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Reminders for “Win Back Wednesday”…

• Email your New York State Senator and Assembly member.  Tell them that they represent you and that you do not support high stakes testing.  Tell them to put the tests to bed!
• Wear RED for public ed!  Teachers, administrators, parents, students should all wear some sort of red to show their support of public education and to raise awareness of the corporate reforms that are seeking to destroy it.
• If people want to know why you are wearing red, direct them to thepjsta.org/red4ed or give them a copy of our flyer.
• Post as your Facebook status “Today I am wearing #red4ed because _____________” and share why you support public education.  Use the #red4ed hashtag on all social media.
• Share our video below with all of your friends…

I’ve had a lot of questions regarding the dates of upcoming actions.  Use this post to help keep track of our events for the next three weeks.

This Week

Thursday, 9/26- Rally in Carle Place for a fair contract.  Details here.

Saturday, 9/28- Comsewogue Homecoming!  Meet at JFK at 11:30 for the parade.

Week of September 30th

Wednesday, 10/2- Wear red for public ed!  Details here.

Wednesday, 10/2- Put high stakes testing to bed!  Details here.

Week of October 7th

Wednesday, 10/9- Wear red for public ed!  Details here.

Wednesday, 10/9- First book club meeting for Reign of Error.  This meeting will cover chapters 1-4.  Details here.

Some links (and a video) to enjoy on Labor Day…

Ravitch with Labor Day 2013

NYC Educator with Happy Labor Day to All

Vote early. Vote often. And don’t even think of voting for anyone who opposes union. This includes Democrats who pay us lip service but fail to stand up when we need them. For working people, there’s no alternative to union, and now’s the time to make union strong. They have the money, but we have the numbers.

If we stand up, there is no stopping us.

Ralph Nader with Labor Day is a Time to Mobilize

The reality is that big corporations have abandoned American workers by taking jobs and industries to communist and fascist regimes abroad — regimes that oppress their workers and enforce serf-level salaries and hideous working conditions. America’s working men and women have also largely been abandoned by the corporate dominated Republican and Democrat two-party duopoly, whatever their rhetorical differences may be.

To the PJSTA membership…

As we get ready to embark on another school year, Labor Day offers me a moment to pause and express gratitude for the people who have made up my union and allowed me to enjoy the career that I have today…

• Thank you Beth Dimino, PJSTA President, for tirelessly working on our behalf for more than four years now. For working to preserve and enhance a strong contract, and for largely keeping us whole through turbulent times.
• Thank you Christine Pendergast, Fran DiPiazza, and Jim Roth. The three presidents who have represented me throughout my career and have shown me what strong union leadership can do.
• Thank you to all of the presidents who came before them, including Bob Carr (thanks Jack Zamek!) and Bill Hippner, who I have had the pleasure of knowing through his role in rep council. These are the people who built a strong contract one battle at a time over the years.
• Thank you to the many men and women who have served on our executive boards and rep councils through the years, who have given tremendous amounts of time to form the governing body of the PJSTA.
• Thank you to Rich Davis, my union buddy during my first year of teaching, and my first senior building rep. He was the first person who made union work appealing to me.
• Thank you to Donna Gardner and Gail Ports who have done an incredible job representing me as my senior building rep in the years since Rich Davis.
• Thank you to the PJSTA members who voted to authorize strikes in the 1970’s, showing the willingness to make a tremendous sacrifice, if necessary, for the greater good of our local.
• Finally, thank you to the rank and file membership of the PJSTA, throughout our history. We have had great leaders, but our strength is in numbers. It is a whole lot easier for our leadership to take a stand and guide us through difficult times when they know they have 300 PJSTA members at their back.

Through the past several years the PJSTA has taken a leadership role in our region, fighting against the privatization of public education. We have had a substantial presence at rallies and events throughout the state. Our members have taken whatever action necessary when called upon. We have an aggressive and ambitious campaign planned for this year. Our membership will be called upon to take sustained action throughout the year. I know we will rise to the occasion and let our collective voice be heard.

Happy Labor Day… and welcome back to school!

In solidarity,

Brian St. Pierre

Want to get even angrier about the testing? Read today’s Newsday! It’s very clear that the spin was in long before the test scores were released…. Newsday’s slant is that all Districts are thinking about now is how to improve the scores of all the students who failed… Channel 7, this morning had a report about how programs are being instituted in NYC to deal with failing test scores and there was a Pearson banner hanging in the background!!! Dr. Joseph Rella, Superintendent Comsewogue School District responded this morning with, “We MUST find our voices again! We’ve lost our voice because we haven’t used it!!” Make your voice heard and join with others who demand that public education continue to belong to the people not profit mongering corporations… Next Sat., Aug. 17, noon, Comsewogue High School, Rally for Students and Against Testing!!!!

7:15am – Meet at Suffolk Regional Office

Thanks Katie Kleinpeter for pointing out that the NYSUT MAC site can now be accessed via the NYSUT MAC app on both  iOS and Android platforms.  Click here to download it for your mobile devices so that you can be an activist for public education while on the go!

Sad news from Beth Dimino regarding PJSTA member Jed Turner…

Jed Turner died Friday afternoon. His wife, Violet, told me that his
passing was peaceful and that he was surrounded by his family.
Violet will have a joyful celebration of Jed’s life at:
The Wesche Funeral Home, 495 Main Street, Center Moriches
Sunday –  7-9pm and Monday –  2-4pm and 7-9pm.
Jed will be cremated in a private ceremony after Monday.
In lieu of flowers, Jed wanted donations made to –   The Fender Music
Foundation   (fendermusicfoundation.org)

If you would like to contact Violet Turner, you can do so at   vaturner@aol.com

Let’s all get together this Friday and CELEBRATE!