. . Naugatuck Teachers League

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Knowledge is the Best Protection: Preventing and Responding to Assaults by Students.

May 16th, 2012
Naugatuck High School
Resource Center
4-6pm
CEU’s will be offered

As the demands to address all of a student’s academic and emotional needs have increased, it is vitally important that all teachers are informed of their legal rights and duties related to assaults by students.

In this timely workshop you will learn:

• What preventative actions you should take to protect yourself and your students before an incident occurs.
• What procedures you can and should take int he event you are assaulted by a student.
• Wat actions you are allowed to take under Connecticut law if self-defense is necessary to prevent further injury to yourself or to other staff or students.
• Why it’s important to report any assaults or threats of assaults to your principal – and the reporting requirements of principals if there is an assault.
• What you Association can do to help you take whatever steps are appropriate to protect your rights as an employee, including measures to provide a safter workplace for everyone in the building.
• What safety provisions can be negotiated in you collective bargaining agreement related to student assaults.

CEU’s will be offered

Workshop: 2 hours

Presented by Robin Kaplan-Cho, CEA

URGENT REFORM ALERT

A move to ban collective bargaining for teachers in low-performing schools is picking up steam fast in the State House of Representatives.

It’s urgent that you contact your state representative and ask him/her to oppose Governor Malloy’s proposal that would eliminate your rights and give unprecedented power to the Commissioner of Education so he can:

• ·       take control of Network Schools,
• ·       make teachers reapply for their jobs,
• ·       ban collective bargaining,
• ·       and turn public schools over to third parties, including for-profit companies.

This is critical to ALL teachers—those in both high-performing and low-performing schools.

If union-busters were to get their foots in the door with legislation affecting many urban and rural schools, statutes impacting all schools would soon follow.

With a week left in the session, call your state representative now:

www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/CGAFindLeg.asp

House Democrats  1-800-842-1902 House Republicans  1-800-842-1423

The next couple of weeks the Connecticut General Assembly will be enacting education reform legislation that will dramatically impact students, teachers and education in Connecticut.  As educators we have firsthand knowledge of the issues facing public education in our state and across the nation.  Sure there is room for improvement.  We welcome the opportunity to sit and discuss changes in teacher evaluation, certification and tenure (the issue is really fair dismissal).

How can we have a fair and frank discussion of the issues when Connecticut’s Governor asserts that teachers need only show up for work to earn tenure?  A comment like that does little to open the door to dialogue but rather slams the door in our face.  We are professionals. Education reform should start at the top, how can this governor or any governor that publically belittles teachers lead the crusade of education reform?

On Tuesday, April 24^th & Wednesday, April 25^th teachers from across the state will rally at the Capitol in Hartford. Now is the time to stand up for children, teachers and public education. We have e-mailed, made phone calls sent letters, etc. The time has come to stand tall, side by side with your colleagues, friends & neighbors and let our legislators see the faces of Connecticut teachers and let our voices be heard.  If not us, then who will speak on our behalf? Please, please if necessary,  pack up the kids and bring them along for it is really about children.

It is time for Connecticut Senators and Representatives to fully understand that it is not just about teachers keeping jobs but about public education and our most precious resource our children.  I think too often government officials lose sight of the fact that we are mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers, sisters as well as teachers and taxpayers.  It is time to stop the rhetoric. Change is needed but it should come about through honest discussion. Let the politicians see us and hear our voices.

In New Haven County buses will be available on Wednesday, April 25^th, please go www.CEA.org to register.

If you have any questions please e-mail me macaryg@naugy.net.

Thanks for your help,

George

Vote for Angela Zanett Szantyr for NEA Representative Assembly, Unit G Delegate

Find your ballot in the February/March 2012 CEA Advisor, mailed to your home. To vote, send in your postage paid ballot.

PLEASE VOTE FOR OUR LOCAL VOICE TO BE HEARD IN WASHINGTON AT THE REP ASSEMBLY!

Local Experience:

Senior Building Rep, NHS

• CEA-RA Delegate
• NTL Membership Co-chair
• NTL District Coordinator for NEA Fund for Children & Public Education
• NTL Constitution Revision Committee
• NTL Volunteer for Political Action
• NEA-RA Local Delegate

State Experience

• New Haven County, 2nd Vice Chair
• New Haven County, 1st Vice Chair
• New Haven County, Secretary

CEA

• Co-chair, Membership Training Conference Committee
• Resolutions Committee
• Campaign Worker for CEA Candidates

National Experience

• NEA-RA State Delegate for Unit G – 2003-2011
• Northeast Regional Conference Attendee
• NEA Member of the Italian-American Caucus
• NEA Member of the Special Education Educators Caucus
• NEA Member of the AI-AN Caucus & the GLBT Caucus
• NEA-RAs: State Liaison to Tennessee, Wyoming & Montana

Every day in newspapers, online and on radio and TV, we read and hear about attacks across the country against public education and teachers’ rights. While we know this is a busy time of year, we all need to stand up for public education and our profession.

CEA is holding eight important meetings across Connecticut in January. The subject is a powerful mix of “reform in a forum setting”—thus our title, “Reforums.” The reforums will focus on the issues that are important to you—from evaluation to tenure and everything in between.

You are invited to attend one of these free reforums. Come, share your ideas, and voice your concerns. Hear what we can do—collectively—to make positive changes. Together, we can move our ideas on education reform forward and stand up for our students and ourselves.

Attend one of these free upcoming reforums and find out how you can help Take Back Your Profession. Registration begins at 3:30 pm and the program runs from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

• Wednesday, January 18 — The Spa at the Norwich Inn, Norwich
• Thursday, January 19 — Georgina’s, Bolton
• Monday, January 23 — The Brushmill, Chester
• Tuesday, January 24 — Inn at Woodstock Hill, Woodstock
• Wednesday, January 25 — Rocky Hill Marriott, Rocky Hill
• Thursday, January 26 — Crystal Peak, Winsted
• Monday, January 30 — Trumbull Marriott, Trumbull
• Tuesday, January 31 — Park Central Tavern, Hamden

To register for one of these reforums, click here.

Download the PDF flyer and share it with your colleagues.

All of us at CEA wish you and your family a happy and healthy holiday season.

We look forward to seeing you at a reforum in January.

This is an important message from CEA:

I am writing to make you aware of a retirement issue regarding pre-retirement survivorship benefits that has been problematic recently.   While CEA will be attempting to remedy the issue legislatively, in the meantime it is very important that you understand pre-retirement survivorship benefits.

If an active teacher dies and he/she was eligible for any immediate retirement benefit (i.e., normal, early or proratable – see chart below),  the pre-retirement Plan D survivor benefit is usually the greatest benefit available to a surviving spouse or civil union partner (CUP) since it pays that surviving  spouse or CUP the deceased teacher’s accrued pension (with a slight actuarial reduction) for the rest of the surviving spouse’s or CUP’s life.  However, pre-retirement Plan D is only offered if the surviving spouse or CUP was named as the sole primary beneficiary.  If a person other than the spouse or CUP (or an estate or trust) is named as the primary beneficiary, pre-retirement Plan D will not be offered as a survivorship benefit.  Please note that naming contingent or alternate beneficiaries is fine and does not affect the ability of a spouse or CUP to receive pre-retirement Plan D benefits.

Therefore, it is imperative that you check your annual TRB Member Statement to see who you have listed as the beneficiary at the bottom of the statement.  The last Statement you received is the 2009-10 statement; the 2010-11 statement is being sent from the STRB in the next few weeks. If you need to make a change to your beneficiary designation,  simply download this form:

http://www.ct.gov/trb/lib/trb/formsandpubs/SURV.pdf

In summary, if you are currently eligible for any type of retirement and have a spouse or CUP but have not named him/her as your sole primary beneficiary, you should know that pre-retirement Plan D would not be offered in the event of your death.  Other, less favorable death benefits would apply.  You should review the STRB”s Survivorship Benefits Before Retirement Bulletin for more detailed information.  Here is the link:

http://www.ct.gov/trb/lib/trb/formsandpubs/SURV.pdf

Thank you,

Robyn Kaplan-Cho

Eligibility for an immediate retirement benefit applies if you are:

• ·         Age 55 or older and have 20 or more years (at least 15 must be CT years)
• ·         Any age and have 25 or more years (at least 20 must be CT years)
• ·         Any 60 or older and have at least 10 CT years

After a lengthy and detailed presentation followed by a productive and informative Q&A session the membership that came out to vote overwhelmingly approved the contract that was negotiated by our negotiations team.

A special thanks needs to be given to Marty Deren our UNISERVE Representative,  our co-chairs Andrea Fitzgerald and Vincent Carrano, and the entire negotiations team. They worked tirelessly since last June to make the best contract they could given the difficult economic times it was negotiated in.

The contract will be voted on by the Naugatuck BOE at their Thursday Night meeting. If it is approved by them then it will be sent to the Borough Board to be voted on at their next meeting.

• You must have a photo ID to present so that you may be given a ballot.
• Unfortunately, our present by-laws do not provide for absentee nor proxy voting.

NTL building representatives collected $1,300 in this year’s holiday collection.

The funds collected were given to two noteworthy causes this year.

$700 was given to the Naugatuck Ecumenical Food Bank to support their holiday food supplies.

$600 was given to the local firefighters and police union toy drive to purchase toys for underprivleged children in the Borough of Naugatuck.

NTL President George Macary presenting a $700 Check to Marty-Lee Fenton at the Local Food Bank

NTL President, George Macary presenting a $600 Check to local firefighters and police at the town toy drive.