A Message from WTU President

Good Morning WTU!

I hope you enjoyed a productive week, full of learning for your students!  This past week, WTU’s Contract Bargaining Team prepared for tomorrow’s negotiating session with DCPS. Many of our DC State Board and DC City council members have been supporting our goal to get a contract as soon as possible. Now, it is our time to support our endorsed candidates by volunteering to canvass for their campaigns. We know this is a busy time for all teachers as we have less than a month before the school year ends. But we are close to 6,000 strong! We hope you can find time to come out to meet the leaders we’ve endorsed at our WTU’s Evening with the Candidates on Tuesday, May 28^th from 3:30-5:30PM at Busboys and Poets, 2004 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE. Please attend! Complimentary food and beverages will be served.

Thank you to the WTU members who joined us this weekend to canvass for the re-election of Ward 4 DC City Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and the election of Eboni-Rose Thompson for Ward 7 DC City Councilmember. Two more opportunities to canvass for our endorsed candidates are coming up:

• Councilmember Trayon White  (Ward 8 endorsed candidate) Friday, May 31st, from 5:30 PM to 7 PM. Location to be announced.
• Councilmember Robert White (At-Large endorsed candidate) - Sunday, June 2nd, starting at 2 PM at the Ward 8 McDonald’s at 2529 Good Hope Road SE. If you are available, wear your WTU red shirt and volunteer some of your time to help them out. They need your help!

As you know, June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month! The WTU invites all members to join us in decorating WTU’s parade truck, riding/marching in the parade and handing out free books to children in our book giveaway. Every member who volunteers will receive a WTU pride tee-shirt. If you would like to join us, please contact WTU’s organizer, Mike Roland at [email protected]. We hope to see you there!

In solidarity,

Jacqueline Pogue Lyons, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

Weekly Update - WTU’s Contract Action Team (CAT)

The WTU Contract Bargaining Team is busy preparing for our next bargaining session with DCPS tomorrow - May 21^st, 2024.

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 proposed reduction of our rights!

WTU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month Activities

Please join us in celebrating Pride Month in June! From 4-7PM on June 7^th, WTU will be decorating our Pride Parade truck outside the WTU’s office. On June 8^th, meet us as we line up to prepare for the parade from 12-2PM! On June 9^th, sign up for a shift to help us as we give away one free book of choice to kids at WTU’s festival table.

WTU’s Informational Meeting for International Teachers

If you are an international teacher in need of getting important questions answered regarding your visa status, please attend this meeting with an immigration attorney and consultant on Wednesday, June 5^th at 4:30PM.

Important Special Education Survey

If you are a Special Education teacher or related service provider, please take this important survey here regarding PowerSchools here.

Sick Leave Buy-Back Program

Applications for Sick Leave Buy-Back are now available. The deadline for submission of the application is June 7, 2024. Click here for more information and application.

Encourage Your Students to Enter the National Writers Guild Contest

Please take a moment to encourage your seventh graders to submit writings about Juneteenth.  The National Writers Union is co-sponsoring its first annual contest with Street Sense Media, which will publish several winning submissions.  An additional co-sponsor, Second Story Cards, will provide gift cards to the top winners.

The National Writers Union (NWU) is a union of freelance writers in every medium and genre.  The DC area chapter, which is affiliated with the Metro Washington Council, AFL-CIO, has members in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia, in addition to D.C.  Members of the Chapter will be judging the submissions.

The Juneteenth writing contest seeks submissions in any form, in accordance with these instructions:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfbImjurxP3uxIVsnVZZbQrGOJ83eQbwVaysJ9PbFRxP7liQQ/viewform

The deadline for submissions has been extended to Monday, June 3, 2024.

Upcoming Events, Activities & Meetings

• May 20 @7PM, via Zoom, C.O.P.E., INFORMATION
• May 21 @7PM, Ward 5 Education Equity Committee Dew Drop Inn, 2801 8th Street NE
• May 21 @7PM, Ward 6 Education email  [email protected] for zoom info
• June 5^th @4:30PM, Informational Meeting for International Teachers via Zoom
• June 7^th @4-7PM, Decorate WTU’s Pride Truck, 15th Street NW - Staging
• June 8^th @12-2PM, Staging/Lineup, 15^th Street NW
• June 8^th @3-7PM, Ride with the WTU in the Parade, 15th Street NW
• June 9^th @Noon-7PM, Help the WTU give away free books to children at Capital Pride Festival

In the News

• 05/16/2024 – The Washington Post – Family of Slain Dunbar Student Organizes Peaceful Protest Against Juvenile Crime
• 05/14/2024 – Axios – School Segregation Surges 70 Years After Brown versus Board of Education Ruling
• 05/13/2024 – The Washington Informer – WTU Rails Against ‘Delay Tactics’ in Collective Bargaining: Mayor Bowser Hints at Impasse Over Salary in Teacher Contract Negotiations
• 05/16/2024 – The Washington Post – DCPS chancellor slams Mendelson plan to shift central office funds to school: The proposal would threaten the district’s ability to run important programs, he said.
• 05/17/2024 – The Washington Post - How Black parents in D.C. got segregation struck down 70 years ago: On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional in Brown v. Board — and in the D.C. companion case Bolling v. Sharpe

LEA Look Forward – Weekly Updates

OSSE Literacy Conference, May 22 8:30-3 – registration Home OSSE Literacy Conference

LEA Look Forward for May 17, 2024: Dyslexia Legislation Year 2, Peer Collaborative Opportunities and More!

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.