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Brew to Go - Jan 10, 2024

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AM Brew - January 8, 2024

A Message from WTU President

Good Morning WTU Members,

Again, Happy New Year! I hope your first week back in the New Year was peaceful and productive. Today marks our 100th day of working with an expired contract from DCPS. It makes me reflect on all we have accomplished so far and where we plan to go. In our efforts to bring DCPS back to the table quickly so we can push this negotiations process that should have started months back, twenty-three members of the WTU’s Contract Bargaining team spent their summer vacation in the basement of the WTU crafting, debating, and editing 13 proposals and three Memorandums of Agreement. Beginning in June, they delivered these documents to DCPS only to receive an emailed reply of “Documents Received.” It is disappointing and disrespectful that DCPS didn’t think it was important for them to attend our first contract bargaining session on December 12th. Getting this contract done not only shows great support for our teachers but ensures stability for the education of our District of Columbia children.

We want to thank the members of the DC City Council, the DC State Board of Education and ANC Commissions for supporting our District of Columbia Public School teachers. They found time to sign petitions and speak out on our behalf because they know teachers matter to the health of this city.

We still need you to continue to come out and be loud and proud and commit to supporting all our actions. Your commitment helped us to get the last contract. Please ask your colleagues to sign our petition for safe schools?  With hard work and your support, I remain optimistic about our future.

In solidarity,

Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

 

Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team

Watch the WTU’s Contract Negotiating Teams’ January 4th Update here or by clicking on picture above.

The Contract Action Team will be meeting on Wednesday, January 10th. Stay tuned 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.

 

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Brew to Go - Jan 2, 2024

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AM Brew - Jan 2, 2024

A Message from WTU President

Good Morning WTU Members,

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing winter break with family and friends! This year, I want to share my New Year’s resolution for the WTU. I resolve to find new ways to support WTU members and hold DCPS accountable when they do not treat us like valued professionals. We deserve better than an expired contract. We deserve the financial security of knowing we will be paid on time for the important work we do every day in educating our nation’s children. No WTU member should go to work worrying whether they will be fairly compensated for each day they work without a contract. Next week will mark the 100th day without a contract. We need your help! We were able to get a contract last fall because all members came out to support our actions. We were loud and proud.

As the Contract Action Team releases new contract events, we need members to show DCPS we mean business! Start now by taking a few moments to sign WTU’s petition here! We should never settle for less than what other professionals view as normal. As you know, 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 Washington Teachers’ Union contract. As Chancellor Ferebee tweeted recently “showing up is more than half the battle.” We couldn’t agree more! We need the Chancellor and DCPS to come to the negotiating table.

We deserve better! As part of my resolution, we plan to launch a once-a-week email called “Brew To-Go.” It will feature the top questions we get from members each week along with answers. We hope it will deliver specific answers to questions foremost on the minds of members.

Thank you, as always, for your support! May you have a safe, peaceful, and productive New Year!

In solidarity,

Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

 

Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team

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.

 

Results of Survey of Special Ed Educators & Related Service Providers are in!

Thank you to all the special education teachers & RSP’s who completed the survey. Click here to see the results of the Special Ed survey or on the link below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WdI9OzldkQ5bh9P9G9Oe5r_Fex1BVZ-3P6CFVIY0iVE/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

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At a D.C. School, proposed film event sparks outrage amid Israel-Gaza War

At a D.C. School, proposed film event sparks outrage amid Israel-Gaza War

Members of Jackson-Reed’s Arab Student Union said they were barred from showing “The Occupation of the American Mind," which has been accused of antisemitism.

December 30th, 2023 - Washington Post reporter Laura Lumpkin reported that parents and teens have accused Jackson-Reed administrators of censorship after shutting down a documentary screening of a documentary on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Read the full story here.

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AM Brew - December 18, 2023

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, 26th, 29th 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 12th 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.

 

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AM Brew - December 11, 2023

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. 12th. 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. 14th. 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 4th 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 CraigMichael 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 5th 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.

 

 

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WJLA Channel 7: New report details startling statistics on chronic absenteeism in DC public schools

WJLA Channel 7: New report details startling statistics on chronic absenteeism in DC public schools

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.

 

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Channel 9 News: Keeping Teachers in DC Classrooms

Channel 9 News: Keeping Teachers in DC Classrooms

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.

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WTOP Interview with DCPS teacher Dylan Craig on Teacher Retention

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.

 

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DC Teachers are Leaving Their Classrooms - Here's Why

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.

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