AEA
New Members
Luncheon
2015-2016
Welcome!
Show of hands:
First time teachers?
1 - 3 years?
4 -10 years?
11 - 20 years?
Member of a union?
Grew up in a union household?
AEA
Representing Arlington teachers continuously since
1927 – 88 years!
Arlington Education Association is proud to be the voice
for teachers on issues like:
 New Educator Evaluation System
 High Expectations for Students
 Professional Standards for Teacher
 Contract and Working Conditions
AEA at Work
There are thousands of organizations in the fields of
education and labor, but only ONE has the primary
purpose of:
O Improving your working conditions, benefits, and
salary
O Representing you and your interests in the workplace
Executive Officers 2015-2016
President: Linda Hanson (K-5 Literacy Coach)
1st Vice President: Siobhan Foley (Grade 3,
Thompson)
2nd Vice President: Liz Higgins (Grade 1, Bishop)
Treasurer: Amy Duke (ACE Program – Ottoson)
Secretary: Valerie Sarazen (Special Education
Program - Arlington High School)
I always
wanted to be
an executive!
Building Representatives
Arlington High School: Moira Byer, Magali Olander, Greg Slawson
Ottoson Middle School: Judy Packer, Juli Keyes, Jason Levy
Bishop: Annette Brubaker
Brackett: Diane Vergnani
Dallin: Jill Connor, Sarah Bedo
Hardy: Ann de Cifuentes, Laura Gregg
Peirce: Laura Goldstein
Stratton: Amy Lees
Thompson: Allie Marsh, Jeanne Hinckley
Preschool: TBD
Take Your Turn!
O Just like with PTO and School Council, ALL
teachers should plan to do a 2 year rotation
as a building representative once you have
achieved PTS – Professional Teacher Status
Communication
O Weekly AEA Updates through home e-mail
O Only one e-mail a week!
AEA Website
Webmaster: Rebecca Bell
www.arlington.massteacher.org
Loaded with Information:
New Member PowerPoint
Contract and Salary
Bylaws
AEF Grant Information
Useful Forms
AEA
#1 Union!!!
www.arlington.massteacher.org
Membership Issues
O Don’t receive MTA card
O Need to update your membership (name
change, return from a leave)
O Link on AEA website
O Val is your gal!
Importance of MTA Card
Your Individual ID# gives you access to:
O MTA Members Only website area
O Take Advantage of MTA Benefits
O On-line Secure Voting
O Activate your card:
www.massteacher.org/benefits
MTA Benefits
Discounts
Active Membership!
12% of members involved in committee work
AEA Committees
O Sick Leave Bank
O Educator Evaluation Committee
O Superintendent’s Advisory Committee
O Negotiation Committee
O Advisory Review Committee
O Grievance Committee
O New Members Committee
This is where the work gets done!!
New Contract
O Ratified 3-Year Contract: 2015-2018
O Pay Scale COLA increases
O 2, 2, 2 (+ additional money on Masters + Steps 12)
O New Elementary Schedule
O M,W,TH,F: 7:55 – 2:30; Tuesday: 8-1 and 1-3 meetings
O 40 minutes additional elementary/80 secondary and PS
Benefits at a Glance
O 15 Sick Days
O 2 Personal Days – use or lose!
O 2+ Professional Days
O Special Education Liaisons and Therapists:
2 days during school year for report writing
etc…
Religious Observation
Absences are allowed for religious holy days
when your religious beliefs require an absence
from school.
O Not deducted from personal/sick days
O Advance notice required (48 hours)
Sick Bank
O For members who have exhausted their own
sick leave and who have a serious illness
O Every member deposits one day in the sick
bank as of first day of employment in APS
O Grant from sick bank of up to 30 days
O Sick Bank Committee in charge of
processing requests according to criteria in
the contract
Other Types of Leave
O Bereavement
O Maternity
O Sabbatical
O Military
O Parenting/Adoption
Details are in the contract. . . . . .
Temporary Absences
O AESOP System for reporting all absences
O Paper “Temporary Absence Form” may or may
not be required, stay tuned …
O Fill out and submit to principal
O 48 hour advance notice except in emergency
O At OMS and AHS, field trips are entered in
AESOP
These Are Sensitive Times
O Maintain professional boundaries at all times
O No rides – no lending your car
O Avoid touching
O No closed door, one-on-one help sessions
O Use school e-mail for professional purposes
only, including communication with students
and parents.
O Use home e-mail for everything else, including
communicating about personnel matters,
association business or political views
Thoughts on
O You are now a public figure!
O Only post what you would want
your grandmother or
superintendent to read/see
O If you plan to set up a student
group, create a new profile and
keep it very businesslike
(athletic teams and school
clubs)
Hazards of Wi-Fi
O All communications from personal devices
that use the district wi-fi network
technically pass through the district
server…
O Use 3G or 4G to circumvent district server
O Right to privacy in personal
communications for a public school
teacher still not settled
O Like it or not, you are a role model!
At the first sign of a problem…
O No “dumb” questions
O Come to the AEA
O Get in touch with your Building Representative
O The sooner the better
O Weingarten Rights: an employee’s right to union
representation at any meeting with the employer
in which misconduct is being discussed or
investigated. Weingarten was the name of the
company in the US Supreme Court decision that
defined these rights. But really, invite a Building
Rep. “buddy” to any meeting for moral support.
Your License – Your
Responsibility
O You can be let go immediately if you let your
teaching license lapse.
O There are no reminders, no second chances.
O KNOW when your license needs to be renewed
and when you need to upgrade it.
O Get in touch with the AEA or Rob Spiegel, HR
Director, with any questions.
Fingerprint Mandate
O ALL new teachers, secretaries, teaching
assistants, interns, etc…
O $35/$55 cost on negotiation list
Arlington Effective Educator
Development System - AEEDS
Key to Success:
O Be Proactive!
O Communicate!
O Advocate!
O Monitor!
O Share!
Key Features
O All teachers will participate in establishing their own
goals with guidance from evaluators
O All teachers will participate in collecting evidence
O More frequent observations with feedback
O Overall goals:
O Increase capacity to meet student needs within a
continuous improvement system
O Provide for continuous growth and individualized
professional development for teachers
No Shame!!
O Don’t be embarrassed about your evaluation!
O Catch and address errors along the way
O Contact a building rep. immediately with any concerns
O Do not wait until the spring
O Formative Assessment in February is an important
check in time
O Ask for specific feedback if a concern is raised:
O What would proficient look like?
O Who can I observe who does this really well?
O Where can I go to learn more about that?
O What are your expectations in this area?
Success!
Make sure you know what success will look like!
Taking Charge of Issues
(or making the best of tough times)
O Health Insurance Reform: GIC + HRA
O Pension Reform: MTA Co-Chaired Committee
O New Mass. Educator Evaluator System
O Student Performance is not a % of your evaluation
O MTA provided extensive guidance in
implementation
What’s an HRA?
Health Reimbursement Account
O All co-pays of $100 or more
reimbursed: Emergency Room, HighTech Imaging, Inpatient/Outpatient
Surgery
O Out of Pocket Cap: $1,000/$2,000
O Forms on APS Website: Health/Dental
Benefits – Health Reimbursement Form
Important GIC Health
Care Information
If you select an HMO Limited Network Plan
through the GIC, you MUST verify EVERY SINGLE
REFERRAL to ensure that the specialist accepts
your GIC HMO plan.
O Don’t take your primary care doctor’s word for it
O Don’t take the specialist office manager’s word for it
O Go online and use the “covered specialists” search
feature in the GIC online plan guides
MTA Leadership
O President: Barbara Madeloni
O Vice President: Janet Anderson
MTA Resources
www.massteacher.org
MTA – Advocating Toolkits

Educator Evaluator

ELL Regulations

Revenue Toolkit

Track Mass. Legislation

Invest in Our Communities

Legislative Scorecard

Budget Spreadsheets
MTA Priority Campaigns
NEA Leadership
www.nea.org
3 million members!
Largest professional organization in the country!
President: Lily Eskelsen Garcia
Vice President: Becky Pringle
Don’t Be a Stranger!
O Arlington Public Schools has a very
collegial working environment
O Talk to your Building Representative
O Our goal is to help you do your best
O If we all work together, we can do
great things!
O Please participate and let us know
what you think and how we can help
AEA is here to help!
E-Mail Policy
O We will sign you up for our weekly AEA
updates unless you direct us not to
O Blind copy
O Effective, efficient way to communicate
MTA Grassroots Political Action
Legislative and Political Action Teams
Mary Cummings, District Coordinator
Val Sarazen, Local Coordinator
MA Teachers are prohibited
from serving on the
Massachusetts Board of Education (BESE).
Please sign our petition today.
MTA Grassroots Political Action
Think of politicians and
appointed officials as students.
They:
disrupt your class with constant testing,
distract you with evaluations, RETELL,
DDMs, etc.,
put your money in charter schools, and
stick their fingers in their ears when you
give advice.
MTA Grassroots Political Action
Teach them!
Know your material.
Present content in narrative form.
Provide lots of verbal and written
prompts.
Be prepared to answer questions.
Collect data about their performance and
share it.
MTA Grassroots Political Action
Involve Community Groups
Help citizens to understand what’s happening to
our schools.
Hear their experiences and concerns about
education.
Encourage them to tell legislators what must be
done.
MTA Grassroots Political Action
Questions so far?
Why Support the AEA/MTA/NEA?
1) Seat at the Table
O Local – Contract, Health Insurance Bargaining
O State – Educator Evaluator System, Pension Reform,
Charter School Policies
O National – RTTT Funding, National Education Policies
2) We Have Your Back!
O Due Process in Disciplinary or Termination Hearings
O Legal Representation and Liability Protection
3) We Save You $$
O MTA Discount Group Life, Home, Auto Insurance and
Mortgage Refinancing and Financial Services
Teacher Voice in
Education Policy
Recent MTA Poll: “When it comes to
improving public schools, whose
opinion do you trust and value most?”
O Teachers: 54%
O Parents of School Age Children: 44%
O Principals and Administrators: 31%
O Business Leaders, such as Bill Gates: 9%
AEA/MTA/NEA
The local, state and national teachers’ organizations
are your opportunity to influence policies and practices
that shape your daily work life and the education field.
AEA-MTA-NEA
O Arlington Education Association – Local Level
O Mass. Teachers Association – State Level
O National Teachers Association – National Level
Full Time Teacher
Part Time (50% or Less)
AEA
$135.50
$67.75
MTA
$489
$244.50
NEA
$185
$104
TOTAL
$809.50
$416.25
Dues Payment Options
1) Payroll Deduction (vast majority)
O Comes out 1st check of every month from
November to June
O Tax Deductible as “Misc. Itemized deduction”
(check December pay stub for calendar year
amount)
2) Cash Payer (small minority)
O Total amount must be paid in full by Dec. 5 (See
Amy)
Condition of Employment
Article XXII Association Security
“…any teacher who is not a member of
the Association in good standing or who does
not make application for membership in the
Association within 30 days following the
ratification of this contract…shall as a
condition of continued employment pay as an
Agency Fee to the Association (MTA and NEA
dues”
Home E-Mail
Please use your HOME E-MAIL on the MTA form
to sign up.
We do not want your school e-mail on this form!
Agency Fee
Union membership is a condition of employment in
the Arlington Public Schools:
AEA/School Committee Contract Article XXII, Section A
Employees have the right to choose to pay an
“agency fee” instead of full union dues. The agency
fee for a full-time Unit A member is about $388.
($135.50 for AEA – optional)
Agency Fee Payer
Not entitled to
O Representation in dismissal/suspension case
O Representation against child abuse case
O Assistance with criminal charges if assaulted at work
O Representation against employment discrimination
O Liability coverage for workplace-related lawsuits
O Ineligible for MTA discount life, auto, travel insurance,
mortgage refinancing, and financial services
Payroll Schedule
O As of July 1, 2012 all new employees are
automatically enrolled in the 21 week payment
plan
O Manage your finances by having an amount
automatically withheld through your bank or the
Arlington Credit Union to tide you over the summer
months
Last, but not least…
MTA Forms & MTAB
O Please don’t leave until you have filled out
your MTA form and taken your MTAB goodie
bag!
NOTE: Cash payers should see Amy Duke (do
not fill out the MTA form)