Test mania won't get our children or our country where we need to go. In her latest column appearing in the New York Times, AFT president Randi Weingarten discusses why we need to move away from our excessive fixation on testing and toward the appropriate use of assessments to support teaching and learning. Read the full column.

Courts block efforts at public pension change
A pair of recent court rulings could slow down state lawmakers’ efforts to increase contributions from current employees to prop up troubled public pension plans. (Stateline, Feb. 15) READ

Watch for your chapter nominating committee meetings and Election 2012 timeline.

CLICK to see Nominating Committee Chairs with contact information.

CLICK to see Election Timetable.

WIU: Pension Reform Letter
WIU President Jack Thomas released to campus a reform proposal for SURS from the Illinois Institute of Government & Public Affairs. (WIU News Release, Feb. 16) READ

• READ the report.
  

N-G appeals UI's redaction of documents
The News-Gazette has filed a request with the Illinois attorney general's office to review the University of Illinois' response to the newspaper's recent Freedom of Information Act request. (News-Gazette, Feb. 15) READ

State high court sides with CPS in dispute over teacher layoffs
The Illinois Supreme Court has sided with Chicago Public Schools in a two-year legal battle with the Chicago Teachers Union over the layoffs of nearly 750 tenured teachers in 2010. (Chicago Tribune, Feb. 17) READ

OPINION: The New Haven Experiment
The breakthrough experiment in New Haven offers a glimpse of an education future that is less rancorous. It’s a tribute to the savvy of Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers and as shrewd a union leader as any I’ve seen. She realized that the unions were alienating their allies, and she is trying to change the narrative. (New York Times, Feb. 15) READ

Rock Valley College, faculty union reach tentative contract deal
Rock Valley College and its faculty union reached a tentative labor agreement late this evening after more than a year of negotiating that included a stalemate and threat of a strike. (Rockford Register Star, Feb. 15) READ

A Last-Minute Deal on Teacher Evaluations
A deal resolved the impasse over the process by which New York City teachers could appeal their poor ratings, which had been a major sticking point between City Hall and its teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers, for months. (New York Times, Feb. 16) READ

READ The Digest

System vs. Campuses at U. of Illinois
Michael Hogan, the president of the University of Illinois, is trying to build support for a more centralized approach to enrollment management in the university system. (Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 15) READ Additional stories available in The Digest.

February Marks 44th Anniversary of Historic Memphis Sanitation Strike
(AFL-CIO Now Blog, Feb. 13) READ

Exchange Problem
Professors at five liberal arts colleges in the Northwest lament end of a full tuition benefit for their children. (Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 15) READ

READ The Digest

Are Some Faculty Members Really Serfs?
Professor finds full-time non-tenure track faculty think of themselves as foreigners, detached observers and members of a counterculture (University of California, Riverside, Today, Feb. 13) READ

PAC Process Gives Members a Voice, Puts Candidates Under the Microscope

Nothing is more important to the IFT than advocating for members. A critical way the union does that is by working to elect legislators in Springfield and Washington D.C. who are dedicated to standing up for the best interests of IFT members and all working families.

With the March 20, 2012 Primary Election just around the corner, the ?IFT is working to determine which ?candidates merit the union’s support. That is why the union has worked diligently over many years to develop and refine a Political Action Committee (PAC) process that involves members at every level of the union. (IFT Web Page, Dec. 18) READ

SURS conducting Board of Trustees election

The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) is currently conducting an election to fill three seats on their Board of Trustees. SURS trustees serve six-year terms and are either appointed by the Governor or elected by their peers. Two of the three available seats will be filled by participants in SURS. The other vacant seat will be filled by an annuitant. Application packets, including petitions, are now available.

Eye On the Deadlines:

Jan 31: Deadline to submit signed petitions to SURS
March 30: Election ballots mailed to eligible voters
May 1: Election ballots must be received at SURS by 4:30 p.m.
May 2: Elected Board members announced

READ related info on the SURS web site

2012 CFL Scholarship applications accepted beginning Jan. 1

The Chicago Federation of Labor will offer five academic-based scholarships and five random-drawing scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each. Applications will be accepted Jan. 1 to March 1.VISIT the CFL Web site for scholarship rules and application forms.

With the assistance of the Illilnois Federation of Teachers, UPI Local 4100 will bring you news and alerts of the 97th Session of the Illinois General Assembly. We think this session will be important to our members.

At this time, both chambers will meet Oct. 25, 26 and 27, and Nov. 8, 9, 10.

In effect Friday, July 1, 2011

The IRS has increased the optional standard mileage rate to 55.5 cents per mile for the final six months of 2011. This increase is reflected in the forms now posted for regular UPI reimbursement and for COPE reimbursements.

CLICK to download regular UPI reimbursement form.

CLICK to download UPI COPE reimbursement form.

Access to Unemployment Insurance Benefits for Contingent Faculty

Should I file my application online or in person?

Where can I file?

What do I need to bring?

CLICK to see answers, more questions and more answers

NEW MILEAGE, JANUARY 2011

CLICK to download UPI travel reimbursement form (July 2011).

CLICK to download UPI COPE reimbursement form (July 2011).

EMAIL Tamara Morris with questions.

UPI Annual Report:

Working Together in Hard Times

CLICK to download a pdf. of this 24-page document. Please be patient; it's a big document.

Or go to

http://www.upilocal4100.org/pdfs/AnnReport2009-2010.pdf

Your comments and corrections are always appreciated. To contact the webmaster, Mary Durkin, email mdurkin@upilocal4100.org or phone 312-663-5916, ext. 17.