SHEA VOICE
Winter 2.0 Edition
Winter 2023
Jan - Feb
Volume XV No. 3
David Etkin,
Editor
SHEA VOICE
Sweet Home Education Association
Local #3041
1901 Sweet Home Road
Amherst, NY 14228
Editor
David Etkin
Contributors
MaryBeth Bruce
Maggi McDonald
Paul Szymendera
President's Message:
Paul Szymendera
Great News for Education! New York Governor Kathy Hochul detailed her legislative agenda for the year ahead in her 2023 State of the State address, pledging to continue the state’s commitment to fully funding Foundation Aid and to increase support for a number of education initiatives, including in-school mental health services. The governor proposed increasing reimbursements for school-based health centers via Medicaid and increasing coverage for young children through private insurance. Hochul also outlined initiatives to boost enrollment and expand access for students in higher education, renewing her commitment to increasing completion rates and preparing students for in-demand jobs. The statewide union commended the governor's plans.
Some highlights include:
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Investing an additional $2.7 billion in Foundation Aid for New York state school districts, a 13 percent increase.
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Dedicating $250 million in Foundation Aid to high-impact tutoring programs statewide.
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Allocating $125 million for universal prekindergarten, making it roughly 95 percent funded.
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Increasing mental health coverage for school-aged children through private insurance.
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Providing up to $500 million in state-matching funds for endowment contributions to SUNY’s four university centers at Buffalo, Binghamton, Albany and Stony Brook
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Providing direct admission for all graduating high school students to their local community colleges.
Meanwhile, locally, our PRC team will be getting ready later this month to negotiate with the District. The process can be long and for SHEA, didn't start in January. Frankly, we started negotiating with the signing of our previous CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) right after it went into effect, July 1, 2019. As soon as we began living with the new agreement, we began to consider how to improve our benefits and language protections.
Throughout the previous contract SHEA was able to put into place several items via Memorandum of Agreements or Understandings. Here is a quick reminder:
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"SHEA FMLA" protections after paid leave has been depleted
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Trimester Reporting for Elementary Schools
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Indexing Girls Flag Football, Unified Bowling
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Adding Social Workers as unit members
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Universal Pre-K teachers as unit members
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Indexing Alumni Coordinator, International Academy Director
We are set to meet with the District in mid-January to discuss ground rules, meeting dates and basic protocols to ensure a smooth process. The District has let us know that they will be contracting with BOCES to act as their lead negotiator. This is different from our history, but we expect to have a positive exchange with the District. Thank you for supporting your negotiations team! MaryBeth Bruce, Jen Bennett, Jim Brennan, Jake Hammond, Maggi McDonald, Neal McLoughlin, Paul Szymendera, and Jeremy Traverse.
Paul Szymendera
The Sweet Home Education Foundation (SHEF) held its second annual faculty basketball fundraiser on January 6th, featuring teams consisting of teachers from four elementary schools and a game between the Middle School and Ready Academy vs. the High School.
Over 1,000 members of the Sweet Home community attended, and the event raised over $6,500 to fund numerous initiatives to enhance the lives of students in the district.
These initiatives include the Backpack Program, Mini-Grants, Sponsor a Musician, providing snacks for athletes, scholarships for athletes and cheerleaders to take part in camp programs, and prom dresses for students who need them.
SHEF is a non-profit organization formed in 2019, and the success of the basketball fundraiser will allow it to help many more families in the district.
The organization hopes to make the faculty basketball game an annual event. While Glendale/Heritage Heights and Middle School/Ready Academy won the two games, the real winners are the Sweet Home students and families who will benefit from the funds raised.
Donations to Faculty
Basketball Game
Our union won — so please SHARE our posters on social media! Faced with many challenges, NYSUT fights us all. The past two years has brought some of the same, but also great successes around #FundOurFuture and other issues important to our members. Your activism continues to be the heartbeat of our union. THANK YOU for making your voice heard!
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FREE NYSUT Webinars
Student Loan Forgiveness Webinars
Many thanks to our NYSUT and AFT and our state and national affiliations for helping pass legislation for millions of students across the country and right here at Sweet Home.
Below you will find the updated schedule for NYSUT Student Debt Webinars. Webinars are led by our partners at Cambridge Credit Counseling and are designed to help NYSUT members better understand the various student loan repayment options with a focus on Teacher Loan Cancellation and Public Student Loan Forgiveness programs. This workshop will also address the recent federal student loan forgiveness program.
Webinars are free for NYSUT members.
