Mt. Diablo Education Association
2255 Contra Costa Blvd. Suite 202, Pleasant Hill,California, 94523
Office 925-676-4664
Fax 925-676-4442
Laid off Teacher Placements 6/27/09 MDEA Update 5/28/09 On Tuesday night at the Board Meeting it was announced that the district would need to cut nine million of ongoing money this year in order to balance its budget in the three year projections. The Board will start deciding where these additional cuts will come from at next week’s June 2 nd meeting. As you know the district has already made major cuts over the last two years. It’s hard to imagine what we can cut and maintain a quality educational program in Mt. Diablo. We had hoped Measure D would have passed to help cushion this latest hit. Tied to the failure of the State Props to pass and the announced 24 billion dollar hole the State needs to fill, the chances are high that K-12 education will be asked to cut even more beyond the 9 million. What can we do? As I’ve stated many times, if we aren’t political, the politicians will be the ones deciding what happens in our classrooms. The State Legislators will be meeting again to consider the Governor’s proposals and come up with a way to balance a budget. What we are hearing is that they will be only considering an “all cuts” approach. They feel that the Special Election results were a mandate from the voters that they would accept no tax increases. I sent out an email yesterday that countered this argument. We need everyone to get involved now. We need you to contact your local State legislators and tell them an “all cuts” approach is unacceptable. Give them the support to not fold in the upcoming negotiations and to stand up for the valuable services Californias need. We need letters to the editor on the theme that Californians need to make investing in our children a priority. If the Governor is successful in what he is proposing, the damage to our students will be felt for a generations. If the Governor is successful, we will be feeling the consequences in Mt. Diablo as soon as August when we come back for the new year. Please read the paper and listen to the news on our budget crisis, stay informed. Get political and fight for our students and our employees that make a difference in their lives. Locally, we need you to help inform our parents and community of what is happening. The Board needs to hear from them on what the priorities should be. Is class size reduction important? What programs are important to maintain? These decisions will be made at the next Board meeting on June 2 nd. QEIA Survey It you teach at one of our QEIA schools, you should have received a survey from CTA to complete. Please take the time to complete the survey, the deadline has been extended. The information you provide will help guide CTA’s efforts to make QEIA a success for our students and members. Raffle Winners The following members were raffle winners in our PAC contribution drive and Measure D phone banking campaign. Please come by the office to pick up your prize. Call Tanisha @ 676-4664 for directions. Kit Hein CPHS Lydia Fedotoff Peer Coach Myrna Fanucchi Wren Laurie Rogers Shore Acres Norm Flori Riverview Kim Murray Foothill Key Nesbeth BelAir
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| MDEA update 5/19/09 Possibility of August Layoffs I received some questions in regard to the possibility of August lay offs. The Ed Code provides districts with the ability to lay off teachers in August if the State Budget is settled and at least a 2% COLA is not included in the budget. Since the budget was settled in the special session months ago, and it didn’t include a funded 2% COLA, there is the possibility that districts could lay off members by August 15 th. August lay offs have never happened before except in a single district. CTA is going through legal avenues to determine if the ED Code conditions have been met. For example if the Props fail, or even if they don’t, and the State Legislators go back in special session to address the deficit due to the revenue shortfall, does that mean the budget really isn’t settled? We are in uncharted territory on this issue. Because of the uncertainty, and because of the possibility that something may happen, we need contact information for our members during the summer. We have many members’ emails, but not everyone’s. We can’t predict what will happen and can’t give you any odds. When we asked why the district was laying off so many, they mentioned that with the budget uncertainty, they didn’t want to rescind notices and then have to re- notice those teachers again in August, if they are forced to make more massive cuts. I don’t know if teachers whose notice was rescinded, or teachers who didn’t receive notices in March, will be laid off in August. It depends on what happens in the special session, how the district decides to use its stimulus money, and whether they need to make massive cuts to eliminate programs they hadn’t considered before. We are in a terrible time for public education. As soon as we know more, we will inform our members, hence the need for emails. We want to hope for the best, but plan for the worst. A’s Game We can still order tickets for Saturday’s game and tailgate by Wednesday, May 20 th. Call Tanisha immediately at 676-4664. District Provided Sub Days This is a reminder that if you received a final layoff notice you are entitled to two district provided days to look for another job. In order to get the sub code, you need to call Denise Larkin @ 682-8000 ext. 4136. She will explain the procedure. We are asking you to wait until May 26 th to take days, unless you already have an interview set up. You can request the days now though. We are hoping the district will rescind some notices as a result of the election by May 26 th, and you won’t need to go elsewhere. |
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Support the Employees Free Choice Act!Watch the Video and take action. Click on this link to see the video. Click hear to take action. |
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