Welcome to the new Dighton Rehoboth Regional Teachers' Association site.

2011-2012 meetings;

#1: E-Committee October 12th 2011

#2: E-Committee January 18th 2012

#3: E-Committee April 4th 2012

#4: Annual Membership : May 30th 2012

This site is a work in progress; it is our hope that it will become a vital part of the association's effort to keep all members informed. Please check out the entire site including the members only area. This area has I-contact, an incredible program that will allow us to update members like never before.

In the members only section you can find;

the full member directory, the seniority list and the complete contract.

I added a new section called Burning issues. In this section I want to give info on issues we are working on and the positions being taken by each side. Because of privacy we can not list every issue.

Don't forget the e-mail sign up!!!! My hope is that this will be a powerful tool and will strengthen our union. Remember I need home e-mail addresses only.

Tim Kelly

Remember our working environment is our students' learning environment.

Regional retirement consultations

MTA retired members eligible for $250 stimulus payment. Sen. Kerry fought to include public service retirees in the plan for a one-time payment.

The MTA conducts retirement consultations throughout the state to assist members. Proof of membership must be submitted when requesting retirement services.

MTA Retirement info

Mass. schools to receive $204 million in federal funds

The new money represents the state's share of the $10 billion Education Job Funds bill, which is expected to fund 160,000 positions nationwide, including 2,700 in Massachusetts. School districts can spend the money this school year or save some for the next school year, which is expected to be yet another tough budget year.

“This is great news for the students and educators in our public schools,” MTA President Paul Toner said after the funding announcement was made on August 25 in New Bedford. “This funding will allow districts to rehire teachers and other staff who were given pink slips last spring. It will also help keep talented educators in their classrooms during the upcoming school year.”

On August 10, President Barack Obama signed legislation containing $26 billion in emergency funds to help states cope with the great recession and stave off massive educator layoffs across the nation. In the weeks prior to its passage, MTA members, joining their NEA colleagues from across the country, sent almost 19,000 e-mails and made numerous phone calls in support of the legislation. We were third in the nation for the most calls. In the end, all 10 members of the Massachusetts U.S. House delegation and Senator John Kerry voted in favor of the bill. Senator Scott Brown voted against the legislation.

The Dighton Rehoboth will receive an extra $594,379. Dr. Montagano has used most of the money to add to the base budget 2011-2012. We would like to see our health, music, extra curricula positions, elementary team leaders and ILA's restored so we can try to repair the damages done by the heavy cuts we have had over the past three years.

The new contact for the 2010-2012 school years

will be available on-line shortly in the members only section.

We had it rewritten so that sections and articles that had been modified over the past 4 negotiations could be easily read. The one year extensions have caused us to just add supplements or sections reflecting changes at the end of the book. It started to get a bit confusing. After we rewrote the contract the administration and school committee had to agree to the writing. It has been a long process but the result is a clear contract. We will be releasing it at the January Excom meeting and I will send it out in pdf form that week.

We are aiming to have the new member directory available in November.