A Message from WTU President

Good Morning WTU Members,

Last Tuesday, December 12th, WTU had its first in-person bargaining session for a new contract with DCPS. In a dismaying show of disrespect, not one District of Columbia Public Schools official, including Chancellor Lewis Ferebee, showed up at the first bargaining session for the new Washington Teachers’ Union contract. The two city officials who attended on Tuesday had little knowledge of the conditions necessary for teachers to teach and students to learn, instead focusing on managerial rights. Ironically, less than 24 hours before our meeting the mayor was able to find $500 million for an 11th hour deal to keep two D.C. sports teams in the city, saying it would be an ‘invaluable investment.’ Yet, the WTU team was told the city is out of money. A reporter from the Washington Informer covered the story here.

It’s time for the city to see D.C. students as invaluable investments, and that can start with the Chancellor and other DCPS officials joining the WTU at the bargaining table to discuss safety and violence issues, class sizes and other issues that will improve the teaching and learning in our schools! Thank you to the teachers who came out to cheer on the WTU team as they entered the Negotiations Center! Help us to continue to communicate this urgency by signing WTU’s petition on school safety and encouraging family and friends to sign it throughout the holiday break.

Thank you to the many members who joined us for our annual holiday party on Friday! Celebrating the holiday season with our current and retired members was what made “ A Party that Sleighs,” slay! Thank you to all the Executive Board members who came out along with DC city officials, Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn, Ward 7 Representative and President of the State Board for Education Eboni-Rose Thompson, President of the Metropolitan Washington Labor Council, AFL-CIO Dyana Forester, AFSCME President Robert Alston, and Director of OLRCB Lindsey Maxwell. Photos from our holiday party will continue to be uploaded to WTU’s website throughout the week and can be found here. Please continue to follow us on social media for video recaps and select holiday photos.

Please note that the WTU’s office will be closed from Friday, December 22th, 25th, 26^th, 29^th and Monday, January 1st. so that our staff can spend time with their families through the holidays. Please expect to see the next edition of the Morning Brew on Tuesday, January 2nd. Thank you, as always, for your support! May you have a safe and relaxing holiday season.  

In solidarity,

Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team

Watch the December 12^th Contract Negotiating Teams’ weekly update here or click on photo above. All other updates from CAT can be viewed on the playlist here.

Please share our petition for safe schools! We also need your beautiful photos wearing red on Fridays! Email photos to [email protected] or text them to 202-957-1782.

Calling all Special Ed Educators & Related Service Providers!

We hear you! The WTU would like special education teachers & RSP to complete this survey in order for us to better support you. All names will remain confidential, but it will help to have your phone number if we need additional information.

A Message from WTU President

Good Morning WTU,

Happy Hanukkah! During this holiday season and always, we wish you peace, joy, and happiness! We, as a Union, have a lot to be hopeful about! We received word last Wednesday that DCPS has finally agreed to join us at the contract bargaining table on Tuesday Dec. 12^th. This marks the start of the WTU’s Negotiating Teams’ first in-person contract bargaining session. Given this new development, we will move our previously scheduled membership meeting from Tuesday to Thursday, Dec. 14^th. Please come down to The Negotiations Center from 4:15PM-5PM to cheer on our hardworking bargaining team as they enter the Negotiations Center (441 4^th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001). We are very grateful for their steadfast support alongside that of the larger membership. Every little bit counts whether it’s a teacher testimony, selfie in red, petition signature, reporter interview or a cheering crowd. Together, we are sending the message that we want a new contract, and we want it now!

In anticipation of our first negotiating team meeting, WTU’s bargaining team met last Tuesday to prepare. An update of what they accomplished can be viewed here. Last week, we released additional videos on the causes of teacher retention issues as described in testimonies from DCPS teachers Ashley Boyle Schiraldi, Dylan Craig, Michael Haller, Crawford Bennett, Siedae Culbreath, and Andelgo Parodi. The Hillrag also published an expose on the repercussions of widespread malfunctioning classroom door locks here. In related news, Channel 7 interviewed me on the impact of high rates of chronic student absenteeism on DCPS teachers. I explained how this hinders learning and makes a teachers’ job even more challenging. All news stories help us to communicate the urgency of our plight to the public as well as to DCPS.

We ask for your support in showing up to cheer on our team this Tuesday. Thank you, as always, for your support! I wish you a week filled with hope and the strength to bring that hope to your students who may not believe in themselves.

In solidarity,

Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team

Watch the December 5^th Contract Negotiating Teams’ weekly update here or click on photo above. The prior week’s video update can be found here. All other updates from CAT can be viewed on the playlist here.

Please share our petition for safe schools! We also need your beautiful photos wearing red on Fridays! Email photos to [email protected] or text them to 202-957-1782.

AM Brew News and Notices are archived at https://www.wtulocal6.net/AMBrew.

December 5th, 2023 - WJLA Channel 7 News - New Report details startling statistics on chronic absenteeism in DC public schools - This week, The Office of the D.C. State Superintendent of Education issued startling statistics on absenteeism during the last school year. The statistics show that 40% of D.C. students missed 10% or more school days. WTU President, Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, said chronic absenteeism hinders learning.

“You start a lesson or theme of the curriculum on Monday, you have half your kids there,” said Lyons. “And if they come on Tuesday, you have to not only consider the kids who came Monday, you have to consider the kids that weren't there on Monday." Watch the full story here or click on picture above.

December 5th, 2023 - WUSA Channel 9 News reported on biases in IMPACT - DCPS' teacher evaluation system - as one cause of DC's loss of 25% of teachers yearly - a rate higher than other of urban cities. Watch the full story here or click on photo above.

December 2nd, 2023 - WTOP Radio Interviews DCPS teacher Dylan Craig on why teachers are leaving the classroom. To learn more, please click here or click photo above.

December 1st, 2023 - The Washington Post - DC Teachers are leaving their classrooms. Here's why. - Dozens of D.C. teachers are sounding the alarm as many of their colleagues continue to leave the classroom, a trend reflected in data that show teacher turnover — after dipping during the pandemic — has spiked again. Read the full story here or click on picture above.

November 29th, 2023 - The Washington Post - Julius Becton, Army general who led FEMA and DC schools, dies at 97: He became one of the military's highest-ranking Black officers before launching a second career as a public administrator. Read the full story here or click on photo above.

November 28th, 2023 - The Washington Examiner - DC Teachers Union enters third month without contract with public schools - Read the full article here or click photo above. 

DC-ist - November 27th, 2023 - The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) says timely negotiations on a new contract are needed to address issues of teacher retention and other after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. To read more, please click here or picture below.

November 22nd, 2023 - Channel 9 News: From the seemingly incessant carjackings, robberies, and murders -- we know, it has been an extremely violent year in the District. Watch the news story here.

November 22, 2023 - The Washington Post - DC Teens, now new authors celebrate book launch: The high school students wrote books about climate change, extreme weather and grief. Click here or picture above to read full article.

November 21st, 2023 – The Washington Informer - D.C. Infrastructure Academy to Continue Mission at Spingarn High School