On Wednesday, December 16 the Washington Teachers’ Union received complaints from members that due to an administrative error teachers and school personnel at Mann Elementary school located at 4430 Newark Street NW would not receive a full paycheck owed them on December 17, 2010. One Mann Elementary school staffer led a valiant effort to try to get teachers their checks on time. Unfortunately many reasonable suggestions to this problem were rejected.
The WTU diligently worked on behalf of our members starting Wednesday and insisted that teachers and school staff should receive a supplemental check prior to going on leave for the holidays. Unfortunately, due to new rules the DCPS payroll office is no longer able to issue supplemental checks within 24 hours.
As a result of the numerous phone calls and emails made by our office to internal DCPS offices and the Office of the Deputy Chancellor, our persistence paid off and Mann school staff did not have to wait until December 23, the date slated for them to receive the other half of their pay. The WTU was able to facilitate our members getting paid effective December 17. I have learned that staff from Mann were called to the school to pick up their supplemental paychecks on Friday evening and could retrieve their checks as late as 11 p.m. In addition, arrangements were made for staff who were unable to pick up their checks on Friday evening to be able to pick up their checks at the school on Saturday, December 18.
This is a happy ending to what could have been a disaster for many staff especially during the holidays. The WTU is happy to have been able to assist in advocating for our members.
Candi Peterson
WTU General Vice President
7 comments:
Hello Candi,
I like the way you handled the pay situation at Mann. I have seen teachers crying in the teachers' lounge when their pay has been delayed during the holidays or at the end of the school year when they are preparing for graduations in their own families. What people need to understand is that when you stand up for teachers, you stand up for students, parents, and schools. Teachers are not the enemy. You and Nathan have hit the ground running!
Sorry I missed the party. The person I planned to attend with backed out at the last minute because of the weather.
Excellent work with the Mann teachers. And good use of this blog to inform its readers, most of whom are teachers, what our union is doing to assist us. This may be a new direction the blog can go in. So glad that you and Nathan are back in the saddle.
THANKS for your help in resolving this potentially disheartening situation. I am sure that the staff (and their families, loved ones, creditors, etc, etc ) appreciate your efforts >> even if they won't say so. I heard a rumor that this was also an issue at McFarland, and I hope that their issue was resolved/corrected as well. Thanks again
The is a perfect example of why we need unions. well done
DC blogger
When in doubt who should you call?
Nathan and Candi working on behalf of DCPS teachers equal "GREAT RESULTS."
Well Done!
I'm glad this was resolved too and that the new WTU leadership was so helpful. But why did it happen in the first place? Wasn't teachers being paid on time in the right amounts one of DCPS's problems BEFORE the Mayoral control/chancellor "reform" in 2007? Was there nothing done to fix that part of the system? Was it simply ignored as an area crying out for reform while big splashy shows of "reforms" in other areas were pushed into the public's face as successful changes?
I agree also with DCPS Teacher that this blog could provide more information like this--the real story from inside about what has actually been reformed and what hasn't.
Thank you from a member of the public.
Do you think Mayor Gray's inaugural address had a direct message to DC teachers? Some say it did when he talked about the schools being for the children.
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