Here's What's Brewing Today

Monday, January 24, 2022

End of Term

Wednesday, January 26 is the end of term. You will have until DATE to submit final grades for students. If you have any questions about end of term deadlines, please contact your Field Representative.

Special Education Survey

The special education joint committee presented 3 major concerns on behalf of special education teachers across the district and provided thorough data from the survey that was administered on Wednesday, January 5th. The data spoke volumes, but only 10% of the special education teachers in DCPS took the survey. We need your help to make our voices heard!! If you are a special education teacher (inclusion, self-contained, pull-out, resource) please make sure you fill this survey out by 1/28/22.

WTU Special Education Committee Survey 

IMPACT Survey

Union Leader Institute (ULI)

COVID CORNER

The WTU would like to thank the volunteers with Sunrise DC who braved the bitter cold temperatures on Saturday to distribute masks to teachers in Wards 5, 7 and 8. If you work in Wards 5, 7, or 8 and were not able to pick up masks for your school, we will deliver them ASAP.

We’re working with Sunrise DC to acquire and distribute more masks to teachers in the other wards. In the interim, the WTU has a limited supply of N95 masks that we will deliver to schools in Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.

D.C. government has agreed to provide all D.C. government workers—including all school employees—with special COVID-19 sick leave, so that you don’t have to use your sick leave if you become infected or must quarantine because of an exposure. Employees will be allowed to take up to 80 hours of “personal pandemic leave.” After intense urging by the WTU, the mayor announced today that this leave will be retroactive to Dec. 1, 2021, and will expire on April 2, 2022.

Test Kits

Sign up to receive a weekly PCR test mailed to your home:

• Go to this link to sign up to have a mail-to-home PCR test sent to you each week.
• Follow the instructions in the test kit.
• Drop the completed test off at any FedEx drop box, and results will be sent directly to you by LabCorp via email.
• If you test positive, please isolate immediately and notify your supervisor.

KN95 Mask Distribution

DCPS is working to re-supply schools with additional masks. Public health guidance advises that masks may be worn more than once, and we are closely tracking how staff are utilizing the masks to determine the rate of re-supply. All school-based and public-facing staff will have access to up to three masks per week.  The WTU believes that students should also be supplied KN-95 masks and we are working with the Administration to accomplish this goal.

How to improve mask fit
https://youtu.be/GzTAZDsNBe0

Water Fountain Use is Permitted at School 

After consultation with DC Health, and in collaboration with the Department of General Services (DGS), DCPS will turn water fountains back on in all schools. This process will take place over the next month and follow a schedule that prioritizes our largest schools first. Principals are notified 2 weeks before deliveries of water bottles stop.

WTU Situation Room

Please continue to report COVID related issues to the situation room - http://bit.ly/WTUSafeOpenings

And any testing or reporting issues to OSSE (OSSE Online Complaint Form (dc.gov).

In the news

• Washington Informer – COVID Metrics Continue to Fuel Disputes in D.C. Schools
• Washington Informer – D.C. Teachers’ Demands for Paid COVID Leave Take Center Stage
• DCist – ‘We Feel Like We’ve Been Dismissed:’ D.C. Educators Say Pay Increase For Substitute Teachers Is Not Enough
• Washington Post – D.C. reinstates covid leave for workers as council pushes for paid medical, prenatal absences
  
  WAMU – Listen: Teachers at D.C. Public Schools say they’re feeling anxious and overwhelmed
• Washington Post - D.C. measure would require schools to tell parents about covid cases within 24 hours

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 Professional Learning - SPRING 2022 Course Offerings

Sign up now for amazing, engaging, and informative virtual fall professional development with the WTU including these upcoming classes (1 FREE class for new WTU members):

Educating Low Vision Students (starts 2/7)

Managing Behavior in School Communities (starts 2/2)

FREE WTU Workshops starting soon:

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (2 Part Series: 1/29 and 2/12)

IMPACT PD Workshop (2 Part Series: 1/29 and 3/5)

The Social Practice of Literacy in Special Education [High School SpEd Educators ONLY] (Orientation on 2/16)

Learn more and Register for all classes HERE.

Black Live Matter at School Week of Action

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. Thank you Teaching for Change!!!

Other PD

Next Generation Personal Finance Virtual Conference: Innovate to Educate (Virtual Conference Date: 1/29/2022)
Fund for Teachers Grant (Extended Deadline: 2/24/22)

Individuals may apply for up to $5,000 and teams may apply for up to $10,000 (while team members may be from different schools, districts or states, all members must meet the eligibility criteria). Upon award, Fellows will receive 90 percent of their grant, the remaining 10 percent to be disbursed upon completion of post-fellowship requirements.

White House History Institute (Deadline: 2/27/22)

Air Camp (applications open 3/1/22)

Constitution Center Summer Educator Institutes

Air & Space Museum Summer STEAM Innovator Educator Institute [educators in grades 5-8] (Deadline: 2/15/2022)

Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms (applications opened 1/12/22)

Tulane University Stone Center Summer Teacher Institute in Panama (Deadline: 4/4/2022)

Upcoming Events

End of Term - Wednesday, January 26. 

Union Leader Institute (ULI)

Jan 28, 4:30-6:30 – New Members

Join via Zoom Meeting; Meeting ID: 829 0883 7888; Passcode: 888893

Jan 29, 10:00-1:30 – New & Returning Members

Join via Zoom Meeting; Meeting ID: 829 0883 7888; Passcode: 888893

IMPACT Meeting - February 1 at 4:30PM 

Join via Zoom Meeting; Meeting ID: 829 0883 7888; Passcode: 888893

2022 Shared Vision Conference - Saturday, March 12^th.

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.

WTU Memorandums of Agreement with DCPS.

MOA from August 2021

MOA from November 2021

As part of the WTU’s agreements with DCPS, DCPS is required to publish monthly reports on the air-quality of DCPS buildings. The November Air Quality Report is available here.

Additionally, the WTU has received requests to republish the results from three recent surveys:

Survey with Empower Ed

Academic Testing Survey 

Impact Survey

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.