IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ALL BTU-CSP MEMBERS

[ This message was sent to all BTU-CSP members. All BTU-CSP stewards are also asked to forward it to members to make sure everyone receives it. Thank you. ]

City Commission Seeks Teacher Input: River Deep Program

BTU President Pat Santeramo would like to thank the dozens of BTU-CSP members who attended last night’s Pembroke Pines City Commission Meeting. He would like to especially thank BTU-CSP Vice President Liz Fisher who spoke passionately about the positive contributions of charter school teachers to the city, community and students.

He would also like to thank those union members who stayed late into the evening until 10 p.m. to make sure the voice of all teachers was heard. Many members voted to form a union and join the BTU in order to have a greater voice in the workplace. Last night’s activity was a great example of union members organizing to take action for a common cause.

Thanks to the input and presence of members at the meeting, the city commissioners decided to defer the purchase of the River Deep Software for two weeks in order to seek more input and feedback from teachers. It is essential that all teachers now make their voices heard.

The River Deep program would cost the city $141,000 when city officials have repeatedly said they don’t have the funds necessary to offer the teachers who would use it a much needed salary increase. According to preliminary feedback, the majority of teachers either would not be able to use the software due to technology issues or believe the expenditure to be a waste of money at this time.

Please use this opportunity to provide your input by giving the BTU your comments about the River Deep program in reply to this e-mail. The BTU will also be conducting an online survey in the very near future.

Thank you.