Category: Uncategorized

The PJSTA Contract Extension Agreement

The PJSTA has reached an agreement with the Comsewogue School District on a contract extension.  The extension was approved unanimously at today’s Representative Counsel meeting.  The extension will be put to a ratification vote next Thursday, June 23rd at 1:00 pm in the Comsewogue High School auditorium. 

We will be holding meetings every day between now and then to answer questions from the general membership on the terms of the agreement.  Any member is welcome to attend any of the meetings.  The meeting schedule is as follows:

  • Friday, June 17th- 11:15 AM at Comsewogue High School
  • Friday, June 17th- 2:30 PM at JFK Middle School
  • Friday, June 17th- 4:00 PM at JFK Middle School
  • Monday, June 20th- 2:00 PM at Comsewogue High School
  • Tuesday, June 21st- 1:00 PM at Terryville Elementary School
  • Wednesday, June 22nd- 1:00 PM at Boyle Road Elementary School

RATIFICATION VOTE: Thursday, June 23rd, 1:00 PM at Comsewogue High School

Courageous MORE Teachers Defy Gag Order

Three courageous members of the United Federation of Teachers are defying the city’s gag order on speaking out against the state tests.  Lauren Cohen, Jia Lee, and Kristin Taylor, all of whom are running for positions in the upcoming UFT election with the Movement of Rank and File Educators Caucus, spoke to NBC 4 New York and encouraged parents to opt their children out of the rigged Common Core exams that New York State students in grades 3-8 are in the midst of now.

Click here to watch the video with the three courageous teachers.

The PJSTA Endorses Zephyr Teachout

The Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association is very proud to endorse Zephyr Teachout for New York State Governor. Teachout has a clear vision for a public education system that New York’s students, teachers, and communities deserve. Teachout stands in opposition to the privatization measures that have been endorsed by Governor Cuomo and which hurt New York’s students.

Zephyr Teachout calls for full and equal funding of New York’s schools, an end to high-stakes testing, protection of public education against privatization, the empowerment of New York’s local school communities, and the end of the suspension pipeline. All of these positions resonate deeply with the rank and file membership of the PJSTA. We are excited to work with Teachout to bring her vision of public education to New York State so that all New Yorkers can reap the benefits of the best public education system in America.

Press Release: Informational Picketing at Senator Flanagan’s

Supporters of Public Education Rally to Be Heard

On Friday, November 1st, the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, in coalition  with other supporters of public education, will be picketing in front of the Smithtown office of New York State Senator John J. Flanagan , beginning at 3:30 pm.

Senator Flanagan, an ally of NYSED Commissioner John King, is one of two state senators who represent portions of the Comsewogue School District.  Additionally he chairs the New York State Senate’s Committee on Education.  He has been hosting hearings around the state on the effectiveness of New York State’s education reforms.  While the hearings are open to the public,  Flanagan controls the meeting by limiting the speakers with an invite only policy. This picketing event is an opportunity for everyone, parents, students and teachers, to share their opinions about education directly with Senator Flanagan.

Senator Flanagan’s top campaign contributor in 2012 was Michelle Rhee’s Students First organization.  Students First is an out-of-state, for profit organization who’s primary objective is school privatization.  Senator Flanagan’s support of this reckless school reform agenda in New York State, coupled with his support for NYSED Commissioner John King’s common core high stakes testing reforms demonstrates the influence that corporate money is having on our local politicians.

The Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association invites all those who  support quality public education to join us on Friday, November 1st, to demand that Senator Flanagan listen to the voices of his constituents who support public education rather than the voices of corporate “deformers” who merely fund his senatorial campaigns.

Senator Flanagan’s office is located at 260 East Main Street, Smithtown, NY 11787.

The Latest on the John King Fiasco

Puppet master Merryl Tisch and her puppet John King.

Last week New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch announced that NYSED would be hosting 16 forums around the state (though none in NYC where 1/3 of the state’s students reside) in the coming weeks.  This follows John King’s cowardly act from a couple of weeks ago.  Tisch said they will “modify the template of how those conversations were going to take place” when hosting the forums.  Generally speaking that is code for, “We will not let parents and teachers speak unless they say what we want them to.”  In response to the multitude of calls for King’s resignation, Tisch asked the public to “tamp down the rhetoric” lay off of her puppet, King.

In one of the most laughable details of all, at least one of the forums will be by invitation only!  The way Tisch and King have bungled this has become downright mind boggling.  If they think the public is going to be placated by “invitation only” forums then they are more out of touch with reality than I had previously realized.

The Tisch/Cuomo/King tag team will stop at nothing to jam their agenda down the throats of New York State’s citizens.  No action too egregious for them.  Next November Cuomo, and the state legislators who enable him (such as John Flanagan), are up for re-election.  Vote them all out.