AM Brew - August 12, 2024

A Message from WTU’s President

Good Morning WTU Family!

Congratulations to WTU’s Secondary Grade Policy Committee! Their hard work has paid off! DCPS made changes to the grading policy. Also, please take a moment to read about changes to Title IX regulations.

This coming Wednesday, August 14^th, we are looking forward to welcoming more than 200 new District of Columbia Public School educators into the WTU family at the New Educator Orientation (NEO) at the Columbia Heights Education Campus (CHEC) and the WTU’s NEO reception to follow at Lou’s City Bar! If you want to volunteer to work with new teachers, please join us in getting to know those beginning their journey of educating our DC youth at these two exciting events. To learn more about how you can help during the orientation and reception, please contact WTU’s organizer Mike Roland at [email protected] no later than the end of day today, Monday, August 12^th.

Despite the roadblocks DCPS continues to throw in our way of getting a new contract, your hardworking contract bargaining team perseveres. To learn more, please watch a Contract Bargaining Team update here. If you have ideas on what contract actions your school should take, please contact your Building Representative and WTU’s organizer Mike Roland for support. Together, we must show DCPS we will not tolerate their reduction of our rights!

Also, please note that key Duty stipend and Hard-to-fill bonuses have not been paid out yet. DCPS has submitted both payment requests to the payroll team and they are awaiting confirmation on the exact payment date. When we receive the exact payment dates, we will let you know.

Thank you, as always, for your support!

In solidarity,

Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

Filing a Grievance Over IMPACT Scores

If you would like to file a grievance over your final IMPACT score, please review the rules over what constitutes a violation for IMPACT available here. To file an IMPACT grievance with the support of the WTU, please reach out to your WTU Field Representative by Tuesday, September 3^rd, 2024.

WTU’s Official Social Media Pages

Please be aware that the Washington Teachers Union is not affiliated with a Facebook page titled “DCPS Educators Only Network.” The WTU is not responsible for any content posted on the page and is not liable for any consequences arising from a teacher’s participation on the page. Please join the WTU’s Official Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube pages for accurate information about our Union.

TWITTER: https://x.com/WTUTeacher
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/WTULocal6/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/wtu_teacher/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvrkj6wxtayL6Rs1htHEylA

Calling all DC Youth between the ages of 11-18!

Enroll in Sick Leave/Maternity/Paternity Banks

Open Enrollment for the Sick Leave and Maternity/Paternity Leave Banks is in progress Thursday, June 13, 2024, through Saturday, August 31, 2024! Please use this link to access the change/enroll/cancelation application.

Did DCPS Bring Back Teachers Excessed with DC Council Funding?

All schools had a challenging budget season and had to excess several positions. The WTU is collecting data to see if the excessing process was followed. Now that the Council has restored some funding, we want to make sure those funds are used to rehire teachers who were excessed. Please complete the school budget survey here: https://forms.gle/pcB35vWGn1qsXPRZ8

Have you experienced chronic or recurring problems with HVAC, plumbing, electric, windows, roof, security (door locks), rodents, etc.? We want to know!

The WTU is partnering with the Washington Lawyers' Committee and the law firm of Steptoe and Johnson to produce a report on the State of School Facilities. Although this report is NOT collecting data on laptops or smartboards, we want to collect accurate data on chronic and recurring problems with maintenance and repairs. Please complete the state of your school facility survey here: https://forms.gle/h7CxG7tMFWnuVaLM7

Upcoming Events, Activities & Meetings

August 14^th – New Teachers’ Orientation IN-PERSON
August 19^th @7PM – C.O.P.E. Meeting via Zoom
September 3^rd – Deadline to file IMPACT grievance with WTU’s support

Membership Update

Make sure you are eligible to vote & receive WTU Communications!

The AM Brew is distributed as a benefit to members of the WTU. In the coming weeks, we’ll be updating our database removing non-members from the distribution for the AM Brew. To ensure that you’re not inadvertently removed from the distribution list, please confirm your personal email address by emailing [email protected].

Your ability to vote in WTU elections and receive WTU Communications depends on our ability to reach you. We must have your personal email address for all communications.

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

Be sure to follow the WTU on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to keep up with the latest from your Union.

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