BATs WALL OF SOLIDARITY! 

BATs RUNNING FOR LOCAL AND STATE UNION OFFICE!

The Badass Teachers Association encourages our members to be an important and active participant in their local, state, and national unions.  We encourage our members to run for office so that unions represent rank and file members, are run using a true democratic system, exist as entities that are about great education for all children, and support a framework for social justice.   

BATs would like to offer a powerful message of solidarity to BATs around the country who are running for union office and being proactive members of their local and state unions.   If you are running for a local or state union office, and are involved and engaged in the BAT network, please email us your election platform so that we can add it to our BAT  Wall of Solidarity. You can email your platform to our Executive Director Marla Kilfoyle and Asst. Executive Director Melissa Tomlinson at contact.BATmanager@gmail.com   We wish you luck and stand with you in a united vision of great schools, healthy workplaces, and social justice. 

We offer BAT Solidarity to the following members who are running for local and/or state offices.

Broward Teachers Union-Florida

Green Apple BATs in Broward

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

ANNA FUSCO - PRESIDENT

TERRY PREUSS - VICE PRESIDENT

LYDELL MORELAND - VICE PRES. OF ESPs

CHRISTOPER TOWNLEY - TREASURER

ROOSEVELT MCCLARY - SECRETARY

EXECUTIVE BOARD 

ANNA BURGESS

ED FARREL

ROJESTERMAN FARRIS

NYMPHA GIRAD

JOSHUA JAMIESON

KENNY MINCHEW

SANDY NUNEZ

LILIAN RUIDO

HANK SERGEY

SHELLY SOFFER

BETTY WARREN

WENDY VAZQUEZ

LINDA ZUNIGA

Election Platform:   https://docs.google.com/document/d/14qG2-VfodYJHd4Y5u4KRL1KsjT-or0C5CF_MRJ3q7U8/pub

FUNDRAISER - https://www.gofundme.com/dwqedesc



WASHINGTON STATE
SHANNON ERGUN
NEA DIRECTOR
POSITION 2

NORTH CAROLINA
NCAE VICE PRESIDENT
TRIPP JEFFERS

To learn more about Tripp go to these sites
Website  http://trippjeffers.com/
Open Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/VoteTripp

Tripps powerful speech on Institutional Racism at NEA RA last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHHRuuN9Row&ebc=ANyPxKrDyFS_pQHijuhLAJhGg1vZP-uoYP0OXVii0ImcH4kOR2GdLOskck2Q_h2k8X8jcfQIot886rmmt8r2liq3izegk6_DxQ

To donate to Tripp's campaign go here https://www.gofundme.com/votetripp




HAWAII
STATE NEA DELEGATES

Mireille Ellsworth        

for Hilo Chapter Vice President

State Convention Delegate & NEA Representative Assembly Delegate

...coming out of the Hawaii Teachers for Change Caucus aligned with current state leadership

·         Passionate, dedicated education activist

·         Caring advocate for students and teachers

·         Up-to-date on educational issues statewide and nationwide

·         Courageous and willing to speak up to effect change

Experience:

·         English and drama teacher at Waiakea High School for 11 years

·         Speakers Bureau in support of Schools Our Keiki Deserve

·         Co-Head Faculty Rep; 2 terms Grievance Rep

·         State Convention Delegate, 3 years

·         NEA Representative Assembly Delegate, 2 years

·         Lobbyist on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC in July 2015

·         Steering Committee, Hawaii Representative, United Caucuses of Rank and File Educators (UCORE)

·         Membership Committee Co-chair, NEA BAT Caucus

·         Administrator of Hawaii BATs Facebook page ("LIKE" this page!)

·         Organizer of educational conferences and workshops similar to Institute Day

Belief Statements:

·               Fully fund public education so that we can focus on our students’ learning

·               Invest in professional collaboration and mentoring  programs that truly support struggling teachers instead of punishing them through meaningless, time-consuming, and invalid evaluation systems

·               Choose assessments that are relevant to instruction, valid, reliable, and locally developed

·               Protect students’ data and parents' rights

·               Advocate for our autonomy and academic freedom

·               Adequately compensate us for experience and graduate level credits beyond their licensure requirements in order to attract and retain a stable, high quality workforce

·               Establish scholarships and incentives to increase number of teachers from the local community

·               Teach Hawaiian language and culture, the arts, and music K-8

·               Expand vocational programs and career counseling for students who are not college bound

·               Place a registered school nurse in every school or complex

·               Ensure a licensed librarian is in every school

·               Hold Board of Education meetings in the evenings on neighbor islands in rotation with Honolulu; videotape and post online to increase transparency

PLEASE VOTE for Mireille and her awesome team!

MATTHEW YARBERRY (President)

& KELLEE KELLY (Secretary)

Matthew Yarberry

Candidate for Hilo Chapter President

coming out of the Hawaii Teachers for Change Caucus

aligned with current state leadership

WORKING WITH: Mireille Ellsworth (for Vice President) & Kellee Kelly (for Secretary)

He believes in...

• ADVOCACY for members -- plan to use release time to visit schools who are having issues and help facilitate solutions -- has experience advocating for members on the school level to resolve issues which requires fostering working  relationships with administrators and complex area superintendents yet remaining firm on issues that need to be addressed in order for teachers to do their jobs
• INCREASE MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT through his unique style to learn each member's needs and find a way for each member to contribute in his or her own way
• ACCOUNTABILITY for outside consultants and standardized tests being brought in to schools as a "remedy" for student achievement -- when tests and programs do not work, they MUST be eliminated. Our students are not "guinea pigs" to be experimented upon! (Experienced Edison fiasco at his school and helped to remedy the situation.)
• RESISTANCE of systems that rank students, teachers, and schools (i.e. DOE's STRIVE HI data-driven system that is designed to punish teachers and schools blaming them for factors out of their control) Why are we using norm-based tests as opposed to criterion-based tests?
• INCREASE FUNDING at the school level, redistributing resources from top levels of DOE to the classroom. Work toward teachers demanding involvement in developing Academic and Financial Plans at the school level.
• EXPANSION of vocational education opportunities for our students
• FULL SUPPORT OF THE SCHOOLS OUR KEIKI DESERVE. This is the union's crowning moment to seize the day and take action for our students! We must rally around this initiative and promote what is right for kids!

Aloha Hilo Chapter,

            We have some great talent in our chapter! Members like Chris Ho who is doing great work developing increased opportunities for professional development for neighbor island members, Aaron Kubo who is bringing forward great ideas to improve HSTA through items at convention, and the continued wisdom and experience of Val DeCorte as our representative on the HSTA Executive Board... I take pride in bringing out the hidden talents within our chapter to strengthen our union and therefore positively impact our profession which in turn improves learning and working conditions for our STUDENTS!


WASHINGTON STATE

April Miller

April is a WA BAT and running for an WEA SE Executive Board in an At Large position.  April's  platform is building a strong union membership and supporting the Washington State motto "membership matters."  It is important to April that union values and membership are protected and supported by leadership and it's members.  This past summer, April showed solidarity in many areas of Washington state including the Pasco strike, the first one since the 1970s.  Due to the strike, Pasco teachers were able to accomplish everything they set out to do.  With the recent threat of the Friedrich's case, April feels that membership matters more than anything.  By seeking out members and checking in with them on a consistent basis April feels that you are able to build membership.  Gathering the information that matters to them most and sharing it with them helps sustain membership and boost it.  April was fortunate enough to do one-on-ones with members and ended up signing up 2 out of the 3 agency fee payers at her school.  April felt this was due to talking with them about making sure their voices were heard.  They wanted to be included and felt their voice would be heard. April feels that by standing together, fighting for what is right, and making members feel valued we can have a positive impact at the national, state, and local level.

                                                            

                                                                                  

**Adding candidates to this letter of solidarity is NOT  considered an endorsement.  The Badass Teachers Association will only engage in national election endorsements through the guidance of our NEA BAT Caucus.  We will not be endorsing at the state or local level.