The Offical Website of the PJSTA

Episode 1 of PJSTA Live Coming This Week

Yesterday we shared with you about PJSTA Live, a new initiative of ours to engage members of the PJSTA and broader public education and labor communities on the issues that are pertinent to the work that we do. Today I am excited to announce details of the broadcast’s first episode.

On Wednesday night we will be recording our first broadcast with the title being “Impact of the 2016 Election on Public Education”. After the recording is complete we will add it to our site here, so be sure to look for it. We will be discussing how the election of both Donald Trump and the down ballot state legislators will potentially impact our schools. We’ll also take a look at the major victory that Massachusetts public school teachers and advocates achieved and discuss what lessons those of us in New York State can take away from that situation.

For this initial broadcast I will be joined by three guests…

Jeanette Deutermann- Long Island Opt-Out, NYSAPE
Ali Gordon- Comsewogue School District Board of Education
Merrie Najimy- President- Concord Teachers Association and member of the Educators for a Democratic Union Caucus- Massachusetts Teachers Association

If you have a question you’d like to see addressed during our broadcast, please fill out the embedded form on the PJSTA Live page. You can also tweet at us using the hashtag #PJSTAlive.

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Posted on November 13, 2016 by thepjsta

Introducing PJSTA Live!

I am excited today to announce the launch of a project that I am pretty excited about… PJSTA Live! PJSTA Live will be a regularly broadcast show on YouTube where we cover different angles of the public education and union landscape. Our goal is to further engage our members, teachers outside of our local, and the broader public education and labor communities on the issues that impact us deeply. We are hopeful that our viewers will not just use these shows as an opportunity to listen and learn, but also as discussion topics to raise within their own schools and education communities.

Episodes will typically feature one or more guests who will be participating in a discussion on a given topic. Additionally, we will try to take questions from our ~~millions~~ many viewers for our guests to answer. Once the episode is recorded we will post it, along with any pertinent show notes, right here on our blog. We will also link to all of our shows on our PJSTA Live page that can be accessed via the menu at the top of this page…

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If you have questions for our guests you can ask them by filling out the embedded form on the PJSTA Live page. You can also tweet at us using the hashtag #PJSTAlive.

Be sure to check back here at thepjsta.org later this week for news on our first broadcast!

Donald J. Trump’s Vision for Education

deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

The American public knows little about President-elect Donald J. Trump’s plans for education. However, Trump has posted some information in cyberspace.

The info below comes from his donaldjtrump.com website:

DONALD J. TRUMP’S VISION
Immediately add an additional federal investment of $20 billion towards school choice. This will be done by reprioritizing existing federal dollars.
Give states the option to allow these funds to follow the student to the public or private school they attend. Distribution of this grant will favor states that have private school choice, magnet schools and charter laws, encouraging them to participate.
Establish the national goal of providing school choice to every one of the 11 million school aged children living in poverty.
If the states collectively contribute another $110 billion of their own education budgets toward school choice, on top of the $20 billion in federal dollars, that could provide $12,000 in school choice funds to…

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Endorsements for Election Day

Below are the lists of candidates endorsed by Long Island Opt-Out and NYSUT…

lioo-assembly lioo-senate nysut-endorsements

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Posted on October 14, 2016 by thepjsta

PJSTA to Host Meet and Greet with Peter Magistrale

**UPDATE: This event has been postponed.**

The PJSTA is excited to host a meet and greet session with Peter Magistrale on the evening of October 28th at the residence of one of our members in Stony Brook. The session will begin at 7:00 pm.

Magistrale is running in opposition to incumbent John Flanagan for New York State Senate in District 2. The district is made up of portions of the northwestern part of Suffolk County, with it’s eastern edge being in the Comsewogue School District. John Flanagan has a long history of opposing quality public education in New York State as he has been at the forefront of support for Common Core, high stakes testing, and privatization reforms that benefit his big money donors. He famously has been quoted as saying that charter school parents are the best… even though there are no charter schools in his district.

Magistrale has worked closely with public education activists throughout his campaign and has a deep understanding of the issues that face our schools. He recently earned this glowing report from none other than Diane Ravitch…

The biggest obstacle to political, social, and educational reform in New York State is Senator John Flanagan from Suffolk County on Long Island. Flanagan succeeded Dean Skelos as Republican majority leader of the State Senate after Skelos was convicted on various counts. Flanagan is a major supporter of corporate reform, especially charter schools and vouchers. He is no friend of public education.

This fall he faces a challenge from a highly qualified Democrat in his district: Peter Magistrale. Peter is working closely with parent leaders on Long Island who understand the problems and needs of the public schools. He will fight for us and with us.

Please reach out and help him! His election would not only change the leadership of the State Senate, but return control to the Democratic party. Governor Cuomo has already said that he will do nothing to help Democratic candidates for the State Senate. The governor prefers to work with the Republicans. The Senate is currently divided with 32 Democrats and 31 Republicans, but five renegade Democrats caucus with the Republicans to exercise greater leverage for themselves and their districts.

Please click here to RSVP for the meet and greet with Mr. Magistrale. For more information you can email us at pjsta1vp@gmail.com.