Congratulations, Coach Burkhalter! Your support and dedication to your union, our students, and the TPS community is an inspiration to all of us!

Here is a list of the official public hearings hosted by the Joint Committee on Finance:

March 18 – Brillion (near Appleton) at the Brillion High School Endries Performing Arts Center,
W1101 County Road HR, Brillion. Hearing starts at 10:00 a.m and ends promptly at 5:00 p.m.

March 20- Milwaukee at Alverno College’s Pitman Theatre, 3400 South 43rd Street, Milwaukee. This hearing will start at 10:00 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m.

Here is an excerpt from an article of special interest to adjuncts,  "Adjunct Advocacy:  Contingent faculty members are demanding--and getting--better working conditions" by Peter Schmidt, published March 9, 2015 in "The Trends Report" of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

"By joining together in labor unions, part-time instructors at several colleges have managed in recent years to win major improvements in their pay, benefits, job security, and overall working conditions.  And even where they could not unionize, such instructors have used greater activism to send the message that there are limits to their exploitation by college administrations seeking to stretch instructional budgets."

Read more at http://chronicle.com/article/Article-adjunct-Contingent/228115/

"Gov. Walker, when you compared peaceful protestors to radical terrorists, you disrespected the service and sacrifice of the men and women who serve in our armed forces, and you insulted the citizens of Wisconsin who stood up to take part in our democracy.

A united coalition of students, parents, teachers, labor, and community groups brought together by AFT-Maryland took to Annapolis on Monday night, March 9th, to demand the state legislature stop the cuts to education funding that Gov. Larry Hogan has proposed. The cuts would amount to $144 million dollars statewide, hitting Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Prince George's County especially hard.

LFT President Steve Monaghan says, “It is obscene to say that we can’t meet the obligations we have at the same time that we are giving away billions in tax exemptions.”

Governor Scott Walker broke yet another promise to working Wisconsinites this morning by signing so-called “right to work” legislation. After repeatedly stating that it was not a priority, that private sector unions were essential partners in economic recovery, and that the bill would never make it to his desk, he signed the bill gleefully, showing yet again that he’s willing to betray Wisconsin as many times as it takes in service to his personal political aspirations. But we’re not surprised; we’ve come to expect this from Scott Walker. We all know what Scott Walker’s promises are worth.

The City Union of Baltimore held a training weekend, February 20-22, 2015, for Stewards and Area Vice Presidents to reinforce the knowledge and skills needed to be active and effective in their roles.

Some cultures honor their ancestors with rituals, others with prayers or similar rites. In America there are few such practices. In fact , more often than not , we tend to forget the names of those who have gone before. It is a rare occasion when we call forth the names of 'those whose shoulders we stand upon.'