Rep Council 1/28

Dear Members,

Just a few quick things tonight--first, I had the wrong date in my last email. Our Rep Council Meeting is Tuesday January 28th. Donna Buckley, our MTA Rep, will join us, and will be meeting with the grievance committee afterwards, so I am going to make a strict effort to keep the agenda items moving along.

Also, I put in a request at MTA for guidance concerning the DESE review next week. Apparently the woman who handles such matters has been very busy, but she promised to send me some helpful information this weekend, and we have a phone conference scheduled for Monday. Keep your eyes out for another email from me with any helpful advice I receive.

And, since some of the DESE review building discussions are happening at the same time as our Rep council meeting--we need members who are not Reps to step up and attend these meetings with DESE. There are definitely strong voices in the WEA, and many of you have been unable to make the commitment to being a Building Rep, so now is your chance! High School members: your meeting with DESE will end just before our Union meeting starts...right downstairs in the IWS room/021. What a perfect opportunity to drop by. As always, the first 10 minutes of the meeting are reserved for members who are not Reps to call to our attention any questions, concerns, or issues they want known.

Lastly, at some point next week your principal should be sending you a link to the Mass TELLS survey. This is an opportunity to share our thoughts on the teaching, learning, and leadership conditions at our schools. Questions pertain to conditions such as class size, discipline, technology, and professional development. As I will explain in my report at the meeting, Dr. Salim has reached out to consultants to perhaps help us create a joint labor-management-school committee problem solving committee. How would a committee such as this know which problems most urgently need to be solved? How will the school councils know which goals should be included in the school improvement plans?  Only schools with at least 50% participation will have their results reported. In 2012 when the survey was last conducted only 2 of our 12 schools (Johnson and Nash) had over 50% respond. Three of our schools had 0 responses. Building Reps, please contact your principal if you do not receive the codes next week. The survey is open now until February 18th.

Thank you!
Mary Lou