Mr. Fitz is terrific. OK, full disclosure. David Finkle is an old friend and grew up in Round Lake. Now he is an English teacher in Florida. I bet most of us can identify with his strips.
Our VOTE-COPE drive is off to a slow start (let's blame it on spring break), many of us have to find our envelopes and send them to me at the high school. We are at an 18% participation rate. Can we get to 50%? Terry
NYSUT's next target is the state's obsession with testing. Did you see the full page ads in the newspaper, TJ and TU? Have you seen the petition on nysut.org asking “to end the over-reliance on high-stakes, standardized tests and to allow students to learn and teachers to teach?” NYSUT supports the Truth About Testing Act. This act contains two bills. One would prohibit state testing of students from kindergarten through second grade. The other would require the state to make a thorough review of testing costs, from development, to preparation, to administration, through grading. We want some data driven accountability too.
Read more at http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/ra.htm
The Cobleskill-Richmondville Teacher’s Association has been busy in our community this year. Hurricane Irene may have put an end to our official September in-service, but those of us who were not struggling to take care of our houses were working in Schoharie or at the C-RCS shelter at Golding Middle School. Who would have ever imagined the one-two-punch, hurricane Lee’s arrival for the first day of school? Teachers, principals and staff took care of the community’s children until well into the evening. These events focused both the monetary giving and the giving of time by the C-RTA.
Thank you to all who voted in this year’s CRTA elections.
The results are as follows:
We encourage NYSUT members, parents, students and community activists to come to Albany on June 8 to speak with one voice to fight for the future of public education.
Find out more at NYSUT.org/RallyJune8.
