Vote! First of all, if you have not already, please make sure you vote in Tuesdays election. Every vote does indeed matter. To see the list of MTA endorsed candidates as well as our positions on ballot questions, click here. General Membership Meeting The General Membership Meeting to vote on ratification of the Memorandum of Agreement is tomorrow, Monday, November 2, at 4:15 p.m. While voting on this agreement is open to all members regardless of whether they attend the meeting, we strongly urge you to attend. We will share important updated information at that meeting that does not appear in the presentation materials. There are no changes to the agreement itself, but we will contextualize the agreement in the current city political climate. If you have not yet had a chance to view the presentation and MOA linked below, please do so before the General Membership Meeting. Our opening discussion of the MOA there will be general, after which we will begin questions, answers, and debate.
A narrated PowerPoint Presentation
In addition, I link here to the actual Memorandum of Agreement in PDF If you have not received your registration for the General Membership Meeting, please email Chris Walsh at treasurer@newteach.org by noon on Monday, November 2. Ballots for voting on the tentative agreement will be sent on Monday evening at 6:00 to all members at the email address used for meeting registration. Voting will remain open until 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3. If you do not receive an email to vote, contact Chris Walsh at treasurer@newteach.org by noon on Tuesday, November 3. Voting will begin immediately after the meeting ends. Dates and Deadlines The open enrollment period for Flexible Spending Accounts for 2021 begins tomorrow, November 2, and runs through November 20. The Human Resources Office recently sent out an email. You can also find information about the program on the HR webpage, here. MTA Opportunities NEW! MTA Workshops: Racial Justice is Education Justice! Racism is multi-layered and can be contentious. But silence and inaction reinforce the status quo. Silence communicates to students of color that racism does not matter enough to warrant attention and, by omission, invalidates their experiences, perspectives, identities, and lives. White students, on the other hand, often see racism being accepted and normalized, without acknowledgement or accountability. In this moment of national reckoning, educators have an opportunity to re-envision their approach to instruction in a manner that is relevant to the psycho-emotional development of all students. These interactive workshops will provide educators with tools to increase their critical consciousness and to expand their desire to eliminate the effects of racism and other forms of oppression within our schools and communities. The three workshops are design to inspire dialogue around issues of racial justice in education. Sessions: Shifting from the Mainstream to the Margins: Thursday, Nov. 5 @ 4:00pm Regulate to Respond: How to Handle Offensive Comments: Thursday, Nov. 12 @ 4:00pm What to Do With Whiteness: Thursday, Nov. 19 @ 4:00pm REGISTER HERE MTA Professional Development: New Teacher/Early Career Educators Conference The MTA’s New Member Committee is pleased to announce that the Early Career Educators Conference (ECEC) will be held on Zoom Saturday, November 14, 2020. The ECEC is designed for PK-12 teachers, paraprofessionals and higher education members in their first five years of practice. It presents early career educators with the perfect opportunity to meet with fellow educators and learn how to strengthen their skills. Given the current situation with the pandemic and remote teaching, the New Member Committee has designed a program to support educators through their current challenges. This one-day conference offers ten 45-minute programs, including workshops on technology, racial justice and self-care. The agenda for the day will run from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with a Keynote Session and three workshop sessions. This conference is FREE for MTA members and SEAM members. Find a list of workshops and register here. *************** "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose." Please take care and stay well. Mike Mike Zilles, President Newton Teachers Association