AM Brew - March 11, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU!
I hope last week went well for you and your students! In addition to March being Women’s History Month, March is also National Social Work Month. We’d like to acknowledge our school social workers and the critical role they play in supporting students and families in our schools. The pandemic has magnified and increased the need for the support social workers provide to those experiencing safety, trauma, isolation, hunger, housing insecurity, and mental health issues.
Last week, WTU’s Contract Bargaining Team went above and beyond, spending two late evenings at WTU’s office, prepping for today’s bargaining team meeting with DCPS. Due to your protests and effort, I’m happy to report that WTU’s bargaining team meeting today will take place at 1 PM rather than the ridiculous hour of 5 AM. To learn more about what transpired during our preparation meeting, watch WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s Weekly Update here. If you want a detailed update on our contract negotiations as well as the plight of our athletic trainers, please read Sam Collins’ article in The Washington Informer.
I’m also so grateful to Deal MS teachers who rallied every day after school last week for a new contract! Their school’s contract action, organized by Building Representative Michael Donaldson, proved to be a huge success! On Friday, the last day, teachers and community members from Jackson-Reed HS, Janney ES, Hearst ES, Murch ES, and Lafayette ES joined the rally for a new contract! WTU would also like to thank the building representatives from all these schools for their support and coming out to this action. Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin, DC State Board of Education Representatives Eric Goulet, and Frazier O’Leary also supported this action and we are so grateful. To learn more about Deal MS’s final contract action, click here to watch a short video and here for photos.
If you have ideas on what contract actions your school should take, please contact your Building Representative and WTU’s organizer, Mike Roland ([email protected]), for support. The WTU staff is here to support you in whatever actions you believe will work best for your school! Together, we must show DCPS we will not tolerate their proposed reduction of our rights! Remember, good teaching conditions equals great learning conditions! If you haven’t done so already, please take a moment to download WTU’s two-page summary of WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s 10 Proposals and 3 Memorandums of Agreement released in October 2023. We want all members to know what we’ve proposed to DCPS for our new contract.
Also, please be on the lookout for your school’s visit from the WTU team and loud and proud contract actions around the city. We look forward to seeing you shortly!
Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
Watch WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s weekly update here!
We still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
Let the Council Hear Your Teacher Voice!
April 3 at 9 AM Budget Oversight Hearing for DCPS DC Council Hearings Management System
April 11 Virtual Retirement Session with DCPS, DC Retirement Board and WTU, details will follow.
Sign a Petition to Fully Fund our Schools!
Petition · Fully Fund Our Public Schools · Change.org
Read moreAM Brew - March 4, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU!
I hope you had a peaceful and productive week! Last Thursday, your hardworking Contract Bargaining Team met at the AFT for a bargaining meeting with the District and DCPS that started at 5AM. Although Chancellor Ferebee was not in attendance at this early hour, DC Council Chairman Mendelson and Julia E. Hudson, Chief of Staff from the office of Anita Bonds were. To learn more about what transpired during the meeting, watch WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s Weekly Update here.
The following day, DC Chairman Mendelson’s public testimony with Chancellor Ferebee illustrated his annoyance at DCPS’ disrespectful insistence on 5AM meeting times, inability to speed up bargaining by increasing the number of sessions, and unwillingness to make progress on negotiating the contract issues under discussion. To hear more of what transpired, please click here.
We thank DC Council Chairman Mendelson and DC Councilmember Anita Bonds for their attendance at our bargaining session last Thursday as well as the WTU members who testified at DCPS/OSSE’s Performance Oversight Hearings last Wednesday. Your voices MATTER! Thanks to the support of members, DC City Council and the DC State Board of Education DCPS will no longer insist on 5AM meeting times. Hence, moving forward, new bargaining sessions will be scheduled at reasonable times in the day. Again, none of this is possible without your support. When we work together, we win together!
As mentioned previously, WTU is now reaching out to building representatives to share DCPS’s changes to our contract and discuss possible actions each school may take. Please be on the lookout for a visit from the WTU team and loud and proud contract actions around the city. We look forward to seeing you shortly!
Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
Watch WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s weekly update here: https://youtu.be/4Npf-8hazZM?si=X4fpqP1gfXCIrKator click on the photo below.
We still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
C4DC – Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities Releases FY24 DCPS Budget Analysis soon
FY25 Budget Materials — C4DC (c4dcpublicschools.org) (Spreadsheet of Initial Budgets coming soon)
DCPS local school budgets for next year: The good news is that general education/at-risk per pupil allocations are more equitable than in prior years, see betsyjwolf.substack.com. The bad news is that most schools--even some gaining enrollment--will have to cut staff. Why?
FY25 Initial Allocations - from Mary Levy
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AM Brew - Feb 26, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU!
I hope you had a peaceful and productive week! Last Thursday, your hardworking Contract Bargaining Team met in the wee hours of the morning outside the Negotiating Center for a meeting with the District and DCPS that started at 5AM. We still believe the District is not negotiating in good faith by only offering the WTU 5AM meeting times. It is the height of disrespect to not permit our bargaining team to meet after the school day ends. On a positive note, Chancellor Ferebee did attend the meeting. We appreciated his presence as we had an opportunity to review with him our MOAs on Safety and Climate. We expect him to attend the meeting on Thursday, Feb. 29th at 5AM where we hope to negotiate with his team on our 10 proposals and our MOA on diversity. To learn more about what transpired inside the building, please watch the Contract Negotiating Team’s weekly update here.
In other news, 5PM today is the last day to register to testify at DCPS/OSSE’s Performance Oversight Hearing. We need your teacher voice! Please do not feel overwhelmed. The WTU will help you to prepare your testimony and walk you through how the online process works. The public needs to know your concerns. If you are willing to testify, please register here no later than 5PM today and/or reach out to our WTU organizer, Mike Roland at [email protected]. If you or your school’s LSAT team still has questions or concerns regarding the budget process, please reach out to your Field Representative for support.
Lastly, do you need PLUs or graduate credits? Check out WTU’s Spring Development Courses (online and in-person) beginning on March 9th! Catch the Early Bird Special – a discounted rate of $125 per course – offered only to WTU members who register before this coming Friday, March 1st.
Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
As mentioned previously, your building representative will be reaching out to you shortly to share DCPS’s proposed changes to our contract and discuss possible actions each school may take. Please be on the lookout for a visit from the WTU team. We look forward to seeing you shortly!
Watch WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s weekly update here: https://youtu.be/CdxRH0GbFwg?si=gXi860fMOO7xd0Lx or click on the photo below.
We still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
Share your insights on the availability and effectiveness on mental health services for students
Jason Cherkis is working with The Office of the D.C. Auditor on the availability and effectiveness of mental health services to students in DC Schools as it relates to suicide awareness and prevention. Jason has surveyed social workers at The DC Department of Behavioral Health and is now seeking your insights. Please contact Jason at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Teachers: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCPS_Teachers
Social Workers: Suicide Awareness and Prevention in D.C. Schools Survey (surveymonkey.com)
Counselors: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCPSCounselors
Read more
AM Brew - February 20, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU Members!
I hope you enjoyed a wonderful long weekend! Last week, WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team met to prepare for our second Contract Bargaining Meeting with DCPS this coming Thursday, February 22th at 5AM. To say we were both shocked and angry by DCPS’s lack of respect in requesting a 5AM meeting time would be an understatement. To learn more about what transpired during the last contract negotiating team meeting, please watch the video update here.
As mentioned in last week’s AM Brew, the WTU will continue to visit building representatives in each school throughout the upcoming weeks to share DCPS’ proposed changes to our contract and determine the actions each school will take in protest to their unreasonable and unjust proposals. We look forward to visiting your school shortly!
DC public school officials released initial budget proposals last Tuesday. Mayor Bowser is proposing to increase the per pupil funding formula. However, school leaders are still predicting that budgets will be tight and limited. Please keep the WTU in the loop as your LSAT teams continue to meet. Please reach out to your school’s field representative if you need support of any kind during this tense and stressful budget season. We will let you know how we can come together to ensure that all schools are funded fairly.
Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
Watch WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s weekly update here: https://youtu.be/GTYvohUwjLY?si=hyIMLDgK6awPDTNO or click on the photo below.
We still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
FY 2025 Budgets have been released!
Preliminary Budgets have been released here:
https://dcpsbudget.com/budget-data/
Mayor Bowser and DCPS Public Schools Release Initial School Budgets
https://mayor.dc.gov/release/mayor-bowser-and-dc-public-schools-release-initial-schools-budgets
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AM Brew - February 12, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU Members!
Happy Chinese New Year! Sending happiness and good fortune to you in the year of the Dragon. I also want to thank our school counselors for their hard work and dedication. They continue to build brighter futures for our District of Columbia Public School students. Last week marked another exciting series of actions by our WTU team. Over the next few months, we plan to increase the number of school visits weekly to talk with building representatives and school leaders directly about the status of contract negotiations and ways your school can help. We want school leaders to see the ridiculous counterproposals DCPS made to WTU’s 10 proposals, and three memorandums of agreement initially submitted in June. In sum, all of what we submitted was dismissed and DCPS counter-offered proposals that will take away our current rights as teachers. They justified their counterproposals by claiming them as ‘managerial rights.’ We know you will be outraged when you learn more about what they sent. However, we also recognize each school may feel comfortable protesting DCPS’ failure to negotiate in good faith differently. That is why we need to talk to all building representatives and school leaders.
In other important news, last week, WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team met with DC Councilmember McDuffie. We shared our disappointment in DCPS’ disrespectful proposal of meeting the contract negotiating team to bargain at 5AM rather than the 5PM time frame we proposed. Counter-offering to come to the table at 5 or 6AM in the morning before a busy school day shows that DCPS is not negotiating in good faith. Please watch the WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s video update here.
The WTU looks forward to visiting your school and I hope you have a productive and peaceful week. Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
Watch WTU’s Contract Negotiating Team’s weekly update here: https://youtu.be/lOl3wv5Chfg?si=Rj-AGuf9Kg6jJXvyOur or click on the photo below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOl3wv5Chfg
We still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
Let the DC City Council hear your teacher voice!
HVAC broken, leaky roof, mold, doors not working? Register to testify at DGS’ Performance Oversight Hearing on Monday February 26 @9:30AM https://lims.dccouncil.gov/Hearings/hearings/254
Share your insights on the availability and effectiveness on mental health services for students
Jason Cherkis is working with The Office of the D.C. Auditor on the availability and effectiveness of mental health services to students in DC Schools as it relates to suicide awareness and prevention. Jason has surveyed social workers at The DC Department of Behavioral Health and is now seeking your insights. Please contact Jason at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Teachers: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCPS_Teachers
Social Workers: Suicide Awareness and Prevention in D.C. Schools Survey (surveymonkey.com)
Counselors: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCPSCounselors
Do you have a Special Education and RSP Grievance?
Complete this form is you would like to sign onto a Special Education and RSP grievance. Contact Field Rep Janice Brown Parker at [email protected] if you have any questions.
FY 2025 Initial Budgets to be released soon!
The FY25 initial budgets will be released soon. Review the LSAT newsletter to prepare the budget priorities for your school. Use the FY24 Budget Guide until the new budget is released. Budget webinar recording. Contact [email protected] if you need support.
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AM Brew - February 5, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU Members!
Thank you for continuing to send us the wonderful pictures of members wearing Red for Ed on Fridays! Wearing red one day a week reminds DCPS that we are serious about wanting to receive a contract as soon as possible. If you’d like to hear my podcast interview on the contract with WPFW 89.3 producer Chris Bangert-Drown, please click here for the link.
Our next Contract Action Team (CAT) meeting is on Wednesday, Feb. 7th @ 5PM via Zoom. If you haven’t had the opportunity to attend, please come to the meeting. We want to know what contract actions you think we should take to get DCPS to negotiate with us in good faith. Thank you, again, to the members who joined our last CAT team meeting. We appreciated hearing your ideas!
On Wednesday, February 7th, WTU member Candice Pettus will be speaking at an AFT Share My Lesson Webinar @6PM. This free one-hour session focuses on giving SPED teachers the essentials in how to implement the Individualized Education Program (IEP). Let’s support our own as we join her online for this important session!
I wish you a peaceful and productive week ahead! Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
Our next Contract Action Team meeting is Wednesday, February 7th at 5PM. Please join us! lHWkhlc1owQT09#success
Meeting ID: 816 3587 3339, Passcode: 302288
We still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
Let the DC City Council hear your teacher voice!
HVAC broken, leaky roof, mold, doors not working? Register to testify about DGS’ Performance Oversight Hearing on Monday February 26 @9:30AM https://lims.dccouncil.gov/Hearings/hearings/254
Do you have a Special Education and RSP Grievance?
Complete this form if you would like to sign onto a Special Education and RSP grievance. Contact Field Rep Janice Brown Parker at [email protected] if you have any questions.
FY 2025 Initial Budgets to be released soon!
The FY25 initial budgets will be released soon. Review the LSAT newsletter to prepare the budget priorities for your school. Use the FY24 Budget Guide until the new budget is released. Budget webinar recording. Contact [email protected] if you need support.
Read more
AM Brew - Jan 29, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU,
Hopefully, you enjoyed the warmer temperatures earlier this weekend! The WTU wants to congratulate KC Boyd for giving Jefferson Middle School Academy students an opportunity to engage in conversations with National Book Award Winner Dr. Ibram Kendi (author of “How to be an Anti-racist”). Thank you, K.C. Boyd, for your continuing commitment to literacy as well as inspiring and educating our children!
The WTU received good news from the Ward 3 Democrats Committee on Thursday! They unanimously passed a resolution urging Mayor Bowser and Chancellor Ferebee to negotiate a timely DCPS teacher contract. Ward 3 Democrat Delegate Elizabeth Mitchell, the initiator of the resolution, called upon DCPS and the Mayor to engage in quick negotiations so that teacher salaries can be included in the FY25 budget process. Thank you to the WTU members who attended the meeting! If you were unable to attend, please consider participating in our next contract action event. We need large numbers of teacher voices to continue to rally community support for our contract. Mayor Bowser attended this meeting, giving us the chance to ask her pointed questions. To see video recaps of the resolution’s adoption, urgency for a new contract, and questions directed at Mayor Bowser, please click on the underlined links. Additional photos are posted on the ‘photos’ page of the WTU website: Join > Photos. Again, we greatly appreciate all WTU teachers who devoted their rainy Thursday evening to speak truth to power at this important contract action event! Thank you, as well, to the new members who joined our CAT team meeting via Zoom last week.
Please remember to keep tabs on the expiration dates of your teacher certification. It is critical to make sure it remains current. Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
Thank you to those who showed up for last Thursday’s Contract Action event! Also, we still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and more signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
DCPS Revises Secondary Grading and Reporting Policy!
DCPS’s current secondary and reporting policy is under being revised. To offer input on what the revisions should be, click here to take a survey.
DCPS Release Five-Year Strategic Plan!
To see a copy of DCPS’ five-year strategic plan,” A Capital Commitment: 2023-2028 Strategic Plan,” click here.
FY 2025 Initial Budgets to be released soon!
Given the upcoming DCPS FY25 initial budgets, please review the LSAT newsletter to prepare the budget priorities for your school. Until the new budget is released, it is best to reference the FY24 Budget Guide. For additional resources, please check out the budget recording here. If you need support, please contact [email protected].
Read moreAM Brew - January 22, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU Members,
This past Saturday marked another successful one-day Union Leadership Institute (ULI) for WTU members! A special thanks goes to Sharona Robinson for her presentation on the LSAT and DCPS budget, and Michael Donaldson for his presentation on Article 18 of the CBA, The Behavior Management Committee and Student Discipline! DCPS’ most recent documentation on Student Behavior Guidance can be found here. We appreciate all WTU staff and teachers who devoted their weekend time to this key training!
Along with ULI, WTU leadership also attended the AFT CSI conference in New York. We’d like to thank the CTE teachers, WTU Executive Board Members and the Representative from Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kiln’s office for attending this rigorous conference on career and technical education programs. Event photos are available here.
As mentioned last month, please note your February 9th paycheck should reflect a dues adjustment voted on by our membership in the fall. Academic year 2023-24 rates will increase to $39.72 (FY24). This initial catch-up plan will take place over a three-year period and is required by the WTU Bylaws and Constitution. Moving forward, dues adjustments for (FY25) $40.81, (FY26) $43.97 and successive annual dues increases will be effective on October 1st of every fiscal year as required by the WTU Constitution and Bylaws. Dues adjustments will support union activities as we strive to provide members with efficient member services, professional development, and address long-overdue building maintenance issues.
We also invite MORE WTU members to join us for Contract Action Team meetings. The next meeting will be held on January 24th @5PM via Zoom. See passcode below. Please attend! All voices matter.
As always, I wish you a warmer, peaceful and productive week!.
Thank you for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
We need your ideas for contract bargaining actions! Please join us online for our next CAT team meeting on January 24th @5PM via Zoom.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81635873339?pwd=aWdwemtuRFRtUGU0VDlHWkhlc1owQT09#success
Meeting ID: 816 3587 3339, Passcode: 302288
Also, we still need your photos wearing red on Fridays and more signatures on our petition. Please encourage all to sign!
Volunteer to participate in WTU Endorsement Process!
Use this form to sign up to volunteer to formulate and ask questions for the March 23 WTU COPE 2024 DC Primary Forum to proceed the WTU endorsement process. Click here to sign up!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFiUewmtvtV_OFE1ccL3-8gFyZDcxlrviSr6hRQaX_h48fdg/viewform
FY 2025 Initial Budgets to be released soon!
Given the upcoming DCPS FY25 initial budgets, please review the LSAT newsletter to prepare the budget priorities for your school. Until the new budget is released, it is best to reference the FY24 Budget Guide. For additional resources, please check out the budget recording here. If you need support, please contact [email protected].
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AM Brew - January 16, 2024
A Message from WTU President
Good Morning WTU Members,
Hopefully, you had a peaceful and rewarding Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and found ways to honor and celebrate Dr. King’s legacy. We are excited to announce that Malcolm X and Kimball Elementary Schools have officially been named ‘Community Schools’ by DCPS! The WTU worked with both schools for a couple of years in moving towards this goal.
Last year, with the support of the AFT and the WTU, teachers and administrators from Malcolm X and Kimball Elementary Schools attended the annual AFT CSI Conference in New York and the Community Schools Intensive Conference in Philadelphia. DCPS Chief of Schools Kim Jackson and DCPS Instructional Superintendent Katie Larkin attended the CSI Conference in NY. While DC State Board of Education President Eboni-Rose Thompson attended the Community Schools Intensive Conference in Philadelphia. Again, we would like to thank these DCPS educators, District of Columbia leaders, and the AFT for their support of real solutions for kids and communities.
This year’s CSI Conference will focus on Career and Technical Education (CTE). We’re pleased that several CTE teachers and a District of Columbia official as well as WTU leadership will be attending the conference. We are hopeful that our team will learn about successful CTE programs from around the country.
This past week, the WTU Representative Assembly voted to give our support to a Digital Equity Letter to Mayor Bowser. We signed this letter to ensure that all students in the District of Columbia have equitable access to digital technology.
We still need your support in showing DCPS we are serious about getting a new contract in this new year. Please take a moment to ask your colleagues to sign our petition for safe schools! Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team
Our Contract Action Team met this week and plans to share details on future contract actions with teachers attending the online Union Leadership Institute on Saturday, January 20th. If you haven’t registered yet, it’s not too late to sign up. The Union Leadership Institute (ULI) gives all members the opportunity to acquire the detailed knowledge needed to be effective teacher representatives in their building. Job descriptions for all WTU leadership roles can be viewed here!
Volunteer to participate in WTU Endorsement Process!
Use this form to sign up to volunteer to formulate and ask questions for the March 23 WTU COPE 2024 DC Primary Forum to proceed the WTU endorsement process. Click here to sign up!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFiUewmtvtV_OFE1ccL3-8gFyZDcxlrviSr6hRQaX_h48fdg/viewform
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