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Greetings to our Union Brothers and Sisters!
There is so much to be thankful for as we begin 2024!
We have been more intentional about being visible in our community where our students live and play.
As you all should know that our working conditions are our students learning conditions.
There is so much work and advocacy to be done. We as Unit A members of the largest local in Western Massachusetts have begun to get into some “good trouble” together, but there is so much more work that we can become involved in and more that has yet to be birthed. The work is plentiful, yet laborers are few.
As we are approaching bargaining, I ask that each building rep hold 10-minute meetings, at least once a month to keep our members informed. The work of the union takes all of us. Attending Legislative meetings that are held every 2nd Thursday at 4:15 is crucial. It gives us a space to hear and voice our concerns.
ALANA Educators meets every 4th Monday @4:15pm which is another venue to hear from our educators of color and allies to express our thoughts and concerns.
The Bargaining Strategy team meets EVERY Wednesday 4:15pm (permanent location to be confirmed soon).
These are just a few ways to have our collective voices united!! Let us exercise our muscle and not stand by the wayside, expecting the few of us to speak for the majority!
We, the Springfield Education Association are a part of this community, and we are moving into spaces that may not seem normal to some, yet necessary for our students to see that we at the SEA are invested in our community and will fight for them on all levels, not just solving grievances, yet being active participants in the whole child!!
We will be seen and heard as we move forward. The time is now! Our students deserve more than academics and they deserve a well-rounded invested union that can speak for them when it appears no one is listening.
In solidarity,
Tracy Little-Sasanecki MSW
SEA President
STRIKE READY LOCALS WIN MAJOR CONTRACTS
As we write this, 2,000 educators who are members of the Newton teachers Association have settled their strike. They were basically striking over four major issues:
- Fair Cost of Living Adjustment for all Educators
- Living Wage for Para educators
- Social worker in every school
- Humane Paid Family Leave Policy
Those all sound quite familiar.
In the last year, other districts have gone on strike or have been “strike ready” and they won major improvements in their contracts, including paid family leave, cost of living increases above the typical 2% a year, (for example because they were strike ready North Andover won a contract that included 16.5% increase over 4 years, including 6% in the second year; Worcester won a contract that included 15% over 4 years and gave Vocational Instructors Prep time for the first time; Woburn went on strike and won language improvements and a 13.5% increase over 4 years, as did Andover). While we will not be bargaining in regard to paraprofessional issues because they are in a different union, it should be noted that all of those locals also fought for a substantial increase for their paraprofessionals to ensure that they made a livable wage.
The one thing that all these locals had in common that gave them the power to break the pattern of 2% yearly increases was membership participation at all levels - members wore a certain color to work when asked to, showed up as silent reps at bargaining, agreed to be “a communication Liaison” in their building so people knew what was going on in bargaining, attended union meetings in their building for bargaining updates, stood out in front of their schools to show unity, showed up in large numbers to school committee meetings, and either took additional action or were prepared to do so, if and when needed.
If we want to win a contract that we are all proud of, we will need to Stand Up for ourselves and our students.
DELEGATES SOUGHT FOR MTA ANNUAL MEETING AND NEA REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
Massachusetts Teacher Association (MTA) Annual Meeting and the National Education Association Representative Assembly self-nominations will be due on February 15th at 5pm. Please click here to download the self-nomination form.
The MTA Annual Meeting will be held in Springfield on Friday April 26th and Saturday April 27th. The SEA will reimburse delegates up to $64/day for meals. Elected delegates will receive further information.
The Annual Meeting provides an opportunity to experience the union’s democratic process at work. Delegates to the Annual Meeting vote on the budget and resolutions, approve new business items and changes to the bylaws and elect representatives to the MTA Board. This year we will be voting in a new MTA President and Vice President.
Whether you are in your 1st year or 27th year of teaching, all members are welcome to self-nominate. You will find the Annual Meeting to be an opportunity to get to know other SEA members and work to make decisions that will impact both our lives and our students’ lives for years to come.
The NEA Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly
The Representative Assembly (RA) will take place July 3rd to 7th this year in Philadelphia. Delegates are reimbursed for their expenses by the MTA and SEA, with some of the costs paid in advance by the SEA. This is another opportunity to be involved in the democratic process of the union, as delegates elect officers of the union, and debate and decide on issues that impact our work, as educators, on the national level.
The self-nomination form is for the MTA Annual meeting and the NEA RA. You must check the appropriate box on the form to indicate which meeting you are self-nominating for,
DISTRICT SCHOOLS CONTRACT INFORMATION - EXTENDED DAY SCHEDULES AND SCDM
We get a lot of calls from district schools about the scheduling of Extended days whenever there is a vacation, holiday or snow day that requires the Extended Day to be changed, our answer always is that the SCDM team needs to make that decision at the beginning of the year – not the principal on a case-by-case basis. Members are always surprised by the answer. Therefore, we have decided to start making sure that the SCDM teams are able to carry out their roles and responsibilities in district schools (Zone schools have TLTs instead)
SCDM is the acronym for School Centered Decision Making. It is Springfield’s version of School Councils that are required by state law. SCDM language has been in the SEA contract for years but is not being followed in many buildings.
Each year the district sends a letter to principals reminding them about the process for election, as well as the role and responsibility of SCDM. Earlier this year we sent the information to the Building Reps and that email led to several schools realizing that they were not doing their election correctly, nor was the school following the language about SCDM’s roles and responsibilities.
We are including language about SCDM here to remind all SEA members, but especially SCDM team members, of the role and responsibilities of SCDM.
Responsibilities
The Team is responsible for:
A. Recommending policy for the school and for action plans necessary to implement policy. Such plans shall be consistent with law and regulations, School Committee Policy and Collective Bargaining Agreements. The Superintendent and the Association shall review all School Centered Decision-Making Team plans for compliance with Laws and Regulations, School Committee Policy and Collective Bargaining Agreements.
B. Identifying a work plan for developing the SIP and approving the SIP.
C. Identifying the educational needs of students attending the school. Team members must be involved in the diagnosis of student learning needs and the identification of the learning process gaps that are impacting student success.
D. Adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards. Team members must know the curriculum, instruction and assessment practices that are the focus of the SIP and assume leadership for the strategic implementation of each aspect of the SIP.
E. Reviewing the annual school building budget.
F. Planning all faculty meetings and all school-based staff development consistent with the staff development needs identified by the SIP and the principal. The principal shall have the right to put items on the agenda of the faculty meetings unilaterally.
G. Determining the nature of the professional work to be performed during the extended day, as provided in Article 5(K) provided that no school plan for extended day is delayed and exceeds the district’s required deadline for submission.
Decision making process
A. The Team shall strive to reach all decisions on school action plans by consensus. If consensus is not reached, a majority vote will prevail, provided that the principal and more than 60% of the teacher representatives vote with the majority.
Procedures
A. All information (e.g., Superintendent’s Circulars, memoranda) from the Central Office to each school will be sent in sufficient numbers to all Team members.
B. The agenda for each meeting will be set by the Team with input from all constituencies. It will include “speak time” at the beginning of the agenda for persons who are not members of the Team. Further, the agenda will be posted at least five (5) school days in advance and will contain the date, time and location of the meeting. At the end of each meeting, the agenda for the following meeting will be set.
C. Meetings are always open to all staff, parents, interested community members and students.
D. The minutes of all team meetings shall consist of a summary of the agenda items discussed and any decisions made. It shall be posted as soon as practicable but always prior to any regularly scheduled faculty meeting.
E. The Team shall annually select a member to serve as co-chair with the Principal.
In addition, the following operating procedures are recommended:
A. Number and schedule of meetings: a front-end decision about the number and the schedule of meetings will enhance the attendance and participation of SCDM members. Because different schools have different needs and situations, experience has shown it is preferable to allow SCDM Teams and Principals to make their own determinations about the time and frequency of meetings. (However, there should be a minimum of two [2] meetings per month.)
B. Agenda: Simple written agendas keep meetings focused and provide continuity from meeting to meeting.
C. Minutes: Minutes are required by Open Meeting Law and provide continuity from meeting to meeting. Minutes help keep the larger school community informed about the activity of the council.
D. Subcommittees: Subcommittees provide for a division of labor and allow different council members to focus on their areas of interest and expertise.
Teachers will be compensated per the SCDM stipend in APPENDIX B5 per year for service on the Team. Payment of this stipend is contingent on a minimum of 80% attendance. Payment will be made twice yearly. The first half of which is payable in the regular paycheck on or about March 15th and the remaining half in the regular paycheck on or about June 15th. Payment will not be made until a properly completed attendance sheet for the School Council Team is submitted and signed by the principal of the school.”
The actual language in the contract can be found here. There is language in the contract that requires “an annual orientation program for all School Centered Decision-Making members to explain the theory and practice of school-based management teams”. The Team responsible for doing this, is the City-Wide SCDM Team. We have a number of people who have agreed to be on the committee, but we are looking for a chair for that committee who has SCDM experience and is willing to ensure that the committee meets and carries out its contractual responsibility. If you are interested, email SEA at [email protected] and put SCDM in the subject line.
From the desk of Michael Przybylek, the SEA Professional Relations Associate
Hello SEA members! I hope that this new year for you has been exciting and as stress free as possible. I have fully settled in as the Professional Relations Associate and want to update you on bargaining with Springfield Public Schools and major victories we have won thus far this year.
Bargaining Update
Meet the Co-Chairs of the Bargaining team, Michael Przybylek and Dygo Tosa. The Bargaining team consist of eleven educators from various disciplines and grade levels. We have received a plethora of calls recently with questions regarding bargaining. To start, the first bargaining meeting is scheduled to begin after February Break. This initial meeting will involve setting ground rules for negotiations and scheduling of future meetings. These meetings will involve us giving our proposals based on your feedback in the survey and information sent to our office from meetings at our schools.
Since the start of the year, a Bargaining Strategy Team has been meeting to research the issues you all have brought forward so we can create the best proposals possible based on data from within Springfield and similar locals. The current research teams are:
1. Survey Analysis
2. Salary Comparison
3. Pre-K
4. Bargaining Ground Rules
5. Sick/Paid Family Medical Leave
6. Caseload and Related Services
7. Vocational
8. ILS/Deans/Coordinators
9. Stipend Comparison
Bargaining is not just centered around data, it is mostly based on power, the power of our membership. If we come with the full power of our 2500 members, there is nothing we cannot accomplish in these negotiations. Therefore, we are looking to recruit more educators, not just from the district but the Zone as well. We need all members focused on strategy action.
Supporting strategy action can come in two forms. First, we would like to recruit at least one member in each school to be members of the Contract Action Team (CAT). These members will be dedicated to helping us spread information regarding negotiations and organize actions to show solidarity for a fair CBA for SEA members! Please reach out to me at [email protected] if you would like information on how to join this team.
If this seems like too much of a commitment, or your school has a CAT member, it is essential to have many members in Springfield to be silent bargaining members. Silent bargaining members attend negotiations and can speak out with the bargaining team when they caucus. The more members we have who participate as silent bargaining members, the more power we show as a local and the more likely we are to win! Please reach out to us at the SEA to officially guarantee your participation.
Dr. Paula Starnes Court Victory in Criminal Case Filed Against Her
Congratulations to Dr. Paula Starnes on her recent court victory. Dr. Starnes, an experienced Putnam English educator, was the target of a racist and unfair attack on her character through a police report and criminal court complaint that were filed by an administrator claiming she “assaulted the administrator with her eyes” in 2022. After a long and arduous court battle justice prevailed due to her not giving into these attacks and fighting. The case was dismissed once the court viewed the video tape of the incident and saw that the charge had no merit. This is a victory not just for Dr. Starnes, which was well earned, but for the unfair treatment we face as working-class educators in Springfield especially educators of color. The treatment of Dr. Starnes goes to show that we must continue to dismantle systems that continue to perpetuate the criminalization and undervaluing of Black voices. Dr. Starnes was dragged through the court system on a ridiculous claim of assault with her eyes. How this case made it into the halls of justice is deeply concerning.
Investigatory Arbitration Victory and Investigatory Meetings
An educator at a district middle school was suspended because of an investigatory action against him last year by the school administration making claims that he was hostile toward a student. After being voted to go to a state arbitrator by the Grievance Committee and Executive Board of the SEA, we walked away victorious showing that the punishment was not based on any evidence! This educator will be reimbursed for his suspension that was levied against him.
Recently, more educators have been facing investigatory meetings throughout this year. When these meetings happen, some educators will feel nervous, which is natural, but here are a couple of things to understand:
1. While scary, these meetings are to protect our members’ civil rights! While involving Human Resources can seem excessive, it would be worse if the meetings were run in schools, where the SEA might not be privy to them.
2. The letter itself states that discipline can result in termination. This does not mean an educator would be terminated and usually a verbal or written reprimand is the result of such meetings.
3. You always have a right to representation by the SEA through the Public Relation Associate at any meeting to ensure your rights are protected and your voice is heard according to your Weingarten rights.
4. An intent to suspend or terminate, because of these meetings, can be fought and we can overturn with legal action with the Massachusetts Teacher Association (MTA).
We have had numerous investigatory meetings this year and the majority have resulted in the educator receiving minimal punishment (such as a verbal reprimand). Three that have resulted in intent to suspend are currently being fought with support from MTA legal. So, understand no matter how scary this process is, you have representation, and we can fight against unjust punishment if necessary!
Grievance Victory
We would also like to highlight a recent Level 2 grievance victory against a high school in Springfield. The SEA levied a grievance due to administration not following the SCDM expectations in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). This included not sending out an agenda for the meeting, not making the meeting open to all members, and not sharing the minutes from the meeting with all members prior to faculty meetings. As a result of this fight, which included the administration getting Human Resources involved, the SEA was victorious, and administration was forced to follow the CBA requirements of SCDM.
Otherwise, Level 2 grievances or those involving the Professional Relations Associate have been low, so far this school year. The reason for this is the empowering of building reps and them fighting for their members at the building level. So, most grievances have ended at Level 1. As a democratic boots on the ground union, it is essential that we understand that the union is not just one or two people but all of us! Therefore, we are proud that building reps are standing up for our members against policies and actions that threaten their civil rights. Remember, if something seems like a violation of the CBA, go to your building rep, and make the situation right.
I look forward to updating you all monthly on the victories we are making in Springfield and never be afraid to reach out to your reps or myself if you have concerns or questions.
In solidarity,
Michael Przybylek
Professional Relations Associate
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDS
Professional development funds have been depleted for this school year. The Finance Committee is looking at the budget to see if we can allot more money. If that happens, we will let everyone know. Anyone who has already received approval will be reimbursed.
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