Please join us at our Welcome Back Party on Friday, September 23. See the attached flyer for details. Mark SteinbergPresident ![]()
Dear BMUST Members,
Welcome back to a new year which I sincerely hope will be a happy, healthy, and productive one for all of you. A challenging summer for the district as several construction projects were undertaken has led to an uneasy start of the year for many of us. Please know that every effort will be made by the district and BMUST to assist all staff members to make the beginning of the school year run as smooth as possible. I certainly anticipate that the uneasiness many of us are feeling now will dissipate shortly and we will all be able to enjoy the benefits of these projects. Communication about this work is ongoing between the district and BMUST and I encourage anyone with questions or concerns to address them right away with your Head Building Representative and principal. As I begin my 33rd year here in Bellmore-Merrick and my 4th as your President, I find this job to be incredibly challenging and rewarding. With well over 500 teachers and paraprofessionals, I continuously strive to keep the “big picture” in sight while relying heavily on my outstanding Board of Trustees and Representative Assembly to help me navigate my way through the highs and lows of my position. Working together, I’m confident that we can confront any difficulties we face professionally and personally, and come up with reasonable solutions to make our Bellmore-Merrick experience a fantastic one. As far as our contract, the negotiating team has been working on some language and items that both sides agreed need to be updated and cleaned up. Our goal continues to be to have a new contract printed and distributed as soon as possible. When needed, please continue to refer to our blue contract booklet and the information emailed and distributed to the staff at the end of last year about changes to the contract. While our union has been very fortunate recently in several court cases, including Friedrichs and Vergara, which I spoke about last year, challenges to our profession are on the horizon. Our participation in the upcoming statewide and presidential election is critical and BMUST is planning a pledge to vote campaign shortly. NYSUT members typically make up from 4-8% of the electorate here in New York. Several close races may get decided by our ability to get out the vote. However you choose to vote, just vote! As the years go by and I find myself getting much closer to retirement, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have worked with wonderful, dedicated staff members throughout my career. I will miss Rich Anderson and Jack Rice, colleagues of mine at Grand Avenue who unfortunately passed away this summer. Rich’s passing at such a young age with a wife and three young children left behind is particularly painful. My wife Lisa and children Michele and Ben saying “YOLO” to me when deciding how to live our lives has unfortunately taken on a new meaning and importance recently. I know I’m in a good place here and I will do my best to appreciate my time in Bellmore-Merrick. Again, welcome back! I encourage everyone to refer to our website (bmust.org) for important information about our union and upcoming events. I hope to see everyone at the opportunities we have to get together this year. If you need to communicate with me, our office extension is 1068 and our email address is [email protected]. Hope to see you at the Welcome Back Party on Friday, September 23 (2:30-5:30 PM) at the Grillfire Restaurant in Merrick. Best wishes for a fantastic year! In Solidarity, Mark Please see the attached memo regarding open enrollment date change. If you have any questions you may contact Renee Jones in personnel at 516-992-1013. ![]()
Welcome back to school. I hope you had a great summer. Once again the Parent Center is holding the Back to School Fundraiser with Modell's Sporting Goods. Please see the attached letter & coupon. Y our help and support would be greatly appreciated . Regards Wendy ![]()
Hello everyone,
Please be advised that the NYSHIP message we received has been posted on the website. Please help us distribute to employees. Thank you. On August 12th, Health Now (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York) confirmed that certain enrollee information in the possession of its subcontractor ID card vendor, Newkirk Products, Inc. (Newkirk), may have been accessed from a data security incident involving their contractor, Newkirk Products, Inc. (Newkirk). Newkirk issues health care ID cards for Health Now. This incident occurred on May 21, 2016 and was discovered on July 6, 2016. This incident does not involve or affect any systems maintained by the State of New York, including NYSHIP and Health Now. There are approximately 12,500 NYSHIP members in Health Now. We are advised that the information potentially accessed may consist of member and dependent names, mailing address(es), type of plan, and member and group ID number. We have been assured that Social Security numbers, banking and credit card information, date of birth and medical claim data information were not accessed. Newkirk has advised that it will be mailing notifications to all potentially affected individuals. Newkirk is also offering two years of identity protection and restoration services through AllClear ID, at no cost to affected individuals. Information regarding this incident may be obtained by visiting www.newkirkproductsfacts.com or calling 1-855-303-9773(TTY/TDD:711). This telephone number will be staffed Monday through Saturday from 9 A.M. until 9 P.M., Eastern Standard Time. New post on Diane Ravitch's blog
BREAKING NEWS: Teachers Win Vergara Case, California Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal!by dianeravitchIn a big win for teachers and their unions, the California Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from a lower court ruling. The vote was 4-3. See the report in the LA School Report (controlled by Campbell Brown and The 74) here. The initial decision had over-ruled state laws that protected teacher tenure and seniority. That decision by Judge Rolf Treu was overturned on appeal by a unanimous three-judge court. The state supreme court let stand the last decision. Howard Blume of the Los Angeles Times reports: In a major victory for teachers unions, the California Supreme Court has let stand a ruling that preserves traditional teacher job protections such as tenure and seniority-based layoffs. In refusing to hear the case, the state’s high court sided not only with unions, but also the state of California and others, who contended that these job protections are both constitutional and reasonable. The case was being closely watched across the country as a bellwether on whether courts could be used to invalidate employment rights of teachers on the grounds that they violate the rights of students. Attorneys for a group of nine students had argued that making it easier to fire bad teachers would improve academic performance. They also claimed that speedier teacher dismissals would narrow the achievement gap that separates white, Asian and wealthier students from their lower income, black and Latino peers. There are states that have no teacher tenure, but no evidence was introduced to demonstrate that those states have higher academic performance by low-income, black and Latino students or smaller achievement gaps. StudentsMatter, funded by a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and cheered on by the corporate reform movement, spent millions of dollars fighting tenure laws, and forced the unions to do the same. dianeravitch | August 22, 2016 at 3:59 pm | Categories: California, Teacher Tenure | URL:http://wp.me/p2odLa-f4M Hello everyone,
I hope you are enjoying the summer. Please be advised that the District has added Vanguard as an additional 403(b) provider option. Below please find contact information and the link to OMNI. This will be available on the District website under Personnel shortly. Once you are on the OMNI link, go to the bottom left hand corner. Choose the State of New York and enter Bellmore-Merrick as the Emp. Name. Please let me know if I could provide any further information. Thank you and have a fabulous rest of the summer! Vanguard Fiduciary Trust Co. P.O. Box 1110 Valley Forge, PA 19482-1110 1-877-662-7447 (new clients) 1-800-962-5068 https://www.omni403b.com/Employers.aspx Our friend Rich Anderson,
Special Education teacher at Grand Avenue Middle School and Mepham wrestling head coach, has been experiencing serious health issues. Please support him and his family during this difficult time. Any donation would be greatly appreciated. Click on the link below to the go to the Go Fund Me page for Rich. https://www.gofundme.com/296v93w Please see below and the attachments sent to me from NYSUT for all members. TO: Local Presidents FROM: Matt Jacobs, Regional Staff Dir. DATE: June 10, 2016 RE: Announcing NRO Summer Training! In order to meet the increased training needs of locals as well as to provide certain kinds of training in a more timely manner, the Nassau Regional Office will for the first time offer a summer schedule of workshops. We hope these summer workshops will provide a convenient opportunity for your local leaders and members to receive the training they want and need. These workshops will augment, but not take the place of, the workshops we normally offer throughout the year. You will receive a schedule of those workshops shortly. Attached to this email are four documents: 1. A cover letter explaining the “summer school” program 2. A description of the workshops offered 3. A registration form to be completed by or for each participant 4. A separate description and registration form for the “Certification Day” workshop Please share this information with your leadership team and your members. We urge you to take advantage of this opportunity to build your local’s power and effectiveness by encouraging as many members as possible to participate in the summer program. ![]()
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Yesterday, the NYS Appellate Division, Third Department, reversed its previous ruling in the Roslyn and Plainview NYSHIP buyout cases, thereby affirming the Supreme Court's initial ruling in our favor and declaring Department of Civil Service Memo 122r3 null and void. Our email system was down for the entire day yesterday, so we were not able to send you this great news until today, although many of you heard about it through LIPC. Attached to this email are an advisory from NYSUT General Counsel Rich Casagrande and a copy of the court's decision. Congratulations to Ariana Donnellan, who was OGC's lead attorney on this case, Associate General Counsel Lena Ackerman and General Counsel Rich Casagrande on a job well done! ![]()
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