I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I enjoyed a week of not thinking about anything particularly serious. I hope you and your family have a relaxing winter break filled with happy memories.

• NCLB-We Did It! We made those calls, flooded Miller and Pelosi’s fax machines and got them to back on reauthorizing NCLB this year. Merit pay is off the table, FOR NOW. As soon as I hear word about NCLB, I will let you know and I’m sure CTA/NEA will have a political plan to influence Congress. Congratulations!
  
  
• Leaves of Absence and CTA membership: if you go out on an unpaid leave, you want to make sure you maintain your VTA/CTA/NEA membership. You could lose access to valuable services if you let your membership lapse (i.e., legal services, auto/home/life/disability insurance). CTA recommends membership category 3A for members who go on a leave of absence. Contact the CTA membership department at 650-552-5278 to arrange for continued membership during your leave.
  
  
• Scholarships from CTA: You can access the scholarships at www.cta.org, but you do need to be registered for the password-protected part of the website. You will need your membership card number to do this. You will also need my signature on the application to confirm that you are a member.
  
  
• Representation: We are in need of an Elementary Director and a Secondary Liaison to VPEF (thank you Sue Rosen for being the Elementary Liaison). Let me know if you are interested. Mathgirl70@earthlink.net
  
  
• Communication: Rep Council voted (THANK YOU) to put together a Communication Committee. This team will put out a newsletter and various other communications. I will be sending out a message from the committee chair, David Billings over district email. Watch for it!