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Before that there is much happening within TEA and much to fill you in on. This is not my union, your union or just the Union...This is OUR UNION! It takes each and everyone one of us. Every thing that is added, whether it be an idea or a full day given to candidates, it all adds up and makes OUR UNION that much stronger and than much better to help as we keep move our organization forward.
Thank you all for what you do on a daily basis for Tustin students. You are not told enough and you all deserve to be told it daily. You ARE AMAZING and you are what makes this district a success. Thank you for your work and your membership!
Here’s the latest from TEA:
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Bargaining - Our bargaining team had their first bargaining date Wednesday, September 25. Our next bargaining date will be Wednesday, October 9th. Please wear our TEA Red to support your bargaining team. If you do not have TEA Red then just wear red and support our team as we work on our first contract portion of negotiations (outside of adjustments last year) in two years. Take a picture of you in red, your site friends and you and red and send it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Bargaining this year will cover the following areas of the contract:
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Wages (Article 4)
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Health and Welfare (Article 6)
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Hours of Employment (Article 5)
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Transfers (Article 8)
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Working Conditions (Article 9)
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Class Size (Article 10)
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Evaluation (Article 11)
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As with past years we will be starting with Health and Welfare due to having a deadline to complete and vote to move forward for the next insurance year.
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Wages - the state COLA is currently coming in at a very small 1% which translates into a negative COLA at the district level once facturing in their increases and costs. The positive is that we are still fortunate to have had 17.53% in raises (what our compounded raise was) over the last three years and there are other items that need are attention that may not be financially related or would hopefully not be related to ongoing monies.
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On Wages - TEA also has made the promise in the past that we would focus on ongoing monies instead of money off schedule so that it would be continue to work in the positive for you (it builds the step and column and adds to retirement) instead of one time monies which is great for a quick addition to wallets, but does not go into your retirement and is that same amount reduction the next year in pay.
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All other areas have items that pertain to them taken from our Interactive Bargaining Surveys we did at the sites and more importantly have been pulled from the 926 conversations we were able to have last year one-on-one with members. Each response was read, several times by different people, and information taken from what was said has been used to help us move forward in negotiations and in our work with the district moving forward.
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Ongoing Conversations with the District:
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All Levels with Concerns from Rep Council - Both sets of directors will be meeting with their levels in October to bring additional items brought forward at the last Rep. Council to their leveled District Office Contacts. Elementary Directors meet with Maggie Villegas and Secondary Directors meet with Chris Matos.
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MOUs - The district and TEA are very aware that we have many MOUs that will need to be signed as a start during bargaining. This has been an ongoing discussion as we move into bargaining. Currently the following items are MOUs that we are interested in making sure are signed:
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Self contained 6th grade at SMA
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TK Special Education agreement from last year
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Elementary 3-5 planning days
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Legacy schedule MOU
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Induction - the agreed upon where the district refunds half of the costs upon completion of the course.
- Changes to Jobs/ expectations It was brought up during our last Rep. Council that some of the support position jobs have changed and that the expectations at the site level are still the same. Many of our changes with push in/ pull out support has either changed or disappeared. Our TOSA's and MLS's are now doing different jobs with expectations while sometimes on sites we are still working through the ideas that our expectations are still the same. I have asked TUSD Ed. Services to explain the changes to sites/ teachers as they happen since those in the TOSA/MLS positions are our peers. They are trying to adjust as well, and they are doing what they have been assigned to do. TEA has asked TUSD to better explain the WHY with the changes and the WHY Behind the models they are choosing. It should not be for us as education peers to decipher, but we should have the communication from above as to why and how this is the working model for this year and what is the end vision for the district with said models (or with the trainings - Tier 1; PLC meetings etc.). If anything is heard or passed on to TEA we will pass it on to membership.
- Elementary:
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Substitutes - TEA is aware that with the change and lessening of itinerant substitutes that teachers are now again being asked to split classes when substitutes do not show up. Please make sure that you are being asked to take a class, that all other resources have been used, or all staff have been asked who could cover the class instead, that you keep track of how many times/ days that this happens so that we may know. And that you put in for the substitute pay.
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If you are TK and you are being asked to take on additional students, this is a problem due to the 24:2 class expectation in Ed. Code. Be aware and make sure that you are not going over the Ed. Code limit text me if that happens ASAP. Substitutes should be found so that you do not go over that limit!
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Middle School:
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Tier 1 - as it pertains to Middle School and days. We have brought it up several times and made it known that members, and TEA, were not happy with the planning of the days and the absence of you from your classrooms.
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High School:
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Special Education:
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Best Practices - we are still pushing every opportunity we can get to make sure that we renew the best practices and work towards more improvements every chance we get. We realize that special ed. Is under represented (not represented) in our current contract and are continually working to try and add this.
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Caseloads/ Classes - Also on our constant watch list is the caseloads vs. classes and who is teaching what classes. Something was sent out to secondary teachers of SAI and SDC to have them fill out so that we can better watch and work from actual data.
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Constant Changes - the changes in who is teaching where (the sped. Shell game) continues and is something we also keep trying to avoid having happen. If you are being moved please keep TEA notified so that we can better map who is moved and when. We know that some last year had to move several times and be at several different sites over short periods of time.
- School Board Elections Matter- Someone reminded me of this yesterday - as educators we are lucky because we have the opportunity to influence who our bosses are through the election process. The school board sets the mood for everything in a district.
- It would be great if EVERY member of TEA gave one hour to help out. The school board is who directs the district bargaining team, decides the direction of the district (policy), approves district budget (everything from raises and insurance to how much sites will get for supplies and basics), staffing, and so much more. OUR Union is asking for your help.
- Our Next Postcard Party - Please join us and fill out some postcards, eat some food, make some new friends and support our endorsed candidates.
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Your Rights During Elections: During elections you are still allowed to share your opinion. While we might not want to sit in the lounge during lunch comparing races at any level, we do still have the first amendment rights to talk about politics during our off duty hours. The following has come up during some of my site visits already so to help out I’m adding it here for everyone to see.
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Political buttons/ clothing - You are allowed to wear political items (think campaign button), during your off hours time (lunch, before and after school). But what is implied is “while you are NOT teaching or working with students”. So, if you are on afterschool duty, you cannot be wearing a button, but if you are in our own classroom, you are allowed. That means if you are wanting to work with TEA, or for any campaign no matter the party, you have that right.
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Bumper stickers/ our cars - A car is your personal property. While it is parked in a school lot, that does not mean that you have to watch what you put on/ in your car nor does it mean that you have to take anything out of your car that is political. We may not agree with our peers' choice of a bumper sticker, but they are allowed to have it on their car. We also are allowed to post signs in our cars as sun shades.
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Working on politics as a TEA member - You are allowed to do work on the TEA campaigns and discuss our work, again, as long as it is on off duty time (not during teaching time) like before and after school, lunch and other breaks, and of course weekends).
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Reality - The bottom line is that you are allowed to have an opinion and you are allowed to share your opinion and do work that aligns with your opinion. We are not allowed to politicize our teaching. In fact it’s best practice if students are still guessing what our political leanings are once they leave our classrooms. If you are social media friends with parents just be cognizant that they may take personal posts on your personal pages and may not be happy. We all have to be aware that we have freedom of speech, but no matter who hears or sees it, as teachers we are not free from any results that happen as it pertains to our free speech.
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Opportunities to Help: TEA is working on our own campaign for each. We have many opportunities for you to come out and help out. I just spent last weekend canvassing. If you don’t like doing that, we have more to do as well. In fact if you like to correct mistakes, I have plenty of things I am typing and sending (maybe even this update) that could be checked over by people with fresh eyes. :0) Scan the QR code or click the picture for the link.
 
Trustee AREA 2 - Bill Pevehouse - newly opened seat currently held by James Laird. Bill is also walking both Saturday’s - Please take a look at his flyer for the days he is walking.
  
Trustee AREA 4 - Jonathan Stone - incumbent - Jonathan is walking and has other opportunities coming up as well.
 
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Contracts and Legal- Please remember that you have many items in Ed. Code and our contract that should help you as it pertains to Admin. And Classroom Rights.
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Member Benefit Services - One of the perks of membership are the benefits that you have access to. So many of us forget that through our state (CTA) and national (NEA) partners we have access to a multitude of resources. You may see some below or check out their webpage HERE.
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THE STANDARD - We have until October 15th for our Open Enrollment campaign. If you would like to sign up and have no questions asked, this is the time. We currently need about 20 more members to sign up to make it work. If you are looking into the future for pregnancy leaves, have any health issues that may make you be out of work, or are just clumsy like me - you may have an increased need for disability insurance. NOW IS THE TIME TO SIGN UP!!!
- There's Still Time to Register: We still have space for the upcoming LOAN FORGIVENESS program being brought to our office by someone who works to help people have loans forgiven daily. Please consider joining us if you currently hold a student loan and would like to have it completely paid off, or help with most of it being paid off. There have been members in California who have had anywhere from $20 thousand dollars upwards to $175 thousand dollars of student debt loan paid off. It would be great if we can get information out and you can learn so that Tustin teachers may also be the lucky ones who have Student Loans Forgiven. Please click the link HERE - or the picture below.
- Legislation -
- The Paid Pregnancy Leave Act (AB 2901) has been held after receiving amendments that would have delayed implementation until 2028 and required allocation in the state budget. The Pregnancy Leave for Educators Act has mobilized members throughout the state, amassed widespread support including a broad coalition of unions and elected leaders, and centered our members’ voices in the capitol and in numerous local and national media stories. The fight continues with a promise from the bill’s author, Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, to bring back the legislation in January.
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Congratulations -
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There were only 74 IFT grants awarded this year (from 400+ submissions) and TEA members Vanessa Zamora and Maura Vaughn at Heideman were one of the lucky grant recipients. They were awarded almost ten thousand dollars to implement a moving, teaching garden at Heideman Elementary. If you would like to see their project and any of the other 73 awarded grants please go to the IFT website
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September is:
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Hispanic Heritage Month:
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Hispanic Heritage Month is not only a time for those of Hispanic and Latino descent to celebrate their cultural roots but also an occasion for people from all backgrounds to learn, appreciate, and celebrate the rich tapestry of Hispanic and Latino cultures. Check out all of the resources on the NEA site, to use in your classroom, or to read and explore for yourself by clicking the link above or HERE.
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The theme for Hispanic Heritage Month in 2024 is "Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together". This theme recognizes the many Hispanic and Latino people who have paved the way for future generations through their leadership, innovation, and dedication to progress.
I'm always happiest when it feels like Fall has finally arrived. Cooler weather with clear bright skies is the best. Last night when attending the TPSF Celebration of Schools it felt like it was starting to kick in. Which makes me happy, but I might have just been on a happy high since getting to hear the numbers and stats of our district during the presentation by Dr. Johnson.
TUSD has always prided itself on their achievements and there always seems to be more achievements each year. Yes, there are years, months, days that seem impossible, but there is also a resilience and determination amongst those of us working here that brings out the excellence on display during programs like the Celebration event.
Each celebratory item comes back to what is happening in our classrooms, on our school sites and it speaks volumes to the excellence that each of you bring to this district. It is more than just the money that is spent (your own you use for your classroom), or the food we feed students (some of which we purchase to have on hand for our students), or the test scores (that many of you help to raise with free afterschool tutoring and extra time with certain students. You are what should be celebrated. Each of the wins by students is a direct win to those that work with them daily and inspire them over their school career in Tustin. You all inspire me and I am thankful to work with each of you!
Have a wonderful rest of your week!
In Unity,
Lisa Hickman, President, Tustin Educators Association
Itinerant Teacher, Heideman Elementary
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