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CVEU Newsletter
October 2018 For many of us at CAVA, we have come to view teaching as defined in the narrow scope of what we do in a blackboard board room, but our contract defines teaching as something greater than this and we should recognize and embrace the definition. Teaching encompasses all the things that we do to encourage the growth and success of our students. This can come in many different forms, such as calling families, providing substantial feedback on a paper or creating assignments that pique our student’s interest. At CAVA we have the unique opportunity to reach our students in ways that brick and mortar students do not experience. In October, think of all the things you do as a teacher outside the blackboard room to reach your students, and post them on our new Members Only Facebook group, CVEU Member Only, because teaching is more than just pushing students into live sessions. CVEU Member Meetings Last Tuesday of the Month The next CVEU member meeting will be held Tuesday, October 30th at 4 PM. Member meetings are held in blackboard. They are not recorded so we encourage all members to attend these meetings to stay informed. https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/meeting.jnlp?sid=559&miuid=ae3de9abda0143aab33971463869bbac Bargaining 2018-19 contract bargaining will begin November 14th. This year CVEU will be reopening the Compensation, Union Rights and Workday articles. We are hoping to start addressing a lot of concerns that have risen regarding these articles. Our amazing new bargaining team will include Janine Burns (CD), Alaina Jones (SPED), Kristin McCaffery (MS) and Brianna Carroll (HS). Work Day Committees Workday committees are well on their way. Teams in middle school, high school, elementary and Community Day are meeting to take a closer look at the new schedule and how it impacts student learning. The purpose of these meetings is to see how we can best support students and meet their needs in the live session format. It is CVEU’s hope that issues regarding scheduling will be resolved in this format so further grievance will not be required. Facebook: Watercooler Closing It has come to our attention that a CAVA teacher was addressed by admin regarding certain posts s/he posted in the Watercooler FB page. To secure teacher privacy we will be shutting down the Watercooler. All current teachers will need to request to join the New CVEU Members Only page ASAP. To join, search “CVEU Members Only” in Facebook and join-please make sure to answer the questions! Although only CAVA employees are admitted to the Watercooler, with high turnover, and other factors, it is difficult to monitor when teachers change their names, get promoted, or what members share with others. This new page will be kept updated from the start. That being said, please be mindful of what you post and as always do not share out information being shared in the Watercooler or in the new CVEU Members Only FB page. The Watercooler has been a great place to connect, share, and vent a bit. However, since cleaning it up would be quite the task, the time has come to create a new page for CVEU members and start fresh! Please request to join our new facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/449635598776355/ Justice for Stacey! Good News! Some of you may remember back in 2014 one of our colleagues, Stacey Preach, was unjustly fired from CAVA. We believed that her termination was solely due to her involvement in leading the movement to unionize. After a long awaited appeal, we are happy to announce that The Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) ruled in favor of the union and found that CAVA unlawfully fired Stacey Preach for her involvement in the Union. CAVA is mandated to post that they will stop retaliating against employees for engaging in protected union activities, and they will no longer deny employee organizations the right to represent their members. Further, CAVA must offer Stacey her job back and pay her back wages from September 2014. CAVA has thirty days in which they can decide to appeal this decision by the full PERB board to the courts. However, the decision in Stacey’s favor was complete and clear. An appeal would just be an effort to delay the inevitable and use resources that should go to the classroom on legal fees. If they were to delay, it would postpone some of the mandates associated with the PERB decision. We encourage each of you to read the full PERB decision found here: https://tinyurl.com/PreachDecision Membership Drive CVEU is holding our fall semester membership drive October 8-24. This semester, we are reaching out to the large amount of new CAVA teachers to join CVEU. How can you help? If you are working with a new CAVA teacher, support them and encourage them to join CVEU. You can share our web page https://cveu.weebly.com/ and assist them in filling out the membership form, share the benefits of being a CVEU member, or tell them about all the awesome work that CVEU has done to make CAVA a better school. Stay tuned for more membership drive updates! CTA NEW Educator Weekend After two successful years of the CTA New Educator Weekend (NEW) conferences (sold out in a few weeks!), the conference is back with new workshops, updated program and additional locations. This year we will have a NEW South and a NEW North. Both conferences are tailored for members in their first three years of teaching. NEW has everything that new educators need in the first years of teaching with sessions and electives concentrating on:
The New Educator Weekend (North) will be held at Hyatt SFO, March 8-10, 2019. Learn more at www.CTAGo.org. If you have any questions or comments please email your rep or [email protected] In Solidarity, California Virtual Educators United In Solidarity, Brianna Carroll, President Sheryl Carruth, VP Amy Koller, Treasurer Melissa Romero, Secretary Michelle Thornburg, Rep Liaison Stacey Mankoff, Membership David Holtom, Insight Liaison CVEU Newsletter
September 2018 With cohort one well underway and cohort two up and running, it has unfortunately been a rough start here at CAVA, but CVEU members have made great strides in coming together to ensure that their voices, and the voices of their students are heard. Teachers across Elementary and Middle School have sent emails and met with principals and directors to express how the new scheduling policy will have a negative impact on student learning. There has also been an amazing turnout at all the school board meetings this quarter, with multiple teachers voicing their concerns about the unilateral changes made over the summer in regards to teaching schedules, reimbursements and more. Teachers have made it very clear, we want what is best for our students and our voice matters. Because of the actions made by teachers we are making movement with the scheduling. I would like to personally thank all the teachers who took the time and were brave enough to stand up for their students. There is still work to do, but we must celebrate the steps we take in making this a school where teachers and students can be successful. Please read over this newsletter for some exciting news about upcoming bargaining, more frequent member meetings, opportunities to ensure your team is heard and a thank you note from Jose’s family. In Solidarity, Brianna Carroll CVEU President Bargaining CVEU Bargaining Committee is happy to announce that we are sunshining our bargaining for the 2018-19 school year. Sunshine gives teachers a chance to make any comments on the proposed articles to be bargained over this school year. CVEU has proposed to start bargaining in middle or end of October. This year’s bargaining team will include, Alaina Jones (SPED), Kristin McCaffery (MS), Janine Burns (CD) and Brianna Carroll (HS). The bargaining team is also supported by the bargaining committee that includes reps from elementary, ELD, intervention, mentor teacher, high school science labs and more. The Caseload Article from last school year will be revisited this year and the first caseload committee meeting will take place September 17, 2018. The committee will be CVEU’s Krisitn McCaffrey and Brianna Carroll, and CAVA will be represented by Amy Maxwell and Angie Covil. At the meeting we will present the information that we gathered from the various departments and we will propose caseload targets for:
CVEU believes that member feedback is essential to an effective union. In an effort to increase feedback and keep our members informed, CVEU will begin holding member meetings the last Tuesday of the month at 4PM. We hope to see you there. Next Member Meeting September 25th at 4 PM Teaching Schedule April Warren has agreed to meet with committees comprised of two CVEU members and two CAVA teachers in the following grade spans K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. CVEU committee members will be nominated by the bargaining committee and E-board, and approved by the rep council. We hope to have members nominated for the various committees by September 18, 2018 and begin committee meetings soon after that. Committees will meet to address how each grade span can create a schedule that best fits the needs of their students and increases success in Math and ELA. Tell the School Board Wow! What a great turn out this month at the school board meetings. Thank you to everyone who shared their concerns with the board members. It’s up to us to make sure they are informed of how the students are being affected by unilateral administrative changes. Board members are in charge of approving or denying policies. We are working hard to obtain contact information for all school board members. Stay tuned for ways you can contact your school board members. CAVA teachers also came and spoke at our sister school IQ board meeting. IQ is facing the same issues as CAVA teachers in implementing the new instructional policy. Teachers from both schools spoke about how the new policies are negatively impacting the students at our schools. Reimbursement Grievances Reimbursement training can be found in Sharepoint>Central Office > Documents under EBER - DataBasics Training. You can also find it here: https://k12inc.sharepoint.com/sites/WR/CMS/Central_Office/Human%20Resources/Shared%20Documents/Expense_Reimbursement/EBER_DataBasics%20Directions.pdf Please make sure you read the policy and submit items for pre-approval if they do not fall under the already approved category. Many teachers have inquired about purchasing an additional monitor. Please submit a K12 tech ticket to request an additional monitor. Administrators have given this advice to teachers and it is CVEU’s hope that K12 will meet the needs of our teachers. Don’t forget to claim your mileage from outings. If you are denied a reimbursement, please email your rep (find your union rep here) the denial and the receipt, and he or she will attend an informal grievance meeting with you and your director/principal. This is the first step in the grievance procedure. Insight Update The Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) validated that Insight Schools have majority support for the union! Insight administration has fifteen days to either recognize the union or contest the decision. On or around Sept 18th, a final decision from PERB legally certifying Insight as part of CVEU should be received. Be a Rep! You get the early scoop on what’s going on and you can be a point of comfort and security for the rest of your team. Reps are only required to attend one meeting per month. Rep meetings are held confidentially through Zoom Meetings and the link is sent to your personal email. Reps are the ones voting for your group on important CVEU decisions. Be sure you are represented fairly! The following are open positions for Reps, please contact [email protected] if you are interested. Positions are filled by RL for general education and by group for specialty teachers. If you see your RL below please email [email protected] and say I can be a rep! Open Rep Positions Shannon Jackson, Connie Wissner, Melissa Truchesess, Jennifer Acevedo, Peterann Kay, Dianne Fernandez, Stephanie Culver, Natalie Ackerman, Raquel Wilkins Track your overages on Caseload Overages will be calculated at the end of each LP to determine if teachers will receive compensation for overages. The following will be used to consider caseload overages:
HS ELA and Math Curriculum Alignment CVEU has recently signed a side letter with CAVA for two high school teachers to meet for one day to work on editing Sumit Math and English to better align with the state standards and meet the needs of our students. We believe this is a positive step that allows teachers to collaborate on important issues with administration. Catastrophic Leave Thank You Jose’s family wanted to send a thank you letter to everyone who helped out by donating to the catastrophic leave bank. Because of your donations this family was able to get through this terrible ordeal without the worry of running out of sick days so they could pay their bills. We truly do have an amazing group of teachers here at CAVA. Thank you for being there for your team in time of need. Cool tips for OLS If a student turns in a blank document to get their overdue notice to "go away,” you can reset by deleting it. Go to Assignments, Click on the assignment they turned in- then check the box next to their name and then hit the 'garbage can' icon on the far right column labeled delete. In doing so you will delete their submission. One thing to note is that until you also give them a "grade" on the assignment it will still show overdue. So as long as you don't publish a grade it should still show as overdue for them until then- so you could also send them feedback to resubmit it and then not give them a grade. The CBA t is posted on Sharepoint under Union Communications. Birthday? Wedding? New baby? If you have any life events that need celebrating, please email Stacey at [email protected]. If you have any questions or comments please email your rep or [email protected] In Solidarity, California Virtual Educators United CVEU Newsletter
August 21, 2018 Welcome back CVEU members! It was nice to connect with many of you at your in-person PD’s. Over the summer CVEU leadership met to help organize an effective strategy to implement the goals of our members and the goals of CVEU leadership. We focused on where to increase communication between leadership and members, have more voices from each department in bargaining this year and one of the most important goals was to give our members the power to enforce the contract. While the grievance procedure is there to offer a formal role in enforcing the contract, there are things we can do as members to ensure that the contract is upheld. Please come to our member meeting for more information. Remember, neither administration nor CVEU has the last word-only the contract does, and we have to ensure that it does by demonstrating strength in solidarity, just like we did in bargaining. Don’t let your rights be ignored. Below is our mission statement that was handed out and voted on during the PD’s. At this point we have received 281 “yes” votes on the mission statement. In Solidarity, Brianna Carroll CVEU President California Virtual Educators United Mission Statement California Virtual Educators United exists to improve the conditions of teaching and learning at our schools by empowering members and students to have a voice in the educational process, advocating for fair and transparent policies for all public education, promoting professional attitudes and ethical conduct, and embracing the unique qualities of our greater learning community. Member Meeting - Tuesday, August 28th @ 4pm Come join us at our beginning of the year member meeting. We will be going over some general union topics and updates and we will then move to break out rooms to delve into specific issues from each department. Start of the Year In-person PD CVEU board members had a chance this year to stop by all the Elementary, Middle School and High School PDs. We also attended the SPED, ELD, 504 Coordinator and School Psychologist PD on the 21st and will attend the Intervention PD in October. This was a great opportunity to not only update members on goals for the union this upcoming school year, but also speak with members about issues that each group is experiencing. We also had the chance for our members to vote on our mission statement. It is important for all our members to have buy in with our mission statement because it will guide us as we move forward as a union. If you did not have a chance to vote or make a comment on our mission statement please email [email protected] and say yes or no to the mission statement and/or provide us with comments. Why Representatives are Important There are a couple RLs and groups that do not have a rep. There are many reasons why having a rep from your team is important.
Have your voice heard and have a rep nominated for CVEU elections this year. Our goal is to have a rep for every team! Grievances Upon initial placement on the new salary schedule last spring, seven CVEU members became increasingly concerned about their placement. These teachers had each taught at CAVA for a period of time, left CAVA, then returned to CAVA. Some of them had less than a 30 day break in service. Unfortunately, Human Resources and CAVA Administration informed our members that they were being placed on the salary schedule based upon their “most recent hire date,” rather than their first hire date. We are disappointed that CAVA did not do the right thing and accept these teacher’s total years of service. Reimbursements Reimbursement information is part of our training and can be found under EBER - DataBasics Training. It is important to remember that reimbursements are meant to pay you back for costs related to your job and are not considered part of your income. Please make sure you read the policy and submit items for pre-approval if they do not fall under the already approved category. Unfortunately, some reimbursement requests are being denied. In one case, a member was told they should have purchased the item last year when they were receiving the “office stipend.” The CBA allows all members up to $3,300 reimbursement for this school year. If your request is denied, please email your request form, along with the email denying your request to: [email protected]. Don’t forget to claim your mileage from the PD - roundtrip! Catastrophic Leave CVEU and Jose’s family would like to say thank you to all the teachers who responded to the request to donate sick time to the catastrophic leave bank. If you have not done so yet please read over Jose’s story and learn more about how you can support fellow teachers in need. Please read more about the 10.9 Catastrophic bank from our contract. A get well card was also sent to Jose and his family from the union. Insight Update As you know, we are in the process of adding Insight educators to CVEU. Currently, the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) is reviewing the petition with their teacher’s signatures. Once it is determined that Insight has a majority of teachers who signed the petition, CVEU will receive word that we are their exclusive representative. While Insight and CAVA educators will together comprise CVEU, each school will have separate contracts. We anticipate Insight will begin negotiating their first contract around October. We would like to welcome Insight Science teacher David Holtom to the CVEU Elected Board. August Membership Corner
Birthday? Wedding? New baby? If you have any life events that need celebrating, please email Stacey at [email protected]. If you have any questions or comments please email your rep or [email protected] In Solidarity, California Virtual Educators United Hi CVEU Members! It’s officially June and Election Day! While graduations and promotions are exciting times for our students, they are mile markers for us as well. The end is near! Please budget your time wisely as we will enjoy a shortened work year as a result of the ratification of our first contract. The last day of work for our members is June 22nd. Member Meeting Wednesday - June 6, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm Come ask questions, learn more about the implementation of the Contract, next year’s bargaining topics and let us know if the contract is being followed in your department Click Here For the Link to the BlackBoard Session Contract in Action If you are thinking of taking a day off remember that you currently have three choices, you can use a sick day, personal leave or vacation. You can use up to 5 days of sick time as personal leave a year and we will no longer accrue any additional vacation time. When taking a day off you may want to consider using your personal leave since you will gain more next year and keep your vacation time for when you need it. To use your sick day on the RTO form instead of vacation write personal leave, and in time star select time off request, and for pay type select sick time. Membership Hello wonderful CVEU members! The countdown is ON and the end of the school year is near! Do you have any big plans for this summer? We would love to hear what you are up to over break and feature your travels and activities in the first CVEU newsletter of the 18-19 school year. Please email [email protected] to tell us about your adventures, both near and far! Pictures are welcome! Stacey has received a few emails regarding membership forms for next year. If you submitted an approved membership form to CVEU during the 17-18 school year, you do NOT need to submit a new form for the 18-19 school year, so cross that off your to-do list! (YAY!) If you have any questions regarding membership, or have any suggestions for member outreach, please reach out to Stacey Mankoff, membership liaison, at [email protected]. Grievance As we begin implementing the new contract, it is important that members know the contract. In the event you are asked to do something that is in violation of the CBA, please let your administrator know which part of the contract has been violated. Members are encouraged to advocate for themselves, their department and their brothers and sisters in CVEU. If the contract continues to be violated, please notify your rep immediately. CVEU reps are being trained to assist members through the grievance process. It is important that any contract violation be reported immediately as there is a strict timeline that must be adhered to when filing a grievance. If you have notified your principal how you would like to spend your flex time and you were denied activities OR If CAVA is implementing a new schedule for next year that changes your workday Click on the link below so we can address these issues https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGuW96wOgKxpNCSoB0n4VmMt12YsMVUNJB2d3_f4p31Z01tA/viewform If you are experiencing issues with salary, incorrect placement on the step or lack of raise please click here so we can start to help you. End of Year Member Survey We have already received over 250 survey responses. If you have not done so yet, please take a few moments to complete the 2017-18 CVEU Member Survey. As you know, CVEU will have the opportunity to re-open three contract articles next year. Make your voice heard by letting us know your top three issues that you would like to see CVEU address at the bargaining table next school year. Thank you for participating. https://tinyurl.com/17-18CVEUEndofYearSurvey 11 Month versus 12 Month pay CVEU leadership is currently working with CAVA to figure out how to best address the issues of uneven pay checks for next year. CAVA has stated that the current distribution of pay is determined by the start and the end of the school year, not the months. This means that teachers will receive their salary in 20 equal pay checks with a smaller paycheck at the beginning and end of the year. To clarify, all teachers will still receive their full salary and we are working with CAVA to create more balance with the distribution of pay. CVEU has requested that we change to either 22 or 24 equal paychecks. Based on the input from teachers, many would prefer to go to 24 equal paychecks so they can receive pay during the summer months and this may be the best solution to this problem. We will be sure to keep our members informed as we work with CAVA to create a solution that works for our members. Janus v. AFSCME The Janus case is an attempt to further rig the system against working people by challenging the constitutionality of fair share fees. The National Right to Work Foundation and other anti-worker groups are backing the case. Remember: The union is only as strong as the totality of its members. When we stand together, we have power. This allows us to bargain better learning and working conditions, good contracts that include pay increases, health care and retirement security. It gives us a seat at the table to negotiate for things that improve the educational opportunities of our students. Groups like the California Teacher Empowerment Network, Choice for Teachers, and Freedom Foundation, funded by billionaire corporate CEOs, are already attacking local chapters in California. They are running drop campaigns and urging members to leave their unions. We can’t let them succeed. Now is the time to stand together; we are always stronger together. If you are contacted by any group offering an alternative to your union membership please forward that email to [email protected] or call your rep! Where Can Members Find Answers? You may be facing an issue that requires input from the union. Or maybe you have a question that isn’t answered in our FAQ’s or by reading through the contract. In these cases, please do not hesitate to reach out to your union rep - https://cveu.weebly.com/contact.html. As members, you are no longer alone! Our CVEU network is here to support you! Please reference the following flow chart in order to get answers or help from CVEU. Questions and Answers Question: I’m not sure that my salary is correct in the email I received from HR, or it doesn’t match what is showing on Insperity? For salary issues that are not resolved please complete this survey and contact your rep right away: https://goo.gl/forms/PE345qJYl5SqDftg1
Question: Who is my CVEU union rep? Answer: You can find your union rep here. Question: Where can I find a copy of the CBA (contract)? Answer: The contract is posted on Sharepoint under Union Communications. Check the recent announcements section. If you have any questions or comments please email your rep or [email protected] In Solidarity, California Virtual Educators United Hi Teachers! May is a joyous month as we can finally say the contract has been approved by all 9 school boards! May is also when we are completing testing, checking off the lists for year-end duties, and helping students finish strong. Testing, although arduous, allows teachers to forge new friendships and connections. We support one another and find strength together. Member Meeting Wednesday - June 6, 2018 4:00pm - 5:00pm Come ask questions and learn more about the implementation of the contract End of Year Member Survey Please take a few moments to complete the 2017-18 CVEU Member Survey. As you know, CVEU will have the opportunity to re-open three contract articles next year. Make your voice heard by letting us know your top three issues that you would like to see CVEU address at the bargaining table next school year. Thank you for participating. https://tinyurl.com/17-18CVEUEndofYearSurvey Calendar The Calendar for the 2018-2019 School Year has changed to reflect an adjusted start date of Friday, Aug. 10 for teachers, with students returning Thursday, Aug. 23. We now have 5 non-student work days in between Semester 1 and Semester 2. This year’s school calendar has also been adjusted following the ratification of our CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). Our new end date for this school year will be June 22nd instead of June 29th. Board Bites Your CVEU Board is continuing to work hard on your behalf! We will be meeting in the summer to focus our energy on what our members need and want. For now, please help us with planning for the next school year by answering our brief End of Year Member Survey. Where Can Members Find Answers? You may be facing an issue that requires input from the union. Or maybe you have a question that isn’t answered in our FAQ’s or by reading through the contract. In these cases, please do not hesitate to reach out to your union rep - https://cveu.weebly.com/contact.html. As members, you are no longer alone! Our CVEU network is here to support you! Please reference the following flow chart in order to get answers or help from CVEU. Fixed vs Flex Teaching Hours You may have a question regarding the new definition of teaching hours according to our newly ratified CBA. Now that the contract is in place, you have the freedom to decide whether or not to reduce the number of live teaching hours. As professionals, we know what our students need and we now have the freedom to decide how best to arrange the time spent supporting them. Fixed hours are spent in live sessions online with direct instruction, many departments will have a schedule they ask teachers to follow for fixed teaching hours. This is most of what you probably already do with your live teaching hours in Blackboard. The contract outlines the minimum amount of hours required for each grade span for teachers with Homeroom students. Flex teaching hours are a little harder to define. These include any task which directly supports student learning. These hours can be spent online in live sessions or can be pre-recorded session which provide instruction. They can be spent supporting families through phone calls or emails where students are supported or by providing meaningful feedback on assignments. There are many possibilities. If you’re not sure whether an activity would qualify under flex hours, ask yourself this question, “Will my students be supported in their learning through this activity?” If the answer is yes, chances are good that it will qualify as flex hours. Here’s a visual aid to help you determine the difference in those teaching hours. For members without homeroom students, your hours will also be a mixture of fixed and flex hours because according to the contract (Workday 11.3), your 25 hours of support each week will be a mixture of direct student support through, a version of GE fixed hours, and asynchronous support (flex time). Special Ed teachers will also be able to include IEP prep, attendance, and student assessment as part of their flex time. A clearer picture of what this means for your specific department is in the works and should be available to you by next school year. If you’ve decided to alter your teaching schedule to accommodate for more flex hours, please follow this procedure; Process for changing teaching hours
Questions and Answers Question: I’m not sure that my salary is correct in the email I received from HR, or it doesn’t match what is showing on Insperity? For salary issues that are not resolved please complete this survey and contact your rep right away: https://goo.gl/forms/PE345qJYl5SqDftg1
Question: How does retro pay work? Answer: Find how much you will be making this year on the salary schedule (teacher salary schedule) (Support Salary schedule) then minus how much you are making now. There are a few caveats, your stipend is not included in your current pay and they will only be looking at the salary you have accumulated this year compared to the salary you should have accumulated this year, also taxes will be applied. You will then get that in two checks, one soon after we ratify the contract and another at the end of the school year. We do not have exact dates for this at the moment. Step one is to approve the contract! Question: When is the last day of school? Answer: June 22, 2018 is the last day of school this year for teachers. Question: Will the shortened year effect the frequencies in which we receive checks? Answer: No, we will still receive 22 paychecks, two every month with the exception on July. Insperity has a program that can help you set aside money for the month of July too. Question: Who is my CVEU union rep? Answer: You can find your union rep here. Question: Where can I find a copy of the CBA (contract)? Answer: The contract is posted on SharePoint under Union Communications. Check the recent announcements section. If you have any questions or comments please email your rep or [email protected] In Solidarity, California Virtual Educators United New meeting for those who were unable to log into 4/12/18 meeting: - CVEU member meeting – Learn More about the recently agreed upon Caseloads Article, Contract ratification and ask questions Time: Apr 16, 2018 4:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) · https://lms.k12.com/lms/go/classConnect/PJ3JAJCJMJVJAJ0-5JMJGJCJ2JHJD-P-R-E909I99-G9097-T9HJIJOJMJR-HJ9J3KUJ3JF9B-V-3-W-P-P-E-O9IJGJPJ8JQ-IJP-7JJJQJ0JBJDJR-5-3-I97---2989J-894-H9E929 Members Only Meeting We will be holding a member meeting on Thursday, April 12th at 4pm. We hope to see you all there. We will be talking about caseloads, membership, and ratification. CVEU member meeting – Learn More about the recently agreed upon Caseloads Article, Contract ratification and ask questions Time: Apr 12, 2018 4:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) · Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/539340289 · Or iPhone one-tap : US: +16699006833,,539340289# or +14086380968,,539340289# · Or Telephone: US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 408 638 0968 or +1 646 876 9923 or +1 888 683 5204 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 539 340 289 As you may have heard, we have settled on all of our core issues. Now we will be taking the steps needed to ratify our contract that all our teachers worked to gain. Our landmark contract includes:
This was only possible because of the unity of CAVA educators. Together we can keep CVEU strong; become a member today! CVEU Membership: Security, Strength, Solidarity It is very important that we receive your membership form. If you have already submitted your membership form, thank you! If not, please do so this week. If you were part of a union at a previous job, you still need to fill out the CVEU membership form as we are a different union. There is not an electronic version of the form at this time, so please take a moment to print, fill out, scan and return via email.
RATIFICATION Next Steps: Membership and Ratification
At the end of April, we will have our contract ratification vote. All CVEU members will have the opportunity to vote on the contract. Your CVEU Bargaining Team recommends that members approve this contract. Once it is approved, it will go into effect--including retroactive pay. We want to have a HUGE turnout to again show how united we are! We are tentatively looking at 4/26 as the first day of our ratification vote. We will announce the dates and times on 4/17. Upcoming Members Only Meetings We will be holding a member meeting on Thursday, April 12th at 4pm. We hope to see you all there. We will be talking about caseloads, membership, and ratification. CVEU member meeting – Learn More about the recently agreed upon Caseloads Article, Contract ratification and ask questions Time: Apr 12, 2018 4:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) · Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/539340289 · Or iPhone one-tap : US: +16699006833,,539340289# or +14086380968,,539340289# · Or Telephone: US: +1 669 900 6833 or +1 408 638 0968 or +1 646 876 9923 or +1 888 683 5204 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 539 340 289 CVEU Ratification Vote Kick Off – Membership Questions and Voting Access Time: Apr 25, 2018 4:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) · Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://zoom.us/j/536859509 · Or iPhone one-tap: US: +16468769923,,536859509# or +16699006833,,536859509# · Or Telephone: US: +1 646 876 9923 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 408 638 0968 or +1 888 683 5204 (Toll Free) Meeting ID: 536 859 509 CVEU Member Ratification Vote April 26, 2018 12:00PM – 5:00PM: https://lms.k12.com/lms/go/classConnect/PJ3JAJCJMJVJAJ0-5JMJGJCJ2JHJD-P-R-E909I9I909N9U9T9HJIJOJMJR-HJ9J3KUJ3JF9B-V-3-W-P-P-E-O9IJGJPJ8JQ-IJP-7JJJQJ0JBJDJR-5-3-I97---2989J-894-H9E929 Questions and Answers Question: How do I find my hire date? Answer: Insperity can help you find your start date, to find it online please follow these directions: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bnrjkxUEbO9t6iw_RSvOp8m7-VVhg0xa Question: How does retro pay work? Answer: Find how much you will be making this year on the salary schedule (teacher salary schedule) (Support Salary schedule) then minus how much you are making now. There are a few caveats, your stipend is not included in your current pay and they will only be looking at the salary you have accumulated this year compared to the salary you should have accumulated this year, also taxes will be applied. You will then get that in two checks, one soon after we ratify the contract and another at the end of the school year. We do not have exact dates for this at the moment. Step one is to approve the contract! Summary Overview of our Settlement After four years of organization and almost two years of bargaining, we are almost at the goal of having one of the strongest charter school contracts in the nation. This is all thanks to the dedication of CVEU members who refused to quit until we had a contract in place that supported teacher and student success. Here is a quick overview on the articles recently approved:
Let’s finish this year strong with a brand new contract, and looking to the future! If you have any questions or comments please email [email protected] In Solidarity, California Virtual Educators United We have caseloads!!
CVEU is excited to share with you that after nearly two years of negotiations, we have successfully addressed our member’s core values and have signed tentative agreements for Work Status, Workday, Salary and Caseloads as well as the rest of our contract! The union would like to thank the 338 teachers who made their voices heard by signing the caseoload petition and the amazing strike captains and reps who reached out to members to keep them informed. Caseloads for Elementary teachers is placed at 31 for homeroom, and 32 for middle school and high school. Caseloads were also reached for Guidance Counselors and Freshman Support Specialists. We will be creating a special committee starting July 1, 2018, consisting of two CVEU representatives and two CAVA representatives to recommend caseload numbers for Intervention, ELD, Science Lab teachers, SPED teachers, Mentor teachers, high school content and Community Day. An update will be sent out with more specific information regarding overages as well as other details about the caseload article. CVEU is confident that the caseload article begins to address the issues and concerns our members have in regards to unmanageable caseloads and begins to ensure the success of CAVA teachers and students. This goes along with our already agreed upon strong contract language concerning salaries, workday, job security and workload. Please look forward to more information in our newsletter including an upcoming member meeting to address any questions members have and to review next steps. CVEU was only successful in bargaining because we had a strong unit of teachers come together to make this happen. We are now asking that you make your membership official and complete the membership form on SharePoint. Cost of membership will be approximately $48 per paycheck and dues will not start until after the contract has been ratified. Our goal is 100% membership before we ratify the contract. CVEU reps will be reaching out to you to help with any questions you may have in regards to membership. We will also share more information shortly about our plan for contract ratification. You may also email us at [email protected] or [email protected]. Congratulations! In Solidarity, CVEU Bargaining Team Welcome back from Spring Break! We’ve spent the last two days at CAVA’s offices in Simi Valley taking part in fact finding. We were joined by colleagues from across the state who presented about the importance of commonsense caseload protections and helped us deliver our Caseload Unity Petition that already has been signed by 338 of our colleagues. During fact finding, we presented why we believe caseload protections are important so we can provide enough attention to our students. We believe reasonable caseloads will help us create more stability at our school, cut down on both teacher and student turnover, and help us improve student performance. We believe CAVA can afford improved caseloads and should prioritize this for the health of our school. CAVA administration presented why they believe caseload limits are not necessary due to their current practice of a school-wide 25/1 student to teacher ratio, that includes Regional Lead Teachers as well as others who are not part of our bargaining unit. They suggested it would be too difficult to limit statewide caseloads for teachers. Though we tried to get to a workable compromise, no agreement was reached. A three-person panel comprised of one CVEU designee, one CAVA designee and a neutral party listened to the presentations. In the upcoming weeks the panel will issue a non-binding report. Because of the already extensive delays in the fact finding process CVEU will be encouraging the panel to issue the report as soon as possible. In preparation that an agreement is not reached soon, CVEU strike captains will start working with their members to organize for a possible strike. Our hope is we will be able to reach agreement in the weeks to come and no strike will be necessary. However, we must be prepared in case no agreement is reached. Resolving this issue is so important to the future of our school. Through union meetings, one on one conversations, calls and our petition, our colleagues have emphasized the critical importance of reaching agreement on caseloads. No later than April 10th, we will launch our strike preparation program out of our weekly strike captain meeting. Expect to see a newsletter following that meeting with a calendar of activities and also to hear from your rep or strike captain. If you have any questions about Fact Finding, about a possible strike, or want to know how you can best help us finalize our union contract, contact us at [email protected]. Sincerely, The CVEU Organizing Committee cavirtualeducators.org |