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Each day that I read the paper, I find myself feeling stressed for all of us and our students. I wanted to remind everyone that the district’s new Employee Assistants Programs, Ceridian, is available. The district continues to have this program because ESTA bargains it for our members. It is completely confidential for you and your family. All the information has been in previous ESTA Updates and is on the ESTA website by clicking Ceridian, or you can call 1-877-510-0556. Here are a few issues they cover support for; parenting, midlife and retirement, disability, financial, legal, health, emotional well-being, etc. Make the call and begin getting the support you or your family member needs!

Just before we went on vacation, the ESTA Executive board voted to begin bargain the proposal the district had given me to share with them. Since the Executive Board directs bargaining, it was the decision of the Executive Board to bargain the proposal. As you know, bargaining is confidential, but rest assured the ESTA Executive Board spent a lot of time discussing the direction they wanted the bargaining team to go. The bargaining team met with the district on January 14 and began making progress on the proposal. We expect to have a tentative agreement to bring to membership before the end of February.

If you are planning on retiring or if you have decided to leave the district at the end of this school year, please let the district know. You will keep your fully paid health benefits through August 31, 2009. Times are tough right now, and I know of at least a few who have told me they are considering retiring, leaving teaching, or moving to another state and the sooner you tell the district, the less people we will see laid off in March. Traditionally, about 80 people leave the district each school year. At this time, we do not know how many teachers may be laid off, but ESTA’s goal is to have all lay off notices rescinded before the end of the school year.

Teachers who itemize their deductions on either state or federal tax filings may wish to include expenses for union dues. Since our work year overlaps two different calendar years, you can go back over each of the ten monthly pay warrant receipts that you got last year and add up the numbers. But if you taught during both the 2008/09 and the 2007/08 school years, here is a summary of your dues expenses based upon the percentage of your teaching assignment. Full-timers (most of us) paid $1,078.30 in dues for 2008. This information will also be posted on our website.

You taught	monthly dues in 07/08	6 months in ‘08	monthly dues in 08/09	4 months in ‘08	10 months in ‘08
33% or less	33.71	202.26	35.21	140.84	343.10
34% to 50%	54.41	326.46	55.41	221.64	548.10
51% to 60%	64.61	387.66	65.61	262.44	650.10
61% to 100%	107.83	646.98	107.83	431.32	1078.30

There is room to sign up for the January 29 CalSTRS workshop which focuses on teachers who have significant time in the system, but have 10 or more years to work before retirement. Strong emphasis will be placed on the concepts of saving now for retirement later. Call 272-0601 to reserve your spot.

In the November ESTA Update, I invited members to attend with me the January 9 CTA Conference on Program Improvement. I also gave the flyer to Bob Nunez and Dan Moser who both attended and brought along two administrators and the several ESTA members who work at the district. A total of 19 people attended from our district. This one day conference only had 100 people attending, total.

Also, thanks to Bob Nunez, Dan Moser, Kristine King, Vicki Ponticelli and Frank Biehl for joining the CTA conference with us. We all feel like we learned a lot and in the February Panorama, you will see an article from one of the ESTA members who attended.

Six members were granted scholarships for the CTA Good Teaching Conference from the Santa Clara County Service Center Council (SCCSC). Every year SCCSC gives a total of 40 scholarships and this year for the first time, they only had 32 applicants. So, everyone who took the time to apply, was able to attend. The requirement was that they had to be new teachers with only a few years’ experience and that they must work in Santa Clara County. Here are the ESTA members who were selected:

Congratulation to Matt Hall-Pereria for winning a prize at the conference; a free night’s stay at a Hyatt Hotel. I hope next year more members will take advantage of this opportunity. I will continue to promote this event in the future. SCCSC does a great job in mailing the eligible applicants and I will continue to send follow up emails.

Each summer, the National Education Association holds a meeting called the Representative Assembly (RA). This coming summer, from July 1 through July 6, the RA will be in San Diego. There are two ways that ESTA members can go the RA.

First, each NEA local affiliate chapter is entitled to send elected delegates to the RA in the ratio of one delegate for each 150 NEA members. With over 1300 members, this means ESTA can send nine local delegates. ESTA’s nine local delegates are elected to three-year terms, which we stagger to elect two or three each year. Watch your school mailbox for information on how you can declare yourself to be a candidate for one of the two local delegate spots that we’ll elect in March.

Second, each NEA state affiliate is entitled to send elected delegates to the RA. To run as a state delegate, you need to have your nomination form in by January 30 to the Santa Clara Service Center in Campbell. Since the form in the December CTA Educator was missing important information, please call me for a form to run as a state delegate. You can also find it on the CTA website, but it is difficult to find. The link is (login required):

CTA is going to announce a statewide activity on March 13, as it will be the last work day before March 15 when teachers receive layoff notices. CTA would like all members to wear black on that day. This works well for us since our ESTA polo is black. More information soon. If you still do not have an ESTA polo, ask your Site President. If you have lost your polo and would like to purchase a replacement, the cost is $18. Contact me for more information.

Reminder: Online registration began on January 15 for the Best Practice Conference. ESTA will have a table set up with door prizes and welcome teachers as they arrive. Come early and enjoy breakfast provided by ESTA. See you there!

Conference Date: Saturday, February 7, 2009
Time: 8:15 to 8:45a.m: Breakfast & Late Registration
Session I: 8:50a.m - 9:50a.m.
Session II: 9:55a.m. - 10:55a.m.
Session III: 11:00a.m. - 12:00p.m.
Location: Yerba Buena High School

This year, the CTA Equity and Human Rights Conference will be held in San Jose at The Fairmont downtown. If you have not been to a CTA conference, then let me know if you are interested in attending this one. The conference has a welcome reception on Friday evening, March 6 and ends around noon on Sunday March 8. To learn more about this conference go to the CTA website, www.cta.org, click on conferences on the right, and then send me an email if interested in attending.

TEACHER GRANTS
The Silicon Valley Education Foundation is providing grants for teachers to create "memorable, interactive and enhanced learning experiences for their students." Many of our teachers at East Side have been recipients of this grant.
Grants of up to $500 ($750 - $1,000 for a Collaborative Grant)
The application process is completed online. There are three grant types: Individual, Collaborative or Field Trip Innovation Grants. Click here for more information: http://svefoundation.org/GA/login.asp