Thank you to all of our Building Reps and members who have been collecting signatures for the Raise Up Campaign to win paid family medical leave for workers, as well as a higher $15 minimum wage! If you have NOT turned in your signature pages yet, please do so by ASAP! They are due NO LATER THAN THIS FRIDAY, November 17! If you need your pages picked up from your school, please contact Johnny McInnis at jmcinnis@btu.org. We have four days left to hit our goal.

Please be sure to bring completed petitions back to the BTU by THIS FRIDAY!! Feel free to contact Johnny if you would like your petitions picked up. The coalition gathering signatures for $15 and Paid Family Medical Leave is well on its way to putting both on the ballot next year. Let’s do our part and make sure we sign up our members. We only have four days left to reach our goal!

Tips for signature gathering:

  • Recruit a couple of members to spend half an hour before school or after school during drop-off or dismissal to collect signatures from Boston voters!
  • Pass around the signature pages (remember there are two separate pages) before or after a staff meeting or PD to collect signatures from BTU members.
  • Collect signatures at a busy T stop or bus station
  • Collect signatures from BTU members in the morning during sign-in time

Remember, each page can only be for a specific town or city, and signatories must be from registered voters. This is a great way to show the community that we fight for economic justice for all workers!

If every Building Rep can collect at least 10 signatures, we can still meet our goal of 2,000 signatures.

Upcoming BTU Events and Meetings

SEL Committee Meeting: Tuesday, November 14
Please join us from 4:30-6:30 at the BTU. RSVP with Farrah.

Women’s Rights Committee Special Event: Tuesday, November 14
Human Sex Trafficking; The Signs, The Struggles, The Solutions. Join us for a panel discussion featuring experts in the field of sex trafficking. This topic is affecting our students, our classrooms, our schools, and our community! See the flyer.

ELL/SLIFE Committee: Monday, November 20
Please join us at the BTU from 4:30-6:30. The ELL / SLIFE committee is encouraging all EL teachers (SEI/ESL/SLIFE/Content with EL Teachers) to respond to this short survey. Your voice matters in defining concrete next steps and priorities as a committee that is inclusive! We’ll review the survey results and identify solutions at our meeting on the 20th. RSVP with Farah.

NEW! Arts Committee Meeting: Monday, November 20
Are the arts at your school amazing — and you want to tell others? Are the arts in your school subpar — and you would like help advocating for better options? Do you work at a school that doesn’t offer any arts programs — and you’d like to change that? Then join us for our Arts Committee meeting! RSVP with Shanika.

Networking Meet & Greet: All Dorchester, South Boston, and Related Service Providers: Tuesday, November 28
Please join us from 5-7:30 PM at Cesaria Restaurant. See the flyer and RSVP now!

NEW — BTU Parent Event: Conversation Around Inclusion: Tuesday, November 28
Please join us at the BTU on November 28 from 4:30-7 PM for a conversation around inclusion. Download the bilingual (Spanish-English) flyer.

History Committee Meeting: Thursday, November 30
Please join us at the BTU from 5-7 PM. Please email Jonathan to join the committee.

NEW — BTU Contract Forum: Monday, December 4
Please join us at East Boston High School on December 4. All are welcome to give input and ideas on what we should be fighting for in our schools. Download the bilingual (English-Spanish) flyer.

NEW — Committee on Teachers Assigned in SPC Roles: December 7
Please join us from 4:30-6 PM. This meeting is open to ALL members. RSVP to Paul.

NEW — Debt Clinic Social for All Educators: December 11
Are you or a family member one of the 44 million people in the United States with student loan debt? Are you struggling to make monthly payments or worrying about student loans following you throughout your life? Are you tired of getting phone calls from loan servicers, or concerned about how to tell scams from genuine help when it comes to debt forgiveness? If you’ve answered “yes,” you need to attend an AFT Student Debt Clinic! Please join us at the BTU at 4:30 on December 11.Next week we’ll send details about the social! Register today.

Upcoming Community Events

Strategies for Addressing the Achievement Gap in BPS: November 20
On November 20 from 1:30-3:30 join the Harvard Medical School’s Personal Genetics Education Project (pgEd) and BPS’ Office of Opportunity and Achievement Gaps at the Bolling Building. PgEd uses an evidence-based approach to inform participants about advanced genetic research and technologies. Register today.

NEW — Annual Young Worker Conference: December 2
Please join the Greater Boston Labor Council at SEIU1199’s Quincy Union Hall (108 Myrtle Street in Quincy) from 10 AM to 4 PM on Saturday, December 2. This year’s theme is Grabbing the Torch. To register, please fill out this form and return to GBLC. See the flyer for more.

NEW — Education Headliners Breakfast: What Makes a Good School?: December 5
Join EdVestors to discuss a new approach to measuring school quality from 7:30 to 9 AM on Tuesday, December 5 at Hampshire House. Dr. Jack Schneider will share his research findings and discuss his recent book, Beyond Test Scores: A Better Way to Measure School Quality and the work of the newly formed Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment. Joining Dr. Schneider will be Jessica Tang and Donna Muncey, BPS Deputy Superintendent of Strategy for Boston Public Schools. Space is limited! RSVP to Melissa Watton at watton@edvestors.org.

 

NEW: School Site Council Reminders

There are a variety of upcoming School Site Council trainings:

Refreshments served. Contact Caren at ccarew@btu.org with any questions, and register on My Learning Plan. See the flyer for more.