In the fall of 2014, about 800 MTA members participated in Reclaiming Public Education forums held throughout the state. These forums focused on four questions.

In the fall of 2014, about 800 MTA members participated in Reclaiming Public Education forums held throughout the state. These forums focused on four questions. Responses were analyzed and most frequently mentioned issues were identified.

1. What is your vision for the schools our students, educators and communities deserve?

Joyful, inspiring a love of learning

Educating the whole child

Professional respect

Adequate resources

Community involvement

2. What are the impediments to achieving that vision?

Lack of Time and Autonomy

High Stakes Testing

Educator Evaluations

3. How did we get here?

Poverty / economic injustice

Policy driven by non-educators

Assault on the dignity of educators

Corporations looking to privatize and profit

Lack of family support and security

Assault on and efforts to destroy unions

4. What are the actions you are ready to take to reclaim public education?

Make colleagues aware of issues

Respond to MTA and NEA alerts

Build alliances with parents, students, administrators, and others

Campaign for pro-public schools candidates

Frequently communicate with your legislators

MTA’s Government Relations Committee developed a package of 15 bill proposals.

These were filed as bills by several legislators.The following slides show samples of those bills.

An Act Relative to a Moratorium on High Stakes Testing and PARCC - Rep. Marjorie Decker (D-Cambridge)

• -Three year moratorium on the use of PARCC.• -Three year moratorium on the use of standardized testing to determine: high school

graduation, evaluation of teachers and a assessing performance of schools or districts• -Establishes a task force of stakeholders to meet during the first 18 months to measure the use

of standardized tests as a high school graduation requirement, in evaluating educators, and in assessing schools and districts against the paramount goal laid out in the Education Reform Act of 1993. Six statewide hearings will be held with a report issued at the end of this period.

Toxic Testing

An Act Relative to Charter Schools - Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton)-Requires all teachers hired by commonwealth charter schools to obtain a teaching license.-Places a three-year moratorium on charter school expansion.

Moratorium on charter schools and requirements that all charter teachers be licensed.

An Act Related to Unfunded Mandates on Public Schools - Reps. Carolyn Dykema (D-Holliston) & Dan Donahue (D-Worcester)Requires DESE to conduct an analysis of all new state laws, regulations, or administrative directives; including:-the cost these laws and directives have on school districts and its employees and,-the impact they have on time on learning in the classroom and overall impact on improving student achievement.

An Act Establishing an Educational Mandate Task Force - Rep. Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley)Sets up an educational mandate task force to review existing state mandates on public schools and districts and to develop recommendations to streamline, consolidate, or eliminate such mandates or reporting requirements. Re-file of H3722 from the 2013-2014 Session.

Mandates, Mandates, Mandates

Eliminate the Fee for fingerprinting

An Act Relative to National Background Check Fees - Rep. Tom Stanley (D-Waltham)Eliminates the fee paid by public school employees to cover the cost of the national background check and would allow employee to deduct the amount of this fee from their next educator licensure renewal. Employees or retired employees who paid the fee and are not subject to educator licensure renewal shall be reimbursed from the state.

An Act Relative to the Composition of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education - Sen. Ken Donnelly (D-Arlington)Adds two teacher representatives to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education chosen by the Governor - one from a list of three teacher representatives submitted by the Massachusetts Teachers Association and one from a list of three teacher representatives submitted by the American Federation of Teachers/Massachusetts.

Two Active Educators on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

An Act Related to Just Cause Terminations - Sen. Dan Wolf (D-Harwich)Re-establishes the “just cause” standard in dismissal cases for teachers, consistent with the legislative intent and over 20 years of case law which was undone by the 2014 SJC decision (Lexington v. Zagaeski).

An Act Promoting Collaboration at Level 4/5 Schools - Rep. Michael Brady (D-Brockton)Maintains the employment rights within the district for teachers who are transferred from turnaround schools.

Protection of Educators’ Jobs and Rights

An Act to Invest in Higher Education Faculty - Rep. Paul Mark (D-Peru)-Increases the number of undergraduate courses taught by full time tenure and tenure-track faculty at public higher education institutions to at least 75%. -Increases per course pay for adjuncts so compensation is in line with full time non-tenure track faculty. -Adjuncts who work halftime based on a cumulative workload at one or more public higher education institutions would be eligible for the same healthcare and pension benefits as tenure-track faculty members-Adjuncts to receive consideration for teaching assignments and tenure-track positions.

Invest in Higher Education Faculty and Staff

An Act for Universal Early Education and Full-Day Kindergarten - Sen. Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett)-Requires the Board of Early Education and Care to establish a fully-funded early education program for all three and four year olds in the Commonwealth; five days a week, year-round. The program would be phased in, first in low-income districts, and fully established and fully funded by September 1, 2020, and would require all early education teachers to be licensed by 2020.-Requires all children to attend a full-day kindergarten.

Universal Pre-K and Mandatory Full-Day Kindergarten

An Act Creating a Living Wage for Employees and Contracted Employees of the Commonwealth - Rep. Dave Rogers (D-Cambridge)Creates a living wage of $15 per hour for employees of the Commonwealth and its contractors/subcontractors, and includes indexing for inflation and enforcement provisions based on both the Massachusetts minimum wage and Boston’s living wage ordinance.

An Act Relative to Increasing the COLA Base - Rep. Sean Garballey (D-Arlington)Increases the current base used to calculate the annual cost of living adjustment for retirees of the MTRS and MSPS from 3% of $13,000 to 3% of $16,000.

Fair Wages and COLA

An Act for Language Opportunities for Our Kids (LOOK) - Sen. Sal DiDomenico (D-Everett) & Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez (D-Jamaica Plain)-Updates law to encompass the latest in academic research and best practices in public schools serving English language learners and allows all districts to choose high quality, alternate Language Acquisition Programs based on the needs of students, in addition to Sheltered English Immersion. -Encourages parent involvement in selecting, advocating for and participating in English learner programs. -Recognizes the value of bilingualism and biliteracy skills by establishing a state Seal of Biliteracy, which districts can award to high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in two or more languages. -Requires no major changes to existing programs or initiatives, such as RETELL, currently underway by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Language Acquisition Programs

113,000 MTA members can do it.

Can we count on you?