Week of February 8, 2021

Message from the President

Last week, I wrote to the Board of Education and the Board of Aldermen asking for their support opposing House Bill 20. Deb Howes sent out information through the NTU COPE update last week and AFT-NH had information in the Legislative Update as well. The hearing was held last week in the House Education Committee. The committee chairman recessed the committee and will reopen the hearing on February 11th for continued testimony. Currently, 3,198 people have signed in opposing the bill, and 600 people have signed in supporting the bill.

I am writing to you this evening in a hope that both Boards, and/or Mayor Donchess would consider sending opposition to Concord regarding House Bill 20. House Bill 20 is a voucher bill currently in the House Education committee. The bill would provide between $3,600 and $8,000 per student, per year who unenrolls in public schools. The money could be used for any educational purpose the parent saw fit including for private and religious schools.

The Education Commissioner claims this would be a cost savings for districts. I wholeheartedly disagree. There are over 16,000 students already attending private, religious, and charter schools or being homeschooled. A conservative estimate of $3,600 per child would require the state to pay out over $57 million dollars. Where is that money coming from?

Losing students in Nashua does not equate to reducing services. With 18 schools (this includes the new preschool building), a loss of students would most likely not be equally distributed, thus it is most likely that we would still require the number of staff and transportation we currently have in place. It has been my opinion that public education hasn’t been fully funded based on the expectations of services the public schools are expected to provide. I honestly believe we do a great job providing those services already. Our staff work tirelessly with our community partners to make sure students are safe and have what they need. Imagine the possibilities with an adequately funded budget? If you would like to talk more about HB 20 with me, I’m happy to have that conversation.

To Register Opposition

Committee hearings are being held remotely so you have an opportunity to register your opposition by click the following link: Register Opposition to HB 20

  1. Click on the calendar for February 11th

  2. Select the Committee: House Education

  3. Choose the Bill: 9:00am - HB20

  4. I am: A Member of the Public

  5. Representing: Myself

  6. I oppose this bill

  7. Click Continue

  8. Provide your information

To Testify at the Hearing

If you happen to be at school, working during the hearing, you cannot testify.

1. To join the webinar: https://www.zoom.us/j/99800820017

2. Or Telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): 1-929-205-6099

3. Webinar ID: 998 0082 0017

Written Testimony

If you would like to submit written testimony you can send to this address: HouseEducationCommittee@leg.state.nh.us


AFT-NH Member Meeting

February 10th at 5:00 pm via Zoom

AFT-New Hampshire Call to Action Webinar

REGISTER NOW:

https://aft.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nq8uSF4OTMGEOScunjSwSQ

Click here for more information on HB 20 and information regarding the meeting on Wednesday.

NTU COPE

NEW UPDATES!!! Destructive voucher bill being heard in House this week; would allow money to be used in non-public and charter schools!

For the latest information and updates from NTU COPE, click here.

Upcoming Meetings: no meeting scheduled

AFT-NH Legislative Updates

NEW UPDATE!!! February 6, 2021 Update 2021-06

January 30, 2021 Update 2021-05

January 23, 2021 Update 2021-04

January 17, 2021 Update 2021-03

January 10, 2021 Update 2021-02

January 1, 2021 Update 2021-01

Know Your Contract

Weingarten Rights

The right of employees to have union representation at investigatory interviews was announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1975 case (NLRB vs. Weingarten, Inc. 420 U.S. 251, 88 LRRM 2689). These rights have become known as the Weingarten rights.

Employees have Weingarten rights only during investigatory interviews. An investigatory interview occurs when a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his or her conduct.

If an employee has a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from what he or she says, the employee has the right to request union representation. Management is not required to inform the employee of his/her Weingarten rights; it is the employees responsibility to know and request.

When the employee makes the request for a union representative to be present management has three options:

  1. It can stop questioning until the representative arrives.

  2. It can call off the interview or,

  3. It can tell the employee that it will call off the interview unless the employee voluntarily gives up his/her rights to a union representative (an option the emplovee should always refuse.)

Employers will often assert that the only role of a union representative in an investigatory interview is to observe the discussion. The Supreme Court, however, clearly acknowledges a representative's right to assist and counsel workers during the interview.

The Supreme Court has also ruled that during an investigatory interview management must inform the union representative of the subject of the interrogation. The representative must also be allowed to speak privately with the employee before the interview. During the questioning, the representative can interrupt to clarify a question or to object to confusing or intimidating tactics.

While the interview is in progress, the representative can not tell the employee what to say but he may advise them on how to answer a question. At the end of the interview the union representative can add information to support the employee's case.

Source: http://wa.aft.org/resources/weingarten-rights

Share My Lesson

2021 AFT Share My Lesson Virtual Conference

March 23rd - March 25th

All sessions are free and open to members.

You can sign up and participate when they happen in real time or you can access them after on demand.

For more information or to register, click here.

Scholarship Opportunities

AFT Robert G. Porter Scholars Program - 2021

Application window: December 1st - March 31st

For more information, click here.

To apply, click here.

Have an idea for the Just for Fun section? Send it to Adam (president@nashuatu.org).

The Goatee

You know what I love about my job? The fact the so many people voted on what I should do with my facial hair! The results are clear. Will I follow them? To be determined... :-)

Would You Rather...

I am fascinated by some of the questions that I found when I Googled "would your rather questions." Some are completely ridiculous and others make me stop and think. This week's question made me stop and think.

For the NTU calendar, click here

For the BOE calendar, click here

For the BOE agendas and minutes, click here

Upcoming Events

  • February 8th

      • BOE Human Resources Committee, 5:30pm, via Zoom

      • Board of Education Meeting, 6:00pm, via Zoom

  • February 9th

      • Board of Directors Meeting, 4:15pm, via Zoom

      • BOE Finance and Operations Committee, 6:00pm, via Zoom

  • February 14th - Happy Valentine's Day

  • February 15th

      • Presidents' Day - this is a school day for all staff

  • February 16th

      • BOE Policy Committee, 6:00pm, via Zoom

  • February 17th

      • Teacher Negotiations, 4:00pm, via Zoom (Negotiating Team Only)

  • February 18th

      • Food Service Negotiations, 2:00pm, via Zoom (Negotiating Team Only)

  • February 22nd - February 26th

      • Vacation

  • March 2nd

      • Executive Board, 3:00pm, via Zoom

  • March 4th

      • Food Service Negotiations, 2:00pm, via Zoom (Negotiating Team Only)

  • March 9th

      • Board of Directors Meeting, 4:15pm, via Zoom

Questions? Comments? Need Assistance? Contact a member of the Executive Board

Trying to email Adam? Make sure to use president@nashuatu.org