We hope you all had a nice weekend. Thank you to all who joined us in Dorchester on Sunday for the Fair Share Amendment canvass with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley! Our students and communities deserve to access the high-quality public education and safe, reliable public transportation that this initiative will fund! Please be sure to ask your friends, families and colleagues in Massachusetts vote YES on question 1!
There are less than three weeks left before the November midterm elections. In Massachusetts, there are several important races and ballot questions. There are many ways to get involved, to make your vote count and to help get out the vote. Check out the special election bulletin to learn more and please remember to vote Yes on 1 and Yes on 4! We are hosting paid phone banks on Tuesday nights by Zoom. Contact Roberto Jimenez to join.
At our membership meeting last Wednesday, we gave updates on our contract implementation and also asked all building reps to please fill out an important, time-sensitive survey on special education inclusion. Building reps – please be sure to get the survey filled out ASAP! We are still missing responses from many of our schools and need this information as we continue to work with the district to implement the new contract, including Inclusion Planning Teams.
Our annual BTU Fall Conference is this weekend, Oct 21-23 at the Seacrest Beach Hotel in Falmouth! Our goal is to have as many schools and committees represented at this conference as possible. If you are interested in getting more involved and developing your leadership in this union, this is the right opportunity for you! Come to meet new people, to learn from the workshops, and to have a great time. No more hotel rooms are available but you can still register to join for the day. Register today at btu.org/fallconference.
If you are a newly elected Building Rep or you missed the September orientation, you are invited to attend a make-up Building Rep Orientation on November 2 on Zoom.In this orientation, we will review the Building Rep job description, supports offered, and new contract highlights. Please register here for the Zoom link.
Finally, we’re standing in solidarity with the Lawrence Federation of Paraprofessionals the Lawrence Administrative Support Staff Association and educators in Haverhill and Malden in their fights for a living wage, safe working and learning conditions, fully staffed schools, and more. #1u