Jan 12

Two more conferences/workshops for VEA members

Save the date!

On February 5th and 7th, the CTA Office in Cordelia is offering Retirement Workshops for unit members who are considering retiring in the near future. If interested, contact Lynda Koning at 707-864-0305 to register. Do this ASAP as these workshops tend to fill up fast!

Save the date!

The Redwood Service Center Council (RSCC) is hosting the “Redwood Educators Conference 2013” on April 26 & 27 at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaluma. There is a required deposit of $50 to hold your place, which is returned upon your attendance at the conference. In other words, the conference is FREE!! This deposit covers the cost of the workshops, double occupancy room and meals.

The following sessions will be offered:

  • Human Rights
  • Women’s Issues
  • Ethnic Minority Leadership Development
  • Instruction & Professional Development
  • CalSTRS

    • Registration closes on Friday, March 8, 2013. A registration form will be added to this post later. Contact rscc@cta.org with any questions.

    Jan 06

    VEA’s FAQ on restoration of 2012-13 furlough days

    Right before the holiday break, Christal Watts, President of VEA, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dr. Ramona Bishop, Superintendent of VCUSD. Below is the FAQ that has been developed for VEA members.

    Members will also see the proposed calendar change.  VEA has tentatively scheduled the vote to take place on Monday, January 14th at Jesse Bethel High School from 7 to 3 p.m. From 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., voting will continue for VEA members at our January Social at Chevy’s.

    Questions from VEA members regarding the proposed MOU can be asked at our upcoming Site Rep meeting (open to VEA Site Reps, VEA E-Board members and VEA members only) on Thursday, January 10th at the VHS South Campus. Those wanting to ask questions should expect to arrive no later than 4:15 p.m., in which the floor will be open to answer questions on the MOU and is slated to last for no more than 30 minutes.

    Dec 24

    2012 Holiday Wishes

    Dec 21

    Restoration of Furlough Days

    VEA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the VCUSD restoring all five days that were originally planned as furlough days for the 2012-13 school year. More details will be released regarding the specifics of the restoration language after the holiday break.

    Dec 18

    Website update

    The VEA website has been experiencing issues since last week. It appears these issues have been resolved. We do apologize for the inconvenience to our members and anyone visiting our site.

    We hope that these issues will not occur again and appreciate everyone’s patience.

    Dec 02

    VCUSD seeks to “engage the whole community”

    VEA has reached out to Touro University and to VCUSD School Board member regarding this scheduling conflict. We appreciate the quick response from Touro University and Trustee Mommsen.

    The date was mutually selected by the three parties involved, VCUSD, Touro and Dr. Anthony Muhammad. VEA President, Christal Watts, spoke directly to Touro University and is pleased with their willingness to engage in conversation.

    VEA hopes that as future events are planned that the VEA calendar will be taken into consideration in order to prevent future conflicts. We recognize that not all conflicts can be remedied and hope that the District is willing to work with VEA when that occurs.

    Nov 24

    CTA Conferences

    Looking to get great professional development at no cost to you? CTA’s upcoming conferences are scheduled to begin in early 2013. VEA has made it easier than ever for you to attend. Enhance your teaching, meet colleagues from across the state and learn new strategies!

    Register NOW! Go to CTA Conferences.

    First come, first served with priority given to those VEA members who have never attended a CTA conference before.

    2013 CTA Conferences Flier

    Nov 24

    Bargaining Update: Impact of Prop 30

    The VEA Bargaining Team met with the District’s Bargaining Team on Thursday, November 15th  to discuss the passage of Prop 30. Based on the contingency language in the agreement ratified last year, it appears that we are getting some days restored. We are unable to more specific at this time as the District still needs to meet with CSEA.

    Pay impacted by the furlough days may be restored as early as the February paycheck.

    We hope to have complete clarification on all days restored and the impact on pay by early December.

    VEA Bargaining Team Members:

    Sheila Gradwohl, Chair, Janny Latno, Carol Bishop, Marnee’ McKenzie, Cynthia Davis, Diane Klinge, Leanne Duden

    Nov 24

    Payment on Overages

    If you have had overages since the beginning of the school year, you might want to check your paystub, especially if you are a secondary teacher.

    For secondary teachers (middle school and high school), overages are paid $3.00 per student, per period. For elementary teachers, payment for overages is $15.00 per student, per day.

    The District made a mistake and have paid some secondary teachers $15.00 per student, per period. Please do not assume that if the District made the mistake and does not catch the mistake, you do not have to pay them back when they do catch the mistake. However, the District cannot arbitrarily take the money you owe them out of your paycheck. They need to let you pay back the money and the repayment plan should be one that is mutually acceptable to both the employee and employer. The repayment plan will most likely need to end by the end of the current school year. Most of the time, repayment plans cannot go into the next school year unless it is an extraordinary circumstance.

    If you have a question about your paycheck and a possible overpayment, please contact the Payroll Department at Payroll@vallejo.k12.ca.us and cc to Christal Watts, VEA President at vjoedassn@comcast.net .

    Oct 06

    A special invitation from Diane Ravitch

    Diane Ravitch has a blog post about a special action taking place on October 17th. The basic premise is requesting that teachers, parents and community members concerned about the attacks on public education send letters to the White House.

    From Ravitch’s blog:

    Let’s raise our voices NOW against privatization, against high-stakes testing, against teacher bashing, against profiteering.

    Let’s advocate for policies that are good for students, that truly improve education, that respect the education profession, and that strengthen our democratic system of public education

    If you send a letter, let VEA know. You can include in your letter in the comments below, on our closed or open Facebook page, or send them to Christal Watts at vjoedassn@comcast.net.

    Let’s send a message to the White House that enough damage has been done to public education. The so-called reforms are now the status-quo and we must start doing things differently.