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WHAT'S NEW: Procedures for June 2023 DFT Who Are Retiring

COMPLETING YOUR RETIREMENT FORMS

DFT unit members planning on retiring at the end of the 2022-2023 school year should complete all of the forms related to retirement by May 1, 2023.  These forms include:

1.  A Separation from Service Form (SFSF) found on the District's Hub. 

Please remember that in order to be paid for illness days upon retirement from DPSCD, eligible employees must submit a SFSF to the District's Human Resource office (HR) no later than May 1, 2023 and retire effective July 1, 2023 (or August 1, 2023 if working during the month of July).

The SFSF should be emailed to HR (hr.records@detroitk12.org) by May 1, 2023. The "effective date of separation" on the SFSF should be listed as June 30, 2023 (or July 31, 2023 if working during the month of July.

Eligible employees meeting the May 1, 2023 deadline will be paid $45 for each unused illness day in their bank for days 1 to 100 and $65 for each unused illness day in their bank for days 101 to 200 for a maximum payout of $11,000. Payout of illness time upon retirement does not include a payout from the catastrophe bank. (To calculate the number of illness days in one's bank, divide the number of illness bank hours by eight [8].)

2.  The pension application forms found on an employee's miAccount with the Michigan Office of Retirement Services (michigan.gov/orsschools).  (Click on the menu item "Ready to Retire", then the box that says, "Apply for Retirement", and then follow the instructions.)

3.  The application forms for Social Security (if eligible) and Medicare (if eligible) found on Social Security's website (ssa.gov).  (This website is separate and unrelated to the Michigan Office of Retirement Services' website and an employee's miAccount.)

Questions about retirement can be directed to the DFT's retirement counselor, Patrick Falcusan, at the union office, 313-875-6783. at any time during the year.

WHAT'S NEW: Letter of Agreement for Coaching Special Olympics

 Please read this letter of agreement regarding stipends for coaches for the United Special Olympics.

WHAT'S NEW: Join President Wilson-Lumpkins for this Celebration of Women's History Month

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You are invited to the Second Annual Crowning & Cultivating: Women in Leadership Colloquium. The event, celebrating Women's Month, will be held Saturday, March 25th, at 1 pm. Join us to be empowered, encouraged and loved on! Come share your stories and hear the stories of other powerful women. Come out and enjoy a transforming experience with many statewide leaders. We are pleased to announce Laura Dickerson ( UAW Region 1A Director ) as the Keynote speaker. Other speakers include Lakia Wilson Lumpkins (DFT President), The Honorable Monique Baker McCormick (Dist. 6 Wayne County Commissioner) and more. We will also celebrate the amazing life of Ruby Newbold, retired president of DAEOE Local 4168. Newbold was a true icon throughout the state of Michigan.

If you are interested, please RSVP below. Use the code "Crown" to receive 25% off any purchase. 

 What:  Second Annual Crowning & Cultivating: Women in Leadership Colloquium

When: Saturday March 25th, 2023

Time: 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Where: Sheet Metal Workers Local 80 -17100 W 12 Mile Rd Southfield MI 48076

How:  Click here to receive your discount today. Use the code "Legends" to receive 25% off your purchase.

 Only 10 Vendor tables are available! No tickets sold at the door!

Kudos to Vice President, Robin Jennings, for speaking on behalf of our union for repealing Right to Work in Michigan. Please share this video with your family and friends. Michigan wouldl be the first state in the country to repeal Right to Work. 

MIchigan Teachers Support Repeal of Right to Work

MORE

WHAT'S NEW: AFT Members Testify in Lansing

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Last Thursday, Donna Jackson, President of the Detroit Federation of Paraprofessionals, Local  2350, Lincoln Stocks, President of the Eastpointe Federation of Educators, Local 698, Detroit Federation of Teachers, Local 231 President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins and activists Dwan McGrady and Nastassia Szpaichler offered testimony in support of HB 4044. HB 4044 repeals PA 54 which freezes any step increases, makes employees fully responsible for healthcare increases, and prohibits retroactive pay if a collective bargaining agreement expires before a new one is reached. The members effectively highlighted other issues impacting educators from the various prohibited subjects of bargaining, the privatization of support staff and the limitation of some bargaining rights for DPSCD teachers. Their testimony set the stage for a future slate of bills that will restore the rights of educators across our state and address the critical teacher shortage we are facing. We will continue to work with our allies to ensure our members can make their voices and experience heard as these bills move through the legislature. 

WHAT'S NEW: Meet our President, Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins

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For more than 25 years, Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins has been an active member in the Detroit Federation of Teachers. She started her career as a first grade teacher at Spain Elementary & Middle School in 1997. Upon completion of a Master’s Degree in counseling and the timely retirement of Spain’s counselors, Lakia was able to obtain a counseling position at Spain and continue advocating and building relationships with students, families, and staff while leveraging support from stakeholders in the community in which she loved. Lakia recalls the anxiety of walking the picket line in the strike of 1999 and the excitement of delivering Spain Schools’ ballots in the election of officers to the DFT office, which formerly stood next to Dittrich Furs on Third Avenue. Lakia has always provided support to the DFT at the building level as the Building Representative, Alternate, and Union Committee.

In 2014, Lakia was elected to her first term on the DFT Executive Board. Since then, Lakia has served as both Vice President and Executive Vice President of the DFT. With the onset of the 2023-2025 biennium, Lakia is humbled, privileged and blessed to be elected as the 9th President of the DFT. Professionally, Lakia is honored to represent over 3000 of the world’s best educators and support staff.

In Lakia's family, education and unionism have a long history. Her mother was the first black teacher at St. Anne Catholic School in Southwest Detroit for 7 years (now closed). She ultimately retired as a proud MEA member from Mount Clemens Public Schools after 24 years of teaching both kindergarten and first grade. Lakia’s father, after 40 years of work, retired as a proud Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant employee. Her uncles were Sleeping Car Porters, and she has three UAW proud brothers who worked for each of the Big Three—Ford, Chrysler, and GM—with one becoming a union steward for the Bakery and Confectionery Union at Hostess Cake. Her aunts were educators as well. Currently, Lakia’s sister teaches 1st grade in Maryland, her goddaughter is a second year teacher in Tennessee, while her nephew is a professor in Texas. “The love of learning and teaching runs in the family”, claims Lakia.

A lifelong Detroiter—born, raised, living and working in Detroit, Lakia is an outspoken advocate for social, educational and economic justice. Lakia has been featured on many media outlets. Most notable are her appearances on C-SPAN during the AFL-CIO Raising Wages Summit, AFT “Life Inside Detroit Public Schools”, NBC News Learn, and HBO Real Sports.

Lakia is a Mount Clemens High School alumna. She graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Science Education, and Oakland University with a Master of Arts in Counseling. She holds Principal Certification from Lamar University, and is currently working toward her doctoral degree in Leadership at the American College of Education.

Lakia, who still qualifies herself as a newlywed, shares her home with her amazing husband Michael and their energetic eight-year-old son Noah.