CHTU Updates | Cleveland Heights Teachers Union

CHTU Update-March 5, 2019 Lordstown and Summit Academy

Dear Colleagues,

Please wear blue on Friday to support Lordstown. GM wants to close the plant which will devastate the community, including an AFT local of around 40 teachers. Post pictures on social media with #driveithomeohio #savelordstown #savegmlordstown #gminvestinus and/or email to info@driveithome.com

Teachers at Parma's Summit Academy settled their strike after a ratification vote on Friday. We don't know the details of the contract, but they will now have a written agreement. OFT has organized a handful of charter schools because they are not going away; better if they are

CHTU Update - Feb 25, 2019 - This week

Dear Colleagues,

A few reminders:

1) Red T-Shirt pre-orders are due this week. We will be putting an order in on Thursday.

Link here to order you T-Shirt using paypal (LINK)

Link here for the paper order form if using cash or a check (LINK)

2) Tuesday, Feb 26 at 7 pm at the CHUH Main Library on Lee Road. We would like to fill the seats at a meeting called by a Koch funded group that encourages families to use vouchers. We need to send a message that these kinds of groups don't belong here. Vouchers take needed money away from the students we serve. More voucher students equals a harder time

CHTU Update - Febrary 23, 2019 ACTION!

Dear Colleagues,

EdChoice vouchers take millions of dollars from our schools each year. The state recently changed the rules to include the high school in EdChoice eligibility for next school year. We bring in less money from the last levy than goes out in these privatization effort!

A national privatization group is contacting parents to attend an information meeting Tuesday evening at the main library on Lee Road at 7 PM. We want you to show up and fill the seats. Let's talk to parents who want to use these monies. Let's show these outsiders that we are not going to sit by and watch them

CHTU Update - Feb 19, 2019 Parma Strike, Red T-Shirts, TUSH

Dear Colleagues,

Red CHTU T-Shirt pre-orders are still active this week. We have a women's cut, a long sleeve, and a regular unisex T-shirt. Order here for paypal (link), download the order form here (link) for cash/checks.

Save the date - March 1 after professional development for a TUSH at Boss Dog Brewery.

In trying to negotiate their first contract our brothers and sisters of the Summit Academy in Parma have been thwarted at every move. Their working conditions are substandard, promises to students and families go unmet, and staffing levels are so low that teachers are asked to do

CHTU Update - Feb 11, 2019 Pref Forms, Red T's, Book Discussion

Dear Colleagues,

Look for preference forms by February 25. It will be a google form. HR does not have to honor your request, but it is worth making your wishes known.

We are now taking pre-orders for Red CHTU T-Shirts. They will sport the regular CHTU logo in white against a red t-shirt. We have long-sleeves, unisex and a women's cut. Follow the link for the paper form or to pay using paypal.

https://sites.google.com/view/redt-shirtorder/home

60 people attended the first of two Heights Coalition book discussions. Eveyone was very engaged in table discussions. Join us on Wednesday, Feb 13

CHTU Update - February 4, 2019 Book Discussion and Scholarship

Dear Colleagues,

Yes! We might end up working the whole week.

Community Book Discussion - Wednesday

Do you know what Campbell's Law states and why it is important to understand in our testing environment? Join the Heights Coalition and 11 co-sponsoring organizations to discuss The Testing Charade at 7:30 at Wiley. 5 PDU available for each session (Feb 6 and 13).

Get a sneak peak at the discussion guides for February 6 (link)

Check out a quick reference summary of the book by chapter. We still recommend reading the book, but this document might replace your own notes. (link)

Free child care

CHTU Update - January 29, 2019 Calamity Days and Negotiations

Dear Colleagues,

CALAMITY HOURS

I am pretty sure that most people are betting on school being cancelled for Wednesday and Thursday. Regardless, I hope everyone dresses for any weather you need to confront. Additionally, consider having safety provisions in your car for weather related emergencies.

As you all probably recall a few years ago the state of Ohio now measures minimum school in hours instead of days. Each level has different requirements and different amounts of instruction provided. It is all pretty complicated, but it comes down to a few conclusions regarding calamity days:

-Ele

CHTU Update - Jan 17, 2019. Grad credit, MMO cards, negotiations

Dear Colleagues,

Our pilot for the Cleveland Clinic Express Care Online ended December 31. You can still use the service, but it will not be covered by our insurance. At our next insurance committee meeting we will look over the usage and see if it brought down costs for subs and doctor appointments. We may decide to run a little survey as well.

Participation in the Heights Coalition community book group February 6 and 13 will be documented with 5 PDUs per evening. 30 PDUs = 3 CEUs = 1 graduate credit in terms of license renewal. If you want to purchase 1 graduate credit for participation

CHTU Update - Jan 10, 2019 Book Discussion

Dear Colleagues,

The Heights Coalition for Public Education and 11 co-sponsoring organizations will be spending 2 Wednesday evenings (Feb 6 and 13) discussing Daniel Koretz's important book "The Testing Charade: Pretending to Make Schools Better"

For $180 Lake Erie College has agreed to offer 1 hour of graduate credit for participation in the event and submission of an assignment. Additionally, we will be issuing CEUs for participants who want it for license renewal.

Check out the Coalition website (www.chuh.net/coalition/events) for more information, a summary of the chapters, the study

CHTU Update - January 7, 2019

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome back! I hope you had a restful break.

Below is an article that appears in the January 2019 Heights Observer.

In Union,

Ari Klein

CHTU President

ps. Also, along the testing lines, here is a link to the survey results from Grades 1, 2 and 3.(link)

Changing the testing culture

by Ari Klein

CH-UH kindergarten teachers spoke in unison during public comments at the Board of Education (BOE) meeting on Nov. 5. Their concerns ranged from the excessive time spent assessing our young learners to how our current testing of kindergartners is developmentally inappropriate.

One teacher