Funding Your Pension - A Guide to Your Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan

Although for some of us, a pension income may seem like a long way off (and VERY far off for others!), we should all be well informed about our pension plan and how it works. After all, we each contribute approximately 11% of our annual salary to our own pensions. ETFO's website has a Pension Information section, which contains links to a number of pension resources - here's the link: http://www.etfo.ca/Links/Pages/PensionInformation.aspx

One of the newest resources to be added to ETFO's Pension Information section is a link to the website "Funding Your Pension", which hosts web presentations designed to help you understand key funding challenges that face the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. Here's the direct links to "Funding Your Pension":

English: http://fundingyourpension.com

French: http://capitaliservotrerente.com

Finally, I would encourage everyone to sign up on the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan website for the i-Access Web option (www.otpp.com). This interactive web tool allows you to create retirement scenarios based on different retirement dates, view your pension credit, update your personal information, and so much more.

Staffing Process Tidbits

A few things to mention this evening about staffing:

1. Apparently the staffing numbers are looking promising...The latest news from the Operations department is that part-time teachers will be able to apply to increase their teaching time by Transfer Round 2. This is strictly an internal round, available only for permanent elementary teachers. Teaching positions would not be advertised externally until ALL surplus teachers have been placed following the transfer rounds.
   
2. Teachers should know what their 2010-2011 teaching assignment is by the time the Transfer Round 1 postings are out (next Friday, April 9th). This is so that you can make a fully informed decision on whether you wish to transfer or not.
   
3. The April Board meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 19th. It is expected that the majority of principal and vice-principal transfers for 2010-2011 will be announced that evening. The reality is that these announcements can bring good or bad news for those who are outgoing (have applied to another school) or staying on. This is on the eve of Transfer Round 1 and unfortunately not earlier!

EQAO Questionnaire

News from ETFO!! This year, EQAO is offering a questionnaire to all elementary (K-8) teachers, in addition to the questionnaires for teachers who administer grade 3 and 6 assessments.

ETFO is recommending that members, except those teaching grades 3 and 6, NOT VOLUNTEER TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY. Teachers of grades 3 and 6 are required to complete the questionnaire under current policy.

Nomination Forms Due Soon!!

It's coming up on election time in our local - yes, it's already been two whole years! Nomination forms for the 2010-2012 ETFO Durham Teachers' Local executive went out to worksites in early March and the deadline for these to be received at the local office is next Wednesday, March 31st at 12:00 noon.

The election for all executive positions will take place at our Local Annual Meeting at Deer Creek Golf and Country Club on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010. Nominations have been invited for the following positions:

• President;
• First Vice-President;
• Second Vice-President;
• Secretary;
• Treasurer;
• Member-at-Large with responsibilities for Political Action;
• Four Executive members.

Nominations from the floor of the Annual Meeting will ONLY be accepted for positions for which NO prior nominations are submitted.

Once the deadline for nominations closes and candidates have been contacted, a list of candidates will be distributed to schools no later than Friday, April 9, 2010.

Spring 2010 Staffing Dates

Any teacher who would like to know more about the DDSB's surplus and transfer process is encouraged to read the procedure on the Board's website. Once you are in the staff intranet area, click on the "quick links" pull down menu and select "Policies and Procedures". You can search by number or key word. In this case, enter "4235" to access Procedure #4235 "Surplus, Transfer and Redundancy of Elementary School Teachers". Every spring, the staff intranet area also has links to staffing dates and forms, such as the application to transfer form.

The following is a list of important upcoming dates in the 2010 staffing process:

• April 1 - surplus teachers notified in writing by their principal
• April 8 - all teachers who are surplus (including voluntary surplus), must submit the "Teacher Information Form" by this date. This form should be provided to you by your principal and is your opportunity to indicate your preferred geographic area and grade/subject assignment if you are placed following the transfer rounds.
• April 9 - Posting for transfer round 1 vacancies is available
• April 12-15 - Teachers apply to a maximum of three positions (apply only to those positions you really want!)
• April 20, a.m. - Round 1 of surplus/transfer teacher placements
• May 3 - Posting for transfer round 2 vacancies is available
• May 4-6 - Teachers apply to a maximum of three positions
• May 11, a.m. - Round 2 of surplus/transfer teacher placements
• TBA - Round 3, if necessary. If part time teachers have not been permitted to apply to increase their teaching time in rounds 1 and 2, a third transfer round will be held for this purpose.

It's that time of year again.... staffing time!

Eagerly anticipated by some and dreaded by others, along with spring weather comes staffing season. The cycle is the same every year -- some schools will need more teaching staff, others will have a surplus and some stay pretty much the same. The good news this year is that the Board doesn't anticipate declaring anyone redundant to the Board.

For part-timers looking to increase their teaching time, the jury is still out on when that will happen in this year's staffing process. The Operations department is still monitoring numbers and indicated that we should know by Easter weekend whether part timers can apply to increase their assignment in Transfer Round 1, Round 2, or in a special Round 3. As soon as the decision is made, I will let members know on this blog and through an email to members through Stewards. School administrators will also be notified by the Operations department.

If you are declared surplus, or even if you think it is possible you might be declared surplus, you are encouraged to contact the local office for advice and options. It can be a confusing process and it's best to know your rights and responsibilities up front.

More information will be posted over the next week regarding important dates in this year's staffing process, figuring out the seniority list and other staffing-related issues. Remember, we are just a phone call away!

Welcome Back to Spring!

It's always nice to go on holidays in one season -- in this case, winter-- and return to another, SPRING! We've only been back two full days and I'm sure it feels like a lot longer than that. You've all likely picked up where you left off, but hopefully feeling a bit more relaxed and rested than on March 12th!

Now that we're on the home stretch (only 14 weeks left until summer holidays), this is a great time to honour the work that one of your amazing teacher colleagues is doing. See the information to the right and consider nominating them for an OTIP teaching award! More info is available by visiting www.teachingawards.ca

Goar: No medal for Guergis's performance at the United Nations

This is an interesting opinion article by Carol Goar from today's Toronto Star - it's regarding Helena Guergis' presentation at the United Nations. Ms. Guergis is Canada's Minister for the Status of Women.

Here's the link to the article - Goar: No medal for Guergis's performance at UN - thestar.com

And here's the first part of her article:

"This should have been a perfect week for Status of Women Minister Helena Guergis to appear before the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to talk about gender equity in Canada.

Canadian women had just put on a magnificent performance at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, winning more than half of the country's 26 medals.

Canadian women have moved beyond parity in some spheres. They attend university in greater numbers than men, make up the majority of law school and medical school graduates and constitute 51 per cent of the workforce.

Unfortunately, these achievements were obscured by the baggage Guergis brought along with her.

First, there was her government's record on women's issues.

Harper has scrapped Canada's $5 billion national child-care program, closed 12 Status of Women offices across the country and killed Ottawa's widely admired court challenges program, which helped women (and other groups seeking to test their constitutional equality rights) finance expensive court cases.

On his watch, the proportion of women on the government benches has fallen to 11 per cent, from 25 per cent under Paul Martin and 23 per cent under Jean Chrétien.

Second, there was Guergis's own reputation and recent behaviour."

ETFO's Special Education Part 1 AQ course comes to Durham this summer!

There will be a large poster advertising all of ETFO’s AQ offerings delivered to schools in the March Stewards’ mailing, but here's a heads-up on one of the ETFO AQs that will be offered in Durham this year.....

ETFO Special Education Part 1 AQ - offered in Durham this July!
Cost: $650
Dates: July 5 – 23, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Durham DSB office
Registration: opens April 13, 2010 at http://www.etfo-aq.ca/
For more information visit http://www.etfo-aq.ca/
Questions?
Please contact: Nancy Baldree, Executive Assistant, ETFO, at nbaldree@etfo.org or 1-888-838-3836 (extension 2247)

PD Event Update

I know, it's a bummer, but due to low registration numbers we've had to cancel ETFO's Classroom Assessment That Works workshop series here in Durham this spring.

Coming soon: information about two excellent AQ courses that ETFO will be offering in Durham - the Special Education Part 1 AQ in July at the Education Centre (only $650) and the Kindergarten AQ course (back by popular demand for the 5th year in a row!) which will be offered at our local office during one week in August and weeknights throughout the fall.