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PITTSBURGH  FEDERATION  OF  TEACHERS

Update to PFT Members

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Monday, June 19th brought to close a school year filled with change and challenge, as the school district and our own organization experienced unprecedented developments. By itself, the announcement of the closing of twenty-two schools has reverberated throughout our membership, and a main priority for the PFT is the proper staffing of the more than 900 of our PFT colleagues who received displacement letters.

Additionally, this year our union completed negotiations with the district for three of our bargaining units, with the negotiations and ratification of the Teacher and Other Professionals unit being exceptionally arduous. Even though the ratification of the Paraprofessional and Technical-Clerical units was just completed earlier this week, PFT negotiators have already been preparing for the next round of talks – which will begin later this summer and continue through the school year. PFT members will be requested to contribute recommendations and concerns related to the upcoming negotiations via the PFT website at www.pft400.org.

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Paraprofessional and Technical-Clerical Members Ratify Contracts

New contracts are in place for the Paraprofessional and Technical-Clerical units of the PFT. On Tuesday, June 20, 2006, Paraprofessional members met at the PFT Building and voted 92-9 for ratification of the new pact. At a separate meeting on the same date, Technical-Clerical members voted 15-5 for acceptance of their new contract.

The new contracts, which the PFT negotiating team and Executive Board had recommended for approval, include salary increases in September, differentials for extended day and extended year for those who will work in the new Accelerated Learning Academies, and maintenance of all medical benefits. Changes to both contracts can be viewed on the PFT website (www.pft400.org).

The contracts are in effect on July 1, 2006, and run through June 30, 2007. These starting and ending dates are important because three key agreements covering Teachers and Other Professionals, Paraprofessionals, and Technical-Clerical employees are now back on the same negotiations timetable.

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PFT Addressing Personnel Matters

The PFT has been diligently working on a daily basis in all key personnel areas. The staff is working to answer all member concerns and questions and, of course, is monitoring the whole staffing process being conducted by Human Resources. Our primary goal in doing so is to make sure that all provisions of the PFT Collective Bargaining Agreement are being followed, and that all available options are used in order to preserve jobs for all of our membership.

It is obvious that we are facing challenges in staffing schools that we haven’t faced in over twenty-three years, which was the last time we faced the potential of significant job reductions. The school district has not realigned to this extent in almost three decades.

The PFT also recognizes how difficult school closings can be on our membership. Many of our colleagues have been in the same building for a number of years and have established close bonds with colleagues, students, and communities. While it is difficult to leave those behind, it becomes even more stressful when one does not know where he or she will be assigned the following school year. It is our goal to have as many assignments completed by the middle of July to ease that uncertainty, as soon as possible.

Most importantly, the PFT is monitoring all vacancies on a daily basis to make sure that each of them is filled properly. In addition, we are closely monitoring the number of retirements and all leaves of absences. The PFT will not allow any vacancy to be filled by someone from outside the school district, until all of our people are placed in their certified areas.

Furloughs

The school district must notify anyone receiving a layoff notice by August 1. Of course, it is the PFT’s goal that no employee is laid off and, as indicated above, the union is doing everything we can to prevent any furloughs. Having said that, we have staffing concerns in several areas, including Elementary, Family and Consumer Science, Business, Art, Music, Health, and Physical Education. It is too early to tell how many colleagues could be affected, but we are particularly concerned about Elementary and Physical Education. At this time, we are not anticipating paraprofessional furloughs.

Retirements

We have experienced a fairly high number of retirements for the past three years, and the trend is continuing this year. As of today, we have 142 teacher retirements, 91 non-professionals (including 18 paraprofessionals), and 42 administrators, for a total of 275 retirements.

Contract Provisions

Several questions have been raised concerning certain contractual items that have become more noted this year because of the large number of displaced staff and the potential for furloughs.

1. Article 30, Section 7e - This provision states that once a teacher accepts an assignment, he or she may not transfer to another one during the same summer (posting season).

   Several persons have questioned this provision because they accepted positions only to see others later that they would have preferred.

   A few persons have asked the PFT to get the school district to ignore this provision. The PFT cannot do this because a bad precedent would be created by asking the school district to ignore certain sections of the PFT Collective Bargaining Agreement. The only understood exceptions to this provision historically have been teacher on special assignment positions, resource teacher positions, and reading and curriculum coach positions since it would not be right to hold people back from “special” opportunities such as those. This year, the PFT agreed to make an exception for positions in the Accelerated Learning Academies, because we did not want to force anyone to be placed in a school with a completely different schedule.

2. Article 31, Section 3b - This provision indicates that a person may not switch to his or her alternate certification if by doing so the move causes a layoff of someone who otherwise would not be laid off.

   This provision means that a person may not move into an area that is facing layoffs unless that person would be laid off in his or her current area of certification. For example, a person certified in Special Education may not move into Elementary Education, since that is an area of potential layoffs. Such would be the case in all the areas stated previously where there are potential layoffs. This provision also helps us to meet our goal of minimizing layoffs and keeping as many PFT-represented employees working as possible.

The PFT is here to answer questions and concerns and to help guide all of our affected members through this difficult process. We are also here to enforce all of the provisions of the PFT Collective Bargaining Agreement, and to guarantee that all established rules and procedures are followed.

If you have questions or concerns regarding staffing, please visit the PFT website www.pft400.org and click on PFT Members Are Invited to Submit Questions Regarding PPS Right-Sizing Plan, Accelerated Learning Academies, Staffing for 2006-2007 School Year. Sherman Shrager, PFT Liaison to Human Resources, has been responding to members’ inquiries. If you prefer, you can telephone the PFT office with your concern or question (412) 431-5900.

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ER&D Update

On June 8, 2006, the PFT celebrated the seventeenth anniversary of its award winning Educational Research and Dissemination Program with a recognition dinner. At this celebratory dinner, a special award was presented to retiree Ms. Jacqui Miles for her outstanding contributions to the PFT’s Professional Development Program.

Certificates were presented to all the coordinators who teach the ER&D courses, to teachers who completed their training, to the ITL trainers, to the facilitators of the New Teacher Induction Program, and to the “Class of 2006.” In addition, special recognition was given to Ms. Patty Colangelo, Ms. Jackie Dandridge, Ms. Marsha Ekunfeo, Ms. Honey Forman, Ms. Kellie Skweres, and Ms. Julie Stewart. These coordinators serve as national trainers for the American Federation of Teachers.

Please note that the summer session for ER&D will be held from August 7-11, 2006. Please check on the PFT’s website in late August for the Fall registration.

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Thank you for your continued support of public education and the PFT.

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