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Union Updates

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Newly-Elected MSEA Leaders to Focus on the 2017–2018 Educators’ Agenda

When MSEA’s Board of Directors meets in September to discuss the 2017–2018 Educators’ Agenda, five new faces will be seated at the table, the largest turnover in many years. Newcomers Erika Strauss Chavarria, Howard, and Brian Donoughe, Howard, were elected to the NEA and MSEA boards of directors. They will join Russell Leone, Anne Arundel, […]
Testing

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Betty Weller: We Should All Be Proud

Betty Weller, MSEA President What a great General Assembly session! First, we passed the Protect Our Schools Act that gives Maryland a school accountability system that truly invests in and improves our schools by placing less emphasis on standardized testing and broadening the focus of what’s needed to create a great school — closing opportunity gaps, increasing […]
Testing

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Ask a Teacher: What Does the Protect Our Schools Act Mean to You?

Allison Heintz There’s a misconception that teachers are in favor of POSA because it gives more power to unions. This bill is about giving more power to local stakeholders, including what factors determine school success and how to deal with failing schools. Our governor has been vocal in supporting vouchers, and I’ve probably been one […]
Testing

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Educators Lead and Win on Testing and Privatization

It’s a giant win for students, parents, educators, schools, and communities. The General Assembly’s passage of the Protect Our Schools and the More Learning, Less Testing acts point once again to Maryland and educators leading the way for improving schools and helping all students. No other state can claim similar success in fighting the Betsy […]
Education Support Professionals

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MSEA Members Lead at the National ESP Conference

The MSEA delegation at the NEA ESP National Conference in March. Nearly 70 MSEA members gathered with hundreds of colleagues in Dallas on March 9–12 at NEA’s ESP National Conference — Uniting, Inspiring, and Leading for the Whole Student. On the agenda were more than 50 workshops covering critical on-the-job issues and union organizing. Massachusetts paraeducator Raul Ramos, […]
Teacher Toolkit

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Toolkit: Teaching Academic Life Skills and Loving It

Kara Brooks-Odom teaches at Mt. Hebron High School in Howard County. Students in Kara Brooks-Odom’s academic life skills classes typically have an IQ below 80 and may or may not be social, or even verbal. Kara says many are able to find gainful employment with some minor modifications to the task or workplace and that brings […]
Legal Questions

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What to Do If a Student Assaults You

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education reported that from 2011 to 2012, approximately 20% of public school teachers reported being verbally abused, 10% reported being physically abused, and 10% reported being physically attacked in schools. In 2009, an Institute of Education Science School Principal Survey on Crime and Safety found that approximately 11% of […]
Racial and Social Justice

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5 Things Transgender Students Want Their Teachers to Know

“Iwish my teachers could understand how important pronouns are. It’s physically painful to be misgendered. If they do mess up, I wish they’d just calmly correct themselves instead of making a huge deal out of it.” — Beau “Iwish they understood that it takes a lot to come out, especially while still in school. I’m just like […]
Teacher Toolkit

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“Mrs. Fitzsimmons, We Need You in Room 113, Please.”

Meet Sarah Fitzsimmons, a licensed clinical professional counselor and National Board Certified Counselor at Carroll Manor Elementary in Baltimore County. Carroll Manor is recognized as an American School Counselor Association Model Program. WALKIE TALKIE My walkie is a toolkit must! The administration and school secretaries can communicate with me about a classroom I need to […]
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