JFT Update
— March 30, 2021 —
Know your Contract!
Article VIII of the Collective Bargaining Agreement states: “Teachers shall be reimbursed $100.00 per semester for teaching materials/registration fees for pre-approved conferences/workshops, including sales tax. A teacher who does not expend his allocation or any part thereof for the 1st semester shall be permitted to spend it during the 2nd semester. Reimbursement shall occur promptly but no later than 20 workdays following submission, provided receipts were furnished with all expenditures fully documented.JFT Scholarship Opportunity
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. The deadline for submission is April 1, 2021.Please email lmarino@jft.org for more information.
JPPSS Voluntary Transfer Process March 1-June 4, 2021
Certified Teachers, Deans, Assistant Principals, Counselors, and Paraprofessionals are eligible for transfer if they:
- Have a minimum of two years of experience in JPPSS at their current school.
- Hold a valid Louisiana teacher certificate in the requested subject-area vacancy (teachers and administrators only).
- Are currently NOT on any level of an Intensive Assistance Plan (IAP).
NOTE: if Human Resources assigned an employee to a school due to the school closing or consolidating in 2020, the employee is eligible for Voluntary Transfer. Support employees may transfer at any time, as vacancies become available.
Eligible employees who wish to participate in the VTP are required to complete an Internal Application/Transfer Form online during the application window (March 1-May 14, 2021 via www.applitrack.com/jppss/onlineapp). The application window closes May 14, 2021.
- Once on the application site, scroll down to Internal Applicant, click on “Submit an internal application/transfer form.”
- Click “Start” to begin the application process. When you arrive at the Vacancy Desired Page, click on 2021-2022 Employee Transfer Request or 2021-2022 Paraprofessional Transfer Request.
- Complete the remainder of the application and then click submit. Your request will not be processed until you click submit.
After your internal application/transfer form is complete:
- Human Resources will begin reviewing requests on March 1, 2021 and notify you via email if your request has been approved or denied. If approved, you should go back to your application and on the Vacancy Desired Page, click on the desired positions for which you qualify. You must then submit your application. Your application will then be forwarded to the principal(s). NOTE: Your application will not be forwarded if you do not click submit.
- Principals will review applications and schedule interviews, accordingly.
- Once a Principal has selected an applicant for a position, the Principal will make a job offer. If the applicant accepts the job offer, the Principal and applicant will complete a Mutual Consent Form (original signatures required). The Principal will then submit the Mutual Consent form to Human Resources to process the transfer. Human Resources will notify the Principal who is losing an employee (due to transfer) of his/her new vacancy.
- In the event more than one Principal makes a job offer to an applicant, the applicant’s choice will prevail.
- The posting of vacancies will be on-going during the transfer process. As transferring employees reach mutual consent for the 2021-2022 school year, the positions they are leaving will be posted as vacancies.
- Applicants and Principals are encouraged to monitor the website frequently/daily during the transfer process. Applicants should apply for desired positions as they become available. As positions are filled, new vacancies are created, thus, monitoring the site daily is essential. As new vacancies are posted online, you will need to repeat the process to apply for new positions as they become available.
Once a Mutual Consent has been signed by the Principal and employee, the Mutual Consent CANNOT be rescinded. The VTP will then be closed to the employee for the 2021-2022 school year. The employee is not eligible for another transfer for a period of two years. All employees who apply for a transfer must reach mutual consent by the close of business on June 4, 2021.
No principal may discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender, age, disability, genetics, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, or veteran status or any other legally protected activities or characteristics in the transfer process.
All transfers will be reviewed by Human Resources to ensure continued compliance with the Dandridge final settlement agreement. Any employee who reaches mutual consent but has a pending discipline case, the mutual consent will be held until the discipline case is resolved. All transfers will require clearance from Human Resources and the final approval of the Superintendent.
Email jppsshumanresources@jpschools.org for questions regarding the Voluntary Transfer Process.
JFT Has Called for a Moratorium on Teacher & Student Evaluations
At the LFT Convention in November 2020, JFT delegates took a stand to demand more equity and fairness in teacher evaluations this year. Generally, teachers have concerns about the so-called “accountability” metrics used in Louisiana testing, and for good reason, but this year, things are even worse. We already know exactly what to expect: students will require academic recovery.
In the Spring of 2020, students and teachers were pulled out of school with very little to no time to plan for alternative learning options. Since then, they have juggled non-traditional education and COVID-19 safety protocols amidst the trauma of a global pandemic. Teachers and their students have had to adapt to a completely new educational model that continues to change.
In the last legislative session, LFT was successful in passing common sense changes to VAM to ensure that teachers would not be unfairly penalized by circumstances outside of their control. JFT's resolution insists that SLTs be agreed upon by the evaluator and the educator and calls on BESE to apply for a waiver to ensure that suspension of these testing metrics will not negatively impact Louisiana’s eligibility for federal programs.
That resolution has directly led to Senate Bill 35. LFT worked with Senator Troy Carter to propose legislation that would hold teachers and students harmless for student growth measures for the 2020-21 school year. Also, JFT and LFT are actively working towards the state reexamining the evaluation model for students and educators. It is time to have an accountability system that is not a measure used to penalize teachers but provide them with accurate and timely feedback to help our students reach their full potential.
The legislative session will start on April 12th. If you haven't already, please text LFT to 69238 to sign up for LFT text alerts, and click here to sign up for email alerts, so that you can help support this important legislation.
TRSL Opening
There is an opening on the Board of Trustees for the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana. Any food service employees who are interested may apply before April 30,2021.
Tell your lawmakers: Support the THRIVE Act!
In the face of COVID-19 and our mounting climate crisis, we have a historic opportunity to rebuild our economy with green union jobs. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan provides the funding we need to get our country on the road to recovery—now it’s our job to “build back better” and improve ALL our communities, strengthen our unions, combat climate change, and address racial and environmental justice with the THRIVE Act.CLICK HERE TO SEND A LETTER TO CONGRESS