Mobley’s Monday Message 3-4-19

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” ~Aesop

We have officially made it to March, it’s just about the end of trimester two, and Spring is getting closer and closer, despite another wind chill advisory! What is more exciting is that we have Spring Break just right around the corner.

Weingarten Rights

As a reminder to all of you, if you are ever in a meeting with administration without representation and you feel you need a member of the SEA to be sitting there with you, you can invoke your Weingarten Rights. This will then allow the meeting to stop mid-discussion and be rescheduled to a time when SEA representation can be present. I have asked for our UniServ Director Crystal Bush to provide us with more of the Weingarten Rights cards, so if you are in need of one, let your building representative know. You do not need this card to use your Weingarten Rights, but many members keep this card tucked in behind their IDs.

Common Ground

As I mentioned last week, anytime between March 1^st and May 1^st, tenured teachers on year two of the evaluation cycle will be having their summative meetings with their administrators. It does not state anywhere in our appraisal document when you need to have your information in to Common Ground by. After talking to our Appraisal Chair, Cynthia Dressler, we agreed that it would be to your advantage to have all your evidence in prior to March 1^st. So, if you do not have everything updated, it would be to your advantage to make sure your evidence from the past two years is up-to-date and ready for your administrator.

Visit IEA’s Website to Voice Your Opinion

At your building level SEA meetings, reps have been sharing with you to visit IEA’s Website to sign the 3% Salary Cap petition. There is a great “Explainer Video” to watch which helps to understand why it is important for us to be taking action. Our profession continues to be under attack and we have to make sure to contact our legislators as well and ask them to support SB60 and HB350 which would repeal the 3% salary cap.

Here are some fun ways to celebrate this week:

March 4^th: National Pancake Day…time to head to IHOP

March 5^th: Mardi Gras – Fat Tuesday

March 6^th: National Oreo Cookie Day

March 7^th: National Be Heard Day

March 8^th: National Proofreading Day

Important Dates in March:

March 4^th: Member Benefits visit to Campanelli (during lunch) & Nerge (afterschool); SEA Executive Board Meeting 3:30-4:30 PM in the Board Room; SEA/SEEO General Meeting Planning Committee 4:30-5:30 PM in the Board Room

March 8^th: End of Trimester Two

March 18^th: Report Card Comments/Grades need to be completed by 8 AM;
SEA Building Representative Meeting 3:30-5:00 PM in the Board Room

March 19^th: Report Card Website closes

March 20^th: Parents can access report cards

March 25^th – 29^th: SPRING BREAK

Lori Mobley

Schaumburg Education Association President

lorimobleysea@gmail.com

Cell: (847) 344-5249

Office @IKE: (847) 357-5450