May 2009

Upcoming events:

PHONE BANKING! We are calling fellow CTA members to support 1A-1F! Contact your action team site rep or Corey Penrose at VHS to get the phones!

• May 13th: Day of the Teacher Event at Chevy’s, 3:30pm (see info below)
• May 15th: Final Layoff Notices deadline
• May 19th: Special Election- DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!!!!
• Late May/Early June: Displaced Teacher Pool (for involuntary transfers)
• May 31st: My last day as VTA President

On June 1st, we will be in VERY capable hands with Larry Baker. He has worked tirelessly for our union as long as I can remember. Please send him a supportive email and commit to help replace 3 board members in November.

If we can change the makeup of the board, we can change what happens in this district for us and for our students.

One latest example of poor choices by the current MAJORITY of the board: 70+ layoff notices are being given out. These could have been avoided with a SIGNIFICANT retirement incentive. Other districts, including Montebello and Woodland, offered 60% of a year’s salary as an incentive. Montebello rescinded all their pink slips in March. Woodland has openings for classroom teachers.

VUSD claims to be in “better shape” than other districts. Why is Healdsburg, a district in qualified status, able to offer 100% year’s salary as an incentive to retire, and VUSD is not?

Bad Choices = Dire Consequences for Teachers, Support Personnel and Students.

VTA is actively recruiting and will be endorsing Board candidates. But our work doesn’t stop there. WE NEED YOU to pledge to help in the campaigns. Larry is heading up this effort and if you want to be more involved you should contact him ASAP.

As I reflect back on the 4 years I have spent as President, we have had a lot of ups and downs. We were able to put some things in the “win” column, including: driving off GENESEA, getting teacher input into pacing guides because of Program Improvement, never taking less than COLA in bargaining, eliminating the need to be in the district 16 years before moving down the salary schedule, and building a sustainable action team. I have always taken the greatest care to do the best for the membership, sometimes involving very difficult choices, and it has been my privilege to represent you. Thank you for trusting me with this important job and good luck to Larry and his team for the next 2 years.

I want to publicly thank the people who have done this work with me: 05-07 Executive Board members, 07-09 Executive Board members, 05-09 Rep Council members, our Bargaining Team, our Grievance Committee, our Action Team and all those who stepped up to do a specific job or committee.

Special thanks to Kent Puddy, Larry Baker, Joanne Baker, and Christine Williams: I relied on you for so much more than you could possibly know. My deepest gratitude from the bottom of my heart.

I am looking forward to full-time teaching next year and focusing on my friends, family, husband and myself for a change! :)

Brenda VTA President 05-09