01.04solidarityreport1

The Solidarity Report

Your weekly VTO & VESA Update

1381 Educators Rd. Daytona Beach, FL 32124 (386)238-1605

www.vtoweb.org

Issue 13 Number 17 January 4, 2016

In This Issue:

 Will District’s Good News Turn into
Employees’ Good News?

 Why Work to The Contract

 Work to the Contract Information

 A Few Spots Left on the Bus

 Build Union Power

 Stay Informed

Welcome Back!!

Will District’s Good News Turn into Employees’ Good News?

As usual, days before Christmas the Florida Department of Education released what is
called the Third Calculation of the Florida Education Finance Program. This is the actual
funding for the year based on the October student count and it was pretty good for Volusia
this year. Volusia’s funding went up by about $2 million. That is $2 million of
unexpected and unbudgeted money for our district.

In negotiations, the district had been saying they were concerned that a proration would
mean less money for Volusia, but it turns out that Volusia actually did much better than
almost all our surrounding counties. In fact, as a percent, Volusia and Flagler each gained
more in new funding than Brevard, Seminole, Lake and Orange Counties. The real
question is will the district and school board put this towards employees or continue to use
these funds for other priorities?

This funding adds to the other financial benefits our district has seen this year which VTO
and VESA have already pointed out. This includes a savings of over $1.2 million in fuel
costs through the first few months of the year, an additional $2 million in savings from
vacant positions and over $2 million the district received from the BP oil spill settlement.
The fuel costs continue to stay low, meaning that number will continue to increase, adding
even more savings to the district’s coffers. We have also pointed out that the district has
spent money on many other projects that they seem to think is a priority, including
purchasing new cars for district staff. While the district argues that money spent on the
new cars and other items is small, small amounts add up.

There was another report released by the district just before the winter holiday - its credit
rating. From my understanding, the credit rating reports are based on information
provided by the district to the rating companies. There were a couple of interesting points
in these reports. First, the reports are based on the district’s projected budget for the last
school year, not the actual results. I find this odd, because the district actually performed
significantly better than what they had budgeted. Second, in releasing the report to the
press the district highlighted only negative comments in the report, including how our
salaries are paid for. Last, the district glosses over the fact that the report gave a strong
credit rating to the district, and while one company downgraded the future outlook, the
overall comments were still strong.

So will the school board and district live up to the promises made last year, or will they
continue to give us excuses?

Why Work to the Contract?

In November, over 1,000 of you participated in a VTO/VESA telephone meeting
discussing what our next steps should be. Over 93% of you voted that we should
commence a Work to the Contract starting January 4th. We heard you and we are now
officially operating a Work to the Contract. This was your decision, and we know how
hard it was for you to arrive at it. For the Work to the Contract to be effective, like it was
last year, we must stand strong and stand together.

We already know the district and school board plan to do whatever it takes to undermine
our effectiveness, our unity and our rights to stand up for our students and our profession.
They demonstrated that with a threatening email from the Superintendent via your
principal. I want to reiterate that Federal Law and the Florida Constitution protects your
rights to be part of, and actively participate in, your union. That means you have the
legally protected right to participate in the Work to the Contract. You have the legally
protected right to ask your colleagues and friends to join with you. You have the legally
protected right to talk with your union representatives. Talking with colleagues, meeting
in the parking lot, attending a union meeting, holding signs outside the gates are all legally
protected activities as long as it is done before or after your work day or during your
lunch.

We do expect that principals will be instructed to hold a hard line on the contract as well.
That means we strongly suggest that you arrive to work on time each morning. If you are
ever asked to do something you believe is against the contract, please contact your

steward or the VTO/VESA office immediately. You must follow any directive you are
given. If the directive violates the contract, we will file a grievance to deal with it.
Remember, that should you get called into a meeting with administration, you should ask
what it is about. If your principal refuses to tell you or if you believe it may lead to
discipline, you had the right to bring your VTO steward with you. You must be given at
least a 24 hours notice for all meetings.

Should we see any practices from the district or principals that violate your rights, we will
take any necessary legal action to make it right. It is unfortunate we have to take this hard
line, but the district and board appear to intend to intimidate and threaten us, and we will
not stand for it.

Work to the Contract Information

We want to make sure you have all the information you need for the Work to the Contract.
We know how hard this is and how important it is that we stand up for our students and
our profession.

What a ‘Work to the Contract (Rule)’ Is:
 We only do what we are contractually required to do.
 If you are paid a supplement, you continue to do that duty.
 If you are paid to tutor, you continue to do that.
 The VTO contract allows one meeting a week after school (before school at
middle school). You would still attend that meeting.
 You do not attend after school events, stay after the end of your workday, come in
before your workday begins or give up your lunch (unless you are supplemented to
do so).
 You do not take work home with you or work outside the workday.

What a ‘Work to the Contract’ is Not:
 It is not a delay of doing work. We will do only the work we can get done during
the day. We will ask what the priority is and we will ask for assistance when we
are pulled into too many meetings that prevent us from getting our work done.
 It is not a plan to harm students. This is a way for us to take a stand for students
and our profession. Sometimes, you have to do difficult things in order to see long
term positive results.
 It does not impact your evaluation. Nowhere in the Danielson rubric or the
VESA evaluation does it say you must work beyond your work day. While some
may perceive it otherwise, the rubric talks about what and how well you do
something, not how often or when you do it. Any attempts to rate teachers
negatively for participating in the Work to the Contract are illegal and will be met
with a stiff response from VTO and VESA. We will stand together and in
solidarity.

We have reactivated the Work to the Contract Headquarters of the VTO website -
http://www.vtoweb.org/Work_to_the_Contract_Headquarters.html and on the VESA
website - http://vesaweb.org/news/. Here you will find important information on the

Work to the Contract as well as tools you can use. There is information on about VSET,
annual contract teachers, as well as letters you can use to deal with work load,
communicating with parents and more.

A few More Spots on the Bus

We have a few more spots on the bus for the Rally in Tallahassee on January 14. We
want to fill this bus, so if you are interested, please email me, [email protected]
immediately. It will be on a first come first serve basis. We will be leaving from the
VTO office at 7 am on January 14th and will return around 7 pm. You will have to take a
personal day to attend.

Build Union Power

As we continue to see, our only hope to defend our public schools is to have a strong
unified voice through our union. While many have tried to make the word “Union” a bad
word, the fact is the union is the only organized way to amplify our voice as professionals.
When you look at who wants to get rid of unions, it is the ones who want to gut our pay
and benefits, who want more out of us than we can give and who want to profit off our
kids. We are union members because we care too much about our students. We are union
members because we want to be able to teach, while providing a modest life for our own
families. Ask one of your colleagues to join today and make our union stronger. The
VTO membership application is at the end of this Report. The VESA membership
application is on the VESA website here - http://vesaweb.org/files/2015-
16%20Membership%20Application.pdf.

Stay Informed

We want you to be as up to date as possible on what is happening in our district. There
are several ways to do that. You can find us on Facebook – The Volusia Teachers
Organization, you can follow me on twitter @vtopresident or you can get text messages
sent directly to your phone – just text Volusia to 69238. Remember to keep using the
hashtag #RU4Ed on social media.

In Solidarity,
Andrew Spar,
President

Help Fight for our Students
Join Today and add your Voice!

The current environment we find our schools in is not good for students. We spend
more time testing and less time teaching. We are overloaded, and we are challenged
with making sure we meet the needs of all our students. We must get our contract
settled and we must improve our working conditions!

VTO is our voice and the strength of that voice depends on membership. If you
believe that we must persuade lawmakers to stop the high stakes testing for students
and instructional staff, then join VTO. If you believe we must amplify our voices
and build support for our schools, then join VTO. If you believe we can do better,
then join VTO.

VTO is the only way we have a say!! This is your profession; why not make this

your union!