Rochester Teachers Association
Representing professional educators in Rochester, New York
The Rochester Teacher
Winner of NYSUT journalism awards and the Ted Bleeker award as “Best of the Best”
The Rochester Retired Teacher Association is a Dept. of the RTA, composed of all retired members of RTA. Learn more…
Our Union Contract
The newly bargained agreement is good for students and fair to teachers. Click here to download our contract. Learn more…
In just a few weeks we will begin negotiations for a successor contract with the District. As we shape our proposal, we are guided by your responses to our pre-negotiations surveys. Among others, you have identified as key priorities such issues as class sizes, problems with APPR, students' attendance and student discipline.
Join us on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21, for what has developed into Rochester's most coveted after-work social/sporting event.
Donate or join the RTA Relay for Life team to defeat cancer
For a $5 donation, you can personalize and dedicate a white luminaria
Please light a candle in honor of or in memory of a friend or loved one who has or had cancer.
The Coming Revolution in Public Education
It's always hard to tell for sure exactly when a revolution starts. Is it when a few discontented people gather in a room to discuss how the ruling regime might be opposed? Is it when first shots are fired? When a critical mass forms and the opposition acquires sufficient weight to have a chance of prevailing? I'm not an expert on revolutions, but even I can see that a new one is taking shape in American K-12 public education.
Why the public should see questions on new standardized tests
Here’s an argument about why it matters when state education departments refuse to release sample questions on state standardized accountability tests. Has the New York State Education Department watched too many Brad Pitt movies? Okay, that’s a rhetorical question, but one that might be posed to other state education agencies also engaged in the business of high-stakes testing.
An Open Letter to NYS Parents,
I’m sure that you have heard about some of the drama that is going down in public education and I’m sure that you have been overwhelmed by the mixed messages from teachers, reform groups, anti-reform groups, and the state. It’s a lot to process, and if you are like me, your brain is probably starting to turn off right about now. But I am going to ask you to stick with me for a few more minutes because there are some things that you need to know about the reality of your child’s education.
ALL ARE WELCOME!!!
Please bring family members, friends, neighbors, students and parents.
For those wishing to drive to the rally, please advise us of your intent and please supply your cell phone number. We have been told that there will be sufficient parking near the rally site.
4th Grader Asked to Take NYS Test from Hospital Bed
A local 4th grader, hooked to medical machines and IV’s, undergoing pre-brain surgery screening was asked to take a New York State test from his hospital bed last week. Joey Furlong is a 4th grader in the Bethlehem School District. He has life-threatening epilepsy and his seizures can only be stopped with medication so his parents are considering brain surgery. In order to get to that point though, Joey needs to go through a series of tests which is what he is doing right now at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center on Long Island.
Meagan Harris, Rochester School of the Arts
As we count down to our 500th Golden Apple Award, we want you to meet one of the calmest educators we've ever come across. That makes Meagan Harris perfectly suited to be a Special Education Teacher at Rochester's School of the Arts.
Arbitrary, burdensome testing interferes with classroom learning and affects the quality of education in our schools. Even worse, the pressure of relentless high stakes testing is causing undue anxiety and stress for students all across New York.
Teachers: You Must Not Internalize the Blame
This teacher realized that she could not be free to think for herself until she stopped internalizing and accepting the reproaches of the corporate reformers. She was free when she realized that her training and experience as an educator mattered. She was free when she realized that when she did not attain perfection every day, it was not her fault.
Teacher Pay Hurt by Recession, Report Says
During the recession and its aftermath, public schools took a hit as both state coffers and local property taxes shriveled. That showed up in shrinking employment, but also in teacher salaries.
La. Supreme Court Rules School Vouchers Unconstitutional
The Louisiana Supreme Court handed Gov. Bobby Jindal a loss today: It agreed with a lower court that his method of funding private school tuition through vouchers was unconstitutional.
Union Chief Recommends Delay in Use of Test Scores
Warning that a new set of academic standards was on the verge of falling into the “dustbin of history,” the leader of a national teachers’ union called on Tuesday for school systems to postpone using new tests to evaluate teachers and promote students.
RTA Interns of the Year Awards
On Monday, May 6, RTA President Adam Urbanski, Superintendent Bolgen Vargas and Career in Teaching Director Marie Costanza introduced the Interns of the Year award recipients at the Mentor Forum. The Career in Teaching Award Program has been sponsored by the RTA for over 17 years.
RCSD ESOL Teacher writes how State Tests are Hurting her Students
While testing for most students in grades 3-8 ended with the New York State Common Core ELA and Math exams in April, such is not the case for English Language Learners, who take the lengthy four-part NYSESLAT (New York State English as a Second Language Test), required of all English Language Learners in all grades throughout the month of May.
A tough critique of Common Core on early childhood education
The debate on the Common Core State Standards has in recent months centered around the issue of how much fiction high school students should read. Here’s a tough critique on the standards and how they relate to early childhood education.
Erica Bryant: PTSD in some city children can be worse than in Iraq soldiers
Kierra Mae Jones, a student at All City High School, was shot to death at a family graduation party on York Street on Tuesday night. At the scene, police found a Tonka truck cracked with bullet holes, sad evidence that young children had seen the atrocity. One girl was in her mother’s arms when her mother was struck by a bullet and grievously wounded.
