East Side Teachers Association/CTA/NEA 888 So. Capitol Ave San Jose, Ca 95127 January 9, 2004

Don McKell, President Julie Pratico, Vice Pres Carla Holtzclaw, Secretary Ralph Giannini, Treasurer

49066. (a) When grades are given for any course of instruction taught in a school district, the grade given to each pupil shall be the grade determined by the teacher of the course and the determination of the pupil's grade by the teacher, in the absence of clerical or mechanical mistake, fraud, bad faith, or incompetency [sic], shall be final.

(b) The governing board of the school district and the

superintendent of such district shall not order a pupil's grade to be changed unless the teacher who determined such grade is, to the extent practicable, given an opportunity to state orally, in writing, or both, the reasons for which such grade was given and is, to the extent practicable, included in all discussions relating to the

changing of such grade.

(c) No grade of a pupil participating in a physical education class, however, may be adversely affected due to the fact that the pupil does not wear standardized physical education apparel where the failure to wear such apparel arises from circumstances beyond the control of the pupil.

Two first time conferences have recently been brought to my attention. Sponsored by one of the minority caucuses of the CTA State Council of Education, each is open for attendance to any CTA member.

The first is the CTA African American Issues Conference entitled Brown v. Board of Education: 50 Years Revisited. It is scheduled for Feb 6,7 in Los Angeles. The activities on Friday are set to begin at 7:00 p.m., so an attendee would not need to miss work that day. The cost for early registration (1/22) is $90, and for later reg $120. Hotel costs for the one nighter are $89 plus tax.

The second conference is the CTA Hispanic Caucus entitled Iluminado el futuro, and is set for March 19-21, also in Los Angeles. As with the other, activities on Friday are set to begin at 7:00 p.m. Cost for early reg’n (3/5) is $125, and later reg’n is $150. Hotel costs are $89 for each night, plus tax.

The CTA Santa Clara County Service Center Council has offered to split the costs of attending either of these conferences with ESTA, for a limited number of people. "Costs" would include reasonably-priced air fare, half of the room rate (assuming double-occupancy room), registration, and meals (at the going CTA-approved rate) not already provided by conference attendance.

ESTA’s budget can accommodate attendance of two ESTA members per conference. Contact me for more information. If more than two members indicate a desire to make the trip at our expense, we will establish a priority system for selecting.

Former ES superintendent Joe Coto is a Democratic candidate for election to District 23 of the California State Assembly. AD23 encompasses much of the eastern portion of the Santa Clara Valley and a large part of the East Side Union High School District. Coto’s opponents in the March 2 primary will be Kathy Chavez Napoli, Patricia Martinez-Roach, and Khanh Tran. The victor in the primary election will square off against the Republican candidate Mark Patrosso and Green Party candidate Warner Bloomberg III in the November general election. Based upon past outcomes, and since AD23 is a highly Democratic district, the victor in the March Democratic primary is virtually assured of election to the Assembly in November.

No member of the State Assembly has ever served as a school superintendent. Following on the heels of Coto’s declaration of candidacy, the ESTA Assembly overwhelmingly voted to endorse him for the post and followed that up by authorizing a donation of $3,200 from our PAC fund in furtherance of the campaign.

With the change of calendars, the Coto campaign is shifting into a higher gear. ESTA members who live within AD23 and who want to display a pro-Coto lawn sign should contact me. This is an effective way to show support.

In addition, Coto’s campaign will operate phone banks from early January through the March election. One bank is running out of the San Jose Labor Temple and the other will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays out of the Mt. Hamilton UniServ office. Any ESTA member, whether a resident of AD23 or not, who wants to become involved even occasionally in the furtherance of Coto’s campaign, can give me a call and I will put you in touch with the proper folks.

It’s that time again. There was an article in a recent edition of CTA’s California Educator reminding teachers that up to $250 of non-reimbursed out-of-pocket 2003 expenses of buying books, supplies, or classroom equipment may be deductible on your federal return. In addition, pay close attention when you fill out your state return for the newly-reinstated California Teacher Tax Credit.

Don’t forget that you paid union dues in 2003, which is also tax deductible. The total amount is a little confusing, since most of us worked six months of the 2002/03 school year ($89.10/mo) and four months in the 2003/04 school year ($93/mo) within calendar year 2003. So, in most cases returning teachers paid $906.60 in union dues in the 2003 calendar year. If you were a 60% teacher (or less), your amounts would be lower. Check your monthly pay stubs if you need to corroborate your own amounts.

There are several issues of interest to teachers on the California March ballot, in addition to the primary election choices of candidates for national and state political offices.

Two closely related ballot initiatives are Propositions 57 and 58. Both have to pass for either to take effect. Prop 57 will be the approximately $15b bond issue being placed to borrow money to pay down the state budget deficit as an alternative to raising taxes. Prop 58 will be the so-called "soft cap" on future growth of state expenditures. CTA has not yet taken a position on either of these issues, but will likely take the matter up at its meeting later this month.

Pretty much, borrowing $15 billion by selling bonds will spread the cost of running the state out over the life of the bonds, whereas the alternative of raising taxes would bring about a more immediate payment of the state’s bills. Either way, it’s not an easy call.

Yet another measure being brought to the voters in March is an approximately $12b school bond issue, the second in a series of three that were begun two years ago. If the school bond measure fails in March it will come back to the November ballot.

Yet another issue to come up on the March ballot will be the so-called Budget Accountability Act. Briefly described, this bill would � lower the threshold for passage of a state budget from the current 2/3 down to 55% of the legislature, ‚ penalize state legislators financially for not passing a budget on time, and ƒ mandate that a significant portion of all future state budget surpluses be set aside for a rainy day. What a concept. CTA is a sponsor of this bill.

Five sites will hold special elections on January 28 to fill vacancies in local Vice Presidencies and Assembly Representative positions. The sites are AH, FH, JL, PH, and WCO. The deadline for nominations for candidates in these elections is past, but write-in opportunities are still possible. Taking on one of these positions is a great way to become more active in Association business, and carries with it a commitment to attend one afternoon meeting each month. As a bonus, office holders qualify for up to 30 hours of Professional Growth credit towards credential renewal.

ESTA is one of eight chapter members of the Mt. Hamilton UniServ, along with CTA affiliates in Alum Rock, Milpitas, Mt. Pleasant, Evergreen, Franklin-McKinley, Berryessa, and Orchard. One of the many functions performed by Mt. Ham is to arrange for a variety of seminars and mini-conferences which may be of interest to our member teachers. Upcoming events include: � Legal Issues for Educators: Wed, Feb 4, 4:00 p.m., presenter: CTA Attorney Priscilla Winslow. ‚ "I Can Do It" classroom management and survival skills for teachers in their first few years: Sat, Feb 28, all day. ƒ Assertiveness Training for Teachers: Thu, Mar 4, 4:00 p.m., presenter CTA Staff Chuck King. Watch your mailbox for flyers with more information, or call Dorothy or Ly at the Mt. Ham office: 272-0601.

In addition to this month’s special (see elsewhere in this Update) ESTA will hold yet another election at every site on March 24. On that day we will choose:

• ESTA Executive Officers for the next two years

• ESTA President
• ESTA Vice President
• ESTA General Secretary
• ESTA Treasurer

• ESTA local delegates to the Representational Assembly of the National Education Association,
• CTA State delegates to the NEA RA

This summer’s NEA RA is in Washington, D.C.

Declaration of Candidacy forms for becoming a state delegate to the NEA RA from the Santa Clara County Service Center Council are available in the recent issue of the CTA California Educator, or get one from me. Six candidates to these one-year posts will be elected from large school districts throughout the County.

Declaration of Candidacy forms for becoming an ESTA local delegate to the NEA RA will be distributed at schools soon. We will elect three of our members to these three-year terms.

Declaration of Candidacy forms for people seeking to become an ESTA Executive Officer will be distrib-uted at schools soon. Each Executive Officer serves a two-year term, from 9/1 through 8/31. ESTA Bylaws limit an individual to four consecutive terms in any particular Executive Office without a break. At this time, the only ESTA Executive Officer serving in a fourth term is our Treasurer, Ralph Giannini. Each of the three remaining Executive Officers (myself as President, Vice President Julie Pratico, and General Secretary Carla Holtzclaw) are able to serve one more two-year term before vacating their office.

Building Presidents have probably already distributed a short survey to members intended to guide our bargaining team in talks with the district about the work calendar for next year. The questions revolve around whether to try to create longer vacations around either Veterans’ Day or Thanksgiving in the 04/05 school year, and if so, where to obtain the days to do so. Another issue is the placement of what has come to be called "Spring Break". Please fill out your survey and get it back to your Building President by January 27.

Some politicians don’t know much. They don’t know what it’s like saving for both an education and an electric bill. They don’t know second mortgages, second shifts, or second hand. They certainly don’t know the price of macaroni and cheese, or how tough it is to find a good job, or how tough it is to lose one. At the end of their day, their health care problem isn’t crying in their laps. The economy isn’t asking them for a new pair of sneakers. Violence isn’t attending the same schools as their kids.

You see, some politicians don’t know any of these things. And it’s up to you to tell them. Please vote. Let the politicians know what’s really important.