Mark your calendars for the 2015 AFT Washington Convention which will be held May 15-16 at the Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma. The theme is "Fighting Forward, Respecting Our Past!" and will feature:

• Election of officers to the AFT Washington Executive Board
• Reception and dinner
• Entertainment
• Raffle for our education scholarship, and
• Union business, of course!

Local presidents and treasurers will be receiving more detailed information. Ask them about representing your local as a delegate to the convention.

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has ranked Louisiana as the second highest of all the states, based on how our state’s charter school law aligns with the organization’s model law. Their rankings reward states for making charter schools less accountable to local voters and taxpayers.

The Wisconsin Labor History Society is currently accepting essays for its 2014-15 Labor History Essay Contest, open to all Wisconsin high school students in grades 9-12.  Up to eight prizes between $100 and $500 will be awarded to outstanding essays of up to 750 words on the topic "Unions have been important to my family and my community because..."  Essays must be postmarked by February 13 for consideration.  Please distribute this contest flyer or share the contest website with any interested high school students and with your fellow union members to spread the word!

Here's a link to the Steering Committee minutes from 1/15/15.

http://cccft.wa.aft.org/files/cccft_steering_committee_meeting__1_15.pdf

And here's a link to the Governor's Budget that is referenced in the minutes:

http://cccft.wa.aft.org/files/govbudget.pdf

Is changing state law regarding charter schools a solution in search of a problem? AFT-Maryland and BTU President Marietta English responds in a Baltimore Sun Op-Ed:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-charters-atf-20150126-story.html.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2015

Contact: Ray Baker, (410) 764-3030

Baltimore, MD - AFT-Maryland President, Marietta English, has released the following statement on the occasion of the inauguration of Maryland Governor Larry Hogan:

           One of the unique features of the teachers’ collective bargaining agreement with the district is the ability to have liaison meetings on timely topics between the union and the board of education. In the past several months, three of these meetings were held.

The 2015 Maryland Legislative Session is under way, and AFT-Maryland is launching its legislative agenda early in the session, bringing the issues that support Maryland workers and their families to the attention of the Maryland General Assembly.

Join AFT-Maryland as we visit Maryland's elected leaders and make the case for workplace safety, equitable education funding, protecting due process rights for teachers, and legislation for corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.

Larry Hogan will shed the “Governor-Elect” title later today and be sworn in as the 62nd Governor of Maryland. While his inauguration speech is expected to address a general direction and plans for the next four years in office—particularly in regard to private-sector growth and across-the-board tax cuts—many are looking with greater anticipation and anxiety as Hogan announces his budget plans this coming Friday. In specific, public sector and education workers are concerned with how Hogan will make up a $760 million budget deficit.

This year’s survey was conducted Nov. 9 to Dec. 5. Three hundred fifty one employees responded to the survey, which represents about 24% of district employees. According Meeting Professionals International, this gives our survey a 95% accuracy rate.

District wide information was presented to the BISD Board of Trustees in December. Campus results were reported in January.