The Convention was a success. Many newsletters were on display from Middlesex County and just a quick reminder that presidents should have the editors send them in next year so they are eligible to win a camera.
The Communications Tools Workshop on October 24 was also a great success. The next one will be in 2011 so see you then.
Reminder: Everyone should continue reading the publications and visiting the website. Our next committee meeting is December 8.
Our next meeting will be held on Monday, November 16, 2009. We will meet at the CEA office at 4:30 PM. Please notify Cheryl of your attendance. 732-390-5222
After our last workshop, Deborah recommended that we have another workshop on our January meeting date. If you would like to do so, please come prepared witha recommended topic and place. We will need to move fast.
Please come with a suggestion for a restaurant for our holiday meeting in December.
Middlesex County Education Association Membership Chair Report November 19, 2009
The MCEA presented the "XYZ'S of Retirement Workshop" on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at the East Brunswick Chateau. One hundred Middlesex County NJEA members were given information on TPAF and PERS retirement benefits for Board of Education Employees. Also, the Middlesex County Retired Educators' Association was there to recruit members.
UniServ, and Bob Bobik, NJEA Consultant presented the workshop. He provided each participant with a "XYZ'S of Retirement Handbook.
Fall Focus was on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at the Pines Manor in Edison.
Middlesex County Education Association Membership Chair Report November 19, 2009
The Local Presidents and Membership Chairs met on October 7, 2009 at ETTC (Educational Technical Training Center) in East Brunswick for a refresher-training workshop on MARS, an Internet based application provided by NJEA to its affiliates and staff.
This was training to help Local Presidents and Membership Chairs to access various reports such as Local Directory, Local Officers, and Current Month Roster. Also, a report is available that discloses who is not paying membership fees and who are fee payers.
UniServ, and Brian Geoffroy, NJEA Consultant presented the workshop. He provided each participant with a Membership Chairperson Handbook.
Certification, Evaluation, & Tenure Committee October 13, 2009
• Evaluation Code to expire a the end of the year
• Race to the Top Grant Program and NJEA activities – NJEA very vocal about teacher evaluation not being tied to student testing/standardized testing. Pupil progress includes more than tests. Some of the economic stimulus money is directly tied to education. NJEA provided testimony. Comments were submitted. NJEA teleconferenced with state affiliates-focused on the issue of tying testing performance to teacher evaluation and pay. NJEA does not believe in Merit Pay-pay for performance. NJEA will not support anything tied to it. State Association has to sign-off on applications for funds-won’t sign-off if money includes tie-in to evaluation/student performance. NJEA has strong positions on Pay-for-Performance.
• Deadlines for submitting Delegate Assembly reports, informational or with recommendations, all by noon:
November 2009 D.A. – due Monday, Oct. 19, 2009 January 1010 D.A. – due Monday, Nov. 20, 2009 March 2010 D.A. – due Monday, March 1, 2010 May 2010 D.A. – due Monday, April 19, 2010 September 2010 D.A. – due Monday, July 26, 2010
• State Board public meetings/work sessions & testimony sessions for 2009-10 (third Wednesday of the month): July 15, Aug. 19, Sept. 16*, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 16, Jan. 20*, Feb. 17, March 17, April 21, May 19*, June 16 (*Open topic hearing follow meeting/work session).
• Provisional teacher packet and NJDOE notice on issuance of standard certificates – first, brand new, in state, second, out of state, third, additional certifications. *Districts can request from the County an expedited application (District-County-State).
• Regulations that State issues-discussed first, proposal level/vote to publish proposed change in NJ Register, 30-60 days open to public comment, regulations take five-six months to adopt through State process, sometimes Commissioner promulgates regulations without public discussion, State Board level= public process (open forum).
NJEA - Working Conditions Room 210 - Governance Room Thursday, September 24, 2009
The meeting began at 6:03 p.m. with a quorum present.
MINUTES The minutes of the May 18, 2009, meeting were reviewed and approved.
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES Steve provided an update of old issues and an overview of the Corzine campaign and NJEA election-organizing program.
OLD BUSINESS Soldiers’ Protection / Tenure - Chairperson Tirri reviewed the history of the issue dealing with NJ education employees, active duty, and eligibility towards tenure upon return to work. The September 2009 Reporter contained an article on the final outcome of the Committee’s recommendation to the Delegate Assembly regarding tenure protections for soldiers returning from active duty.
The committee reviewed and discussed the current old business items. After discussion, it was suggested that at the next committee meeting, Steve lead the group in an analysis and review of current issues that affect member working conditions with the goal of committee recommendations that will assist local associations.
NEW BUSINESS The committee discussed the new business items as listed, and agreed to include these issues in the analysis/review strategy identified in the review of old business items. A lengthy discussion took place on the great deal of time that is being spent on the amount of paper work that is being sent down to teachers. More and more time is being required to be spent on topics such as: PD, PLC, PLP, Accountability Regulations, High School Graduation Requirements, and High Stake Testing. It is a serious concern that while teachers are expected to deal with these requirements no additional time is given in support of carrying out the additional requirements. It was suggested that a presentation be made to your local PTSO on the things that NEED to be day in the course of one day by a teacher. It was also suggested that a climate survey be conducted in regards to teacher workload.
UPDATES ON LEGAL DECISIONS & OPINIONS There were no legal decisions and opinions for the committee to review.
NJEA VACANCIES The committee was asked to carefully review the announcements in the NJEA Reporter for employment opportunities. The staff contact reminded the committee that employment opportunities can also be found in the “Members Only” section of www.njea.org.
NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be scheduled for sometime in October 2009.
ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:09 p.m
NJEA - Working Conditions Region 12 Conference Room Monday October 26, 2009
The meeting began at 6:00 p.m. with a quorum present.
MINUTES The minutes of September 24, 2009, meeting were reviewed and approved.
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES Criminal Background Check- Still no movement. The Bill is still where in was in June of 2009. May need to go back and start all over again.
Glucagon Billed has been passed and signed into law. In each district a teacher can “Volunteer” to give shots to a diabetic student.
OLD BUSINESS: The discussion continued on working conditions and workload of teachers. Areas of concern were examined. It was suggested for the November meeting that we bring a copy of our local’s contract to examine and discuss current working conditions and teacher workload. . NEW BUSINESS Stimulus money from Washington D.C. will be available. However, certain criteria must be met. One such criterion must be a component of “Merit Pay” must be in included and must tie into students doing well on tests.
There has been a request made by Tim McGrail, Chairperson of ECC for a joint committee study. This request came out of a concern over the loss of programs and services and the loss of staff across the state. Is the ECC concern that NJEA members are being transferred to other job titles or fulfilling multiple job assignments that were previously performed by more than one employee. This trend affects Child Study Teams, Gifted and Talented Programs, Technology/Library programs and other special area staff. This data is believed to exist, as reported by local school districts on NJ School Report cards.
UPDATES ON LEGAL DECISIONS & OPINIONS The committee reviewed a document prepared by Zazzali, Fagella, Nowak, Kleinbaum and Friedman in regards to sick days the H1NI Influenza A Virus.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NJEA VACANCIES Staff Vacancies may be found in the NJEA Reporter.
NEXT MEETING The next meeting will is scheduled for November 23, 2009 at NJEA Headquarters.
ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m. Submitted by: Anthony Tirella
-It has been recommended by the Pensions and Benefits Review Commission that the eligibility requirements be changed from an income of greater than $7500/year to 20 hours/wk.
-It is illegal for any district to offer early retirement incentives. Any such offers must come from the Division of Pensions. You cannot exchange sick days for salary.
-4th quarter and 1st quarter investments (June 30, 2009 – Sep. 30, 2009) are up 5 billion $$ (7 pension funds from all state employees combined). Actuarial reports due out in spring 2010 – will call for full funding by the state. Worst case scenario (no contribution by state, bad return on investments) – approximately 12 years of payments available in the pension fund.
-Law suit against state regarding under funding currently under appeal – concern: even if we win the suit – the funds may be pulled from the dept. of ed. Budget.
-Concerns about the new pension application: you must sign an acknowledgement of terms and conditions
-Warning: when you put your letter of intent to the Division of Pensions, your district is contacted for your salary information. In the past, some teachers would put in their letter of intent (to protect their survivor’s benefits), and then changed their retirement date before the end of the school year. Some districts have put the intent before the school board, forcing teachers to retire. One district has wording in their new contract – school board can only vote on retirements after receipt of a letter of intent from the teacher – not after notification from Trenton.
VOCATIONAL, CAREER, AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEETING Date: October 26, 2009
Attendance: Fran Pfeffer, Associate Director of Government Relations. Michael Ryan Bergen County Susan Michaleski. Camden County Leon Hojegian Retired Robert Murphy Mercer County Rosemary Simmons Middlesex County Edward Yarusinsky Warren County
The meeting was called to order at 6:20 p.m. The minutes of the December 2008 meeting were approved. A motion was made by Michael Ryan and seconded by Leon Hojegian.
The Roles and Responsibilities of the Chairperson and Committee members were discussed by Fran Pfeffer.
All Vocational- Technical County Presidents will be getting a letter asking for recommendations for representation at Vocational Education Committee meetings.
Nine Vocational-Technical School districts were approved to receive grants up to $100,000 each of federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education funds. These funds will be used to develop (CTE) career and technical education programs of study, in one of sixteen career clusters.
SCHOOL CAREER CLUSTER PROGRAM OF STUDY POSTSECONDARY PARTNER(S)
Bergenfield Health Science Nursing Bergen Community College School District and Ramapo College
Egg Harbor Twp. Education and Training Education, Atlantic Cape Community School District General College
Hunterdon County Health Science Health Science, University of Medicine and Vocational School General Dentistry of N.J. (UMDNJ) District
Jackson Twp. Arts, Audio/Video Digital Mass Media Ocean County College School District Technology and Communications
Lakewood Twp. Business Management Business Commerce, Ocean County College School District and Administration General
Morris School Science, Technology, Electrical, Electronic& County College of District Engineering and Communication Engineering Morris Mathematics Technology and CAD
Mercer County Health Science Health Science, Mercer County Vocational School General Community College District
Pemberton Twp. Health Science Health Science, Burlington County School District General College
Warren County Science, Technology, Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Vocational Engineering & General Technology (NJIT) School District Mathematics
Application for Re- approval of programs of study goes to the Department of Education was discussed.
The “Common Core Standards” from the Dept. of Education were discussed. The standards were released this past September. Education officials in all fifty states and the District of Columbia have signed on to develop common standards for Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics. Draft standards are available for review on line. These documents represent the work of educators from K-12 and higher education educators from throughout the country. The website is www.corestandards.org.
The grade-by-grade standards will not be ready until late December or early January. These grade level standards will have to go through a review and adoption process by the State Board of Education before they would apply in New Jersey.
The National Occupational Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) tests that are given to students at the end of the year were discussed.
Future meetings will be held on Mondays as needed. Motion to adjourn: 8:15 PM. Respectfully submitted, Rosemary Simmons
