We hope you’re all having a good week so far and had a pleasant Mother’s Day weekend. We’re excited to see many of you tomorrow at our May membership meeting. Details on how to join are below!
We had another bargaining session with BPS last Monday. Unfortunately, the district celebrated Educator Appreciation Week with more disrespectful contract proposals, after already 8 MONTHS without a contract. Some of the proposals included: forcing paraprofessionals to cover a class at any time; eliminating rights to an interview for paras who work to get a teaching license; and eliminating current supports for inclusion & EL students. It’s clear – BPS is NOT putting students first.
Wear It Wednesdays continue tomorrow as we ask our members to wear your BTU contract buttons and BTU blue to show support for our contract demands and start conversations with colleagues and the larger community about what we are fighting for and why. Our students can’t afford to wait any longer for the proposals we are advocating for and we need BPS to commit to more dates to meet to get this contract done. To learn more about our contract negotiations and what we’re fighting for, visit BTU.org/bargaining! Building reps – make sure to submit photos to photos@btu.org for our social media campaign, too.
Our second-to-last membership meeting of the school year is TOMORROW, Wednesday, May 11 at 4:30 p.m. It will be an in-person meeting with the option to view-only on Zoom. If you will be joining in-person, you do NOT need to register, though, as always, you should bring your BTU card for admittance. (We will have a problem-solving table for those who do not have their card, but you must bring a photo ID or BPS pay stub.)
If you will be joining via Zoom, registration in advance is required to verify BTU membership. We will not be accepting any registrations submitted after 3:30 p.m. as we are navigating this new hybrid model and will not have the bandwidth to support late registrations beyond that time. Additionally, tech support for those who are having trouble joining the meeting will only be available until 5:00 p.m. If you registered before the 3:30 p.m. cut off and are having issues joining the meeting, please email zoom@btu.org and we will assist you in joining.
Please note: ONLY THOSE IN PERSON WILL BE ABLE TO VOTE AND SPEAK and Building Reps must be in-person for the meeting to “count.” Those who are observing the meeting from home will not have access to the Q&A and the chat will not be monitored.
The Executive Board has approved of the attached protocols and rules of order for the May and June In-Person Membership. Upon entering the meeting hall, members will be asked to attest that they do not have COVID-19 symptoms by initialing an official BTU sign-in sheet. Masks are required and there will protocols in place to provide varying levels of comfort, including a masks-only area and mask-break/eating only area. Trespassing is prohibited and in the event that a member becomes unruly during the course of a meeting, Robert’s Rules Section 61 will govern.
May is Asian American and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month!ShareMyLesson has several resources to introduce AANHPI culture and history into your classrooms. Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), the first and only national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, is celebrating this month as well. Consider making a donation as we continue to fight to #StopAAPIHate!
The search for a new superintendent continues, with the job posting closing this week. The Superintendent Search committee continues to meet weekly on Tuesday evenings with two more language-specific forums scheduled as well.
Finally, we were shocked and disheartened last week to read of the leaked draft SCOTUS opinion that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Abortion care is healthcare and reproductive rights are human rights, and we firmly believe that everyone deserves the bodily autonomy that comes with safe, legal abortion care. We understand that this is difficult and scary news and will do all we can to support our educators as we navigate what comes next.