AM Brew - July 29, 2024

A Message from WTU’s President

Good Morning WTU Members!

The biennial AFT Convention is the most important policy-making body of the federation. This past week at the AFT Convention in Houston, Texas. WTU’s 17 delegates and the leadership team worked hard to review important resolutions, constitution, and bylaw amendments as well as vote on the leadership of the AFT. We were proud that one of the first orders of business by the delegates was to vote and endorse VP Harris for President. We were also excited to welcome her to the convention hall on Thursday! Her message both sent and received for this year’s presidential election was “Bring it On!, Bring it ON!, Bring it ON!” What an end to an invigorating week that started with the WTU receiving the Pride of the Union award for celebrating a significant increase in our membership last year! Thank you to all our members who continue to support our mission to serve, protect, and defend all DCPS educators.

Tomorrow, the WTU’s Contract Bargaining Team will meet with DCPS for another session. We also intend to finalize plans for New Educator Orientation (NEO) which will take place for the first time in four years in-person on August 14^th at the Columbia Heights Education Campus. Please look out for more information on how you can volunteer to help welcome our new teachers to the District of Columbia Public Schools!

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.

Thank you, as always, for your support!

In solidarity,

Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

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

July 30th - WTU’s Bargaining Team Meeting
August 14^th – New Teachers’ Orientation IN-PERSON
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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