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This is the official website of the Madras Education Association.
Meetings will be held (usually) on the 2nd Monday of each month prior to the scheduled School Board meeting. We encourage members to attend our meetings, which are open to members.
We also welcome members to attend School Board meetings whenever possible. It would be great to have teachers from every building represented. The School Board meets on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month. Check our calendar for times and locations.
Members, Our contract guarantees us certain rights that I thought you might want to know about.I will reference several articles in the contract without typing out all the language.I would encourage you to revisit your contract to see for yourself.Any questions about the following can be directed to Ike Maness (Ike.Maness@oregoned.org) or myself (bgallagher@madraseducation.org). We have the right to hear criticism “in private and in a manner designed to be constructive”. (please see Article XIX, Criticism page 21) We have the “right and responsibility to determine grades of students, including evaluations of deportment.”This article goes on to state that grades may not be changed “without the approval of the teacher unless such grade or evaluation is inconsistent with district and/or building policies.” (please see Article XXIII, Evaluation of Students page 23)
We have the right to temporarily remove disruptive students from our classrooms. Please look over the whole article to get the full meaning.This is a quote from Article XXIV section A page 23.“The Council recognizes that student discipline is a responsibility of every teacher.When, in the judgment of a teacher, a student is disruptive to the educational process, the teacher may temporarily exclude a student from the classroom and refer him/her to the principal for action.”Section C of the same article goes on to state, “Teachers shall refer students to the building administration only in consonance with district and building policies and procedures for suspensions or permanent removal.” In the last two articles the contract has referenced building and/or district policies.So how do you know what they are?I would recommend asking members who have taught at your current building before and then asking your building administrator.These policies should be written down somewhere so they can be easily referenced.
What do we do when we feel like our rights have been stepped on?Bargaining a contract is just one step in protecting our rights.We also need to “uphold” the contract to guarantee our rights by processes such as grievances.A grievance simply means that there is an incident where we disagree over an application of the contract requiring the administration and the association to sit down and discuss a mutually agreed upon resolution.
When an event happens that bothers you or you feel violates your rights in any way, we need to document the incident.Simply write it down in a “contact log” or planner or something that you can locate and won’t lose.Write down the facts of the situation, what was said, how it was said, where it was said, etc.This will lend credence to testimony during a grievance process.