The Social Security Fairness Act
We are at a critical juncture. The Senate is poised to vote on the Social Security Fairness Act, which will repeal the GPO/WEP penalties on social security benefits for retired public employees. I am including the text and a photo from an email I just received from the National Education Association, which explains what is at stake.
They are asking us to call both of our senators at 844-912-1779 and to tell them to VOTE YES on H.R. 82! Please do. While both Markey and Warren have committed their vote to the Social Security Fairness Act, when we call them, we give them leverage in persuading their colleagues in the Senate to vote with them!
From NEA:
Momentum for GPO/WEP repeal mounted last week after a Capitol Hill rally in the pouring rain. Participants included NEA Vice President Princess Moss, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate champion Sherrod Brown (D-OH), House champions Garret Graves (R-LA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), and other labor, retirement security and congressional leaders.
For the first time ever, Leader Schumer committed to a floor vote on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82). That initial vote will come EARLY THIS WEEK. This is it—our best chance in 40 years to repeal unjust penalties that impact millions of retired educators, firefighters and public servants, and millions more future retirees.
The bill that would repeal GPO/WEP, the Social Security Fairness Act, passed the House with huge bipartisan support—the vote was 327-75. If the Senate follows suit, President Biden will sign GPO/WEP repeal into law. The Social Security Fairness Act has enough cosponsors in the Senate to overcome a filibuster if all supporters are in attendance and vote yes.
Call both your senators at 844-912-1779. Tell them to VOTE YES on H.R. 82!
RetirementPlus Bill
The MTA is calling on all members to contact their state legislators before the end of session on Dec. 31 and ask that they support the passage of the RetirementPlus bill (H. 2630), which is currently with the House Committee on Ways and Means. This bill will allow teachers hired before July 1, 2001, who did not provide a written election to participate in RetirementPlus, to have a second opportunity to do so. Please call your legislator today! Click here to get more information, including a link to your legislators’ phone number and an email you can use to share your story directly with them.
Retirement Planning
If you are planning to retire this year, remember that employees who give notice of retirement at least six (6) months prior to their last day of work and who work through the end of the teacher work year (or through June 30th for Unit E), will receive $500 in addition to the benefit of $500 for giving at least four (4) months notice of their retirement. Total benefit in these cases is $1,000. Don’t miss out on this — be sure to get your retirement form to the HR office in December for a June retirement!
The incentive payment of $500 for giving notice of retirement at least four (4) months prior to the last day of work still exists separately for those not working through the end of the teacher work year (or June 30th for Unit E). Any questions? Feel free to reach out to Christine Walsh at treasurer@newteach.org.
Hone your Union Skills with the MTA!
Bargaining Summit:
Location: Hilton Boston Park Plaza
Date: Friday, January 24, 2025
Time: 6 PM – 9 PM
Join us for MTA’s Bargaining Summit where Prek-12 members will meet to discuss bargaining approaches that:
Engage local budget processes and put our campaigns for better working and learning conditions in the local and state political context.
This will be an opportunity to hear from other member leaders and collaborate on local association plans.
Winter Union Skills:
Location: Hilton Boston Park Plaza
Date: Saturday, January 25, 2025
Time: 9 AM – 5 PM
Now, more than ever, we must have strong local unions ready to fight for the schools, colleges, and universities that our communities deserve. This free event will include a variety of workshops related to local unions' core activities.
Locals are strongly encouraged to bring a group of members to participate in different training segments based on their roles and interests.
It will be an excellent opportunity for new activists to participate in an energizing statewide event while developing essential union skills.
Leadership Development
And more!
Mass Child Grants
The Massachusetts Child is a charitable corporation founded by MTA members in 1996 to help students struggling with financial need. Mass Child is a reimbursement program available to all MTA preK-12 local associations. Members use funds from their local associations to purchase qualifying items for students, and Mass Child reimburses the local associations.
Please note that Mass Child does not reimburse individual members; all grant applications must have the approval of the local president, and reimbursement is made to the local association. Therefore, please do not fill out the online application on the Mass Child website.
There are four types of Mass Child Grants:
Our local process for use of Mass Child Grant funds:
Contact Cindy Colantonio at NTA office (colantonioc@newton.k12.ma.us) before purchasing items to be certain that NTA still has Mass Child Grant Funds available and that the items you will be purchasing will qualify for reimbursement.
Once you have approval, purchase the items and submit your receipts to Cindy (You can do this electronically via email or by sending them through the Pony).
NTA will reimburse you directly right away. We will handle the submission to Mass Child for local reimbursement.
Step Increases
Step increases happen differently in Newton than in most other districts... or at least they have until now...and will until the end of this contract.
Normally, step increases happen at the beginning of the school year--in time for the first pay check--and this is still the case for members of Unit C. And this makes sense--you earn your step increase by working the prior school year. The step you are on when you begin the new year should reflect the additional year you just worked.
However, in Units A, B and E, step increases happen later in the year.
This year, the step increase happened on December 1st, which means you will see your step increase reflected in your December 15th paycheck.
In the 2025-2026 school year, the step increase will move back to November 1st, 2025
In the 2026-2027 school year, it will move back to October 1st, 2026.
Then, on August of 2027-- the last day of the this contract--, the step increase will move back to September 1, 2027.
Going forward, the step increase will continue to be awarded on September 1st of each new school year.
The history of how we got here is exasperating. In 2011, the NTA agreed to allow the district to postpone the "anniversary date" of step increases until March 1st of the school year instead of September 1st, a delay of six months. We bargained this on the tail end of the Great Recession, at a time when municipal and school finances were in deep trouble. We made this concession because the city fo Newton and the Newton Public Schools district were in a deep financial crisis.
Yet when the NPS' finances improved, the school committee would not agree to move the anniversary date back to September.
In 2013, the citizens of Newton approved an override that increased the schools operating budget significantly. But the school committee, under Matt Hills' leadership, refused to renegotiate the step increase anniversary date for the 2015-2018 contract. The school committee, under Ruth Goldman's leadership, finally agreed to move the step increase date back by three months: in the 2019-2020 school year, to February 1, 2020; in the 2020-2021 school year, to January 1, 2021, and finally, in the 2021-2022 school year, to December 1, 2021.
And that is where we remain now. But with the MOA we signed on February 2, 2024, by the last day of the this contract, we will have won back what we ceded in 2011, per the schedule cited above.
Licensure
Please be sure to keep on top of your licensure to avoid problems down the road. Please note — if you lack the appropriate license or endorsement(s) for your position, that can constitute grounds for dismissal. If your supervisor or human resources has reached out to you to bring a deficit to your attention, please address the issue without delay.
If you haven’t done so in a while, log on to your ELAR account through the DESE Security Portal to check your licensure status. MTA has a number of resources and tools to guide members through the license renewal process located on their website. If you have questions or need support, please reach out to Christine Walsh at treasurer@newteach.org.
MTA also offers....
Virtual Licensure Workshops
to support you in keeping your licensure up to date.
Join MTA Education Policy Specialist Beth Tripathi and Professional Development Strategist Dan Callahan at the 2024-2025 MTA Virtual Licensure Workshops for presentations on licensure for various career stages. All workshops will be held from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. For more detailed information about each workshop and to register, visit https://bit.ly/mtalic2425.
1/15 Professional Licensure
1/29 Licensure Basics for Early Career Educators
2/26 Licensure Basics for ESPs
3/26 Professional License Renewal
In solidarity,
Mike Zilles, President
Newton Teachers Association
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