PCTA ACTION - 8/30/2010

VOLUME XXXVII Number I                                                            August 30, 2010

ELECTION NIGHT VICTORIES

When the Primary Election results were all sorted August 24th, nine of ten PCTA-PESPA PAC endorsed candidates won or moved on to the November 2nd General Election. Terry Krassner, Peggy O’Shea and Linda Lerner were all elected to serve four-year terms on the School Board. Lew Williams received the most votes in the three person race for School Board District 7 and will be on the November 2nd General Election ballot to determine the winner of that seat. The PCTA-PESPA PAC endorsement is highly sought after by School Board candidates. All School Board candidates in this election cycle participated in the endorsement process. Congratulations to Terry, Peggy, Linda and Lew!

In statewide races, Alex Sink won the Democratic primary for Governor and will face Rick Scott in November. Kendrick Meek and Kathy Castor both won their primaries as did Peter Nehr and Darryl Rouson at the local legislative level. These candidates will move on to the November ballot. 

We want to thank all members of the PCTA-PESPA PAC and numerous volunteers who gave countless hours canvassing neighborhoods, calling from our phone banks, and working for our endorsed candidates. Our efforts clearly made the difference in electing candidates who are willing to stand up for public education. We certainly learned through SB 6 that the importance of political advocacy is crucial to our profession. We must stay engaged in our support for our endorsed candidates between now and November! Call PCTA-PESPA to join our growing list of volunteers and political activists.

GOVERNOR CRIST MEETS WITH PCTA & PESPA REPS

PCTA and PESPA Faculty Representatives (FR) received a special visitor at the annual FR School of Instruction on Saturday, August 21. Governor Charlie Crist surprised the reps and was welcomed by a five minute standing ovation as reps cheered, “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie!” Governor Crist gave our Reps a rousing sendoff to a new school year. He thanked members for coming together to ensure his understanding of the destructive and punitive nature of SB 6 and the importance of the Governor’s veto. The Governor’s visit was a grand finale to a day where more than 250 union leaders were trained in empowerment, communications and advocacy.

Earlier that day, PCTA President Kim Black and FEA President Andy Ford welcomed the participants and challenged them to stay involved in their profession and Association. Lee Hedgepeth from the National Education Association also motivated the participants with a humorous presentation of how advocacy and politics are critical to our members’ lives.

The training received rave reviews from your school union representatives. These representatives, your co-workers, are the voice of PCTA in the schools. Each rep was challenged to identify and grow a team of leaders in each school in order to build relationships, improve communications and keep our members involved and informed. Thank your union rep for all of their efforts and time spent on your behalf!

FLORIDA TAPPED FOR RACE TO THE TOP

Florida was a winner in the Race to the Top Phase 2 grant process announced August 24th by the U.S. Department of Education. New York, North Carolina, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio and Rhode Island joined Florida as recipients of the grant. Altogether the grants were in excess of $3 billion with Florida’s award at $700 million over four years.

PCTA President Kim Black and Executive Director Marshall Ogletree joined Governor Crist, Superintendent Janssen and FEA President Andy Ford in addressing the Tampa Bay media at a press conference at St. Petersburg High the following day. Black and Ford served at the request of the Governor on the Working Group which examined the original Race to the Top grant application during April. The Working Group revised the original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) making it acceptable to all represented participants. The support from FEA added 49 more local teacher unions to the 5 who signed the first MOU. The changes in the MOU and the funding allocation from Race to the Top will allow PCTA and other local teacher unions the ability to develop proposals at the local level to help bring additional resources to our struggling schools. The clock is ticking. Frameworks must be presented to the DOE in the next 49 days.

PCTA & PCSB REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

 
PCTA and the District have reached tentative agreement on six critical issues for the 2010-11 school year.  Agreement was reached on the following items:
 
• The agreement reaffirms the step increase and the additional required training day (199th day) for 10-11.
• The agreement contains NO mandatory unpaid leave/furlough days.
• The tentative agreement also establishes a $250 training supplement for 2010-11. The one-time supplement will be paid to teachers in two equal installments next year for specific training completed from a menu of options. Participation will be required in order to receive the supplement.
• The issue of hiring new teachers on a provisional contract at a reduced rate of $100 per day was successfully removed from the table. New teachers will be hired at full pay!
• The agreement established an Early Retirement Incentive Plan. Forty members of the PCTA bargaining unit opted for the plan which provided a taxable incentive of $27,000, $9,000 annually, paid over three yearly installments. The enrollment period ended on August 11th.
• Health insurance for the 2011 calendar year was also agreed upon by all four unions representing district employees.
 
These negotiations took place in an environment of decreasing property tax revenues and a continuing lack of funding from the Legislature. In fact, declining property values impact the referendum funds and resulted in a $168 decrease at each step on the salary schedule. All in all, PCTA believes we accomplished the best package possible avoiding layoffs, furloughs and provisional contracts.

RATIFICATION TIMELINE

August 26th – PCTA Executive Board Recommends Approval to the FR Council
September 2nd – FR Council Votes On Recommendation
September 7th – Ratification Materials in Schools/Worksites
September 13th – Ratification Vote (All PCTA Bargaining Unit Eligible to Vote)
September 14th – School Board Members Act on Ratification

  FINALLY, ASK A CO-WORKER TO JOIN PCTA! MEMBERSHIP PAYS!