2007-2008
School Year

February 8, 2008
October 18 , 2007


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February 8, 2008

Number One Question of the Past Two Weeks: How many snow days are we allowed before we have to make them up? Answer: 30 hours. I equate this to mean 5 days. It used to be 2 days, and was increased to 30 hours a couple years ago. So breathe easy for now, we're still scheduled to get out before Fathers' Day.

Opportunity to GET INVOLVED-Delegates Needed: This spring is the AFT Michigan Convention, and this summer is the AFT Convention. These events occur every other year. The AFT Michigan Convention is being held in Detroit on May 2nd and 3rd at the Sheraton Hotel. The AFT Convention is being held in Chicago from July 10th-13th. We usually need 19 delegates for our state convention, and 5 delegates for our national convention. The number of delegates is based on the size of our local.

If you're interested in attending either one of these events, nominations will be accepted at our March 4, 2008 General Membership meeting. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Officer Elections: At our March 4th meeting, we will also be accepting nominations for RFT officers (President, Executive VP, Elementary VP, Secondary VP, Secretary, & Treasurer). Officer elections will be held in April, and the terms run from July '08-June '10.

Yet Another Opportunity to GET INVOLVED: RFT Newsletter. If you or someone you know would like to earn a few dollars, you can do that by putting together/editing an RFT Newsletter that would come out 2-3 times a year. We have not had a newsletter the past couple years, and it'd be great to have someone (or if you'd like to collaborate with someone, there could be 2 of you) highlight and capture current topics of our members to share with our members. If interested, please let your building representative know, or email myself or any other officer.

AFT MI Professional Development in Roseville: Yes. That's right, in Roseville. AFT Michigan staff will be out in our district to give training. For each 2-night session that you attend, you can earn 0.5 SBCEU's. Dates to remember:
March 11th and March 12th - Anti-Social Behavior (4:00-6:30 p.m.)
March 19th and April 1st - The School Home Connection (4:00-6:30 p.m.)
More information will be forthcoming. Thank you Clare Baxter for helping set this up.

RFT Union Party Rescheduled: One bad thing about snow days...stop, let me rephrase that: Thank you Mike Zimmer for rescheduling our RFT Winter Union Party. It will be held Friday, February 22nd, at the Bruce Post from 3-8 p.m.

2007 Union Dues: Full time teacher...$707. Half time teacher...$354. New hire teacher (Sept. 2007)...$357. Full time paraprofessional...$161.

Thank You: Thank you Stasi Earl, Jannis Litz, Gary Scheff, Susan Steinbacher, Lucy Thill, and Mike Zimmer for helping out at the polls on Tuesday, Jan. 15th. They were there to help combat a possible attempt by Right to Work forces to get signatures for a petition drive. Currently, all signs indicate that the RTW movement will not be on the ballot in '08. However, this could change, if not this year, than in the years to come. Please become informed