Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Court to Rule on Drug Testing for Teachers

RALEIGH — A state appeals court will decide whether Graham County Schools can subject teachers and other employees to random tests for drug and alcohol use. Three judges heard arguments Monday in a challenge by a Robbinsville High School teacher that has held up the start of the random tests. The district continues to test employees upon hiring or suspicion of drug use under an old policy that seemed to at least one judge to be enough protection.

Collective Bargaining Meeting in Fayetteville

First meeting of Fayetteville team for public employee collective bargaining
Monday December 8 at 6pm

Office of APWU Local 984 (2606 Rayford Road suite 11 - opposite Chris' Steakhouse and upstairs)

Light snacks provided
Please RSVP if possible!
919-491-6936

This coming Monday, December 8, we will be having the first meeting of a Fayetteville area team to work for collective bargaining for public employees. You have probably signed our letter to legislators (at nchope.org.) Now it is time to come together and take action to regain bargaining rights for state and local employees. Please join your neighbors at the APWU office at 6pm this coming Monday to discuss what steps can be taken locally to advance collective bargaining in NC. Please invite everyone you know who might be interested.

Read more about the coalition at www.nchope.org.

And please call me at the number below with questions. Here are some possible actions to consider, just to get you started thinking about what might be strategic and doable in Fayetteville.

Thank you for your support!

Possible actions:
Meeting with the local legislative delegation
Meeting with city council
Meeting with county commissioners
Educating your local or organization
Inviting more community organizations to join the team / sign the letter to legislators
Meeting with editorial boards
Writing letters to the editor
Hosting educational public events (with public employees speaking)
Speaking to the media about collective bargaining
Collective bargaining visibility at local events

Chelsea Earles
HOPE Organizer/Administrator
919-491-6936
Hear Our Public Employees Coalition
PO Box 12133
Raleigh, NC 27605
Sign our letter to legislators at www.nchope.org!

Report on Uninsured Children

http://www.familiesusa.org/resources/publications/reports/left-behind-report

December Student Support Services E-Newsletter

The December Student Support Services E-newsletter is attached. This document should be opened with adobe reader. If you are unable to open the newsletter, it will be posted to the website this week at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/studentsupport/enewsletter/.

Monday, December 1, 2008

The Election is Over, What's Next?

NASW-PACE had a successful election with close to 90% of our endorsed candidates winning their election. This was due in large part to our members who responded to our call for volunteering on the campaigns. Thank you for that.

In addition to notifying our members about endorsed candidates through targeted e-mails, NASW-PACE held eight phone banks September through November. Volunteers called nearly 3,000 members in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Maine, Minnesota, Colorado, and Maine, considered key states for the Senate and for the presidential elections. NASW-PACE endorsed 238 candidates for the House and Senate and Barack Obama for President.President-elect Barack Obama wants to hear from you. You can influence his administration by providing your experiences and your ideas here. Make sure that you mention you are a social worker and member of the National Association of Social Workers