Webmaster:  Betty Jayne Volpe, bjvolpe@optonline.net

Blog posts

A Letter From Randi Weingarten

Saturday morning, the Obama White House and the Department of Education acknowledged that the obsession with high-stakes testing has gone too far, and admitted their own policies helped drive the problem.

Yes, it’s just a beginning. But it is a huge step. And it happened b…

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Washington Supreme Court Strikes Down Charter School Law

A 6-3 decision of the Washington State Supreme Court struck down that state's 2012 voter referendum establishing charter schools there. The majority held, under the specific provisions of the Washington State Constitution and state judicial precedents going back more than a century, that common (pub…

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Gun Violence- New York

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence Applauds Albany Common Council's Passage of Firearm Safe Storage Law

Albany, NY – September 2, 2015 – This evening the Albany Common Council passed a law requiring the safe storage of firearms and ammunition. New Yorkers Against Gun Violence applauds the pass…

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AFT Petition

Please sign this AFT e-Activist petition <http://action.aft.org/c/44/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=7691>  and tell USDOE that testing and other invalid measures will not work to determine the success of teacher prep programs. New proposed regulations would use unreliable, out-of-c…

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NYSUT's Media Presence

In front of cameras and behind the scenes, NYSUT's ramped up media presence is gaining traction and getting the facts out. This recent editorial from The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/05/opinion/the-central-crisis-in-new-york-education.html>  helps make our case that schools require…

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Pension Cuts

State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento responds to a recent editorial which advocated cuts to public employee retiree pensions.  Read his letter to the editor here.

Right to Work For Less

“Right to Work for Less” Legislation Rears its Ugly Head in Several States

Following the 2014 elections, one of the most immediate threats to unions comes from so-called right-to-work legislation, which allows employees to opt out of joining a labor union even when that union negotiates busines…

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Expand Social Security

Sherrod Brown to Introduce Harkin Bill to Expand Social Security in 114th Congress

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has announced plans to reintroduce Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) Strengthening Social Security Act in the next Congress. The bill would change the Social Security benefit formula, ensuring …

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Multiple Pathways to Graduation

The public comment period for the new pathways to graduation for students in the arts, humanities, STEM and Career and Technical Education has begun and will end Dec. 20. Calling it a long overdue step in the right direction, NYSUT is asking members to submit comments in support of the move. Here's …

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Innovation Fund Grant

NYSUT has won an AFT Innovation Fund grant http://www.nysut.org/news/2014/november/aft-awards-grants-for-new-york-connecticut-teachers-to-have-voice-on-standards  for teachers to offer solutions to problems with their state's rollout of the Common Core State Standards. It will help the union fulfil…

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Medicare Part B Premiums

Premiums for Medicare Part B, including the Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA), will not increase in 2015. The IRMAA for Medicare Part D (prescription drug) will increase slightly in 2015. For additional information concerning Medicare, members can access www.medicare.gov.

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Look for the NYSUT Voter Guide in the Mail

Our members should be receiving the 2014 NYSUT Voter Guide soon. The message: "On Nov. 4, you decide -- you have the power." It includes explanations of how and why it is important for NYSUT to make endorsements, and why it is important for union members to support them.

"We need to do everythin…

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An Essential Safety Net

Shortly before 1 a.m. this morning, a bill protecting our members from the worst consequences of the state's broken evaluation system passed the state Senate unanimously. That was the final piece we needed. With the Assembly leading the way and the governor on board, we achieved a three-way agreeme…

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NYSUT Pushes On

The union continues a non-stop push for legislation to expand the moratorium on the use of standardized tests in high-stakes decisions that was established for students to include teachers and principals. I urge members to go to the Member Action Center to send a fax to legislators. The state budget…

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Opting Out - Spring 2014

The frustration of parents shows as the number of students opting out of math tests last week exceeded the earlier ELA tests. Parents of more than 34,000 students chose to excuse their children from taking the state's grade 3-8 English language arts exams in April, according to the New York State Al…

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Math Test Errors - Spring 2014

The fiasco of the missing pages in some of the state math tests given last week in more than 100 schools is yet another example of SED's flawed testing policies. Here's our news release.

NYSUT is compiling a list of affected schools and will press for whatever correctives are needed.

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Mobilization May events

There are plenty of reasons to get people moving during Mobilization May.

At 2 p.m. May 17, thousands will gather in Manhattan's City Hall Park and march to the NYC Department of Education to support and celebrate the efforts of parents, teachers and community members who have worked to preserve a…

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Iannuzzi Pushes Governor's Panel

President Dick Iannuzzi urged Gov. Cuomo's Common Core panel to get down to serious business. "Now that the governor's panel is under way, it is imperative for it to conclude its work swiftly," he said. "The clock continues to tick away the time until another battery of inappropriate Common Core tes…

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The Chained CPI

Today, it was reported President Obama heeded OUR call and struck the chained CPI cut to Social Security and other programs from his 2015 budget.

The 4 million member Alliance for Retired Americans made eliminating the chained CPI our top priority of the past year. You have been key in making tha…

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The Chained CPI

Today, it was reported President Obama heeded OUR call and struck the chained CPI cut to Social Security and other programs from his 2015 budget.

The 4 million member Alliance for Retired Americans made eliminating the chained CPI our top priority of the past year. You have been key in making tha…

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20 blog posts