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Mall Project 2009 Galleries: Ceremony Displays Calendar Images Other Links: EVENTS MCREA SITE	Pension Notes from Jim Dunckley Attack on Pensions! State Workers Paying 1.5 % Towards Health care! Salary Freezes! More to Come??? Read This for more Info>> Urgent Information TO: Our MCCEA Members FROM: Susan Vigilante, MCCEA President As you all know, we are living in precarious economic times. MCCEA is dedicated to keeping you informed about what is happening in Trenton, especially regarding pensions and health care. To that end, please use this website to get the information you need and also to link to other sites of interest. Right now, we are waiting to hear the proposals the Governor will outline at his budget deficit speech before the legislature. In the past, we would have had this information upfront, but times are different now. We do know that our profession as public employees is facing difficult times. Thank you for your interest in keeping informed through MCCEA.com. Please take a moment to read NJEA President Barbara Keshishian's Response to Pension and Health Benefits Bills Common Questions and Answers on the Pension Bills (PDF from NJEA) Health benefits information at NJEA website>> RTTT Information via NJEA News Service>> Health Care Update On Monday, Jan. 11, national labor leaders, including NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, met with President Barack Obama to discuss health care reform. On Thursday, Jan. 14, Van Roekel and other national labor leaders met with White House staff to specifically discuss the federal health care excise tax on health plans. The White House and national labor leaders apparently were able to form a compromise that includes a federal excise tax. The New York Times is reporting some details of the compromise. NJEA remains steadfast in its opposition to any excise tax. We continue to urge you to contact your representatives and tell them that ANY federal excise tax will amount to a tax increase for middle class workers and their families. Here’s what you can do: Call your senators and tell them to oppose any measure that contains an excise tax: Senator Frank Lautenberg, (973) 639-8700 Senator Robert Menendez, (973) 645-3030 Call your congressman and tell him to oppose any measure that contains an excise tax. If you need help identifying your congressman, go to njea.org to find that information. Materials are available at njea.org to help you make your calls. Thank you, Diane Spear Vickie Walsh John Williams New Way of Doing Professional Development New Way of Doing Professional Development Spring is almost upon us. For many people, that means ever increasing hours of daylight, warmer weather and spring fever for the kids. But it also means that many districts are starting to evaluate how they have implemented their professional development plans for the current school year and how they are going to modify it for the following school year. Every year, districts must formulate a Professional Development Plan for approval from the state, outlining their vision and plan for implementing effective professional development for the staff members of their schools. This responsibility lies with the district’s Local Professional Development Committee (LPDC), which consists of elected members from the staff, as well as representatives from administration. Together, they write a Professional Development Plan before sending it to the Board of Education for approval and then onward to the Morris County Superintendent. This year, New Jersey has implemented some drastic changes that each LPDC will have to consider when making their plans. Each district will have to include in its plan how each individual school will implement its own professional development that helps address the district goals as it relates to their own students. These plans will be an integral part of the district plan. In order to accomplish this goal, each school elected staff members to a School-based Professional Development Committee (SPDC). At the time of election, nobody quite knew exactly what this would entail. They only knew that they wanted to help their colleagues grow professionally and shared a belief that in doing so, they were helping teachers challenge students to do their best. SPDC’s all over the state are working hard this month evaluating the needs of their school and formulating a plan to address these needs. In mid-December, the NJDOE released a template for schools to follow when developing their plans. One of the encompassing themes of the State’s guidelines is a shift from “district-level one shot in-service workshops” to “collaborative professional learning within schools”. In many cases, this may mean rethinking about how we learn to improve our profession. It also means that, upon completion of the plans, the real work of the SPDC’s will just begin. They will be overseeing the formation of the professional learning communities within the school and helping fellow staff members identify and access these opportunities. It is an important and rewarding role that hopefully will help schools better address the needs of our students and our colleagues. We wish all of the districts luck in developing their professional development plans for the upcoming school year. Mall Project and Poster Contest 2010 This is the time of year for you to start getting your students to create POSTERS for the MCCEA'a Annual Pride Poster Contest. Each poster selected will be used in the MCCEA Calendar and displayed at the MCCEA Mall Celebration at Rockaway Mall in April. Submissions Due by Feb 1, 2010 at the MCCEA Office. Download the Packet >> Check us out on Facebook! Join our Group Important Upcoming Events: Check out the New Calendar Member Reminder: Be sure to keep your information accurate with the NJEA.org by logging in with your PIN and password. More information is located on the NJEA Member Login page.

Pension Notes from Jim Dunckley

Attack on Pensions! State Workers Paying 1.5 % Towards Health care! Salary Freezes! More to Come??? Read This for more Info>>

Urgent Information

TO: Our MCCEA Members
FROM: Susan Vigilante, MCCEA President

As you all know, we are living in precarious economic times. MCCEA is dedicated to keeping you informed about what is happening in Trenton, especially regarding pensions and health care. To that end, please use this website to get the information you need and also to link to other sites of interest.

Right now, we are waiting to hear the proposals the Governor will outline at his budget deficit speech before the legislature. In the past, we would have had this information upfront, but times are different now. We do know that our profession as public employees is facing difficult times. Thank you for your interest in keeping informed through MCCEA.com.

Please take a moment to read NJEA President Barbara Keshishian's Response to Pension and Health Benefits Bills

Common Questions and Answers on the Pension Bills (PDF from NJEA)

Health benefits information at NJEA website>>

RTTT Information via NJEA News Service>>

Health Care Update

On Monday, Jan. 11, national labor leaders, including NEA President Dennis Van Roekel, met with President Barack Obama to discuss health care reform.

On Thursday, Jan. 14, Van Roekel and other national labor leaders met with White House staff to specifically discuss the federal health care excise tax on health plans.

The White House and national labor leaders apparently were able to form a compromise that includes a federal excise tax. The New York Times is reporting some details of the compromise.

NJEA remains steadfast in its opposition to any excise tax.

We continue to urge you to contact your representatives and tell them that ANY federal excise tax will amount to a tax increase for middle class workers and their families.

Here’s what you can do:

Call your senators and tell them to oppose any measure that contains an excise tax:
Senator Frank Lautenberg, (973) 639-8700
Senator Robert Menendez, (973) 645-3030
Call your congressman and tell him to oppose any measure that contains an excise tax. If you need help identifying your congressman, go to njea.org to find that information.

Materials are available at njea.org to help you make your calls.

Thank you,

Diane Spear
Vickie Walsh
John Williams

New Way of Doing Professional Development

New Way of Doing Professional Development Spring is almost upon us. For many people, that means ever increasing hours of daylight, warmer weather and spring fever for the kids. But it also means that many districts are starting to evaluate how they have implemented their professional development plans for the current school year and how they are going to modify it for the following school year. Every year, districts must formulate a Professional Development Plan for approval from the state, outlining their vision and plan for implementing effective professional development for the staff members of their schools. This responsibility lies with the district’s Local Professional Development Committee (LPDC), which consists of elected members from the staff, as well as representatives from administration. Together, they write a Professional Development Plan before sending it to the Board of Education for approval and then onward to the Morris County Superintendent.

This year, New Jersey has implemented some drastic changes that each LPDC will have to consider when making their plans. Each district will have to include in its plan how each individual school will implement its own professional development that helps address the district goals as it relates to their own students. These plans will be an integral part of the district plan. In order to accomplish this goal, each school elected staff members to a School-based Professional Development Committee (SPDC). At the time of election, nobody quite knew exactly what this would entail. They only knew that they wanted to help their colleagues grow professionally and shared a belief that in doing so, they were helping teachers challenge students to do their best. SPDC’s all over the state are working hard this month evaluating the needs of their school and formulating a plan to address these needs.

In mid-December, the NJDOE released a template for schools to follow when developing their plans. One of the encompassing themes of the State’s guidelines is a shift from “district-level one shot in-service workshops” to “collaborative professional learning within schools”. In many cases, this may mean rethinking about how we learn to improve our profession. It also means that, upon completion of the plans, the real work of the SPDC’s will just begin. They will be overseeing the formation of the professional learning communities within the school and helping fellow staff members identify and access these opportunities. It is an important and rewarding role that hopefully will help schools better address the needs of our students and our colleagues. We wish all of the districts luck in developing their professional development plans for the upcoming school year.

Mall Project and Poster Contest 2010

This is the time of year for you to start getting your students to create POSTERS for the MCCEA'a Annual Pride Poster Contest. Each poster selected will be used in the MCCEA Calendar and displayed at the MCCEA Mall Celebration at Rockaway Mall in April. Submissions Due by Feb 1, 2010 at the MCCEA Office. Download the Packet >>

Check us out on Facebook! Join our Group

Important Upcoming Events: Check out the New Calendar

Member Reminder:

Be sure to keep your information accurate with the NJEA.org by logging in with your PIN and password. More information is located on the NJEA Member Login page.

Welcome to the MCCEA Website

Mall Project 2009 Galleries:

Other Links:

EVENTS

MCREA SITE