Resources | Detroit Federation of Teachers

MENTAL WELLNESS STRATEGIES FOR EDUCATORS

Mental health resources to guide educators are being provided by the Stay Well program, a behavioral health partnership led by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. An outreach specialist has put together webinars designed specifically for school staff which you can find by clicking here: Staff Wellness Webinars.

The webinars are short and pre-recorded, so you can watch them when it is convenient for you and cover such topics as burnout, coping with the impact of a pandemic, improving wellness, mindfulness exercises by taking a pause, and how to cultivate joy.

Michigan Stay Well Counseling Line
Dial 1-888-535-6136 and press "8"
Available 24/7 - confidential and free

We encourage you to check out the entire Mental Health Resources available to you which cover a variety of topics such as coping with grief and loss, resources for teenagers, nutrition, resources for school and the classroom: Mental Health Resources MDHHS.

Retirement Procedures for June 2023

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 sick 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 sick day in their sick bank for days 1 to 100 and $65 for each unused sick day in their sick bank for days 101 to 200 for a maximum payout of $11,000. Payout of sick time upon retirement does not include a payout from the catastrophe bank. (To calculate the number of sick days in one's sick bank, divide the number of sick 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 313.683.6822 at any time during the year.

Clarification on Paid Sick Days and Retirement for 2021

In order to be paid for sick days upon retirement at the end of this school year, eligible employees must submit a Separation from Service (SFS) form to the District's Human Resources Office no later than May 1, 2021 and retire effective July 1, 2021 (or August 1, 2021 if working during the month of July).

The SFS form is available on the District's Hub and must be emailed back to HR (hr.records@detroitk12.org) by May 1. The effective date of separation to be listed on the SFS form is June 30, 2021 (or July 31, 2021 if working during the month of July).

Eligible employees will be paid $45 for

Agreement on Bonus Payment, Repayment of TIP and Professional Compensation 2018

Please see the attached Letter of Agreement between DFT and DPSCD: http://dft231.mi.aft.org/sites/default/files/article_pdf_files/2018-05/dft-dpscd_5-2-18_agreement.pdf

DPS and DFT Joint Covenant 2009

The nature of our roles as union and management is that we may disagree on issues, but never on focus. Our mutual focus is to provide the best learning environment for all of our students, at every school, in every neighborhood across the district. We jointly, with all of our resources, commit to transform the Detroit Public Schools through this historic and evolutionary contract. This contract will include:
· Peer Assistance and Review
· Meaningful jointly-determined professional staff development
· Best practices at Priority Schools
· Shared decision-making
· School-based performance bonuses
· Comprehensive teacher evaluation system

We understand that to achieve what we set out to do we must eliminate bureaucratic impediments to allow flexibility, creativity, entrepreneurship, trust and risk-taking to become the new reality in our schools.

We mutually agree to transform our schools. We challenge ourselves each day to improve student learning, based on academic rigor, newfound flexibility, meaningful assessments, and true accountability of administrators, teachers and staff, parents and students. The standards we hold for our students must never be lower than those we hold for our own children. To accomplish this, we must focus on each instructional and each operational change to support the children and adults in schools, whom we expect to meet these rigorous challenges.

The academic reforms and increased level of accountability for all those responsible for instruction and instructional support of our students are meaningless unless we simultaneously ensure a comprehensive education with adequate books, supplies and technology for students and staff.
We must also guarantee a safe and secure learning environment for students and staff.

Change must be service-oriented, supportive and sufficiently flexible so that each school’s educational vision becomes a reality. Change must be practical, possible, efficient and timely. Respect for each other and for each student must be unconditional.

Together we will transform DPS. Our students deserve no less!

2009-2010 Salary Schedule

The 2009-2010 Detroit Federation of Teachers salary schedule.