1.     Early notification forms must be turned in to the Human Resources department by February 15 to be eligible for the $1,000 payment agreed to by VTA and the VUSD. 2.      You should notify CalSTRS as soon as possible.  It takes them two to three months to process the paperwork.  If you wait to long, …

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A lot of CTA members assume that their voluntary Disability Insurance coverage from Standard Insurance Company (The Standard) will be automatically reinstated when they return to work from an extended leave of absence. Unfortunately, that may not be the case. Because your Disability Insurance is a voluntary benefit sponsored by CTA, your district may not …

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In seeking reform models, L.A. Unified should be cautious about untested solutions. February 6, 2013 Beware of education miracles. Too often, there’s less there than meets the eye. Remember the extraordinary gains in test scores and lowered dropout rates in Houston schools more than a decade ago? They became the model for the federal No …

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Legislators have been convening in both the regular session and in a special session. Gov. Jerry Brown called the special session to pave the way for enrollment in Covered California, the first-in-the-nation health benefits exchange created to implement the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act (ACA). Covered California is authorized to organize the private insurance market …

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Teachers often feel powerless in the face of the assaults against their profession. Often they are directed to do things that they know are educational malpractice, and they have no choice but to comply. The best way to resist is through collective action, like the testing boycott of the Seattle teachers. One person standing alone …

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