Updated with correct links. Sorry about too much traffic on the superhighway of info!

As promised NYSUT unveiled a new feature on its website, a member action center. (They actually did it over the weekend not today as I wrongfully posted last week.) I point out my error more to point out that I corrected it. There’s a lot to be said about great teachers and the lessons that can be learned from correcting mistakes. I’m just saying.

NYSUT’s first-ever on-line petition is going gangbusters. We got over 5,000 signatures over the weekend. I love checking back to see names I know and to watch the numbers going up, up, up. A lot of the tweets and Facebook posts about it tell it like it is. School aid should not be turned into a contest. Even more disturbing, check out this article from yesterday’s Poughkeepsie-Journal. Boy if I lived in Rockland County, I would be pretty ticked off to read that none of my schools can even apply for the funds.

The story also notes that “another potential problem for some districts is applicants have to implement a new teacher-evaluation system by the end of the school year to be eligible.” That was not my understanding based on the Governor’s presentation where he said districts that have the systems in place by the end of the year would get points toward their applications. I will try to find out what the story is and update.