President's Corner

December President Editorial

By Maripaz Berlin, OGEA President

president@ogea.org

Hello, OGEA Members! This has been an active four and a half months of the 2023-2024 school year! Please read below the things we have worked on so far:

Healthcare Benefits 

In October, we were notified that there would be dramatic increases to our monthly premiums. The increases affected those of us who have Kaiser and United as our carriers. For family coverage, it increased by 21% and 18% respectively. Sutter Health increased by 6%. 

OGEA Leadership, which included members of our Negotiations Team met with OGSD Management and collaborated on the best solution for the situation. The significant result we got would not have been possible without the organizing work from members who wrote to Board Members and the superintendent. We are remaining vigilant to help identify ways to help mitigate the impact of severe increases for the future. MOU Here

Community Schools

OGEA leaders and the Representative Council approved a Resolution as a commitment to the implementation of Community Schools in Oak Grove. Community Schools provide a shared governance structure where teachers, parents, admin staff, and students are partners and have the authority to make the decisions that directly impact them. Read the resolution Here.

Grievances

The grievance arm of any organization is vital. For OGEA, it is the arm that enforces our contract and agreements with OGSD. It has been a busy season for grievances; sometimes we have more because we have new site admin/principals who are not yet familiar with our Collective Bargaining Agreement, so they act without checking the contract to determine if it is allowed, such as making us work beyond contractual hours without compensation, or scheduling meetings during our lunch times which are duty-free. Our Grievance Committee is committed to enforcing our contract and seeing that our rights are protected.

Extremist Groups

Now more than ever, it is critical to stand up for student's rights and for a curriculum that reflects them. Our school sites have been visited by extremist groups who hang outside our schools to prey on parents, urging them to opt out of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Critical Race Theory (based on Ethnic Studies), creating a causation narrative where they link these teachings to low test scores. They have not been successful in getting families to opt out; those who did quickly rescinded it because the principal had connected with them to explain exactly what that means. Be aware that these are very coordinated groups trying to gain footholds into our school district via parents and possibly in next year’s school board elections.

Gearing up!

Get your green clothes together as we will be launching GrOW! Green On Wednesdays to Grow our Presence on our work sites. It will be every Wednesday, It does not always have to be your OGEA shirt. Be GREEN!

Happy Hours!

Our various Committees will be hosting happy hours throughout the school year. Look out for the upcoming dates and locations! Meet the committee members and introduce yourself!