tcta.org |
September 11 , 2007 |
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| Latest News | ||
The 2007-08 school year is under way and TCTA is working to keep you updated on important issues. Included in this "E-update": new information on school employee background checks, reduction in student field testing, 13th check timeline for retirees, the proposed reauthorization of the NCLB Act, announcement of Teacher of the Year regional winners and semi-finalists, and reminders of valuable and timely articles posted on our website.
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| SBEC proposes initial guidelines to collect fingerprints | ||
The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) met Friday, September 7, 2007, to propose rules (procedures and timelines) to comply with Senate Bill 9 (the fingerprinting bill), signed into law by the governor on June 15, 2007. All certified educators employed by a public school entity will be required to submit their fingerprints sometime between January, 2008 and September 1, 2011. This is a critical issue for all TCTA members. Failure to submit fingerprints for a criminal background check as specified by SBEC will cause your certificate to become inactive, and endangers your ability to continue employment with a school district. Educators should review, and if needed update, any information with SBEC to ensure the notification to submit fingerprints will reach them in a timely manner. Read more… |
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| Reduction in field testing | ||
A TEA letter to district administrators calls for fewer students and districts to participate in statewide field testing. TCTA was the only professional educator association to pursue legislation during the last legislative session to limit field testing. Our proposal to limit the frequency of campus participation in field testing was filed as legislation by Rep. Diane Patrick (R-Arlington) and a version of it was eventually added as an amendment to the finalized end-of-course exam bill (SB 1031). The reduction to field testing participation takes effect with the current school year. Additionally, TEA has worked with the testing companies to further reduce field testing. Read more… |
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| NCLB Act draft: analysis, testimony, opportunity for comments | ||
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TCTA gave members a look last week at a proposed draft for the reauthorization of the NCLB Act. Educators were invited to send comments on the proposal to their national leaders serving on the House Committee on Education and Labor. TCTA staff has read the proposal, provided an analysis and sent the Committee our comments on the draft bill. The Committee is now inviting comments from educators for the remaining titles for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Please see the links provided below for additional information; comments may be submitted through Friday, September 14 to: ESEA.Comments@mail.house.gov.
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| TRS: Timeline for possible 13th check | ||
| TRS recently released a timeline for consideration and potential issuance of a “13th check” for retirees. As we have previously reported, the TRS Board expects to make a decision at its November meeting . This decision would include consideration of whether the TRS contribution from active members would have to be increased in order to afford the retiree bonus; the board is authorized to bump up the active member contribution from the current 6.4% to no higher than 6.58% of salary.
The decision will be based on the August 31, 2007, valuation of the TRS fund, which is largely dependent on investment performance. According to the TRS timeline, if the check is authorized it should be issued in January 2008. |
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| Congratulations are due | ||
Announcements have been made of the regional Teacher of the Year winners and semi-finalists. As of this week, several TCTA members have been named winners in their respective regions – we wish them all heartfelt congratulations! If you are a regional winner and not listed here, please let us know so we can recognize your accomplishment. Claudia Mata – Region 1, Edinburg, CTA Julie Woolsey – Region 9, Wichita Falls, CTA Karen Hunt -- Region 14, Sweetwater, CTA Deborah Doak – Region 14, Sweetwater, CTA |
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| Membership Update | ||
Reminder! The Classroom Teacher has been updated on the TCTA website. You can now read online about precautions educators should take with text messaging and social network sites and how some fellow educators feel about the implementation of incentive pay programs. Also, the 2007-08 TCTA Award forms have been mailed. Members can also find the updated forms on the TCTA website. All nominations must be postmarked on or before November 1. |
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Membership Reminder! |
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A friendly reminder for those of you who have not yet renewed your TCTA membership for the 2007-08 school year. You are currently enjoying a grace period offered to our returning members as a professional courtesy. However, if you do not renew your TCTA membership by September 30, your coverage will lapse effective August 31, and incidents occuring during lapsed membership will not be covered. You can renew using the preprinted application that was mailed to you in August, call the Membership Department toll-free at 1-888-879-8282, or renew online using our fully encrypted and secure server. Whichever renewal method you choose, you want to keep the protections and benefits of TCTA membership. TCTA. All You Need. |
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| Copyright © 2007 Texas Classroom Teachers Association®. All rights reserved. The Texas Classroom Teachers Association is an independent association for Texas teaching professionals, which was founded in 1927 and has over 50,000 members across the state. TCTA is based in Austin and is the only statewide teacher association that limits Active membership to those directly involved in classroom teaching or teaching support. For more information about TCTA, please visit our Web
site at www.tcta.org. |
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