Welcome back to school! We hope that the new academic year is a
wonderful one f or both returning staff and new teachers. The purpose
of this newsletter is to keep you updated on issues and decisions that
will have a direct impact on YOU . It will also keep our retirees
apprised of any changes in their health insura nce benefits.
YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND---YOUR CONTRACT!
We urge you to PLEASE become familiar (make that exceedingly familiar)
with the agreement between the Brookfield Board of Education (BOE) and
the Brookfield Ed ucation Association (BEA). Issues that may affect
you this coming year include:
- Teacher Evaluation- You don't have to go it alone!! You are
entitled to bring a union member in with you to any meeting with an
administrator that involves a discussion of your performance. This is
your right under the contract. If you disagree with a written
evaluation, there is an appeals process that you can follow. This
process is outlined on page 26 of the booklet titled,
Teacher
Evaluation and Professional Development Guidelines
. If you do
not have a copy of this, ask your school secretary for one, as it is
not a union document.
- Contract Step Increases for Additional Coursework- You will not be
able to advance on the salary schedule unless you have notified the
Superintendent in writing prior to January 1st. Refer to your
contract Article II, Section 4 for transcript deadlines. If you are
unsure your coursework will be completed, write the letter anyway.
You have nothing to lose!
- ULP (Unfair Labor Practice)- The purpose of filing an ULP is to
maintain equity among staff members and to ensure that all
administrators adhere to the contract language. There have been
several ULP's pursued in recent years with favorable outcomes for BEA
members.
- Health/Dental Insurance Update- please make sure your full- time
college student has both dental and medical insurance. If you have
any questions, please call Kitty at TSO (7708).
BEA Scholarships were awarded to three students this past June in
the amount of $1,500, $750 and $750. Recipients were: Kunal Patel,
Alison Zinzer and Danielle Rooney.
PRR&E- Your second new best friend!!! PRR&E stands for
Professional Rights, Responsibilities and Ethics. Each school has 2
PRR&E Representatives who are ready to assist you should you need
help. Please feel free to bring them any areas of concern you may
have. Your BEA is ready to be your advocate- take t he time and
initiative to be a pro-active and informed member!
- CES PRR&E Reps.- Doreen Dupil, Sarah Laughlin
- HHES PRR&E Reps.- Shirley Tartaro, Margaret Fitzgerald
- WMS PRR&E Reps.- Barbara Anderson, Kathy Milanese, Thora Perkins
- BHS PRR&E Reps.- Nelly Asselta, Chris Mattei
CEA currently has 35,000 members. Their headquarters is in
Hartford and they have a staff of 75 people. Half of these people
work at this main building, while the others work at one of 9
Satellite Offices throughout the state. Uni-Serve Rep. is the
term used to describe a contract specialist who assists a local union
with any labor disputes and contract negotiations. Some Uni-Serve
Reps. work with only one school district (Stamford, Bridgeport), while
other may have as many as 12. Uni-Serve Reps are not lawyers. CEA
employs 2 full-time labor attorneys for use by the entire
membership.
BEA MEMBERSHIP numbers for the start 0f 2004-05 stand at:
- 237 Union Members
- 12 Agency Fee
- Total - 249 teachers
FYI re: BEA portion of your dues- The BEA portion of your annual
dues has remained at $107.00 for many, many years!