focus
On educators
focus on educators is an award winning publication of the Pittsburg Education Association/CTA/NEA www.peateachers.org
The California Teachers Association exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of
teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education; to ensure that the human dignity and civil
rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society.
NOVEMBER 2018
Volume XXVII, Number 3
_______________________________________
I hope you are enjoying the fall with
our California sunshine. It’s been
very surprising what the weather
has been like. I suppose we have
different ways of thinking about
surprises.
Surprisingly enough what PEA
Members do on a daily basis is of
interest to me and many others.
We root for you and want the very
best for you because you advocate
for students, the profession, and
public education. We want to know
and share your triumphs!
We’ve gone through an incredibly
trying labor dispute. With the
California Teachers Association
Statement of Mission
Organizing Team for actions,
Bargaining Team for negotiations,
Reps for bringing folks together and
working at their site, along with
Chairs and Officers and members
much was accomplished.
There has been misinformation
passed around to create division
between us. We determine who
we are! Know that whatever you
are feeling or thinking there is
always a place for kindness, hope,
and solidarity. We do this together!
I’ve always loved how Anne Frank
believed in people. Anne said this
in her autobiography The Diary of a
Young Girl published in 1947, “I
keep my ideals, because in spite of
everything I still believe that people
are good at heart.”
We are wandering into a time when
friends, family, colleagues, and
neighbors come together to
celebrate the things they are
thankful for. Do we look around
and reach out enough to those that
have brought good things into our
life? We need to make sure we
turn to the ones around us and tell
them this.
Let’s plan on making this time of
year a space for joy and
appreciation.
In Solidarity,
Tammy Carr
P.S. An article in the October NEA
Today on page 22 called “NEA Now
Offers ELL Blended Learning
Courses” could be of interest to
you. It’s always great to have more
resources and ELL is a very
challenging area to find those
resources that can improve student
success. Check it out! You can also
find information about the NEA ELL
Blended Learning Program by
contacting Luis-Gustavo Martinez at
LGMartinez@nea.org or Ann
Coffman at ACoffman@nea.org ,
There may be some questions
regarding a hashtag you’ve been
seeing on social media or even the
news - #RedForEd! There is a great
amount of information at
http://neatoday.org/2018/10/12/w
hy-we-are-red-for-ed/. This
movement is about seeing progress
and hope in public education for
our students and educators.
 PEA Leadership 2018-2019 Rep. Council Meeting Calendar (Tuesdays)
President November 13
Tammy Carr December 18
PEA Office
January 22
Elementary Vice President
February 19
Michell Redfoot
March 19
Willow Cove
Secondary Vice President April 16
Nyssa Ton May 14
Black Diamond
School Board Meeting Calendar
Secretary
Nicole Glassel November 14
Los Medanos December 12
Treasurer
Shelly Bascomb
Are You Getting Your PEA Information?
North Campus Having our Site Reps collect your input, attend the monthly Rep
________________________________________________ meeting and then report back to you is vital in the
Committee Chairs: communication chain of our Association.
Grievance Committee
Roll call at last September 18th Rep Council Meeting:
Jill Wery – Pittsburg High
Chris Coan – Willow Cove Adult Ed. – present MLK Jr. – present
Negotiations Team
Black Diamond – present North Campus – absent
Mark Maselli – Chair – Hillview
Foothill – present Parkside – present
Chris Coan – Willow Cove, Jeff Greco – Rancho Medanos,
Heights – present PHS - present
Andrea McKinney – Black Diamond,
Melonie Sauceda-Flemming - Hillview/MLK Highlands – absent Rancho Medanos – absent
Political Action Chair Hillview - present Stoneman – present
Vacant Los Medanos – present Willow Cove – present
Elections Chair
Marina Vista – present
Sharie Chmura - Parkside
Human Rights Chair
Andrea McKinney – Black Diamond
Women’s Issues Chair
Alicia Puzak – Pittsburg High
Organizing Chair
Laura Silva - Parkside
CTA State Council Representative
Mark Maselli – Hillview
LGBTQ Chair
Marissa Young-Padilla - Parkside
Special Education Chairs
Michell Redfoot – Willow Cove
Melonie Sauceda-Flemming – Hillview/MLK
Technical Editor
Susan Harrison – PEA Office Administrator
Focus on Educators is a publication of the
Pittsburg Education Association CTA/NEA
159 East 4th Street, Pittsburg, CA 94565
Phone: (925) 432-0199 email: info@peateachers.org
website: www.peateachers.org

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 NEWS
Detailed information for all the scholarships
can be found at cta.org/scholarships
Cesar E. Chavez Memorial Education
Awards Program
This awards program provides recognition
for educators and their students who
demonstrate an understanding of the
vision and guiding principles by which
César Chávez lived his life. The recipients, both students and
sponsoring CTA members, will receive up to $550 (exact
amount will be determined by the Awards committee). Their
work will be recognized by posting visual art and written
essays online and in various CTA publications.
Deadline: March 15, 2019 | Award Amount: up to $550
***********************************************
Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
Scholarship Program encourages ethnic
minority students to become educators,
school nurses, school counselors or
school therapists and to promote professional growth for
ethnic minority teachers and ESP members.
Deadline: February 15, 2019 | Award Amount: up to $6,000
************************************************
LGBTQ+ Safety in Schools Grant &
Scholarship Program in Honor
of Guy DeRosa
The grant program will support projects
and presentations that promote
understanding of and respect for LGBTQ+
persons.
The scholarship program will support self-
identified LGBTQ members enrolled in a teacher/counseling
credential or graduate program who are pursuing a career in
public education and who understand the importance of
LGBTQ educators as role models in our public schools.
Deadline: December 14, 2018 | Award Amount: up to
$2,500
3
CTA Scholarships
The CTA Scholarship for Dependent Children offers a
maximum of 35 scholarships of up to $5,000 each.
- One scholarship is provided in Honor of Ralph J. Flynn and
is awarded to the highest-scoring applicant.
- One scholarship is provided in Honor of Ruthie Fagerstrom
and is awarded to the second highest-scoring applicant.
- One scholarship is provided in Honor of Susan B. Anthony
and is awarded to the third highest-scoring applicant.
The CTA Scholarship in Honor of Del A. Weber offers one
scholarship of up to $5,000 to a dependent child of an active
member of CTA, CTA/NEA-Retired or deceased CTA
member who is attending or attended a continuation high
school or an alternative education program.
The CTA Scholarship for Members offers a maximum of
five scholarships of up to $3,000 each.
- One scholarship is designated as the American
Indian/Alaska Native Memorial Scholarship in Honor of Alice
Piper and is awarded to the highest-scoring member
applicant.
- One scholarship is designated for an ESP member who
wants to transition into the teaching profession, provided an
ESP member applies.
The Student CTA (SCTA) Scholarship in Honor of L.
Gordon Bittle offers a maximum of three scholarships of up
to $5,000 each.
- One scholarship is designated as the Pacific Asian
American Scholarship in Honor of Philip Vera Cruz and is
awarded to the highest scoring SCTA applicant.
Deadline: February 1, 2019 | Award Amount: up to $5,000

Pittsburg Teachers CARE!
*******************************************************************
IFT Grant Writing Workshop
By Tammy Carr
PEA President
The CTA Institute for Teaching (IFT) has a grant program for
CTA members that directly benefits students and public
schools. PEA partnered with Antioch Education Association
(AEA) to host the IFT Grant Writing Workshop on Thursday,
November 8 at the AEA offices. The CTA IFT Program
Consultant, Anita Benitas, gave a well-structured and
thorough presentation about writing a grant for the IFT Grant
Program.
The IFT Grant Program awarded their first grants in 2010.
There are two types of grants through this program. One is
referred to as an Educator Grant. The Educator Grant can
go up to $5,000 and is for a single educator developed
project. The second grant is the Impact Grant which can go
up to $20,000. The Impact Grant is for at least two or more
educators developed project. IFT’s purpose of funding the
projects is “…to support strength-based teacher driven
innovation on behalf of students and public schools.” * Anita
4
described all of this in detail and fielded questions as she
went.
The application was stepped through section by section. It
was centered on seven factors of IFT’s Strength-Based
Matrix. The seven factors are student centered, work
oriented, student relations, results oriented, school-wide
relations, school-family relations, and future oriented. Each
factor must be described by the applicant in relation to their
project. Additionally, a short summary of the project must be
completed for the application.
The seven factors are scored by the IFT Grant Selection
Committee. Each factor can have a maximum of 3 points for
a total perfect score of 21 points. Anita provided a past
proposal that received a perfect score. It has been the only
project proposal to receive a perfect score in all the time the
IFT Grant Program has been around. Anita did mention that
there is no need for a perfect score in order to be awarded
the grant.
Applications are due March 31, 2019 by 11:59 p.m. PEA
members get your great ideas funded!!!
Please go to www.Teacherdrivenchange.org for more
information. If you contact the PEA office we have the left
over folders of materials from the workshop we could provide
you.
*Quote from the IFT Grant tent card.
*********************************************************************
State Council
By Mark Maselli
PEA Bargaining Chair, Hillview JHS
The October State council was very
informative. We spent a good amount of time
working on election related issues. We all
spent time texting for Tony Thurmond!! This
election will be the most important one we have had since
2008. We all need to get out there and vote.
In committee we spent time talking about the retirement
bubble we are facing and how few people are getting
credentials. We need to get back to the wavier programs.
The tests to get into the programs have been a barrier to
people becoming teachers. We are going to work on getting
back to the ability to take classes to bypass the tests.
Let’s win Nov. 6th!!!
 PEA/CTA Retirement Workshop
By Tammy Carr
PEA President
On Monday, November 5 in the Black Diamond High School
Media room, Diane Morte of CTA Benefits facilitated a well-
informed retirement workshop entitled “Journey to Financial
Independence: Our Plan. Our Union.” Her presentation
consisted of a PowerPoint featuring ways to save for
retirement, defining a 403 (b), CTA’s 403 (b) Plan, the steps
on getting started and enrolling in the plan, and other helpful
resources. The scheduled 90 minute presentation gave you
more than a brief insight into the world of preparation for life
after career. The written materials Diane provided allowed
for the participant to follow along and leave the session able
to go forward with applicable skills to design for the next
steps. Participants definitely left with the thought that it’s
never too late and it’s never too early to enact a plan! Be on
the lookout for information for PEA’s Webinar Retirement
Workshop on December 11th at 4:00 p.m. The webinar will
be run by Diane with the convenience that you could be
anywhere and still be involved in the presentation because it
is online.
***********************************************
Why am I part of a Union?
By Nyssa Ton
PEA Vice President Secondary, Pittsburg HS
As we finally take a momentary breath after an exhausting
and hard fought round of negotiations, I wanted to take a
moment to reflect on something important: Why am I part of
a union?
though I personally believe that people who get into
education initially do so for the best of reasons, their drive
and priorities can get skewed over time. Even a well-
intentioned person can lose touch and need perspective.
This has the most dramatic and potentially devastating
effects the further up you go in any district’s leadership.
Individual voices, highlighting areas in need of change, can
all too easily get lost. However, our union members are
professionals and we do value their expertise as our peers.
Their voices should not be independent and lost. Their
struggles are our struggles.
I am a part of this union because it provides much needed
checks and balances. I am part of this union to advocate for
those teachers, counselors, psychologists, students,
community members and programs that may be falling
through the cracks.
More importantly, I am not just part of a union. I am the
union. You are the union. Together we are the union and
banding together gives us the strength to create powerful
change.
**********************************************
Superintendent’s Roundtable
When: Thursday, December 6, 2018
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Where: PUSD School Board Meeting Room

At its core, teaching is a highly skilled profession. We work Every teacher is invited to come and ask questions
hard to hone our ability. We must master necessary and make inquiries. No rsvp is necessary.
pedagogy and instructional strategies but also be well-versed Superintendent Schulze will be present.
in adolescent psychology because we know that all the
knowledge in the world means nothing if a student is not
physically or emotionally prepared to learn. Simply put, we
all must wear many hats each of which comes with hard
work. We are professionals.

As a professional, in a perfect world, my hard work would

speak for itself. My professional expertise would be solicited
when striving to meet the diverse needs of our students. The
learning environment over which I presided would be
regularly curated to enhance both my own performance and,
more importantly, that of my students. My compensation
would be competitive and reflective of my hard work and my
skills. If this was true of our education system we would not
need a union.

This is the foundation as to why I am part of a union. Our

system is not perfect. People are not perfect. So, even
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 Calendar
November 2018
4 Daylight Savings Time Ends
6 PEA Executive Board – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM
6 Election Day
12 Veteran’s Day – Holiday – No School
13 PEA Rep Council – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM
14 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 6:30 PM
19-23 Thanksgiving Recess
22 Thanksgiving Day

December 2018
2 Hanukkah begins at sundown
4 PEA Executive Board – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM
12 PUSD School Board Meeting – 2000 Railroad Ave. – 6:30 PM
18 PEA Rep Council – PEA Office – 159 East 4th St. – 3:45 PM
21 Winter begins
24 Christmas Eve
24-4 Winter Recess
25 Christmas Day
26 Kwanzaa begins
31 New Year’s Eve

Next Deadline for Articles is Monday, December 10, 2018

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