Newsletter

                        To access the Newsletter click on the following

 

                                          Newsletters

                                     

                                

                                            SUMMER 09

   aiuea.com

Phone: 412- 417-1748            Allegheny Intermediate Unit Education Association

Newsletter, Information
Text Box: PSEA Special Education Updates Online Subscribe to the most updated information from PSEA on Special education and the Bridge. We strongly encourage you to sign up for the Special Education email updates. Log onto the PSEA website www.psea.org Sign on to Members Only. Select Member Info Update Center. Select Click Here for Mailings Lists. Click subscribe box in the PSEA Special Education News Area. Text Box: What’s New? Text Box: Scheduled student days in Districts It has come to our attention that some school districts are scheduling more than 181 student days on their calendars.  If this occurs in your district, notify your supervisor regarding how many student days are on the calendar before the days are actually worked.  The additional student days should not be counted as your in-service, clerical or IEP days.  These days are added to the work year and you have the option to work the additional days at your per diem (daily) pay rate or you can ask for a substitute teacher.  You should inform your supervisor which option you plan to use. You should be aware that parent teacher conference days count as student days. Text Box: Substitutes If you cover a classroom for a teacher that is ABSENT you receive comp time for the time you covered that class. Keep an accurate written record of your comp time. Be advised that the use of comp time is by mutual agreement of the member and the administration. Contract: Section 43. Text Box: General Information Text Box: NEA Membership Insurance A life insurance plan known as DUES-TAB is a benefit that accrues to every active member of the National Education Association. DUES-TAB Insurance consists of: a life insurance benefit (up to $1,000), an accidental death or dismemberment benefit (up to $5,000), a special benefit for accidents that occur while on the job or serving as an Association leader (up to $50,000), and up to $150,000 of life insurance for unlawful homicide while on the job.  For further information write to: NEA Member Services Center, 51 Monroe Street, Suite 200, Rockville, Maryland 20850.  Or call the NEA Member Services Center at 1-800-637-4636.  NEA also has a web-site that contains more information. It is:  www.neamb.com Text Box: Work Day, Lunch, Prep time, Extended Work Day, Instructional time The Work Week shall not exceed 37 hours. Should the 37 hours be exceeded, the employee will be compensated according to Section 25. The Work Week shall consist of 300 minutes per week for planning, ½ hour per day duty free lunch, 2 hours per week, Extended work day, scheduled at the beginning/ending of the day which may include IEP/ER conferences, developing behavior plans, attending staff meetings, staff development training, audit preparation, and 27 ½ hours per week for providing instruction to students. If your schedule differs from this, please contact an AIUEA Officer. Text Box: Special Education, Alternative Education, and ESL teachers are NOT required to obtain a content certification in order to meet No Child Left Behind-Highly Qualified in Pennsylvania There is a major change in the position of the Pennsylvania Department of Education on the requirements for a NCLB-HQ designation. Until very recently, PSEA had been told that teachers of core content not already holding a content certification (special education teachers primarily) needed to obtain one. This was the purpose for the development of the Bridge certification process. That has all changed. Any teacher needing a NCLB-HQ designation in a core content can obtain one via the HOUSSE. Teachers currently "on the Bridge" do NOT NEED to complete the process unless they WANT to obtain a content certification in that subject area. They can satisfy HOUSSE for that subject instead, if they wish. Additionally, teachers needing to utilize the HOUSSE program to obtain NCLB-HQ designation also need to be aware that completion of the Bridge program is NOT a pre-requisite. The HOUSSE process should be completed as soon as the teacher is able to do so. Teachers of multiple subject areas, using a Bridge certificate and in the 3-year process, should NOT wait for completion of the Bridge process to satisfy HOUSSE for the additional subject areas.  Special education teachers certified prior to September 1987 teaching in elementary grades (K-6) and special education teachers teaching secondary level students who take the PASA, can satisfy NCLB-HQ requirements in one of three ways: they also hold an elementary certification or a secondary content certification in the content they teach they have passed the Praxis test of fundamental skills; or they satisfy the HOUSSE requirement (only one, not one for each subject) Additional information about the HOUSSE and Bridge Certification can be obtained from psea.org SEARCH- NCLB-HQ (The first link Bridge Certificate) If you have questions, please contact Mark Wescott in PSEA's Education Services Division at 1.800.944.7732 or via e-mail. Text Box: The Professional Education Record Management System –PED PDE no longer uses Social Security Numbers to track and record Professional Development Credits/Hours. You must now obtain a Professional Personnel ID Number from PDE. Go to the PDE website click on the Act 48 Reporting System Link. Click on link to get Professional Personnel ID and complete all fields. Text Box: CRITICAL ALERT - CHANGES TO PDE'S EVALUATION OF MASTER'S EQUIVALENCY APPLICATIONS The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently finalized the changes it is making to its review of Master's Equivalency (MEQ) applications. At issue is PDE's interpretation of the following longstanding language from Chapter 49, specifically the underlined language: “The Letter of Equivalency for Master’s Degree is issued to persons holding a valid Instructional I, Instructional II, Educational Specialist I, Educational Specialist II certificate, Vocational Instructional I, Vocational Instructional II certificate, or their equivalents, upon the accumulation of 36 hours of graduate level credit. A minimum of 18 academic graduate credits shall be earned in the content area of the applicant’s primary teaching assignment at a college or university approved to offer graduate work. A maximum of 18 of the credit requirement may be satisfied through in-service programs approved by the Secretary for meeting master’s equivalency requirements.” 22 Pa. Code §49.191(2) [Emphasis added.] Full text of the October 2007 Penn*Link release is available on PSEA’s website at http://www.psea.org/content.cfm?Filen=esd_pennlink.pdf.doc

         Read Your Contract

         This document will answer many of your questions.
Text Box:

Schedule Breakdown

 

2 1/2     hrs per week

 Lunch

5           hrs per week

Prep (300 min.)

2 1/2     hrs per week

Extended work day

27 1/2   hrs

Instructional time

37         hrs

Complete work week