This year, American Education Week is November 18-22. This is a wonderful opportunity to honor public education and to recognize all the work you and your fellow educators are doing to make sure every child receives a quality education.

One way to take part in the annual celebration of American Education Week is to “Raise Your Hand for Student Success.” Take this pledge and show your support for quality public education for all of America’s children. All of our students have a right to an education that prepares them for college and 21st century careers.

NEA has resources and ideas you can use to make American Education Week meaningful and fun. Please help get the word out about the good things happening in our schools and the good people who are making them happen.

Please check out this handout…this is a good one to share with folks at your site.

Do’s and Don’ts for school employees charged with criminal misconduct

Rep Council meeting minutes for Nov. 12

The Rep Council voted on October 22 to establish a VTA Health Care Committee. The role of the committee will be to research alternative options and gather data that will help us make informed decisions about how we provide health care benefits to our members as we move forward. The committee will report to the Executive Board, Rep Council, and membership. It will solicit input from members, and potentially put some choices to a vote that can be implemented through the negotiations’ process.

We are looking for members who represent the various types of coverage we now offer; in lieu of, single subscriber, subscriber plus one, subscriber plus two or more, as well as a range of new to veteran members to serve on the committee. The responsibilities will include approximately one meeting per month plus some additional duties involving research, reporting, survey drafting, compiling of responses etc.

Alyson Brauning, our Vice President, will serve as committee chair. Our goal is to have a committee of approximately six members who represent a mix of the groups listed above. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please email me by November 20th. We plan to have the committee selected and ready to start after the winter break.

We are also looking for members to serve on the Peer Assistance Review (PAR) committee. This would entail just a few meetings with the District to discuss current implementation of PAR and look at current PAR language to see if changes may need to be made through the negotiations’ process. Please let me know if you are interested in working on this committee.

Thank you,

Moira McSweeney