AFT-NH
is the State Affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers.
The AFT has over a million members with over 3,600 members in
New Hampshire which include teachers, school support staff,
police, higher education faculty and town employees. AFT-NH
is the second largest member of the New Hampshire AFL-CIO that
boosts membership of over 45,000 working men and women.
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Read
Presidents Weingarten's comments on " Race to the Top funds"
by clicking here
“Race
to the Top” (RTTT) Summary for AFT leaders
“Race
to the Top” (RTTT) points system
“Race
to the Top” (RTTT) press release from AFT
It's
time to call the Governor at 271-2121 about “Race to the Top”
With
the “Race to the Top” money being dangled in front of us, we
must be very careful and watchful. This money comes with many
strings attached. Sound familiar—just like NCLB!
I
ask that you contact the Governor's office at 271-2121 or email
him by clicking
here.
AFT-NH
is asking that you send the following message to him about “Race
to the Top” money:
Any
state plan MUST contain the following:
- A
single test should never be the sole measure of how anyone—student,
teacher or other school employee —is performing;
- Resources
should be committed to developing solid, reliable and transparent
evaluation systems;
- Evaluation
systems must be designed and developed with the local union;
- Include
all stakeholders in the school or district by making sure
everyone is part of the discussion and decision at every level
of the process.
- That
any plan is not forced upon us. It must be a voluntary program.
The
most important message to send to the Governor is:
- It
is very important to stress that the following language must
be part of the application that the State of NH submits
to the Federal Department of Education: “No part of this application
or grant will replace or supersede any provisions in a collective
bargaining agreement in a local school district.”
Lastly,
please pass along to as many coworkers as you can that one of
the easiest and very important first steps to take action and
get information is to sign up for the AFT-NH “GET-ACTIVE” program,
at www.aft-nh.org . By signing up, you will
receive updates to keep you informed on issues and help you
to be prepared to take action when necessary. The second action
step is to talk to your colleagues and encourage them to sign
up. The ability of our members to take action will be critically
important as we monitor education reform. Remember education
reform should be, ” With us, not to
Us”.
In
Solidarity,
Laura
Hainey
AFT-NH
President
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November/December AFT-NH newsletter