Welcome to the newest members of the PJSTA!  Today, 18 new members had their orientation with members of the PJSTA’s executive board along with members of our rank and file.  In addition to taking care of membership paperwork and getting to know their contract, PJSTA’s newest members were briefed on the current landscape of public education in New York State and encouraged to get involved in being an activist who will advocate for their profession, their students, and the communities that we serve.

If you are a new PJSTA member, or someone else who is wondering where you can get informed and stay informed on all the happenings in public education, you will want to be sure to regularly check out the following…

Blogs

• Perdido Street School- An brilliant blog, updated regularly, written by a NYC teacher who covers all things public education in New York.
• NYC Educator– Updated nearly daily, another blog written by a NYC teacher, providing commentary on all the happenings in public education.
• Diane Ravitch– The foremer Assisstant Secretary of Education keeps us up to date on public education in the US.
• Ed Notes Online– Retired educator and long time activist Norm Scott’s well know blog dealing with public education and teacher unions.

Facebook Groups

• NY BATS– New York’s Badass Teachers
• Lace to the Top– Anti-High stakes testing
• STCaucus– The Rank & File Caucus of NYSUT
• Long Island Opt-Out– The go to resource for opt-out information in New York State

Twitter

• @ThePJSTA– The official Twitter account of The PJSTA
• @beth_dimino– PJSTA President Beth Dimino
• @sashammy– PJSTA 1st Vice-President Brian St. Pierre
• @Refusethetests– PJSTA rank & file member, and dynamic public education activist Melissa McMullan
• @STCaucus– The Rank & File Caucus of NYSUT
• @nysape– New York State Allies for Public Education
• @LIOptOut– Long Island Opt-Out
• @perdidostschool– The Twitter account of the Perdido Street School blogger
• @TeacherArthurG– The blogger who write the NYC Educator blog
• @DianeRavitch– The aforementioned Diane Ravitch

This is by no means a comprehensive list, however it is a good list to get started with.  If you read these blogs several times a week and follow them on social media you are on your way to becoming an informed public school teacher in New York!