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A Message from WTU’s President
Good Morning WTU Family!
I hope your first week of school with your students is exciting and we hope that you and your students have a safe, productive, and rewarding 2024-25 School Year! As we start this new school year, I wish we had better news to report regarding contract negotiations. As mentioned last week, contract negotiations with DCPS stopped abruptly on Tuesday due to the District’s (DCPS and OLRCB’s) insistence on:
- Increasing students' class sizes
- Removing safeguards for working hours
- Removing safeguards and refusing to bargain over the length of the school year
- Possibly excessing highly effective and effective teachers
- Failing to sign contracts on time
Now is the time to unite and make our voices heard! The WTU Contract Bargaining Team is asking you to take an action every day this week. Signs can be placed in the back window of your car. Click here for the Proud WTU Member sign and here for the Fair Contract Now sign. Please email pictures to our WTU Organizer, Mike Roland, at [email protected] or text him at 202-957-1782. If you need buttons or tee-shirts, you can also reach out to Mike Roland.
Thank you to the members who joined us in giving away a free book of choice to children at Ward 5’s Back to School Giveaway at Wheatly Education Campus on Saturday. As a social justice Union, we continue to work toward great literacy outcomes for all our District students. Please consider volunteering at WTU’s book table on September 14th from 11-2PM at DCPS’ Back to School Block Party held at Jefferson Middle School. Please reach out to WTU’s Organizer, Mike Roland at [email protected] if you are interested in attending.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to learn about AFT’s Teacher Leader Program (TLP), please register for our online orientation session on September 29th at 4:30PM. TLP brings together a select group of teachers throughout the school year to learn how to take active leadership roles in their schools, unions and communities. Those who finish the TLP program with a completed project will receive a stipend. Slots are limited. Register now.
If you haven’t yet signed up for our Sept. 5th Back-to-School Literacy Mixer for Kindergarten Teachers, please take a moment to RSVP. We look forward to sharing new legislation requiring literacy training from 4-7PM on the rooftop terrace of the MLK Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G. Street NW. Come for free bites, beverages, live music, and leave with 5 new free books!
Thank you, as always, for your support!
In solidarity,
Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President
Washington Teachers’ Union
WTU’s Contract Bargaining Team Update
For further context, click here to read the Washington Informer’s recent article highlighting our current contract campaign status.
Register for WTU’s Fall Professional Development Courses!
Fall Professional Development Courses are open for registration here! Please check this link frequently as we will be adding courses throughout the next two weeks.
AFT’s Teacher Leader Program (TLP) Orientation – 9/29/24
Curious about AFT’s nationwide TLP? Learn more about how to take active leadership roles in your schools, Union, and community. Join us via Zoom for an Information Session on Thursday, September 29th at 4:30PM. Slots are limited. ONLINE MEETING LINK!
Union Day: Watch Washington Commanders Live – 9/15/24
Free tickets for WTU-members are SOLD OUT! If you would like to join the waitlist, please contact [email protected].
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 3rd, 2024.
WTU’s Official Facebook Page
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
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.
Upcoming Events, Activities & Meetings
- August 25th – REGISTRATION FOR FALL PD CLASSES BEGINS!
- September 1st – Deadline for DC Youth to submit video for possible performance at Youth Voices for DC Statehood
- September 3rd – Deadline to file IMPACT grievance with WTU’s support!
- September 4th – @5PM - COPE meeting – INFORMATION
- September 5th – @4-7PM, Back to School Literacy Mixer for Kindergarten Teachers, MLK Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G. Street NW.
- September 10th – @4:30PM - WTU Membership Meeting, INFORMATION
- September 14th – @11AM-2PM - DCPS Back to School Block Party, Jefferson Middle School
- September 15th – @1PM - Union Day Washington Commanders Home Openers Game!
- September 20th – @5:30-7PM - Youth Voices for DC Statehood
- September 21th – @9-5PM - H-Street Festival, H-Street NE
- September 29th - @4:30PM - Teacher Leader Program Orientation, INFORMATION
- October 9 - @4:30PM - In-Person Retirement session, with DCPS, WTU and DC Retirement Board, 1200 1st St., NE, Room 1012A
In the News
- 8/21/24 – The Washington Informer – D.C. Public School Teachers to Start School Year Without New Contract
- 8/25/24 – Office of the State Superintendent of Education - Statewide 2023-24 school year English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics statewide assessment results
Hard to Fill Bonuses
If you haven’t received it, please reach [email protected] and copy your WTU Field Representative.
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.