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From the President
As you know
November 4th
was a historic day. Not only do we have the first African-American
President, but there is a clear mandate against all of Bill
Sizemore’s anti-union, anti-teacher ballot measures. All of
Sizemore’s measures failed. It is clearly a new day.
We saw
victories in nine out of ten statewide endorsed candidates, 41 out
of 53 Oregon House candidates and now have the ability to pass
revenue measures in the Oregon House. We won all of our city-wide
races and all but one County Commissioner race.
Thank you for
all your hard work talking to colleagues, friends, and neighbors,
phone banking, canvassing, and organizing members. A special thank
you to former PAT President Ann Nice, who coordinated the tremendous
volunteer effort in this election. Teachers are the most respected
voices in the community and Oregon heard our message loud and clear!
Bargaining with PPS Heats Up
PAT is
continuing to bargain with PPS. Our next bargaining session is
Thursday, November 20th at BESC. Bargaining begins at 4:30 p.m. at
Divinci MS. You are encouraged to attend. Look for the latest
edition of
At the Table
which provides
specific information.
Free Pastry for American Education Week
American
Education Week is November 16th-22nd. To honor the hard work of
Portland educators, the PAT Membership Committee has partnered with
Grand Central Baking Company to provide each member with a coupon
for a free pastry of your choice. This is the third year in a row
that Grand Central has shown their support for Portland teachers.
Please let them know how much you appreciate them when you redeem
your coupon.
Open Enrollment for Insurance
Open
enrollment for Trust benefits is November 17, 2008 through December
19, 2008. This is your opportunity to review your benefit needs for
the coming year and decide if you want to make changes. You may
also add or remove eligible dependents to/from your coverage during
open enrollment.
You don't have
to re-enroll if you don't want to make changes. Your current
coverage will automatically continue in 2009. If you want to make
changes, return a completed Health and Welfare Benefits
Enrollment/Change Form to District HR/Benefits by December 19,
2008. Benefit elections will be effective February 1, 2009.
2009 PAT ELECTIONS
The PAT’s
2009 election process will begin on November 19, 2008 at the
November PAT Representative Assembly.
Lisa Davidson,
Chairperson of the PAT Nominations & Elections Committee, will open
nominations for PAT Executive Board positions and for NEA RA and OEA
RA delegates. If you are interested, an application can be found at
the PAT office, website or see your head representative. The
positions to be elected are described below:
EXECUTIVE BOARD—4
POSITIONS, 2-YEAR TERMS, BEGINNING JULY 1, 2009
The PAT
Executive Board oversees the management of the Association and
approves all expenditures not in the annual budget. Board Directors
members serve as liaisons to specific schools/clusters and PAT
committees. The Executive Board meets once a month. Executive
Board members are also expected to attend the monthly Representative
Assemblies.
DELEGATE TO NEA REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
(NEA RA)—3-YEAR
TERMS
PAT
delegates to the NEA RA join with other Oregon delegates to
represent our state at the National Education Association’s Annual
Meeting and Representative Assembly (RA). The NEA RA is held the
first week of July each year and is NEA's highest decision-making
body. With over 9,000 delegates, it is also the world's largest
democratic, deliberative body. Delegates debate issues that impact
American public education, elect top officers, and set policy for
the 3.2 million-member Association. The 2009 NEA RA will be held in
San Diego, CA on July 1-6.
DELEGATE TO OEA REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
(OEA RA)—3-YEAR
TERMS
Delegates
attend the annual state convention held each spring in Portland.
The OEA RA begins on a Friday evening and concludes late Saturday
afternoon. An optional awards banquet is held on Saturday night.
The 2009 OEA RA will be April 24-25 at Jantzen Beach. A Region 1
Mini RA is also held for delegates from the metro area a few weeks
prior to the OEA RA.
PAT
Members’ Special
The PAT
Members’ Special
advertising flyer is returning to paper. Due to popular demand, it
will be printed each month and distributed to the school sites.
This is a great venue to advertise to other PAT members in the
following categories: Vacation Rentals/Miscellaneous items for
sale/Vehicles for sale/Services/Wanted Items. In order to qualify
to advertise in this flyer, goods or services must be provided
by PAT members for PAT members.
If you are
a
PAT member
and wish to submit an ad, type or handprint a brief ad (it may be
edited) and send by fax, PONY or U.S. mail to the PAT office. The
submission must include your name, phone number and school site. |
