Member Matters, 10-30-2015

HSTA VEBA Trust Open Enrollment until October 31, 2015. View this email in your browser Lump Sum Payment   If you did not receive the lump sum on your October 5, 2015 paycheck, and believe you were wrongfully denied the payment, you must inform HSTA no later than November 2, 2015.  Please go to this link:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HSTAlumpsum and complete a short questionnaire to help determine if a claim can be filed on your behalf. Upon completion of the form an HSTA staff person will follow up with you for next steps. Eligible teachers should have received the $2,000 lump sum as part of the supplemental agreement reached on April 22, 2015.  Eligible teachers are defined as “all active full time licensed teachers who have completed probation or began serving probation prior to July 1, 2013.”  Eligible half-time teachers shall receive $1,000 lump sum.   More details about the lump sum payment are included in the October 5, 2015 Member Message: http://eepurl.com/bBypfn   Government Relations: Friend of Education Congressman Mark Takai   Our thoughts are with the Congressman as we wish him a speedy recovery wrapped in a warm aloha.  He was back on the hill this week and voted in favor of a bipartisan budget deal.  To email him, please go to https://takai.house.gov/contact/email 10-Minute Campaign Red for Education and Unity Wear your red HSTA shirts on Tuesdays! Send your pictures to info@hsta.org. Like us on Facebook.   According to the Fall 2015 ERS publication Holomua (page 3), all active members, inactive vested members and retirees are eligible to vote for this trustee position. You should have received a voting packet consisting of a ballot, candidate information sheets and a return envelope. Voted ballots must be received by KMH LLP at 1003 Bishop Street, Suite 2400, Honolulu, HI 96813 andpostmarked by October 21, 2015 to be considered valid. The new ERS Board Trustee will be announced in December. If you did not receive a voting packet, please contact Garet Sasaki of the election auditing firm KMH LLP at: (808) 543-3302 or by email at: ERSBallot@kmhllp.com as soon as possible. - See more at: http://www.hsta.org/index.php/news/2015-ers-trustee-elections-scheduled-for-september#sthash.6FzRMVMp.dpuf Professional Development Registration Open!  Free Spring 2016 Professional Development Courses on Teaching ELLs More Information HERE>>> Talking About Ethnicity and Inequality in Education  November 7, 2015 8:30 a.m. Check-In 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. University of Hawaii Campus Center  PLEASE RSVP HERE to receive information about $5.00 registration process. Share this opportunity with a colleague HERE>>> Worth a Read: Research shows that New Orleans school reforms have created a set of schools that are highly stratified by race, class, and educational advantage. Research report and brief by the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education's (SCOPE) Frank Adamson, Channa Cook-Harvey, and Linda Darling-Hammond.  Read the full-length report or research brief HERE>>>