Jefferson Federation of Teachers & School Employees is accepting nominations for delegates to the 2022 AFT Convention in Boston, which will take place from July 14th - July 17th.
All delegates must be JFT members in good standing and they must also be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and have proof of vaccination in order to attend. JFT will provide funding for two delegates to attend the convention, but we may have up to 25 delegates in total.
Jefferson Federation of Teachers (JFT) seeks a full-time organizer to join our team. JFT is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, serving teachers and school support staff in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.
Organizers are responsible for a variety of aspects of a campaign including building relationships with workers, developing issues-based organizing plans for assigned areas, and for recruiting and sustaining motivation of organizing committee members and activists. Union organizing experience preferred.
Please register for our next General Membership Meeting.
All JFT Members in good standing are welcome to attend this meeting, which will be held virtually on Zoom.
Wednesday, May 25th
5:30 P.M.
According to the JFT Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article X—Teacher Supplies: Teachers shall be reimbursed $100 per semester for teacher materials/registration fees for pre-approved conferences/workshops, including sales tax. All receipts are due Friday, April 29, 2022 for the 21/22 school year.
The application window for a Voluntary Transfer is OPEN NOW. Applications are due May 31, 2022. Certificated Teachers, Counselors, and Para-professionals are eligible for transfer if they have a minimum of 2 years of experience in JPS at their current school, hold a valid Louisiana teacher certificate in the requested subject-area vacancy (teachers and administrators only), and are currently not on any level of an Intensive Assistance Plan (IAP).
Staffing shortages are a big topic all over the country, and rightly so -- educators and school and college support staff bridge every gap necessary to make sure that students and families get what they need.
Join us in a professional development session to dig into staffing shortages from your vantage point and learn some ways to tell your story and step into your narrative power: Saturday, April 9th at 9:30 A.M. on Zoom.
Sales Tax Renewal
On April 30th you will have the chance to VOTE YES for a sales tax renewal that helps fund our school district. The half-cent sales tax is not a new tax and there is no new cost to taxpayers. In fact, this sales tax has been funding JP Schools since 1993.
“It was like waking up and learning you won the lottery.” That’s just one of the comments flooding the AFT offices from members who are elated to be free of student debt at last. After relentless advocacy, including an AFT lawsuit against former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program that was so broken is finally doing what it is supposed to do: delivering relief from student debt for thousands of borrowers. So far, $6.2 billion in student debt has been forgiven for 100,000 public service workers like teachers, nurses and professors.
General Membership Meeting
The next general membership meeting will be Thursday, March 24th at 5:30 P.M. on Zoom. This meeting is open to all members of JFT in good standing. If you are a JFT member, please register before 9 A.M. on Thursday, March 24th.
Supporting President Kesler Camese-Jones
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for JFT President Kesler Camese-Jones. This has been a difficult time for our entire JFT family. Kesler is still in the hospital in critical condition and she is not able to receive gifts or cards at this time.
On Wednesday, March 9th we will have a Special Solidarity Day in honor of Kesler. Please wear your JFT union shirt (or any blue shirt, if you don't have a union shirt) and take pictures of you and your colleagues. In the pictures, you can hold up a sign identifying your school and saying "Kesler Strong" -- or hold a sign with a special message to Kesler. Whether you are getting together in a small group to take a picture, or joining up with your whole school – we know that your efforts will mean the world to our president.
Please email your pictures to lmarino@jft.org.
Make sure there aren’t any students featured in your pictures.
JFT Scholarships
JFT offers two (2) college or university scholarships. Each scholarship will be
in the amount of $500 per year over a period of four years, for a total scholarship of $2,000 each. Children of JFT members, who are graduating high school seniors, are eligible to apply for the scholarships. Please email lmarino@jft.org for more information.