Education Funding Forum and Rally March 21

Education Funding Forum and Rally

Over 850 educators made themselves heard at the spirited event at Nathan Hale High School.  Nine legislators, (seated and facing the educators) including Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and Senator Rosemary McAuliffe, heard stories and answered questions about class size, compensation (including low pay for NESPA staff), high health insurance costs, excessive standardized testing, evaluations and the need for funding and revenue.

NESPA Members Go to Capitol To Press for Compensation, Staffing, and Affordable Medical Benefits!

Left, rear:  Tara Auerbach (Inglemoor).  3^rd from left, rear:  Andrea Dusenberry (Westhill), 2^nd from left, front: Sharon Maynard (Bear Creek)

On Wednesday, Jan 29, three NESPA members went to Olympia and spoke to 10 Legislators about the need for additional funding to provided PROFESSIONAL COMPENSATION and adequate STAFFING LEVELS.   They showed the Legislators the recommendations of the State Committee that studied what school employees should be making (about $6 per hour more for NESPA members), and pressed for more funding for medical benefits.   (Medial benefit costs are rising because the State has not increased its funding for school employees since 2011.)

NESPA members Tara Auerbach, Andrea Dusenberry ,and Sharon Maynard  (see photo) joined Kraig Peck (WEA Staffperson for NESPA and NSEA) and two Paraeducators from the Shoreline Educational Support Professionals Assn (SESPA) in lobbying our Legislators.  Tell them thanks, and lobby your own legislators, by clicking on the link below.  You don’t have to know who your legislators are.   The website Our Voice Washington will tell you.   Check it out weekly, and join the fight for a better future for our students, children and grandchildren---and for each other!

Please  send a message to your LEGISLATORS and to the GOVERNOR about funding for compensation, staffing levels, and medical benefits.     

Here is the link:  Email Gov. Inslee and your legislators!

WHAT IS ESP?

As a NESPA member you are all ESP's.  It stands for Education Support Professionals.  

We are the Northshore Education Support Professionals.  We are made up of para-educators, nurses, school assistants, playground monitors, ELLs, LAPs interpreters, school technician specialists, and many others who help our schools run smoothly.

November 19^th was National ESP Day.  A day that Patty Murray made possible in Washington D.C. to recognize the work that we do.

When you hear of an ESP training or ESP Lobby Day or ESP of the Year, these are opportunities for you to get involved.  Be proud who you and the hard work that you do.

You all received an e-mail from the WEA announcing the opening of nominations for ESP of the year.  Please take your time to consider one of your colleagues for this honor.  The nominations close on Feb. 6th. You can go to the WEA website to download an application, or contact Stephanie Mikos at smikos@washingtonea.org.

I would also like to pass on to you the name of an organization called National Resource Center for Paraeducators.  It has  information that can be useful for you and the jobs that you do.  You can find them at 

www.nrcpara.org

Don't forget our name- 

Northshore Education Support Professionals

Thank you for all that you do for the kids.

Pat Waldrop

ACT Representative

Cascade Council

Learning Google Apps

You may have heard talk about the District using Google Apps or Google docs for much of the work students and staff will be doing.  By using GoogleApps, you can access your documents from any District computer OR even your computer at home.  Classes for this are being offered in District schools, probably even your school.  To register for one of these classes, 

• go to nsd.org
• log into the District web page, using your usual nsd log in.
• click on District in upper left corner
• Then go to Staff...right side
• Under Quick Links of left side is PD Place
• the log in here does use a different password than usual log in
• To begin your search of available opportunities simply click the buttons at the top of the page. If you are interested in registering for any events please sign in using your user name and password. If you are a first time user, contact the Human Resources department (staffdev@nsd.org) to set up your account.

Welcome Back!

Here is info about your upcoming work days and about Monday, November 10

·         For most NESPA members (everyone except Nurses, Truancy and Mental Health Specialists, and our Community Schools Project Coordinator), the first required work day is Tuesday, Sept. 2---the first student day.    Here is the link to your work year calendar:

   NESPA WORK YEAR CALENDAR FOR 191 DAY EMPLOYEES

·         This is the link to the Work Year Calendar for School Nurses .

      Typically, nurses work with their principals to schedule the additional   4 days of work before school, and 1 more additional day is PD by Health Services.   In addition, nurses get 40 professional hours (See Articles 11.20 and 11.21).  Nurses assigned to TWO schools also get an additional three 8 hour days to open and close them, scheduled at your discretion.

·         This is the link to the Work Year Calendar for Truancy and Mental Health Specs, and Community Schools Coordinator.     You also get 40 additional professional hours, per Article 11.21.

PROFESSIONAL HOURS---PAID TIME BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS:  In addition, all of us except those in the last 2 bullets above get 55 professional hours—“optional paid work hours”, of which 15 “must be utilized prior to school for preparation and in-service activities at the building level.   If the principal or supervisor determines that work is not scheduled for 7.5 of these hours prior to school starting, the hours may be used for other building based in-service trainings and activities schedule throughout the school year.”    (This is the actual wording on page 6 of your pumpkin-colored contract, which explains everything you need to know about professional hours—what they are for, etc.)     www.nespablog.blogspot.com 

The dates of the 15 hours before school are typically on the non-student days just before school begins.     Check with your principal or asst. principal on your schedule for these optional hours.    Work with them if you want to work on other days instead (for example, if you and the teacher you are assigned to prefers that you work next week to assist them).  

This year, there are THREE non-student days before school begins which are mandatory work days for CERTIFICATED staff (not most NESPA staff).    These are not paid work days for most NESPA staff (all except those job titles listed above) and you are not required to work them.   But your principal or asst. principal may, as always, schedule some of them for your optional professional hours.   If you have not already received an email from your principal or asst. principal, check with them about working these days for your 15 professional hours.

IMPORTANT INFO FOR EVERYONE:

·         In addition, of course, your 40 other professional hours are available to you now.  (Article 11.30: “Hours worked in August shall be charged to the subsequent year’s professional hour balance.”)

·         It does not matter whether you work 2 hours, 4 hours, 6.5 hours or 8 hours per day.  You get the SAME number of professional hours.  They are NOT pro rata.  

·         Monday, Sept. 1 is Labor Day and a PAID holiday for everyone.   All NESPA members get 11 PAID holidays.

·         Monday, Nov. 10 is not a work day for NESPA or for teachers.  Schools are closed, and no one is paid for that day.   It is a break for a long weekend as Tuesday, Nov. 11 is Veterans Day (a paid holiday), so we are off (as are our students) Sat-Tuesday, and return to work on Wednesday, Nov. 12. 

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WHY THE MINIMUM WAGE SHOULD BE $15 PER HOUR

3 minute video on Why the Minimum Wage Should Be $15 per Hour, by 
former Sec. of Labor Robert Reich

Youtube

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Check out the Professional Development tab on this blog for opportunities of online PD you can do on your early-release-Wednesdays.  

·         YOUR PAY INCREASE: THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING YOUR NESPA NEGOTIATING TEAM!

·         CHECK YOUR TIME SHEET, TO BE SURE YOU ARE BEING PAID CORRECTLY.

Our newly negotiated and ratified 2013-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement has pay increases and/or annual step increases for everyone---no matter how long they have been in Northshore.   This includes paraeducator substitutes, whose pay went from $14 per hour to $14.72 per hour.  

For those who have been “stuck” at the top step (Steps 5 and 15), the raises are especially welcome, with only pennies of an increase in the previous 3 years.  

For those who have been stuck at step 5 for years, there is a new step 10, with an increase of $1.02 per hour.   For a 6.5 hour employee, that’s an annual increase of $1,266.   You can get to step 10 in BEFORE the start of your 10^th year, if you started higher than step 1 when you were hired.     See the link for the explanation---and check your time card to be sure that you are placed on Step 10 if you should be. 

Everyone at Step 5 last year should go to either the new Step 6 or the new Step 10. 

For those at the 15 year longevity step, there is an increase of  $1.03 per hour, or about $1,279 per year for a 6.5 hour employee.  You get to Step 15 at the start of the year following your 14^th year in NESPA, even if you complete your 14^th year by Dec. 31.  (There is no change in how you get to the 15 year longevity step.)  

In other words, one advances to step 10 very differently than to step 15.   Step 10 can take 9 or fewer year, depending on the step you started at.  Step 15 takes 14 years in NESPA, no matter what step you started at.

Here is the link to the new salary schedule.  Salary Schedules.  It includes last year’s salary schedule so you can determine where you were, and where you should be.    Check your time sheet to be sure you are being paid correctly.  

Nice Surprise in Your Pay Check September 30?

Did you notice the pay raise on the check you got today?  The pay increase is one of the positives your contract negotiating team achieved this year in our new contract.