Updated 3/08/12
Next Executive Board Meeting ~ April 2 ~ Dawe School ~ 3:15
From STA President, Susan Cogliano
Once again this year we are trying to keep in touch with our members by using personal e- mails. In an effort to serve you better, we have found that I-Contact is a way for STA to communicate to the members without using public school resources including their server. STA business should be between its members and the leadership specifically when they are about contracts. Over 170 members have logged-in with I-CONTACT. If you have not yet done so please find the time to log-in and sign up before November 1 or give your information to the building rep. The link is: http://www.mtasurveys.org/se.ashx?s=0B87CA7D422635A7
Again it is important from an organization point of view as there are times when the information that needs to be communicated to the membership is confidential and there are other times when the information the Association needs to be distributed would be inappropriate to communicate over the school e-mail. I-Contact will allow us to deal with both concerns. Please join the group so that we can better serve you. Your home email is not shared with anyone!Our association is one of nearly 400 local affiliates that belong to the Massachusetts Teachers Association. The MTA provides our field rep, Jacqueline McDonough, whoassists us in advocating for our members, and resolving issues that arise during the year.
The MTA also provides professional development, communications help and legal assistance, if we need it. And MTA staff members lobby the Legislature and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on our behalf.
As some of you newcomers are just learning, the MTA is a state affiliate of the National Education Association – the NEA. Your dues dollars go to all three levels: local, state and national. The NEA lobbies on your behalf in Washington, supports quality education through research and professional development, serves as a major national voice for public education and supports many state and local initiatives. For example, the NEA worked hard for a balanced resolution to the debt ceiling crisis.
Our local, the MTA and the NEA are only as strong as the members. We are trying to grow our grassroots power through the MTA’s Strategic Action Plan. The stronger we are, the more we can help members and students alike.
Although MTA staff work hard, they are small in number and power compared to the association’s 107,000 members, most of whom are voters. When you contact your legislators or other elected officials, they listen. They know that you have respect in the community and the influence needed to change votes on important issues and affect the outcome of elections.
Our new Legislative and Political Action Teams are at the heart of our advocacy efforts. The LPATs are based in each of the 40 Senate districts around the state. They are designed to empower members, strengthen our relationships with each other and our legislators and advocate for a pro-education legislative and political agenda. Each LPAT is led by a coordinator who has been through training. The LPAT coordinator for our area is Sherley A. Phillips. The LPATs are working closely with Political Action Leaders – PALs – who represent local associations and chapters. They are charged with creating local communications networks, organizing, recruiting members and meeting with legislators. Each local president is asked to appoint at least one PAL for his or her association or chapter. The PAL for our association is Andrea Pires (South School). If anyone else is interested in becoming a PAL for the STA please speak to your building rep or contact Andrea.
All of our efforts – local, state and national – will be more successful if a lot of members are involved. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but it does take a lot of people to make a difference. So please take it seriously and answer the call if you are asked to come to a meeting, vote on a contract, elect your e-board members, or help elect a pro-education candidate. If you are asked to contact your school committee members or legislators, please pick up the phone – or the computer mouse – and make that contact. These requests are not made lightly. Your views really do matter and your active involvement will never go unnoticed. Your voice will never go unheard. Member involvement makes all the difference.