JFT Newsletter: May 18, 2021
JFT General Membership Meeting
The last General Membership Meeting of this school year will take place on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at 5PM via Zoom.
The last General Membership Meeting of this school year will take place on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at 5PM via Zoom.PLANNING TIME
Senate Bill 128 by Senator Katrina Jackson was approved by the Senate Education Committee this week. This legislation would guarantee all public-school teachers 45-minutes of unencumbered planning time each day.
While some districts do offer their teachers a planning period, it’s often interrupted with meetings or being pulled into another class. This year, more than most, teachers have lost out on valuable planning time. Not only is this necessary for lesson planning, printing materials and planning for the day, it is often the only time that teachers have to use the bathroom, drink water or eat during the entire school day.
PAY RAISES
This week, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education held a Special Meeting to consider the MFP recommendation from the legislature, among other business. As you may remember, previously the legislature sent the MFP back to BESE to ask that they include more funding for teacher and school employee pay raises. At the meeting this week, BESE voted to amend their MFP proposal to match the recommendation from the Louisiana Legislature. BESE's MFP proposal now includes an $800 raise for certified
On Tuesday the Revenue Estimating Conference will meet to re-consider revenue projections for...
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In this Issue:
1) Evaluation Rebuttals
2) Discretionary Fund Update
3) Non Tenured Update
4) NBOE Approved Vendors (Aflac, etc)
5) AFT Update
6) Escrow Update
And much more
This Nurse’s Week, we want to reflect on what the last year has been like for nurses and health professionals.
Congratulations to Doug Kingsbury, who, after three decades in lab medicine, is retiring June 1. We'll miss him greatly and of course we wish him the best.
Before saying goodbye, he agreed to a quick exit interview.
A recap of our 2021 business convention, the first to be held virtually, April 15.
Providence schools are at a crossroads. We have a choice: We can finally begin the authentic engagement, sustainable solutions and bold investments for students, families and educators—or continue on with failed policies that leave most Providence students and families behind, waiting on promises never fulfilled. We are Together4PVD, and we are fighting for the schools Providence deserves.
Community schools as a school transformation intervention requires commitment for sustainable investment and an embracing approach of public schools, in stark contrast with current deficit and austerity narratives. Our schools are communities, and when our communities struggle, we all pitch in to make it better. From Oklahoma to California, and from Cincinnati to New York City to our neighbors in Pawtucket, this model has demonstrated success in closing achievement gaps, increasing attendance and increasing family engagement.
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Providence students and families have seen how little our city and state value education almost every day, based on the terrible condition of Providence school buildings, from literally crumbling physical infrastructure to a lack of basic supplies and resources, such as toilet paper or internet sufficient for a school’s needs. This problem isn’t new, but the pandemic has highlighted the dire need to renovate and build school facilities that are modern, safe and welcoming.
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Per a February 2021 Annenberg Institute report, on average for each teaching position that the Providence Public School District posted externally between the 2017-18 and 2020-21 school years, our district received less than half as many applications as the national average for teaching positions. The district’s track record on retention—after cutting peer mentor and new educator supports—is even worse. To truly change our schools, the city and state must invest to grow our own and collaborate with educators on relevant, anti-racist professional development and curriculum.
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Despite federal orders to do so, PPSD has failed to support and invest in multilingual learners (MLL) for far too long. Providence must make MLL students a priority.
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Successful school communities empower and involve families at every level—not just for bake sales or school celebrations. The shift to a school culture of family engagement requires more shared decision-making, more communication and more resources, including designated staff.
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