May 20 Retirement Dinner

The annual WEA Retirement Dinner honors our members retiring this year:

Anne Marie Brooks
Sue Cistoldi
Heidi Simms DiGiovanni
Chris Quimby
Sherri Williams

Tickets include hors d'ouevres and a dinner. See a building representative for a ticket. $20. Tickets are limited.

School Committee candidates on the record

In early March, the two candidates for Wareham School Committee received a questionnaire from our WEA, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope. They were also directed to a link on the WEA website where they could download the questionnaire electronically and return it by email.

As of the deadline of March 20, only one candidate had responded. The WEA thanks Mary Morgan for her responses, and here answers can be found using the link above.

Results of March board meeting

On the March 7 board meeting, the WEA board voted to:
*Set as its position to advocate for a health care premium holiday for those who paid into the Wareham Health Care Trust Fund as the method of returning the fund surplus to members;
*Send to Wareham School Committee candidates a questionnaire, whose answers will be published on the WEA website on March 21.
*Set Wareham's representatives to the Annual Meeting those members who sought to attend as elicited in the website and newsletter. As there were fewer interested than spots available, those six were elected.

Seniority Lists Released

Click the link above to check your seniority on the draft lists, released this week.  Any challenges must be issued by March 1.  Explanations are available on a page linked from the contracts & info page.

It is the responsibility of the member to do the following:

1. Check that your seniority is correct on the Unit A or Unit C list.
2. File any challenge in writing by March 1.

Grade 8

WEA members working with eighth graders were polled this week on the idea of issuing a statement on the proposed move of eighth grade to the high school. Ballots were anonymous. Seven voted to take a position against the idea, five to come out in favor, and three voted to issue no statement. As there was no option that earned a majority, the WEA will not take a position on this proposal, though the results are being released in the interests of transparency.

Your MTRB ballot

MTRS Elections: Members will be receiving ballots for the election to the Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System. Our MTA has endorsed longtime educators Dennis Naughton and Jacqueline Gorrie for the posts. Please vote online when you receive the ballot. It's your pension contribution -- make sure it's managed well!

Some changes

As a school-based democratic organization, our WEA is undergoing some changes.   They are meant to keep our Association operating at full capacity in an open manner.   I'd love to hear what you think of the following:

• Building-based meetings in October on the question "Where do you dues dollars go?"
• The publication of a draft agenda in the members-only section before every board meeting so you can see what's being discussed.  As always, all members are welcome at all board meetings.
• Personnel changes, which can be seen in our updated officer roster.  Many former building representatives have retired or moved into officer roles.  Thanks all those who stepped up!

I also wanted to copy below the text of the letter that Dr. Shaver-Hood co-signed with me to our elected representatives asking them to keep public money in public schools, and preserve the cap on charter schools:

To Whom It May Concern:

In times of cash strapped school district budgets, public schools are challenged to do more for their students with decreasing funds.  Regulations continue to increase, while revenues in Wareham continue to decrease. Moreover, the implementation of state and federal mandates, absorbs our limited financial resources.  Many of these mandates have been added to public schools’ obligations without the provision of additional funds to match.

Lifting the Charter School cap likely will result in the dismantling of the public school system in the Commonwealth.  Wareham educators provide our students with rigorous academic learning experiences, in-spite of the limited funding our district receives.   

At the present time, Charter Schools remove hundreds of thousands of dollars (over half a million dollars this year alone) originally intended for students in the Wareham Public Schools while being bound to less accountability.  We implore you to allow our district to retain the intended funds. For with these funds, essential interventions, materials, resources, and adequate staff would provide our students the opportunities to raise academic performance.  Instead, we are challenged by demographics, lack of funding, and outdated resources, then thrust into competition, which will place our students and district at a distinct disadvantage.  At the same time, we are responsive and accountable to our community through the democratic system of elected school committee governance, a representative function that the charter regime lacks.

We beseech you to advocate for the public school system in the Commonwealth by supporting S.326, an Act for a Moratorium on Commonwealth Charter schools.

With sincere regards,

 

Brian Fitzgerald

president, Wareham Education Association, Inc.

Kim Shaver-Hood

superintendent, Wareham Public Schools