Several people have expressed concern about this letter from the STPSB to BESE regarding the mask mandate. Here are a few things to consider:

[TL;DR—The STPSB does not have the power to lift the mask mandate. It would take a court ruling for BESE to overrule the governor. In my view, that is unlikely.]

1. On Thursday, June 10, the STPSB voted to adopt a voluntary mask policy for the 2021-2022 school year with 11 Yeas, 0 Nays, and 1 abstaining.

Setting the record straight on dangerous misinformation campaigns fueling skepticism and hesitance around the COVID-19 vaccines.

Dangerous misinformation campaigns are fueling skepticism and hesitance around the COVID-19 vaccines, a situation that both prevents achievement of herd immunity and increases the possibility that new variants will be deadly to even the vaccinated. The truth is that 99.5 percent of all COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths happening now are among the unvaccinated. As vaccination numbers lag and COVID-19 infections surge in many communities, it is imperative that AFT members have the most accurate and up-to-date information about the vaccines. The "COVID-19 Myth-busting Factsheet" was composed by the AFT and is intended to set the record straight about some myths and misconceptions.

Teachers at the Oregon Virtual Academy (ORVA) in North Bend voted overwhelmingly to form a new union, the ORVA Educators United (OEU). The National Labor Relations Board oversaw the election results on Thursday, with over 80% of ORVA’s teachers voting to form the new union. 

Here is the link to the 2021-2024 Unit 47 Contract

Unit 47 2021-2024 Contract

Here is a copy of the Constitution and Bylaws for AFT5047, Unit 47

Constitution 2019 

Join us as we partner with PHA at two fun back to school events!

Details:

August 19, 11am-2pm | Lucien E. Blackwell Community Center

August 20, 11am-2pm | Vaux High School

Please share these flyers with your school communities!

The executive council of the AFT Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution guiding the union on workplace vaccination policies. The resolution is one of several passed by the council since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, designed to protect the health and safety of AFT members and the communities we serve. It was brought to the council in light of the significant change in circumstances with the Delta variant and rising COVID-19 cases, infections in children and our ongoing effort to educate members and communities on the importance of vaccination. In response to the passage, AFT President Randi Weingarten said, “Throughout this pandemic, our No. 1 priority as a union has been to keep our members, our communities and those we serve safe. COVID is mutating, it’s spreading to kids, and vaccines remain our best defense to protect people and prevent the spread of disease; prevent hospitals from overflowing; keep our economy functioning, plus reopen—and keep open—our schools for full-time in-person learning.”

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There’s a lot of information going around right now about vaccines, mask mandates, rising rates, fatigued healthcare providers, and overflowing hospitals – it’s enough to make your head spin! We are reaching out to you to provide information and perspective.

This week, Governor Inslee issued a vaccine mandate for state employees, healthcare workers and contractors with exceptions for medical or religious reasons. PreK-12 and higher education workers were excluded from the mandate, although the majority of public colleges and universities have already established a vaccine mandate for anyone working at or attending their schools. King County and Seattle are also mandating employee vaccinations and it is possible that other cities and counties will follow suit.

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WASHINGTON—The executive council of the American Federation of Teachers last night unanimously passed a resolution guiding the union on workplace vaccination policies. The resolution is one of several passed by the board since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, designed to protect the health and safety of AFT members and the communities we serve.

The AFT has been working to address the student debt crisis for nearly a decade. The union has counseled thousands of members at our student debt clinics, provided a free benefit to union members that will save them an estimated $500 million, taken student loan giants like Navient to court, and sued the Trump administration to protect borrowers.

“Income-driven repayment plans are used by many student loan borrowers to reduce their regular monthly payments, often by hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year,” says Matt, who previously worked as a Technology Librarian in Wayland, Massachusetts. “Many people who work in public service are also eligible to have all or most of their debt forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which began in 2007 as way of incentivizing people to work in government and nonprofit public service. It was a way to get people to go into public service careers with salaries that might not support the amount of debt needed to obtain the educational credentials that those careers required.”