CHTU Updates

Dear Colleagues,

ESEA  - it is the 50^th anniversary of the passing of the legislation originally called the Elementary and Secondary Education Act later known as the test and punish law No Child Left Behind and finally the competitive grants Race to the Top, which determined which states and districts had the best grant writers.  There is a lot I could write about the reauthorization conversations going on in Washington DC right now, but what I find most aggravating is how the original legislation aimed to identify districts and children that needed help.  Today’s logic has turned this around completely to use

Dear Colleagues,

How much time is lost from instruction due to mandated district or state testing?  How much planning time is lost to grading, analyzing, creating, or clerical work related to these tests?  In the past 2 to 3 years the demands being placed on us as teachers have changed drastically.  Tests that do not inform our instruction have taken priority over what we do every day.

Some teachers sent me a log of this lost time for quarter 1.  It is hard to make generalizations from a small sample, but the average lost instructional and planning time was around 28 hours per teacher.  Loss of

ur union has been involved with the formation and ongoing work of the Heights Coalition for Public Education.  In November a few teachers attended the first of three forums titled “The Myth of Failing Public Schools.”  The second forum, scheduled for January 28, is being planned Wednesday afternoon at the main library at 4:30 if you are interested in helping.

If you have not yet added your voice to the Coalition, I urge you to join over 230 community members and teachers who have agreed with the statement below.  If you agree, then add your name to the list at http://chuh.net/coalition.  Our

Dear Colleagues,
Here is an email to have your voice heard in case you did not get an email from OFT president Melissa Cropper about the proposed changes to the K-12 Operating Standard that the state board of education may be voting on next month.
Making these operating standards vague to give districts more control may allow some districts to eliminate some important positions.  What it does it rank some professionals above others based on whether or not a teacher is in a tested area.  This is not acceptable.  Nurses, Social Workers, music and art teachers among others on the list may be very

Dear Colleagues,
1.  There is a TUSH this Friday, November 14 at the Heights Grill (2206 Lee Rd) from 4-6.  Come celebrate Friday with some snacks and cash bar.

2.  Last night the Heights Coalition for Public Education held its first forum, the myth of failing schools.  This morning Dallas Schubert, active parent, alum, and former levy chair sent the letter below to all board members who are in Columbus for a conference.  It is a powerful statement of what the leadership the group will be expecting from the board of education in the future.  Please consider going to the website she mentions

POST CLUTCH

Needless to say, yesterday was not a good day for Ohio’s working families, teachers, and public schools.  Low turnout, discouragement with the top of the ticket, and a lack of commitment and activism by those most negatively impacted by the current state policies all contributed to the dismal results.  What’s next?  The “test and punish” policies directed at teachers and public schools will continue; under-performing  charter schools will continue to operate opaquely with no accountability; there will be no fix to the inadequate and inequitable system of school funding; and we can

Should you retire this year?

To Be Screwed or Not Be Screwed

In talking with members who are in the 55-59 range with less than 30 years I have confirmed on the STRS calculator online that retiring this year will give them a higher percentage than if they retire in the next few years.  This is because folks who are not eligible for a “full retirement” do not get the benefit of the better of the old and new formulas.

As another example, for someone who already has 35 or more years in STRS this year, retiring in two years won’t change the formula of 2.5% per year even though no one working 35 or

Dear Colleagues

I am sure you are all giving 110% to determine “rigorous, but attainable” growth targets for your students.  Many teachers got SLOs back from administration to revise because principals allege that the growth targets are “not rigorous” or don’t have enough students at “passing” by the post-test.  Both of these statements make no sense.  If we had collected several years’ worth of data on lots of our students we could probably make a good estimate of what 7 months growth looks like, but we don’t – it is all complete and utter guesswork.  Unfortunately, 50% of our evaluations

Dear Colleagues,
Below is an email to you from high school social studies teacher and steward Justin Hons, who had an opportunity on Friday to visit strike headquarters for the Reynoldsburg teachers.  He explains what is going on down there.  Here are a few things you can do to support these teachers:
-like their REA facebook page
-send cash or gas cards (we will send a package down if you send them to us).  If a check is easier, then make it out to CHTU and we will buy gas cards.
-send cards of encouragement (again, you can send them through us)
-THIS THURSDAY - wear red in support of the striking