We hope everyone had a wonderful Veterans’ Day weekend! Thank you again to all of our veterans, many of whom are BTU members. Thank you also to our active duty members and families.
It may be a week ahead of Thanksgiving, but we already have more thanks to give:
BTU Political Director Johnny McInnis and newly-reelected At-Large City Councilmember (and former teacher) Annissa Essaibi-George on Election Day last week.
Thank you to our Political Director Johnny McInnis, our COPE committee and everyone who helped out leading up to and on Election Day last week. We are happy to report that all of our endorsed candidates prevailed, and we are proud of the historic election of six women of color to City Council! We look forward to working with all of our Boston elected leaders.
Thank you to all of our Building Reps and members who have been collecting signatures for the Raise Up Campaign, including over this past weekend, 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 ASAP! They are due THIS WEEK! If you need your pages picked up, please contact Johnny McInnis at jmcinnis@btu.org.
Thank you also to everyone who has filled out the contract survey. We are thrilled to report that participation has increased by 600% so far from the last round, but this is your last week to weigh in! Please log into members.btu.org to take the survey if you haven’t already.
Beginning this week we are also rolling out our new community survey for family members, students, and community members. We will be holding several forums for our partners in public education to weigh in as well.
The application for the Collective Bargaining Committee is also still open until next Wednesday. Thank you also to everyone who has participated in the Listening Tour. We are over the halfway mark and look forward to continuing our school visits.
Lastly, there were several noteworthy articles and op-eds last week concerning the role of high stakes testing:
- The Boston Globe reports, “Schools struggle to explain MCAS changes as parents receive scores.”
- Lisa Guisbond wrote an excellent Letter to the Editor of the Bay State Banner, “MCAS test has done nothing to improve school quality.”
- Fox 25 reports on ways the Holliston school district is changing their mindset around the test: MCAS test backlash has local superintendent taking new approach
- And a retired computer teacher wonders in his letter to the editor of the Boston Globe about the impact, especially on young students, of being tested on computers: “Computer interface on MCAS poses obstacles for students.”
Massachusetts can do better, and we will continue our advocacy to create a system where schools are supported, resourced, and focused on the whole child, not just a punitive system based on high stakes tests.
Have a great week!