials' contact information,
find issues currently up for
debate in the legislation, and
even help you contact the media
in our area. Stay involved in
our governmental process --
start searching today! |
Become
an AFT e-Activist
You
will be part of a powerful network
that connects you to the union's
political and legislative program.
Clicking the banner below will
take you to a form to fill out
to join the AFT e-Activist Network.
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Think
YOU'VE had a bad evaluation? Check
these out! These are actual quotes
taken from Federal Government employee
performance evaluations.
1. "Since my last report, this
employee has reached rock-bottom and
has started to dig."
2. "I would not allow this employee
to breed."
3. "This employee is really not
so much of a has-been, but more of
a definite won't be."
4. "Works well when under constant
supervision and cornered like a rat
in a trap."
5. "When she opens her mouth,
it seems that it is only to change
feet."
6. "This young lady has delusions
of adequacy."
7. "He sets low personal standards
and then consistently fails to achieve
them."
8. "This employee is depriving
a village somewhere of an idiot."
9. "This employee should go far,
and the sooner he starts the better."
10. "Got a full 6-pack, but lacks
the plastic thingy to hold it all
together"
11. "A gross ignoramus -- 144
times worse than an ordinary ignoramus."
12. "He doesn't have ulcers,
but he's a carrier."
14. "I would like to go hunting
with him sometime ."
15. "He's been working with glue
too much."
16. "He would argue with a signpost."
17. "He brings a lot of joy whenever
he leaves the room."
18. "When his IQ reaches 50,
he should sell."
19. "If you see two people talking
and one looks bored, he's the other
one."
20. "A photographic memory but
with the lens cover glued on."
21. "A prime candidate for natural
de-selection."
22. "Donated his brain to science
before he was done using it."
23. "Gates are down, the lights
are flashing, but the train isn't
coming."
24. "He's got two brain cells,
one is lost and the other is out looking
for it."
25. "If he were any more stupid,
he'd have to be watered twice a week."
26. "If you give him a penny
for his thoughts, you'd get change."
27. "If you stand close enough
to him, you can hear the ocean."
28. "It's hard to believe he
beat out 1,000,000 other sperm."
29. "One neuron short of a synapse."
30. "Some drink from the fountain
of knowledge; he only gargled."
31. "Takes him 2 hours to watch
'60-minutes'."
TIRED
OF THOSE HIGH PAID TEACHERS?
I,
for one, am sick and tired of those
highly paid teachers. Their hefty
salaries are driving up taxes, and
they only work nine or ten months
a year!
It's
time we put things into perspective
and pay them for what they do...baby-sit!
We can get that for less than minimum
wage. That's right...I would give
them $3.00 an hour and only the hours
they worked, not any of that silly
planning time. That would be 15 dollars
a day. Each parent should pay 15 dollars
a day for these teachers to baby-sit
their children.
Now,
how many do they teach in a day...maybe
25? That's 15 x 25=$375 a day. But
remember they only work 180 days a
year! I'm not going to pay them for
any vacations. Let's see...that's
375 x 180=$67,500.00. (Hold on, my
calculator must need batteries!)
What
about those special teachers or the
ones with master's degrees? Well,
we could pay them minimum wage just
to be fair. Let's round it off to
$6.00 an hour. That would be $6 an
hour. That would be $6 times 5 hours
times 25 children times 180 days=$135,000.00
per year. Wait a minute, there is
something wrong here!!! There sure
is, duh!!!
The
dinner guests were sitting around
the table discussing life. One man,
a CEO, decided to explain the problem
with education. He argued: "What's
a kid going to learn from someone
who decided his best option in life
was to become a teacher?" He
reminded the other dinner guests that
it's true what they say about teachers:"Those
who can...do. Those who can't, teach."
To
corroborate, he said to another guest:
"You're a teacher, Susan. Be
honest. What do you make?"
Susan,
who had a reputation of honesty and
frankness, replied, "You want
to know what I make? "I make
kids work harder than they ever thought
they could."
"I
can make a C+ feel like a Congressional
Medal of Honor and an A- feel like
a slap in the face if the student
did not do his or her very best. I
can make kids sit through 40 minutes
of study hall in absolute silence.
I can make parents tremble in fear
when I call home.
"You
want to know what I make? I make kids
wonder. I make them question. I make
them criticize. I make them apologize
and mean it. I make them write. I
make them read, read, read. I make
them spell definitely beautiful, definitely
beautiful, and definitely beautiful
over and over and over again, until
they will never misspell either one
of those words again. I make them
show all their work in math and hide
it all on their final drafts in English.
"I
make them understand that if you have
the brains, then follow your heart...and
if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you pay them no
attention.
"You
want to know what I make? I make a
difference."
-Shared
through the Internet ~ Author Unknown
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GENERAL MEETING NOTIFICATION
