{"id":4538,"date":"2020-05-13T16:25:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T20:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=4538"},"modified":"2020-05-13T16:25:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T20:25:11","slug":"utica-teachers-say-its-time-for-a-fair-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=4538","title":{"rendered":"Utica teachers say &#8216;it&#8217;s time&#8217; for a fair contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Haley Grooms<\/strong><br \/>\nArrow Online News<br \/>\nUtica HS<br \/>\n1st Place Division 2, News Writing<br \/>\nNews Story<\/p>\n<p><b>JUDGING CRITERIA<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscores news story importance<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Uses inverted pyramid<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emphasizes news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact, and prominence<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shows thorough reporting skills<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Effective use of facts\/quotes from both primary and secondary sources<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoids opinion unless properly attributed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely, and vividly<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proper diction\/grammar; use of third person<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>eachers by day, protesters by night. The educators of Utica Community Schools say they have had enough of working without a contract from the district and have held several rallies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are hoping to bring attention to a major issue that upsets the families of this district. As employees, we do not get the respect from our employers that we work hard for and deserve,\u201d Utica Education Association President Liza Parkinson said. \u201cWhen I was on my tenth year of teaching, I was on the tenth step. Now, ten-year teachers are stuck on the fourth or fifth step.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17810\" class=\"wp-caption alignright already-visible come-in\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17810\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17810\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to Tim McAvoy, UCS Directory of School and Community Relations, teachers have received step increases, half steps or off-schedule money six of the past nine years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis represents additional compensation or salary increases,\u201d McAvoy said.<\/p>\n<p>The UEA, however, has a different view.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is true, but misleading, that some teachers are getting step or half-step increases. New teachers are starting out on the seventh, eighth, or even ninth step,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cWe want to get back up on the ladder of where we are supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Negotiations are currently in progress, but both sides are holding their position.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is hard to tell if [the picketing] has any influence, but anyone listening knows that it is time,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cThe state cut funding to balance finances\u2013which as teachers, we understood. But now it is financially stable. That means the district is financially stable. This is why we say that it\u2019s time. It is not about the money, but it is about the respect that we deserve for keeping the district stable in times when they needed us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The UEA filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge against the district, citing multiple violations of the Michigan Public Employment Relations Act.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn unfair labor practice is not an unusual strategy given the status of ongoing negotiations,\u201d McAvoy said. \u201cThe school district is confident it will prevail and that the facts will show that union\u2019s proposals have not been agreed to by the vast majority of school districts in Macomb County or the region. Our Board of Education and superintendent take seriously their legal obligation to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and the importance of being fiscally solvent. Within our resources, we want all employees to have compensation packages that reflect the high expectations and standards we have for our schools. It is why UCS teachers on average are among the highest paid in the State of Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Across the district, however, teachers report a loss of a thousands of dollars in salary.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe staff has made sacrifices to honor our students over the last nine to ten years, and we are now looking for those sacrifices to be repaid,\u201d teacher Melissa Kevonian said. \u201cI have not had any increase in my pay in ten years. I actually made more money ten years ago than what I make now, which is unheard of in corporate America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Members of the community have attended rallies to support the union, including politicians such as Utica Mayor Thom Dionne and Congressman Andy Levin.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/uhsarrow.org\/17797\/news\/utica-teachers-say-its-time-for-a-fair-contract\/\">Click here for the story.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Haley Grooms Arrow Online News Utica HS 1st Place Division 2, News Writing News Story JUDGING CRITERIA Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscores news story importance Uses inverted pyramid Emphasizes news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact, and prominence Shows thorough reporting skills Effective use of facts\/quotes from both primary and secondary sources Avoids opinion unless [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[50,4],"tags":[175,21],"class_list":["post-4538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-newsstory","category-nw","tag-2019-20","tag-division2","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joel Beeker","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=9"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6K0n6-1bc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}