Detroit Federation of Teachers

DFT President with Ingram, Care Moore, Morgan

Reading Opens the World Features Honored Guests

Detroit was ecstatic to have these three people participate in our book giveaway. AFT National Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick C. Ingram welcomed families and educators to Reading Opens the World. He announced that in May the organization will have given away 10 million books for free. We are thrilled to have had a hand in distributing 50,000 of those books. Poet Jessica Care Moore read one of her poems, I used to be a roller coaster girl and author Ellen A. Morgan, Ed. D read her book, Ellie’s Formal Table. They are standing with President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins.

Election Committee is Sworn In

Four Election Committee members were sworn in at the April General Membership Meeting. Serving a two year term will be Onza Stokes, Laura Watts, Devette Brown and Julia Hunko. We thank these members for their service to the members of the DFT. Executive Vice President, Jason Posey, looks on. Be sure to say hello to Election Committee when you sign in at the May General Membership meeting.

Posey, Wilson-Lumpkins, Weiss, Martin at town hall

DFT Leadership Participates in Town Hall Meeting

At a town hall hosted by State Representative, Regina Weiss, three of our leaders attended the forum: DFT Executive Vice President, Jason Posey, DFT President, Lakia Wilson-Lunmpkins, and AFT Michigan President, Terrence Martin. Many union members were in attendance to listen to the information.

US Senate Candidate Addresses the Membership

.A candidate for the US Senate from Michigan, Hil Harper, came before the DFT General Membership meeting in April to ask for an endorsement by the union. He spoke to members about his support for unions, being a card-carrying member of one himself, as well as the reasons he would like our support in the upcoming August primary. The union will be hosting other candidates who are also seeking our endorsements.

School Gun Bills Are Bad Policy

The Michigan Senate has hastily approved a set of bills that will further place children at risk, whether they reside in Detroit or DeTour Village in the Upper Peninsula. Our President Ivy Bailey has penned an op-ed that has been published in the Michigan Chronicle and The Detroit News.

Click here to read: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2017/11/22/school-fun-bills-bad-policy/107948098/?link_id=0&can_id=74ee541f20f3b9f59526c6c9334d538f&source=email-e-newsletter-for-december-1&email_referrer=&email_subject=e-newsletter-for-december-1

Three committed Black male educators about the need for more men to enter the field of teaching. Each is a DFT member:

· Terrence Martin, Detroit Federation of Teachers, executive vice president

· Quan Neloms, Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men, teacher

· Ben Dirden, Communication & Media Arts High School, teacher

Click the following link to watch: http://www.dptv.org/blogs/american-black-journal/112617-hope-starts-here-black-male-teachers/

Update on 3% case before Supreme Court

This week’s 3% hearing before the state Supreme Court has not come to a conclusion. We are tracking developments and will report them ASAP. Here is a great opinion piece on the subject penned by AFT Michigan President David Hecker and MEA President Paula Herbert.

"If returned to the educators who earned it, the half-billion-plus dollars the state has illegally taken would have a tremendous positive impact for individual families and the state’s economy," they write.

Click the following Web link to read the Hecker and Herbert piece. http://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2017/11/07

Congratulations to our own Cande Tellez-Uzarek of Western High School. She's 2017 Michigan Association of School Social Workers School Social Worker of the Year. Tellez-Uzarek is a social worker at Western High School and a 25-year veteran of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

She was presented with her honor on November 2, 2017 at the Lansing Center.

WHAT'S NEW: Financial Review Commission Approves DFT-DPSCD contract

In a unanimous vote, the state Financial Review Commission on August 28 approved DFT's three-year contract with the Detroit Public Schools Community District.

The pact is now official and takes effect immediately.

WHAT'S NEW: DPSCD leaders prepare for new school year

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Students return to school on Tuesday, September 5 and DPSCD leaders discuss the 2017-2018 school year on Fox 2 Detroit’s “Let It Rip Sunday” on August 27. President Ivy Bailey was joined by General Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti and Detroit Board of Education President Dr. Iris Taylor. http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/let-it-rip/276556015-story