focus
On educators
focus on educators is an award winning publication of the Pittsburg Education Association/CTA/NEA www.peateachers.org
The California Teachers Association exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of
teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education; to ensure that the human dignity and civil
rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society.
DECEMBER 2017
Volume XXVI, Number 4
Presidents Message
On Saturday, December 2, I attended
the Alcosta Service Center Council
Diversity Reception. The incredible
speakers for this event gave voice to
recruitment, development, and
sustaining Black teachers and Making
Black Lives Matter in Schools - How
to Create Student-Centered Social
Justice Forums.
Dr. Micia Mosley, the Executive
Director of The Black Teacher
Project, spoke about their mission,
and various programs and supports
that are available. The organization
stresses the importance that every
California Teachers Association
Statement of Mission
student has a well-prepared, well-
supported Black teacher that reflects
the diversity and excellence of Black
people in the United States. There are
programs and supports that can be
obtained free of charge to schools and
districts. There were two different
activities we participated in to
understand perspective and
commonality. One activity was a
think pair share involving two
questions. The questions were did
you have a Black teacher? and what
was the impact if you did or didnt?
The second activity was called Clay
Artist. One partner is the artist and
one is the art subject. You mold the
person based on a scenario. You
discuss with your partner how they
want to be molded. Do they want you
to move them around or give verbal
instructions along with you moving to
show what you want? The scenario
was that a student comes to you and
says they are concerned because they
might be deported. Once youve
molded the subject into what you
believe this should look like, artists
walk around the gallery and look at
all the clay art pieces. It was very
powerful to see what people created.
It brought good discussion on why the
artist chose the molding. You can
find more information about The
Black Teacher Project at
www.blackteacherproject.org.
Presenters Cecily Myart-Cruz,
UTLA/NEA Vice President and CTA
Service Center Chair, along with
Erika Jones, CTA Board member for
District J, gave information about
how to create student-centered social
justice forums. Their experience in
creating forums was on making Black
Lives Matter a focus in schools. The
background information about the
movement was explained along with
media images that accompanied the
historical significance to the
movement. Incredibly powerful
videos were shared of the work in
action. The value of student voices
was key to these forums. They
created a safe space to talk about the
effects of the world around these
young people and how they want to
help in the positive changes that are
necessary.
The reception was very well done and
had many folks attend. Please take all
the opportunities that are offered from
our union which includes being a part
of the Alcosta Service Center to learn
and experience all that it has to offer.
Wishing you all the best on your
winter break.
In Solidarity,
Tammy Carr
 PEA Leadership 2017-2018 Rep. Council Meeting Calendar (Tuesdays)
President December 19, January 16
Tammy Carr February 20, March 20
PEA Office
April 24, May 22
Elementary Vice President
Michell Redfoot School Board Meeting Calendar
Willow Cove December 13, January 10 & 24
Secondary Vice President
February 7 & 21, March 7 & 21
Irwin Manangkil
April 11 & 25, May 9 & 23
Black Diamond
June 13 & 27, July 25
Secretary
Nicole Glassel
Los Medanos Are You Getting Your PEA Information?
Treasurer Having our Site Reps collect your input, attend the monthly Rep
Shelly Bascomb meeting and then report back to you is vital in the
North Campus communication chain of our Association.
________________________________________________

Committee Chairs: Roll call at last November 28th Rep Council Meeting:
Grievance Committee
Adult Ed. present MLK Jr. present
John Kleinjans Pittsburg High
Black Diamond present North Campus absent
Chris Coan Willow Cove
Negotiations Team Foothill present Parkside present
Mark Maselli Chair - Hillview Heights present PHS - present
Political Action Chair Highlands absent Rancho Medanos present
Jim Vaughan Black Diamond Hillview - present Stoneman absent
Elections Chair
Los Medanos present Willow Cove present
Sharie Chmura - Parkside
Marina Vista present
Human Rights Chair
Andrea McKinney Black Diamond
Womens Issues Chair
Alicia Puzak Pittsburg High
Organizing Chair
Laura Silva - Parkside
CTA State Council Representative
Mark Maselli Hillview
LGBTQ Chair
Marissa Young-Padilla - Parkside
Special Education Chairs
Michell Redfoot Willow Cove
Melonie Sauceda-Flemming Hillview/MLK
Technical Editor
Susan Harrison PEA Office Administrator

Focus on Educators is a publication of the

Pittsburg Education Association CTA/NEA
159 East 4th Street, Pittsburg, CA 94565
Phone: (925) 432-0199 email: info@peateachers.org
website: www.peateachers.org

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 Region I Leadership Conference
By Nyssa Ton
Black Diamond High School
This past September I had the privilege of joining my fellow
PEA members at the Region I Leadership Conference. The
spirit of this years theme, Taking Charge of Change,
resonated with me personally and professionally. I felt
enriched working amongst passionate groups of educators in
workshops around valuable topics like advocating for our
members and the connection between social justice and
unionism, to name a few. However, it was the workshop
entitled, Investing in our Profession: The CTA Institute for
Teaching (IFT), that I would like to share with you.
I have been an educator for seven years and had never
heard of the IFT. Through this workshop, I came to learn that
the IFT is a CTA program that recognizes the fact that if we
truly want to create positive change in our schools, it must be
teacher-driven. They understand that our wealth of
knowledge and passion for our school communities alone,
albeit vitally important, is often not enough to effect real or
lasting change. Therefore, the IFT offers CTA members
grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 specifically to help
educators see their dreams for their schools and students
become realities. Last year alone, the IFT awarded
$572,328.17 in grant monies to forty-eight educators. One
fantastic benefit is that these funds are not locked up in
district controlled accounts but instead, held by local CTA
chapters. IFT evaluates grant applications based on a matrix
of strength-based factors that they believe are at the core of
creating a school cultures of success: Student Centered,
Work Oriented, Student Relations, Results Oriented, School-
Wide Relations, School-Family Relations, and Future
Oriented. Grant proposals that have the highest scores, for
example last year applicants needed 17+ points, were
funded.
I look at this and see it as something I can do, something that
I can use to create lasting change at Black Diamond for my
students. Grant writing can be daunting but from this
workshop it seems doable and promising. I plan on writing
an IFT grant this year to expand my horticulture program with
the addition of hydro or possibly even aquaponics. I am
excited to take advantage of this opportunity and I hope it
inspires you to see what positive changes you can bring to
your campus.
You can find more information at: https://www.cta.org/About-
CTA/CTA-Foundation/IFT.aspx
3
Region I Leadership Conference
By Ariana Schroder Chandler
Parkside Elementary
When presented with the opportunity to attend this
conference, I jumped! I just got my MA in Teaching
Leadership, and was a new site rep so I figured this would be
a great way to learn how to be a great leader and rep in my
site and in the union.
The conference helped me feel comfortable to really own my
role as a site rep, and also to help members at my site not
only to solve issues with one another and administration, but
to help motivate and organize those who may not be as
active in union events.
I attended a CORE workshop and three other workshops
throughout the weekend. The CORE workshop was all about
connecting with people at my site, understanding what
everyone does, where they are on site, their relationship with
other teachers and administration. They really emphasized
that the union is here to inspire courage, hope, unity, and
clarity to its members. The second session was about
conflict resolution. I learned about how everyone takes a
different approach to dealing with conflict, and there are pros
and cons to them all. I got a lot of really great tips of how to
help members begin to address issues that they may be
having with one another or with an administrator and how to
help find a solution that works for everyone. I feel like this
could have been an all-day training as there wasnt enough
time to go over everything!
This led perfectly into the two other sessions about helping to
advocate for members, and also what I can do at my site
level to help organize. We discussed a lot about the issues
at our sites, making big lists to differentiate the issues that
were interpersonal, and those which were related to our
contract. It was really eye opening to see that some of the
issues at our site, even those that dont relate to the contract,
were issues that other sites were having. There were also
some major issues that other sites were having that I was
grateful we were not facing! This experience made me even
more grateful to be a part of such a strong union.
Ariana Schroder Chandler, Parkside Elementary
 Region I Leadership Conference
By Jessica Maran-Phakonkham
Los Medanos Elementary
I attended the Region 1 Leadership Conference in San Jose
from Friday September 15 to Sunday September 17. I
attended many workshops and heard many inspiring
speeches from so many dedicated individuals including our
current CTA president Eric C. Hines who was a fellow PUSD
teacher.
I enjoyed all the different workshops I attended and found it
hard to pinpoint just one that I enjoyed the most. I will say
that the strong message that spoke to me the entire weekend
is how important having and being a part of a union is. That
everyone must be strong and stick together because all
problems eventually will have a solution because change
happens through collective action. During one of the core
sessions I was informed that those who work in a right to
work state earn on average $6,000 less per year. It is
important for all of us to understand why were in this union
and why we NEED this union.
Our union has a purpose and that purpose is to protect its
teachers. After attending the conference it is so much more
apparent how significant it is to stay strong and stay together
to fight for the things that we deserve. I feel so much more
empowered to do all that I can to make sure we get
everything we deserve because, solutions are collective not
individual.
****************************************
Know Your Contract
By Chris Coan
Grievance Chair
Article 6.4 Compensation for Class Coverage and
Losing your Prep
Since substitutes are in demand and supply is low, there will
come a time when a substitute is not available to cover an
absent teacher. This happens frequently. If the site
administrator decides to divide up the class among the other
grade level, then each teacher that takes in more students off
their roster shall be compensated for the day for that service.
The compensation shall be at a full class coverage hourly
rate.
If a prep teacher is called to cover a class for the entire day
and therefore cancels their prep class, then they must be
asked to do this fairly and not frequently. They cannot be the
sole member to always give up their teaching day. According
to the contract Article 6.4.3, Bargaining unit members shall
be requested to substitute on a fair and equitable basis.
4
To be fair, each site administrator should have compiled a list
of bargaining unit members who wish to volunteer on their
prep period to cover a classroom. If there are not any
volunteerswhich is usually the case..then a second
roster shall be compiled containing the rest of the teaching
staff and they are selected from this second list fairly and
equitably. All should be transparent, so that no one feels
they are being unfairly taken from having their prep.
Enjoy your PrepPEA fought and continues to fight to keep
this time for you.
****************************************
WHAT IS A TEACHERS UNION
AND WHY ARE WE IN IT?
The dictionary defines a union as a group of people joined
together for some common purpose. The union is ALL OF
US. There is no it. The union is you. The union is your
colleagues. What results is a powerful and collective voice of
advocacy for Pittsburg educators and public schools.
Unions are good for students as well. The states without
strong teachers unions are among the lowest performing
in the nation. A strong union can lower class sizes and
create better learning environments for students through
collective bargaining and organizing.
"Educators and their unions have a solid track record of
supporting policies that boost achievement for most students,
and policy makers should view teachers unions as partners
in the education reform process, not adversaries," concluded
a 2002 study by Indiana University Bloomington.
What if you disagree with something the union did? PEA
leaders are doing the best we can with the information we
get from you! We will listen and respond to your concerns.
Get involved. Become a Site Representative and attend Rep
Council meetings. Speak up within our organization. Our
union is whatever we want it to be, but ALL OF US need to
be engaged in unionism in some way.
 We are ALL the Pittsburg Education Association. Proudly stand some new educators!

You Can Represent CTA at In keeping with CTAs commitment to minority involvement,
members who are ethnic minorities are urged to become
NEAs 2018 Convention candidates.

January 31, 2018, is the deadline to submit the official *******************************************

Declaration of Candidacy form for state delegates to the
2018 NEA convention in Minneapolis. PEA is Seeking a Local Delegate for
The Declaration of Candidacy form for state delegates is NEA Representative Assembly 2018
available online now and will be posted in the December
2017/January 2018 California Educator. It is the PEA members will be electing a Local Delegate to the NEA
responsibility of each member wishing to run for state Representative Assembly (RA) in Minneapolis. PEA has
delegate to fill out the Declaration of Candidacy form (or allocated $2,500 for our elected delegate. Are you
photocopy) and file it by the deadline. interested? You must attend PEA Rep Council in May and
Service Center Councils will begin accepting state September, commit to going to all of the relevant caucus
delegate Declaration of Candidacy forms on Jan. 4, 2018. meetings and stay for the duration of the RA. A hardcopy
Each candidate filing a declaration form will receive an flyer will be sent to each member in the upcoming weeks with
acknowledgment of receipt. further information.
*******************************************
In order to attend the Representative Assembly, you must
pay for your meals, hotel room and transportation for June
29July 6. CTA will reimburse state delegates up to $2,000
with appropriate receipts. If a delegate stays within the CTA
meal allowance, shares a room with another delegate and
purchases a super-saver airline ticket (if applicable), the CTA
reimbursement should cover delegate expenses.
The first caucus meeting is set for June 30, and the annual
meeting of the Representative Assembly runs July 25.

5
 Calendar
December 2017
12 PEA Executive Board PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM
12 Hanukkah begins at Sundown
13 PUSD School Board Meeting 2000 Railroad Ave. 6:30 PM
19 PEA Rep Council PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM
21 Winter begins
24 Christmas Eve
25 Christmas Day
25-5 Winter Recess
26 Kwanzaa begins
31 New Years Eve

January 2018
1 New Years Day
9 PEA Executive Board PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM
15 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Holiday No school
10 PUSD School Board Meeting 2000 Railroad Ave. 6:30 PM
16 PEA Rep Council PEA Office 159 East 4th St. 3:45 PM
24 PUSD School Board Meeting 2000 Railroad Ave. 6:30 PM
26-28 Issues Conference, Rio Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

Next Deadline for Articles is Monday, January 8, 2018

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