VTA President Moira McSweeney and WHO award winner,  Brenda Hensley!!!!!

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Due to uneasiness in 14-15 enrollment numbers (including the enrollment loss due to the Kairos Charter School) and in the ending balance for 13-14, the District did not want to talk money increases until the fall.

To be better prepared for bargaining, the VTA Bargaining team agreed to open negotiations in August.  Consequently, we will be using the 14-15 Salary Schedules in the contract (Appendix C, Sections A-K), which have the 1.5% one-time increase from 13-14 taken off. These can be found at:

When you click on the correct salary  schedule, click on “13-14 and 14-15 Section _.” The salary schedule highlighted in blue is the 14-15 salary schedule.

Look at the salary for your next step. In many cases, the next step on the 14-15 schedule is LESS money than the previous step on the 13-14 salary schedule.

VTA has the survey data related to bargaining salary increases and other money items and will be using members’ priorities in crafting an initial proposal for the fall.

We wanted to make sure that you were aware that your July and August paychecks will, in many cases, be lower than your June check. We will be working to reverse that ASAP.

He received a “Labor Backbone Award” at the Napa-Solano CLC Spring Fling on Friday at Mare Island.

Corey receiving the award from the Napa-Solano CLC Executive Director Jon Riley, Assemblymember Jim Fraizer and other guests.

A close up of the award, congratulations!!

Mike Thompson addressing the crowd

Thanks to Richard Bammer for the great story!

VTA member David Hawkins, a longtime world history and government teacher at Buckingham Charter Magnet High School was named Vacaville Unified Teacher of the Year.

On this day, the California Day of the Teacher, Dave Hawkins, the 2014 Vacaville Unified Teacher of the Year, is already looking ahead to improving his daily classroom lessons for the coming year.

“I’m constantly assessing what I’m doing — it never ends,” said the Warwick, N.Y., native, a 10th- and 12th-grade modern world history and government teacher at Buckingham Charter Magnet High School. “It’s just being professional.”

He believes this form of self-checking is what led a district panel to tap him as the top VUSD educator this year.

A longtime staff member at the Bella Vista Road campus, he pointed to his “track record” of student achievement, including his students’ solid performances on state assessment tests, as a measure of his effectiveness.

Still, “It’s not all about the grade,” said Hawkins, 50, who is married to a school teacher and the father of five children. “It’s about student growth and confidence, learning to collaborate. It’s really more than about getting good grades.”

To read the rest of the story, please go here: