We’re excited to announce that Natomas Teachers Association recommends Cindy Quiralte for Natomas School Board, Area 4 (North Natomas area).In her role at the California Department of Education, Cindy has led outreach to communities and families to improve student outcomes across the state. She’s also a parent of a Natomas Unified student and has first-hand experience with our school district and an understanding of what students need to succeed. Cindy is brilliant, kind, and has a long track record of public service. We cannot wait for her to be on our school board! Learn more about Cindy here. Take Action: Sign up today to help elect Cindy to School Board.What’s next? A campaign that will require all hands on deck! Both Cindy Quiralte and Noel Mora (our recommended candidate in Area 1) are up against two candidates who actually turned down an invitation to talk to Natomas Teachers Association. We think that speaks volumes about the importance of electing Noel and Cindy as Trustees. We have to come together to ensure our students and colleagues are represented by Trustees who respect and want to work with educators.  Take Action: Sign up today to help elect Cindy and Noel to School Board.In unity, Mara Harvey, NTA President Nico Vaccaro, NTA PAC Chair NTA Executive Board

Dear Colleagues,  We’re excited to announce that we’ve endorsed Noel Mora for Natomas School Board, Area 1. NTA educators have met with Noel Mora and learned about his connections and history in South Natomas and his vision for education in Natomas Unified. He’s enthusiastic, confident, and eager to work with us to advocate for the resources every Natomas student deserves. His commitment to equity and safe school climates for students and staff and his understanding of the critical value of a union impressed us all during his PAC interview. He’s a union member himself in his position as Coordinator of the Serna Center at Sacramento State. What’s next? A campaign that will require all hands on deck! Noel is up against a candidate who actually turned down an invitation to interview with us for an endorsement. We think that speaks volumes about the importance of electing Noel as Trustee who is committed to hearing what educators have to say. We are planning a strong campaign including canvassing, mailing handwritten postcards to voters, and more to ensure our students and colleagues are represented by a Trustee who is from South Natomas and puts in the time to hear from educators. Take Action: Sign up today to help elect Noel. We need to go door-to-door to talk to every voter in Natomas. We’re also writing handwritten notes to all voters. Our community values our opinion when it comes to our school board. Let’s use our voices to win together!  Mark your calendars for September 16th. We’ll be having our General Membership meeting at Orchard Park from 4-6pm. This will be a chance to meet Noel and any other endorsed candidates who can make it that night.

Dear NTA Members,

Please review the attached Safety MOU and let your NTA representative know if you have any questions or concerns. We want everyone to have a safe and smooth start to the 2021-22 school year. Thank you for all that you do for our students on a daily basis!

In Solidarity,

NTA Executive Board

https://na1.documents.adobe.com/public/viewAgreement?tsid=CBFCIBAA3AAABLblqZhA5otN4z_D6ZVSDcAG_tRA4GqnV96CiVZm123MUBz8yN7O-cnEE1ErUyNBNTXg585mEnBgUo2gvt7Z5-6wv80lh&

Earlier today, NTA filed an unfair practice charge with the California Public Employment Relations Board challenging the District’s unilateral decision to resume five day a week in-person instruction after spring break. With this charge, NTA is taking concrete steps to object to the District’s repudiation of our negotiated agreements and its refusal to bargain over matters of critical concern to NTA and its members. Rest assured that the Union will vigorously pursue these claims. We will keep you updated about all major developments here.

Status Report

In a clear repudiation of our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the district has unilaterally (without TEACHER AGREEMENT or input) decided to move forward with a plan to  eliminate cohorts for TK-12 and increase concurrent elementary instructional time. In addition, there appear to be decisions being made that will undermine the health and safety protections in our MOU.

The district has disingenuously claimed that it wanted to “meet and confer” to get NTA’s opinions and get information to make a decision on a “possible larger reopening” but we all know that claim is false. The district made and announced a final decision in total disregard of its contractual obligations and without seeking any input from NTA.

Also, the district is adding synchronous screen time for the Elementary students while eliminating negotiated prep time for their teachers. Nearly 2 hours a day of synchronous “zoom” instruction is being added to the day for the youngest children in our district.  The concern here is that some of the youngest students are already having a hard time with their current zoom hours. Without the input from teachers, the district is making a blanket decision mandating a change that is more about quantity than quality education. 

The District has repeatedly and intentionally disregarded mutual agreements with our association, starting with the imposed calendar move in August. This current disregard of our collaborative Transitional model severely undermines our role in the bargaining process and mutes our voices as instructional experts. 

The District is attempting to remove parity and equity from the bargaining process once again.

We remain, as ever, committed to providing quality, equitable, and safe education to all of our students. We are considering all legal options to remedy this unilateral decision and ensure that we are included in future labor and educational decisions at the appropriate time in the process.

We are continuing to take responses to our survey. Please remember, this is a survey of three types of actions (not a vote).  There are an array of actions and activities to participate in, so please contact your site rep for more information.

Moving forward, our site reps will be reaching out with a few more members this week to complete their responses to the survey.  If you are unsure who your site rep is please contact your NTA Executive Board.  Thank you to everyone who has responded as we’ve had a tremendous response from you so far. Our 600 members deserve to be respected. 

We will be meeting with Site Reps on Thursday at our regular monthly meeting. 

Please keep up on emails to look for updates as we continue to get your input, even over spring break. (If you are not receiving messages from us, please send us your personal email address to natomasteachersassoc@gmail.com.)

In Solidarity, 

NTA Executive Board