GNTA 2018-2019 CALENDAR

ASSEMBLY BILL A.10475 Introduced to fix appr law and remove reliance on standardized tests

On 4/26, the New York State Assembly leaders introduced Assembly bill A.10475, which would fix the flawed annual professional performance review law. Now we need the Senate to act too!

Everything about the current system has angered and frustrated educators, parents and students. The misuse of standardized tests and the state's over-reliance on testing have plagued the learning climate in our classrooms for years. There are far better ways to evaluate educators than to use mystery math and algorithms that spit out invalid "growth scores" while subjecting kids to exhausting tests that neither inform instruction nor accurately measure achievement.

Go to the Member Action Center to tell your state Senator to pass Assembly bill A.10475 to finally fix New York's broken teacher evaluation system!

This new legislation would Let Educators Teach and Let Students Learn! School districts and their unions would be able to design their own fair and effective evaluations systems that help teachers grow professionally while meeting the unique needs of their own communities.

Urge lawmakers to listen to parents and educators and pass this bill to ensure students and teachers are valued as more than a test score. Tell them they must reduce the testing burden and enact this fairer evaluation system before the end of this legislative session.

GNTA open house
a resounding success!

Over seventy-five GNTA members stopped by for refreshments, conversation and t-shirts at the Cottage's open house. Special thanks to members of GNTA's Local Action Project for coordinating the effort.  A good time was had by all!

DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE APPR SURVEY
(Like, EVER)

​Sisters and Brothers, 


The other day we received an email from the Commissioner of Education to complete a survey regarding APPR. 

We are asking you to delete the email and NOT participate in the survey. 

NYSUT’s Executive Vice President, Jolene DiBrango, explains our reasoning:

"The New York State Commissioner of Education released an APPR survey on Tuesday that took everyone by surprise. We have spent time carefully examining the survey and believe it may lead to unreliable and invalid data due to the way it has been constructed.  As a result, we released the following statement Tuesday evening to the press:
'The state has had at least six years to listen to the voices of teachers and parents who are angry and frustrated with this broken teacher evaluation system. We don't need any more surveys or delays. This is the year to fix it. Evaluations must be returned to local control with no state mandates.'


We will not be sharing a link to the survey through the Member or Leader Briefings or encouraging our members to participate in it. I will be communicating this to the Commissioner.  
NYSUT continues to advocate for an APPR fix this year.  We want a system that restores trust, helps develop teachers and is free of state mandates. Returning APPR to local control is the only answer."
-------------------------

Thank you, 


- Jim

Thinking about retirement? HEre's an update from our friends at NYSTRS

Winter-Spring 2018 Schedule of PREP Seminars

No matter how far along you are in your career, careful financial and retirement planning are critical. NYSTRS’ Pension & Retirement Education Program (PREP) is designed to help members of all ages accomplish that. Members can tailor PREP to fit their needs by staying for the entire seminar (8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.) or just those modules that help them the most: NYSTRS benefits; financial planning; Social Security; estate planning; retirement—a new beginning; and, the retirement process.

PREP seminars are free, and sessions are held throughout the year across the state. Our winter-spring 2018 PREP schedule is now available on the Retirement Planning > Pension & Retirement Education Program page of our website at NYSTRS.org. Please forward this information to your staff as soon as possible so those wishing to attend can register before slots are filled. Instructions for making reservations, which will be accepted in the order they are received, are included on the schedule.
Please copy the schedule and post it in locations frequented by your staff. An electronic
version of this Administrative Bulletin, complete with schedule, is also available on theEmployers > Administrative Bulletins page of our website.

Members may also be interested in attending a NYSTRS benefits consultation, available year-round. At these one-on-one meetings, staff review the retirement process, explain payment options and provide members with benefit estimates for their target retirement dates. Our 2017-2018 consultation schedule is now available on the Retirement Planning > Benefits Consultations page of our website.

An archive of Delegate News issued since 2005 is found on our website.
SITE UPDATES

BLOG: The Supreme Court just issued a blow to Workers' Rights, and no, this isn't the JANUS case.
​Updated 5.22.18
​
CALENDAR:   The GNTA June Calendar has been posted!
​Updated 5.22.18

FORMS:  GNTA Retiree/Para forms have been updated.
​Updated 5.11.18

ELECTIONS: The GNTA will hold a special election for Treasurer this Spring. Details about the position, and a nominating petition, are available on the election page of our website. 
​Updated 2.12.18

FORMS:  GNTA Expense Reports have been updated to include the correct milage reimbursement rates for 2018.
​Updated 1.16.18

CALENDAR:   The GNTA January Calendar has been posted!
​Updated 1.6.18

FORMS:  GNTA Medical forms have been updated to include the correct address for our new third party administrator. 
​Updated 12.7.17

LAP: Check out our new page dedicated to the Local Action Project!
Updated 12.7.17

RETIREMENT: The page has been completely updated and redesigned!
Updated 11.14.17

FORMS:  New GNTA forms for dental, RX and excess medical posted!
Updated 10.30.17

CALENDAR:   The GNTA November Calendar has been posted!
Updated 10.30.17
Great Neck Teachers Association
NYSUT, AFT, AFL-CIO #2686 
The Cottage • 343 Lakeville Road
Great Neck, NY 11020 
gnteachers@gmail.com • @GNTeachers
(516) 829-9070 • Fax: (516) 829-0724

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DID YOU KNOW...

You can get forms for dental, excess medical, prescription drug and other claims by clicking on the INFORMATION menu at the top of this page and then clicking on the "Forms" link? 
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WHOM CAN I CONTACT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT...

GNTA Benefits (excess medical, dental, optical, etc.)
Monica Martin at The Cottage
(516) 829-9086

The Contract, APPR, or My Professional Rights & Responsibilities
Your building’s BRC Chairperson

My Learning Plan or Professional Development
Your building’s BCG Chairperson

Payroll
Maria Martinez
​mmartinez@greatneck.k12.ny.us
(516) 441-4029

Human Resources
Jennifer Kirby, Director of Human Resources
jkirby@greatneck.k12.ny.us
(516) 441-4050