COVID Update and a Call to Action
End of Year Message from President Kail
Congratulations to all our MNPS educators who are closing the books on the 2019-2020 school year! Even as you were pushed to do impossible things, you continued to inspire as you proved over and over the commitment, dedication, skill, and LOVE you have for your students. You delivered meals and sent handmade postcards. You taught complicated concepts with no resources while caring for your own families, sometimes while accessing the internet from a parking lot. You delivered books and laptops and spent countless hours trying to just get the technology to work. But most important of all, you were there for the kids who needed you. I have no doubt when your students look back at this crazy time, THAT is what they will remember.
I also want to take this time to remember the educators we have lost to COVID-19, and to all who have lost loved ones to this terrible pandemic, and those whose lives were upended by the tornadoes and storms of this spring. So many of you have been pushed to your limits, not only by trying to figure out how to flip your classrooms to online in ridiculously short amount of time, but also in coping with so much loss in the midst of disaster.
And let’s be honest- the future holds more anxiety than hope for many at this time, and for educators, there are two main reasons for this: worries about how to safely resume school, and the MNPS budget.
Returning to School Safely
We have received countless messages and phone calls from members who are deeply concerned about how school can be resumed safely. In response, MNEA is working to revise our MOU in order to ensure there are additional protections for educators in the event of pandemics and natural disasters. We will begin MOU negotiations with the district in the fall. In addition, we are asking the district to review with us any plans to have educators return to buildings before they are put in place, and we will be meeting with Alex Jahangir, MD, Chair of the Nashville Coronavirus Task Force and Chair of the Board of the Metro Public Health Department to discuss how schools can be reopened safely. (And yes, before you ask, we have seen the much-discussed recommendations from the CDC and concur with those who point out the provisions would be nearly impossible to implement.)
In the meantime, we have also been working closely with our TEA legal team to find every possible tool we have to keep educators, students, and their families safe. If you are concerned that you will be asked to return to work in a way that jeopardizes your health, here are few federal leave provisions you should know:
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights
- Temporary paid sick leave required by federal law
- Paid leave for your own needs and to care for others for coronavirus-related reasons –
- When used for your own care needs, pay is at your full rate (capped at $511/day) –
- When used to care for someone else, pay is 2/3 of your regular rate (capped at $200/day)
- Total amount provided is 80 hours
- An employee may elect to substitute any accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave for the first two weeks of partial paid leave under this section
FFCRA is available when you are unable to work or telework because:
-You are caring for someone who is subject to a quarantine/isolation order or is under self-quarantine on the advice of a healthcare provider
-caring for a son or daughter whose school or daycare is closed
- For the limited purpose of caring for a son or daughter whose school or daycare is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic
- Total amount of leave is 12 weeks
-The first 10 days are unpaid, but you can use the emergency paid sick leave during this time
-10 weeks are paid at 2/3 your regular rate of pay, capped at $200/day
This 12 weeks of expanded FMLA can be counted against your regular entitlement to 12 weeks of federal FMLA leave. If you have already taken FMLA leave during the applicable 12-month period, your available paid FMLA leave under this law may be reduced. Using this expanded paid FMLA benefit may reduce the amount of regular FMLA leave you have during the applicable 12-month period. Your employer may require “concurrent” use of other leave.
Americans with Disabilities Act
If an employee voluntarily discloses (without a disability-related inquiry) that they have a specific medical condition or disability that puts them at an increased risk of influenza complications, the employer must keep this information confidential. The employer may ask the employee to describe the type of assistance they think will be needed (e.g. telework or leave for a medical appointment).
If you are a member in need of further assistance with any of these provisions, please contact MNEA at info@mnea.com or call (615) 726-1499.
CALL TO ACTION
A little over a year ago, over 1000 of you took to the streets to demand full funding for MNPS. After months of packing public meetings and protests, we watched in bitter disbelief as metro council voted by one vote to endorse then Mayor Briley’s budget for another year of sorely underfunded schools.
Last week, Mayor Cooper released his long-awaited study that proved (shockingly) that MNPS educators are greatly underpaid and our salary schedule needs major revisions. We have pointed out that many of you had already been shouting those facts for years, and it is a very bitter pill to swallow being told our mayor finally agrees with us at a time when our economy has crashed.
Bottom line- as we watch our MNPS budget face cuts for yet another year, facts are not enough. WE NEED ACTION.
Here’s what you can do NOW.
MNEA LOCAL ACTION
1. Email metro council asking them to vote for a property tax rate increase that will ensure students return to safe and healthy schools, a certified teacher for every class, and the social and emotional supports our students will need after such a traumatic episode in our history.
2. Sign up to lobby individual council members.
3. Sign up to speak at the public hearing of the metro budget.
4. Sign the petition from our allies in Stand Up Nashville to call for Governor Lee to lift state laws blocking local solutions to the COVID 19 crisis.
5. Take our survey so we can gather data on educator needs.
STATE ACTION
6. Take a few moments to write your representatives about needed federal aid for Tennessee Schools. (TEA)
7. Send an email to Senators Alexander and Blackburn about supporting federal relief for local economies. (CAPE)
NEA NATIONAL ACTION
8. Email your representatives to support the HEROES Act, provide PPE to school employees, stop Betsy DeVos from siphoning CARES Act dollars to private schools, and end the digital divide.