Edison Township Education Association

E.T.E.A. Update Volume 11, Issue 1 Sept./Oct. 2012

Nov. Nov. 6

Election Day—Vote

Nov. 8-9 NJEA Convention

Nov. 18

Radio City Trip

Nov. 22-23

Thanksgiving

Dec.

Dec. 12

ETEA Holiday Party

Inside this issue:

PRIDE 2

Strategic Planning 2

Health Benefits 3

ProRelCo 3

Social 4

Scholarship 4

PR&R 5

Constitution 5

Education Roundtable 6

Prof. Development 6

Legislative Alert 7

SPOTLIGHT SCHOOL 8-9

Pics 10

Thoughts from the President...Jeff Bowden

Although the hot days of summer have evolved into the cooler days of fall, Edison Schools continue to operate at full steam ahead. Our members are working at peak energy levels in each and every school. It has been rewarding to see your efforts both in the classrooms and the Administrative offices, when meeting with Principals and Associ-ation Representatives.

Many new curricula and initiatives have been introduced in the pre-school, elementary and secondary classrooms again this year. Your herculean efforts to educate your stu-dents and prepare them for life's challenges are deserving of many “Educators of the Year” awards. However, with such a momentous push of initiatives, stress issues amongst members are on the rise. Please remember that without you, the educator, the learning can not be achieved. I implore you to take time each day for yourself, if even for a few minutes, to mentally refresh yourself before engaging in your next objec-tive. Unfortunately, like many private industry fields the education industry does not often foster good health related measures to insure the stability of the working force. Therefore, we must be the guide for our own needs. Later this year, the ETEA will spon-sor stress workshops for our members. I would also recommend participating in Edi-son’s Health Fair scheduled for November 28th from 3PM to 6PM at Woodrow Wilson Middle School.

Upon speaking with staff members many concerns have been raised regarding the vol-ume of work associated with new curriculum initiatives and their infusion into the edu-cational program. Please be advised that the ETEA has worked very hard this year with Dr. O'Malley to resurrect the Building and District Level CCC (Curriculum Coordinating Committee). Building concerns, if not addressed at that level, must be moved to the district level. Minutes of all of your meetings are being passed to ETEA to make sure this invaluable avenue of communication remains open. As professional educators you must have a voice in the process of curricula decisions and how you are expected to deliver this curriculum to your students. The CCC is one such avenue and a voice for you to explore.

This year the ETEA welcomed 88 new staff members to our association. A new member dinner was held in their honor on October 24th. Such a large addition of staff to our lo-cal will once again bring us above the 1500 member mark. I would ask our veteran staff to seek out these new members and educate them on the importance of maintaining a strong association with regards to collective bargaining, legislation changes, and for uni-ty in the organization.

In addition the ETEA sponsored its first tenure celebration on September 28th. Twenty nine members received statutory tenure this year. The ETEA provided a dinner and gift bags for each of the tenured staff. I personally want to thank those who attended and congratulate these members for this achievement.

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Looking forward to November, a presidential election will be in the offing. The ETEA reminds its members how im-portant it is to vote in all elections at the local, state, and national levels. Please take the time to stay informed with the political arena as we should all be aware how new legislation affects our lives. Recent laws for tuition re-imbursement, tenure reform, and mandated medical contributions represent such laws that have had direct finan-cial impacts on you, the member. Your legislative liaisons will be speaking to you at many of the ETEA meetings held at faculty meetings in your schools. Please respect their efforts to keep you informed.

Additionally the NJEA convention will be held in Atlantic City on November 8th and 9th. I noticed that workshops on the McREL's Teacher Evaluation System were being offered. As you might know this is the evaluation system that Edison will be implementing next September in all of its schools. For the record, teachers at John Adams and Woodrow Wilson Middle Schools are piloting these evaluation systems this year under the McREL system.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the hard work that you do in your profession on behalf of the children of Edison Township. These actions continue to make ETEA one of the most respected associ-ations in Middlesex County. With your help and unity let’s strive to bring ETEA to higher levels of respect within the Edison community.

E.T.E.A. Executive Board Communications Co-Chair Editors

President Jeff Bowden Jo Lojun & Jayne Kulyassa

1st Vice President Matt Hrevnak

2nd Vice President Leigh Sabol—Certificated

2nd Vice President Mark Grieco - Non-Certificated E.T.E.A. Website

Treasurer Michele Wenzel www.myetea.org

Secretary Shannon Marasco Webmaster– Stacy Konar

ETEA has PRIDE!

Thank you to all of those who partici-pated in Pink Day! Congratulations to those members who won the Applebee's gift card. November is very busy with PRIDE: First with our Parent-Teacher Conference tables, and then our Cookie Drive for the Edison shelters. Our next Pride meeting is November 16, we will be assembling the cookie platters at the ETEA office.

Many ETEA members have “side” businesses after their teaching day. We are painters, tutors, landscapers, the list is endless. If you would like other members to access your services, please provide your name, business and contact infor-mation (email address or phone number) and we will publish it in the newsletter. This is strictly a members only service. Email your contact infor-mation to the communication co-chairs.

Members Helping Members

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Health Benefits Committee: Chairperson: Judy McQuillan

The Health Benefits Committee is available to help with questions about coverage, change of status, forms available and leaves of absences (personal, medical, maternity, FMLA, etc.). We help the building AR’s write these letters with you when you need assistance. When there is a change in coverage or plans, we study the new information side by side with the old to make certain that the coverage is equal to or better than the existing coverage. If you need help deciphering information about health, prescription or dental benefits we are here to assist you.

Professional Relations Committee (ProRelCo) Matt Hrevnak, ProRelCo Chair

The Professional Relations Committee, also known as ProRelCo, is a special committee which becomes active approximately 1 year prior to the expiration of our Collective Bargain-ing Agreement. The committee is entrusted with determining the needs and desires of our members in negotiations. There are 2 parts to the committee: the Core Committee and the Expanded Committee. The Core committee develops a survey to distribute to our member-ship, which is the 1st step in the preparation of the negotiations process. When the surveys are returned, it is the Core committee which compiles the data and prepares it for presenta-tion to our membership. The Core committee also makes recommendations to the negotiat-ing team. After presenting the compiled statistics to the Expanded Committee, it is now the job of the Expanded Committee, along with the building AR’s, to present the results to the staff in each building.

When a contract is settled, the ProRelCo committee is presented with the changes and terms of the potential new contract; they are then entrusted with presenting to the members in their respective buildings in preparation of ratification of the contract.

If you are interested in the committee, or if you have any potential contract suggestions be-fore the activation of the committee, please feel free to contact me via district e-mail or through the ETEA Office.

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Social Committee

The annual ETEA Hayride is scheduled for Sunday, October 21st. It is one of our more popular events for members with young families and grandchildren.

For those of you going to Convention, MCEA (our county affiliate) hosts a reception on Thursday, Nov 8th at Bally’s. The ETEA will provide you with a “complimentary cocktail” ticket at the event. The party is from 4-6pm in the ballroom on the 6th floor. Look for Michele Wenzel – Social Committee Co-Chair and Treasurer to get your ticket.

Tickets for Radio City are still available. The Date is Sunday, November 18th. Bus leaves ETEA parking lot at 8:15am and returns at 4pm. Contact Shannon Marasco, Social Com-mittee Co-Chair to purchase tickets.

The annual Holiday Party is Wed, Dec 12th at the Pines Manor. Appetizers will be served, the High School Music Department will entertain and a cash bar will be availa-ble for some “holiday cheer.” Hope to see you at all or at least one of these events sponsored by your Association!

Scholarship Committee

The ETEA Scholarship Committee, co-chaired by Jeannie Grogan and Michele Jones, is looking forward to the 2012-13 school year. The committee is responsible for fund-

raising and awarding scholarships to high school seniors. We are proud to offer both JPS and EHS, the following scholarships annually:

$2,000.00 ETEA Scholarship (paid over 4 years)

$500.00 Teaching Scholarship

$500.00 Harriet Milleman Nursing Scholarship

The committee also takes great pride in awarding grants to graduating seniors of

ETEA members.

We held our first tagging fundraiser on Saturday October 13. Thanks to the generosity

of member volunteers, we were able to raise money for the scholarship fund. A very special thank you goes out to: Denise Babst, Rob Civile, Jeri Deakyne, Courtney Hook,

Nancy Loeffler, Jodi Luminiello, and Doreen Prego.

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Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee (PR&R)

Matt Hrevnak, Grievance Chair

The Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee (PR&R), also known as the

Grievance Committee, has the responsibility of enforcing the terms and conditions of

the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The committee also monitors changes in Edu-

cation Laws, Board Policy and Past Practices of the district.

The philosophy of the ETEA has always been to try to cooperatively work on solutions

to problems before they get to the level of Grievance. The first person who should be

contacted with an issue is the building Association Rep. If it is a building-related is-

sue, the rep will meet with the principal or supervisor to try to solve the problem.

Many issues are resolved in this manner through the Pre-Grievance meeting. When

an issue is of a larger scale or cannot be resolved at the building level, it will then be-

come part of the Grievance process, as outlined in our contract. The Grievance Com-

mittee will discuss such issues, develop a strategic plan of action to try to resolve the

issue and, if no resolution is achieved, will file the formal grievance. The committee

will then continue to monitor the stages of the grievance process, gather any infor-

mation to support the grievance and keep our members informed of the progress

through Grievance Report at the monthly AR meeting.

The Grievance Committee holds meetings on the 1st Monday of each month and meets

with the superintendent occasionally, when necessary, during the school year. It is

important that each member knows their contract and the board policies. If a viola-

tion occurs, or if you have a contractual concern, you can speak to your building AR

or reach out to the Grievance Chair and ETEA President.

The Constitutional Review Committee will review and make recommenda-tions to the Representative Council pertaining to any proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws. The com-mittee is currently working on only changes to the Bylaws. The Constitu-tion was updated this past January. Our committee has expanded. Our committee members are Judy Freifeld, Dawn Penny, Jayne Kulyassa, John Gundry and Jerry Campione.

Constitutional Review Committee

The Strategic Planning Committee is a new Spe-cial Committee in ETEA. The purpose of the com-mittee is to facilitate the effective and efficient use of association resources by identifying and prioritiz-ing long range goals, creating strategies to accom-plish those goals, and monitoring the progress to-wards achieving those goals. The goals that have been identified to currently begin working on are passing the budget, electing pro-education mem-bers to the Board of Education and improving the image of the ETEA.

Strategic Planning Committee By Jim Burke

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Education Roundtable

By Leigh Sabol

The ETEA is introducing a new committee that joins together the efforts of some already working com-mittees. The goals and objectives of the new Education Roundtable are to discuss issues within build-ings dealing with contract, policies, and working conditions as well as to promote consistency within buildings and within various levels of the membership. The communication that starts in buildings is brought to Subgroup Meetings. The four Subgroups have been divided into the Elementary Roundtable, the Secondary Roundtable, the Non-Certified Roundtable and the CST Roundtable. One Liaison from each subgroup meets with the Grievance Chairperson (Matt Hrevnak), the Education Roundtable Chairperson (Leigh Sabol), and the ETEA President (Jeff Bowden) to bring the issues dis-cussed at the Subgroup meetings to the attention of the ETEA Leadership. The subgroups will begin meeting towards the end of October. Subgroup meetings will take place three times per year. Please see the myetea.org website for meeting dates and times. If you have an issue in your building you would like to have discussed through the Education Roundtable, please see the Representative from your building. If you would like to be a part of this Committee, please apply through the ETEA website. "The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." -Ralph G. Nichols

ETEA Members Certainly C.A.R.E.!

October 28th is the fifth annual C.A.R.E. Walk at Middlesex County College. As in the past, ETEA members are working within their buildings to raise what they can for this incredibly worthwhile cause. Many buildings are hosting Denim Days and/or Coins for C.A.R.E. collections. Additional ide-as include donations for: pajama days, hat days, paper sneaker displays, silly day, and the sales of pretzels, t-shirts, and other merchandise. C.A.R.E. certainly appreciates how everyone goes above and beyond to assist our local families in need.

For more information about C.A.R.E. and this year’s Walk go to www.edisoncares.com .

Professional Development

Members are reminded to follow the Board policy for Professional Day approval, whether for reim-bursement or for crediting of professional development hours. It is each member’s individual re-sponsibility to maintain records of their own professional development. It is only that which is con-nected to one’s PDP and is documented that can be counted for hours at the end of the year. Please contact Shannon Marasco if you have any questions.

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LEGISLATIVE ALERT!

By Bill Donner

On November 6, 2012, voters will go to the polls to choose the next President of the United States. The future of public education is clearly at stake, for Governor Romney has made a pledge to sign a national right to work law. This is a major plank of the Republican Party, as evi-denced by Gov. Christopher Christie’s statement during the Republican National Convention: During his keynote address, he stated, “They believe in teacher’s unions. We believe in teach-ers.”

Despite the threat of working under a “right-to-work” president, we also face many obstacles in our own state. Not only are we working under new tenure regulations, we are also beginning to work under a new teacher evaluation system. This evaluation system, as part of Gov. Christie’s reform plan, is being piloted at John Adams and Woodrow Wilson Middle Schools. The evalua-tion system will be district-wide during the 2013-2014 school year, and will rate teachers as ei-ther "highly effective", "effective", "partially effective", or "ineffective." After two years of being rated ineffective, the district is mandated to file tenure charges. A tenure hearing is held before an arbitrator, which expedites the process and issues a decision that is binding.

The second provision of this law includes the creation of School Improvement Panels, which need to be in place by February 2013. These panels will be made up of a principal or his/her designee, an assistant or vice-principal, and a teacher. The teacher will be a "person with a demonstrated record of success in the classroom" chosen in consultation with the union. The panel will be responsible for overseeing the mentoring of new teachers and will conduct the evaluations of all teachers. One interesting part is that the teacher member will not be allowed to be part of those evaluations, unless agreed to by the union.

The above changes could be further compounded with the passage of legislation that will in-crease the length of both the school day and the school year. The purpose will be to see if in-creased time in school will positively impact student achievement.

In addition to the legislative measures described above, the New Jersey Department of Educa-tion is attempting to make changes through the regulatory process. The department released the recommendations of the Education Transformation Task Force in September, and will begin to enact these recommendations through new regulations. The recommendations included modifying the 100 hour professional development requirement, allowing K-5 educators to teach K-6 programs, and loosening the certification requirement for school nurses. There were also recommendations in the report to change seniority provisions that were omitted from the tenure/evaluation reform measures.

To combat all of these changes, the Edison Township Education Association’s Legislative Com-mittee will be actively involved at both the state and local level to try and minimize the harmful effect of all of these initiatives on our members. This committee will meet monthly at the ETEA office to discuss legislative initiatives, as well as organize activities to get members involved in the political process.

Please contact the ETEA office if you wish to be involved in this important committee.

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Summer Leadership

MCEA Leadership Retreat

Marie Corfield from the 16th District is

an Assembly Candidate.

This was the first year that Edi-son High students participated

in Pink Day. We collected $187 at lunches and most of

the students joined the staff in wearing pink on the 19th.

ETEA Hayride