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The New York State Budget does NOT include a merging of BOCES Aid nor Special Act Aid into the Foundation Formula! THIS IS A HUGE WIN FOR NYSUT! Please thank your local legislators for standing strong against this idea once again! :)

Previously:

The governor recently announced that school districts should be prepared to adjust their budgets to account for lost revenue from the state. The passage of the federal stimulus package infused two billion dollars to our state for public education stabilization for both K-12 and higher education. There is no need for these dramatic cuts. Cuts to education

Help us share building level educational successes by submitting your story for the segment "Shared Success" here. 

http://bit.ly/rcgbocesta-sharedsuccess 

AFT would still love to hear from members in our presidential endorsement survey. If you have a moment, please tell your members to text VOTE to 69238 to take a survey about the endorsement process. Standard message and data rates apply.

December 14th, 2019 Event

MSNBC has agreed to host with AFT, on an exclusive basis, the presidential public education forum on Saturday, Dec. 14, in Pittsburgh. Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer have confirmed their participation. It will be streamed on MSNBC’s website, as well as on AFTvotes.org and the

http://rcgboces.ny.aft.org/sites/default/files/article_pdf_files/2019-08/welcome_letter-2019.pdf

For the first time in history, New Yorkers have the opportunity to vote at polling locations October 26th-Nov. 3rd, well in advance of Election Day on Nov. 5th, 2019.

Employers have posted a notice in faculty rooms that states that staff may request up to 3 hours of time on Nov. 5th if they can demonstrate that they will not be able to vote on Nov. 5th. 

The response of NY State government has been to open polling locations to allow for early voting. Please take advantage of the early voting schedule to make sure that your vote counts in the 2019 local races! 

To find out where your early voting

NYSUT is pleased to announce the passage of  APPR Legislation (Bill A. 783 / S. 1262) in both the House and Senate yesterday. This bill eliminates the mandate that districts and BOCES use test scores to evaluate teachers. This measure returns collective bargaining rights to the Local and keeps student test scores from being included on students' permanent records.

https://www.nysut.org/news/2019/january/nysut-statement-on-passage-of-l… 

https://www.news10.com/news/ny-capitol-news/ny-lawmakers-pass-teacher-e… 

The

Local student advocates are not waiting until they reach voting age to begin their advocacy for public education and student rights! Their testimony inspired us all to do more and let our voices be heard! 

https://www.nysut.org/news/2018/august/student-activists-offer-hope-for-the-future-of-our-democracy 

We knew this moment was coming.

Wealthy special interests have been fighting for years to undercut unions and roll back the benefits earned by working families. Today’s Supreme Court decision in Janus vs. AFSCME shows how far they are willing to go to attack working families. Anti-union forces think they can seize this opportunity to convince our members to abandon our union in an effort to diminish their voice in the workplace and weaken their strength at the bargaining table.

We are going to prove them wrong.

NYSUT fights to protect the collective bargaining rights that help secure higher

Press Release AFT Files Amicus Brief in Janus v. AFSCME

Brief lays out argument citing role of collective bargaining in improving public sector workplaces, repudiating plaintiff’s constitutionally flawed warping and weaponizing of the First Amendment.

For Release: Friday, January 19, 2018

Contact: Andrew Crook o: 202-393-8637 | c: 607-280-6603 acrook@aft.org

For more info and the full article click here.

What is a public email group?

A public email group is now available on MS Outlook. This group is public and viewable by a large number of users. The purpose of a contact group (formerly called a “distribution list”) is to send an email to multiple people—a project team, a committee, or even just a group of friends—without having to add each name each time you want to write them. (Source: Microsoft)

For more info on how it works and how to make a group visit:  Microsoft Help Article

There is also a group scheduling feature.