Stand Together for Our Students and Profession
With the election results comes a lot of uncertainty, fear and concern for our students, our communities, public education and for our profession. While in Washington state our momentum towards full funding under McCleary was likely bolstered by the state election results, the president-elect's explicit education agenda largely revolves around vouchers, charters, and privatization.
Our work, then, starts with ensuring that Washington State public schools are fully funded. We continue to work for an education system that is equitable for all of our students. We continue to build alliances with our families and our communities.
The president-elect sought to mobilize voters through appeals to racism and xenophobia. We need to assure our students and our communities we stand with them. We need to not only stand against hate but we need to speak out against it. On
January 16th, we call on all SEA members to join in observing Martin Luther King Day by rallying together with educators in Olympia in the morning, and then marching in the afternoon with our community here in Seattle. More to come!
In solidarity,
Phyllis Campano, SEA President
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FAQ: Elementary Specialists
Q: How many sections can an elementary specialist teach in one or one week?
Our contract sets a limit of 40 sections per week.
Q: How long can the classes be?
Each classroom teacher receives 150 minutes per week of PCP time, or 30 minutes per day. That sets the length of classes at 30 minutes. 40 sections per week at 30 minutes each equals 1200 minutes per week (240 per day).
Q: Can a school have more PCP time?
Yes, but per the contract it will have to pay for more specialist time to cover the additional PCP time.
Q: Do elementary specialists receive passing time? How is that counted?
Yes, elementary specialists must have passing time, per our contract. In virtually all schools there are five minutes allotted for passing time.
Q: What will happen next year with the longer day?
We are meeting with the District to work out some of the remaining details of transitioning to a longer day, but the basics are already in place. There is still a limit of 40 sections per week. The main change is that now there are 165 minutes of PCP time for each classroom teacher per week, or 33 minutes per day.
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Educator Tip by Tommy Rose, Teacher, John Hay Elementary
- Make classroom management easier by assigning each student a number based on last name (alphabetical).
- Place students in line by number (there won't be any "cuts" or students racing to be first)
- Use the numbers instead of names for labeling: cubbies, notebooks, pencil boxes, spots on the carpet, voting ballots, everything!
Do you have a tip for certificated or classified staff? Send them to [email protected].
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> > > QUICK NOTES < < <
5000+ Students Walk Out Over Trump Election. While many of our students are too young to vote, they demonstrated they are deeply concerned about the ascension of Donald Trump to be President. Local photographer Sharon H. Chang documented the protests on her
webpage
(
https://sharonhchang.com/seattle-student-walkout/).
Note: some of the photographed student signage contains words that may not be suitable for all audiences.
Today is the last day of American Education Week! Be sure to acknowledge and appreciate all of your colleagues who our students rely on everyday!
SEA has recommended that SPS adopt a one hour early release on Wednesdays next school year. We believe the District is likely to adopt our recommendation, which reflects our survey results. We agreed in our last contract to begin a weekly one hour early release or late arrival in 2017-18 in order to create time within the day for schools staff to collaborate. Early release on Wednesdays was overwhelmingly the first or second choice of our members of the ten possible options (5 days with either early release or late arrival). Early release was strongly preferred over late arrival in general.
Need some TPEP training? Evidence and Artifact Collection & Formative Assessment are coming up next. See the full list here.
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SICK LEAVE REQUESTS
Please submit your need regarding sick leave via the SEA email below so it can be posted on a future Unity newsletter.
Members can access the shared leave form on the District website (
www.seattleschools.org). Go to the Human Resources section to access "Current Employees" and "Leaves of Absence" to find the form. Forms can be submitted to Monica Menchaca, 206.252.0614 / [email protected], leave department analyst.
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