MVEA Weekly Updates - 11.30.23
November 30th, 2023
MVEA Weekly Updates - 8.14.24
MVEA President's Corner
Welcome Back for the 24-25 Academic Year!
Dear MVEA Members,
On behalf of the Moreno Valley Educators Association (MVEA), we would like to take this opportunity to welcome you back for the 2024-25 school year! We’re excited to be kicking off a new school year with our 1,670 members of MVEA. We are thankful for your continued commitment to our students, schools, our community, and our local union.
As we enter another year, I want to encourage you to be intentional about self-care and the mental health of our students. Please know that MVEA is here for you. If you need help, you can find support in our MVEA Union family. For tips and resources on taking care of you and your students’ mental health, feel free to check out CTA’s online wellness center. Also, don’t forget to sign up for your free Calm App subscription through CTA.
Over the last year, MVEA has focused our bargaining efforts to protect our members from inflation by standing together for salary increases and maintaining affordable health benefits that will keep our educators in our community, while attracting the next generation of educators for the classrooms of Moreno Valley. We have also worked to ensure high quality learning conditions of our students and high quality working conditions for our members at all of our schools and worksites.
As you can see, advocating for our members never ends. We will face further challenges as we continue to advocate for our students, profession, and school communities. MVEA will continue to meet them because we are stronger together - Union Strong! It’s because of professional educators like yourself that we are able to provide the best educational experience that our Moreno Valley students deserve.
As we start this year, I want to thank you again for your commitment to MVEA, our profession, our students, and our Moreno Valley community. As always, feel free to reach out to us anytime if you need anything at all.
Sincerely and In Solidarity,
Christopher Farias
MVEA President
Class Overage Process for the First 20 days of Instruction
Fill out the Google Form on the FIRST DAY of Class Size Overage
Please follow the Class Size Overage Process for the first 20 days of school, per Article XIII - Class Size Overage of our Contract.
The unit member (teacher) shall complete the Class Size Overage Google Form for any class size and/or caseload overages that occur within the first 20 days. Completing the Class Size Overage Google Form and emailing your Administrator regarding the overage serves as the Level I grievance procedure for the first 20 days of school only.
IMPORTANT: Only students that ACTUALLY show up in class are to be counted. If they have not shown up in class, they are not counted towards an overage even if they are on the class roster. However, If they show up one day and are gone the next and still remain on the class roster, they are counted towards an overage. If they longer show and are no longer on the class roster, then they are no longer counted towards an overage.
If you are interested in serving on a Subject Advisory Council for 2024-25. As a representative of your elementary grade level or secondary subject department from a site, those groups should vote on and elect who will be representing them.
Elementary: For elementary, each site may have 1 primary representative (TK - 3rd) and 1 upper grade representative (4th - 6th grades).
Secondary: For secondary, each site may have 1 representative for each subject.
MVEA's criteria is that the representatives are members in good standing with MVEA/CTA/NEA and have the vote of confidence from their respective group. After the vote is taken place, the elected member should fill out this form to have it submitted to MVEA.
Please note to serve on any MVEA or MVUSD Committee you MUST be a member of MVEA and be appointed by MVEA.
Subject Advisory Councils: These committees work to express the professional opinions and needs of members at their sites to MVEA and the District and make recommendations regarding curriculum, textbooks, and courses based on the feedback the committee members receive from MVEA members from their sites.
When providing your email, please make sure it is your personal NON-DISTRICT email.
Thank you!
MVEA
Includes updated Contract langauge and salary schedules
Here is the link to the updated MVUSD/MVEA CBA. Please bookmark the link on your personal and work browsers and use as a resource regarding our professional working conditions.
CTA / NEA Member Benefits
Learn about the many benefits of membership from CTA and NEA!
CTA and NEA Member Benefits provides exclusive benefits and programs to our members and their families. You can find discounts on travel, car rentals, school supplies, information about retirement planning and other exclusive member benefits programs.
For a brief video of the different benefits that CTA/NEA has to offer, please visit www.CTAMemberBenefits.org/video.
- Professional Development through CTA conferences which also offer University Credits
- Free subscription to the CALM app for meditation and wellness
- Best in Class 403(b) retirement plan
- Great discounts on travel, entertainment, school supplies and more
- Classroom set-up grant for brand new educators
For a list of the many different benefits of membership, check out https://www.ctamemberbenefits.org/download for informational flyers.
If you need any assistance during the summer, please contact our MVEA Office at (951) 485-0545 so that a member of our team can help provide support to you.
MVEA Bargaining Updates
Message from our MVEA Bargaining Team
The District and Association met for the final bargaining day of 23/24 to continue discussions regarding MOUs. We reached agreements regarding Middle School and High School BARR programs, Tie Breaker Criteria for Transfers, TK Working Conditions and Kindergarten Release Days.
We did not reach an agreement regarding expansion of the CAPA Program. Since the Association is in the process of negotiating CAPA, the current CAPA MOU will continue to remain in effect until we reach agreement with the District.
In addition, for the TK Working Conditions and Kindergarten Release Days, the team reached consensus on this item in regular negotiations. Since the team does not have a tentative agreement on Article X: Hours and Assignments, the District and Association agreed to put those two items into an MOU until we are finished with regular negotiations. This will allow our members to take advantage of those working conditions for the 24/25 school year. Upon ratification of the entire bargaining cycle, these items will become part of the permanent CBA.
Your MVEA Bargaining team has bargained 23 days for a total of 116 hours this school year. The Association has a very dedicated group of members who are committed to bettering the working conditions and rights for all. As the MVEA Bargaining Chair, I am very fortunate to work with such an awesome group of individuals that are not afraid to stand strong and together for our members. If you see our MVEA Bargaining Team members: Xaviera Villegas Calderon, Dr. Karla Aguirre, Amar Samet, John Francis, Tiffany Zick, Rosemary Nirschl, Gregorio Daniel, Craig Hardesty, and Chris Farias, please tell them thank you and have a restful summer.
Thank you for your unwavering support to the MVEA Bargaining Team!
Suzanne Berkey
MVEA Bargaining Chair
MOU Agreements
MVEA has reached an agreement with the District on the following:
2024 Summer Expanded Learning Program (Summer School) MOU for the upcoming summer.
Keenan Trainings MOU for the 2024-25 school year.
BARR - Landmark MS / Sunnymead MS
Full Day Transitional Kindergarten (TK)
Involuntary Transfer Tiebreaker
Thank you to our MVEA Bargaining Team for their work on these MOUs.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the MVEA Office at 951.485.0545.
CTA Virtual Pass for Online Learning and University Credit
Earn FREE University Credits for Salary Column advancement!
As a recipient of professional growth hours from CTA, you know the benefit of attending CTA Conferences and continuing your growth by streaming sessions from the CTA Virtual Pass to Online Learning.
This member benefit allows CTA members to earn university credit during the summer. CTA members, through streaming CTA Virtual Pass sessions or attending an in-person conference, have the opportunity to accumulate the professional growth hours needed to qualify for university credit units with CSU Chico.
During the school year, you can add up to six University Units towards your goal of advancing on your salary scale.
Many of the most popular sessions from our recent conferences are now available to you on-demand via the CTA Virtual Pass.
- As a benefit to members, CTA will cover the cost for up to six university credit units available.
- The professional growth hours can be accumulated by attending conferences live and/or by watching recordings.
- Check with your district HR office or local chapter president to ensure that university credit units can help you advance on your salary schedule.
For more information and a step-by-step process on how to claim University Credits, visit: www.CTA.org/Credit
CTA Supports AB 2901 and SB 1263
AB 2901 - Pregnancy Leave Act for Educators and SB 1263 - End California Teaching Performance Assessments (TPAs) Requirement
Two major priorities for members passed floor votes in the state Legislature last week, moving steps closer to being signed into law by the governor. AB 2901, which would provide pregnancy leave to all educators, passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and was approved by the full State Assembly. It now moves on to the State Senate.
Please join us in supporting CTA's efforts to get Assembly Bill 2901 (AB 2901) passed to protect Pregnancy Leave Rights for Educators in California:
Sign the Petition Here!.
AB 2901 will:
- Provide 14 weeks of pregnancy paid leave fully paid
- Stop public school educators from having to choose to get by with less pay or “schedule” pregnancies based on the school calendar.
- End discriminatory practice of forcing women to use leave their sick leave balances
- Close $100,000 gap in retirement that women earn as compared to their male colleagues
Also, SB 1263, which would end the California Teaching Performance Assessments , passed out of Senate Appropriations and was approved by the State Senate. The bill now moves to the Assembly. For more information regarding TPAs, check out the article from CTA to explain the ineffectiveness of these assessments.
Free Unlimited Access to Calm+ resources!
Millions of people are experiencing lower stress, less anxiety, improved focus and more restful sleep with Calm+. Here’s a sneak peek as to what you can expect:
- Calm’s Masterclasses taught by world-renowned experts
- Guided breathing exercises such as the Breathe Bubble
- Music tracks designed to promote focus, relaxation, and sleep
- 100+ guided meditations that cover anxiety, stress, gratitude, and much more
- Brand new daily meditations and movement sessions as part of their Dailies series
- The entire library of Sleep Stories which contains soothing bedtime tales that’s suitable for both grown-ups and children (new stories added every week!)
You can also add 5 dependents to your subscription for FREE! This offer is available to all active and retired CTA members.
Check out the many member benefits from CTA at https://www.ctamemberbenefits.org/
Contact Information
As always, feel free to contact our MVEA Office if you have any questions at (951) 485-0545. Also, follow us on social media and subscribe to our Smore Newsletter to receive updates!
Thank you for all you do each day to support our profession, our students, and the Moreno Valley community.
Chris Farias
MVEA President
(951) 485-0545 - MVEA Office