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Here's What's Brewing Today
Monday, December 13, 2021
General Membership Townhall
Join us on Tuesday, December 14 at 4:30 PM for a special membership townhall. We will be discussing the following at the townhall:
- Reopening MOA
- Vaccination mandate MOA
- The future of the DC Teacher Evaluation system by Cleveland Teachers Union President, Shari Obrenski.
- And more
Register here: https://bit.ly/MEMBERSHIPTOWNHALL
WTU Virtual Holiday Party
Washington’s Teachers would like to thank you for the work you’ve done throughout the year to support our students and your Union. Please join us to celebrate the Holidays, at the WTU’s 2021 Virtual Holiday Party, on Friday, December 17th from 6 - 7:30pm.
Register here: https://bit.ly/WTUVIRTUALHOLIDAYPARTY
Join us for Networking in Breakout Rooms, Raffles, and to Hear from Invited Guests. We’ll have music and your personal bar is unlimited.
Ward 3 EdNet
DCPS Director of School Finance Allen Francois will be at the Ward 3 Education Network (W3EdNet) this evening, Monday, December 13 at 7pm via Zoom (link below). The new DCPS budgeting model will be discussed. Register in advance for this meeting here.
COVID-19 Mandates
If you have concerns or additional questions regarding the District’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, please reach out to your WTU Field Representative for the personal or individual guidance and support you may need.
Denial of religious or medical exemption to the vaccine mandate:
If your request for a religious or medical exemption was denied, you may appeal and challenge this determination if you believe it violates your rights under Title VII or the D.C. Human Rights Act. To do so, you must consult an EEO Counselor and/or file a complaint with the Office of Human Rights (OHR).
More information on filing an EEO complaint can be found at https://ohr.dc.gov/complaints/process.
A list of EEO counselors can be found at https://tinyurl.com/2p846mk9.
Testing kits: WTU has requested that DCPS send teachers information regarding when and how to receive the weekly COVID-19 testing kits in the mail.
Simultaneous teaching
If you are asked, at any point, to provide both in-person and remote instruction simultaneously for part of the semester or for the whole semester, please make sure to keep records of it by emailing your administration with the dates you taught simultaneously. It is important for each teacher to keep a record until DCPS prepares and distributes the official forms for simultaneous teaching. We will continue to keep you in the loop.
WTU Survey on Excessive Testing.
Thank you to the 634 teachers who responded to the WTU survey about testing during the 2021-22 school year. The vast majority of those responding, 92 percent, said they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the amount of required testing of students. Nearly the same number of teachers, or 89 percent, said they are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the amount of time available for teaching versus testing.
Further details about the WTU teacher evaluation survey can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-VS5M6VSQ/
We have been discussing with Chancellor Ferebee and the D.C. City Council our serious concerns over classroom time taken up by testing. These survey results reinforce our concerns and demand changes. We will send them the results of this survey to augment our efforts to ensure that teaching triumphs over testing.
Teacher Morale and Retention Check-in
The WTU has joined with EmpowerEd to learn more about your hopes as well as the challenges that you are facing this year. I hope you’ll complete our joint “Educator Morale and Retention Survey” to help us understand whether or not you're considering leaving the teaching profession and what is driving your decision-making.
Thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to complete our short survey. Please note that if you sign-up for one of the teacher-led campaigns in the last section of the survey, Empower Ed will contact you. Participation in the campaigns is completely voluntary.
Ward 3 Dems on Covid Saftey
If there is a problem with COVID health and safety provisions, please report it to OSSE and the situation room
- OSSE Online Complaint Form (dc.gov)
- Situation Room: http://bit.ly/WTUSafeOpenings
LAST DAY -- Dental and Vision Open Enrollment
DC government has announced its open enrollment to run from 2022 for Monday, November 8 through Monday December 13, 2021. This is an annual opportunity to review your current benefits elections and make changes. This is also an opportunity for you to make any changes to your dental and vision benefits. Click here for details on your dental and vision coverage or if you have any questions regarding these benefits, contact Valerie Kilby at [email protected].
If you have questions regarding enrollment into the plans, contact DCPS benefits at [email protected].
AM Brew News and Notices will be archived at https://www.wtulocal6.net/AMBrew.
Professional Development
Additional PD highlights are posted to the PD Blog at https://www.wtulocal6.net/pdblog
WTU Tech Tuesdays Are Back!!!
Next session is tomorrow Tuesday 12/14 @ 5:30-6:30pm, with PD Instructor Tameshia Henry for a session on Loom.
Register HERE.
Check out the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Institutes HERE.
NEH offers tuition-free opportunities for K-12 educators and higher education faculty to study a variety of humanities topics. Stipends of $1300-$3450 for residential programs and $650-$1725 for virtual programs help cover expenses for these one- to four-week programs. Applications for all programs close on March 1, 2022.
Black Lives Matter at School: December and January curriculum fairs
Learn more and register for the national Black Lives Matter at School Virtual Curriculum Fair on Saturday, January 8th from 10am ET - 12:30pm ET. Apply to present a workshop, here.
The fifth annual Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action is January 31st - February 4th, 2022. Learn more and sign up to participate, here.
If you’d like to participate in a 1 hour planning meeting around Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action on Saturday, January 22nd from 1pm - 2pm, RSVP here.
Upcoming Events
- Mon, Dec 13, 7pm - Ward 3 EdNet. Register here.
- Tues, Dec 14, 4:30pm, General Membership Townhall. RSVP here: https://bit.ly/MEMBERSHIPTOWNHALL
- Wed, Dec 15, 5pm – DC State Board of Education Hearing.
- Thurs, Dec 16, 1pm – DC Council Hearing -- Teacher and Principal Turnover in DC.
- Fri, Dec 17, 6-7:30pm – WTU Virtual Holiday Party. Register here: https://bit.ly/WTUVIRTUALHOLIDAYPARTY
Partner events and other upcoming events of interest are also posted to the AMBrew Blog.
Reminders:
Report unsafe conditions at http://bit.ly/WTUSafeOpenings
As part of the MOA, the WTU and DCPS teams will meet weekly to review and find solutions to any violations of the #ReopenStrong: School Building Readiness Checklist. If you see something out of compliance, please report it at http://bit.ly/WTUSafeOpenings. As you click on an area of the form, a drop-down box will appear to allow you to enter comments. Or simply complete the text box at the end of the form. All reports will remain confidential and no identifying information will be provided to DCPS.
IMPACT
Thank you to everyone who completed the IMPACT survey. The WTU is working with the AFT to create a teacher development and evaluation system that is fair to teachers and good for students. We are looking for members who would like to be part of a team that is writing the strands for Teacher Observation, Student Performance and Professional Growth. If you would like to help with this effort, please email Regina Bell at [email protected]
ICYMI: DC Educator Wellness Center
In partnership with EVERFI, a social impact educational technology company, the WTU is pleased to share with you the DC Educator Wellness Center. The funding for the DC Educator Wellness Center is provided by Johnson & Johnson. In the DC Educator Wellness Center you will find access to a prevention-forward, self-guided, digital microlearning experience designed to provide you with on-demand content related to mental health. The growing list of topics includes Mental Health Basics, Managing Mental Health Challenges, Developing Resilience, Supporting Loved Ones With Mental Health Challenges, and Mindful Living. You can read more here.
We’re continuing to update our database.
Please help us ensure we have your current personal contact information on file. Email [email protected] to provide us with updated information.
Be sure to follow the WTU on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to keep up on the latest from your Union.