Newsletter July 2016
Changing of the Guard
Greetings Members:
I hope everyone is having a relaxing summer and have a chance to visit with friends and family or travel to exciting places.
Hats off to Roger Cuevas for his outstanding service to MDCREA. During the last five years he has kept us afloat and has kept us informed on all state and local issues. He will continue to be involved with MDCREA as he moves into his new position as President of FREA. Now the presidency of our organization will be in my hands and I will attempt to fill Roger’s big shoes. I hope to see more of you at our meetings and activities during the upcoming year. Have a Great Summer!
Carol
Officers and Board of Directors for 2016-2017
Officers
President Carol Cortes
Past PresidentRoger Cuevas
1stVice-President George Ellis
2ndVice-PresidentMarta A Hernandez
Secretary JudyMager
Treasurer/MembershipEllen Golden
Directors 2015-2016 Directors for 2016-2017
Betty Gordon Johnny OrrNilda Diaz
RamonaFrishmanMerry SchrageNeyda Navarro
Maurine HarrisonPat Varone
Alice LittleIrene Likakis
Gretchen Williams
MDCREA General Meetings for 2016-2017(Tentative Schedule)
All General Meetings begin at 11:00 a.m.
October 5, 2016 The Palace at Kendall
11355 SW 84 Street
Miami, Florida 33173
November 9, 2016
F.I.U. Tamiami Campus
Miami, Florida
December 7, 2016 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant
1395 NW 57th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33126
February 8, 2017 The Palace at Coral Gables
1 Andalusia Avenue
Miami, Florida33134
March 8, 2017 FIU Biscayne Bay Campus
3000 NE 151 Street
North Miami, Florida 33181
April 5, 2017 Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens
11935 Old Cutler Road
Coral Gables, Florida 33156
May 10, 2017 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant
1395 NW 57th Avenue
Miami, Florida 33126
Board Meetings will be held at the home of Carol Cortes on the Monday
before each General Meeting. These meetings begin at 10:30 a.m.
Membership
We are always trying to increase our membership. As our membership numbers increase so does our voice in Tallahassee. We ask each of our members to reach out and invite a potential member to come to a meeting and join MDCREA – Each One, Reach One. Let’s work together to protect our Health Insurance Subsidy and our COLA.
Members who have not paid their dues for 2016-2017, please send a check for $50.00 made out to MDCREA to:
Carol Cortes
2105 SW 123 Court
Miami, Florida 33175
MDCREA Website
Please visit our website – Miamidcrea.org. The site was this summer with computer assistance from the South Florida Educational Credit Union. Special thanks to President Michael DiBenedetto who is always willing to give us a helping hand.
FREA Leadership Workshop
The FREA Leadership Workshop for Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Counties, will be sponsored this year by Palm Beach on Wednesday, September 21, to take place in Lake Worth. If you are interested in attending, please call or email Carol Cortes at 305 551 0328 or
Legislation Wrap-Up from George Ellis
EDUCATION AND CHILD-RELATED BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW Information was provided byTHE MDCC PTA ADVOCATE
HB 229 Bullying and Harassment Policies in Schools
This bill mandates that districts review their bullying and harassment policies at least every 3 years and that principals integrate their district's policy into all aspects of school life, year-round. It requires the inclusion of certain bullying and harassment policy provisions and revises school reporting requirements.
HB 287 Principal Autonomy Pilot Program
This bill provides a highly effective principal of a participating school increased autonomy and authority to operate a designated low-performing school. Participating principals are authorized to select instructional personnel, determine budgets, and operate under the oversight of the state-run pilot program for 3 years. Participating school districts voluntarily relinquish control of three "D" and "F" public schools for the duration of the program.
SB 386 Expunction of Records of Minors
This bill will allow certain minors under the age of 21 to apply to have their criminal records expunged. It also allows those with expunged criminal records to be in possession of firearms, ammunition, and electric weapons and devices.
HB 499 Ad Valorem Taxation
This bill allows school districts to access their property tax revenues in a timely fashion, while preserving the right of property owners to appeal their property assessment amounts. The MDCC PTA Board supported this bill.
SB 672 Educational Options
This bill revises the definition of "curriculum" to include on-line instruction. Bill additionally revises the definition of "disability" and expands ages to include 3 and 4-year olds. The bill provides that, upon request of a parent of a student with a disability who does not have an IEP, the school district is required to complete the IEP and matrix of services within 30 days of request. In addition, the bill establishes incentive payment of $10 per student in K-8 grades to implement a standard student attire policy.
HB 793 Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program
This bill removes the higher SAT and ACT score requirement for home-education program students applying for the Florida Medallion Scholars Award. It also replaces the term "community service" with "volunteer service" and provides that the student must identify a civic issue or a professional area of interest, including activities on behalf of a candidate for public office.
HB 1147 Character-Development Instruction
This bill mandates that curriculum for grades 9-12 must include instruction on developing leadership skills, interpersonal skills, organization skills and research skills; creating a resume; developing and practicing the skills necessary for employment interviews; conflict resolution, workplace ethics, and workplace law; and managing stress and expectations.
HB 1365 Competency-Based Education
A 5-year pilot program allowing students to advance to higher levels of learning upon the mastery of concepts and skills. Students in the pilot program will be instructed on a computer and will progress by taking adaptive tests. Students are able to move forward in grade levels or are bumped backward for poor performance.
HB 5001 General Appropriations Act
The education portion of the budget provides only a 1% increase in per-pupil funding over last year, since legislators mandated a reduction in local property taxes and compensated for only a portion of the lost revenues through an increased allotment of state funds. Allocations for safe schools, class size reduction, school recognition funds and VPK remain flat, while those for ESE, digital classrooms, Personal Learning Scholarships, school uniforms and the controversial Best and Brightest Teachers Program rise. The allocation for Bright Futures is reduced. Both Florida PTA and MDCC PTA issued action alerts opposing the inadequate increase in per-pupil funding.
HB 7029 Education
This 160-page bill, amended in the final days of the Session, packed in most of the other high-priority education-related legislation making headway through the House and Senate.
Key provisions would
•Allow a parent, beginning in the 2017-2018 school year, to enroll his/her child in any public school--traditional or charter--in the state, if that school has not reached capacity. The school district/charter school would have the option of providing transportation.
•Allow a parent to request a change in classroom teacher and require response from the school district within two weeks.
•Penalize school districts that exceed set school construction cost limits by denying them state capital outlay funding for three years.
•Shorten from 3 to 2 years the minimum period after which a charter school may apply for state capital outlay funding.
•Allow any student enrolling under relaxed open enrollment or choice provisions automatic and immediate eligibility to participate in athletic and extra-curricular inter-scholastic and intra-scholastic activities; i.e., the ability to participate in tryouts, off-season or pre-season conditioning, summer workouts, in-season practice or contests.
•Allow a student at a private school (even one not belonging to the Florida High School Athletic Association) to participate in a sport at a public high school, as long as he/she has not already participated in that same sport at another school. Thus, a student could play one sport at one school, and another sport at another school.
Dr. Nancy Lawther, 1st VP of Advocacy and Legislation:
Mindy Gould, Advocacy Chair:
Eileen Segal, Legislation Chair:
We will continue to keep you informed about all legislation that affects the field of education, educators, students and retires.
Social Security COLA Projected for 2017
From the AARP Online Newsletter
Social Security’s more than 60 million beneficiaries are projected at this point to receive a tiny 0.2 percent cost-of-living adjustment next year, while some Medicare recipients could see steep premium increases. That’s according to the annual trustees reports released June 22 about the financial health of Social Security and Medicare.
The long-term outlook for Social Security old-age and disability benefits, taken together, remains the same as a year ago, with promised benefits payable until 2034 and then, without changes to the law, 79 percent of promised benefits payable through 2090. Meanwhile, the trust fund that finances Medicare’s hospital coverage is fully funded until 2028, two years less than projected a year ago.
More on Social Security Benefits
•Divorce and Social Security spousal benefits
•Maximize Social Security benefits
•Life after file and suspend
During a press conference, U.S. Treasury Secretary and managing trustee Jacob J. Lew urged Congress to “not wait until the eleventh hour to address the fiscal challenges given that they represent the cornerstone of economic security for seniors in our country.”
The AARP Take a Stand campaign has been asking presidential candidates to commit to securing the future of Social Security. “Candidates who don’t take a stand on Social Security in this important election year choose to put the program’s strength at risk in the long term,” said AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins. “Though people of all ages rely on it, its importance to older Americans — already under tremendous pressure from wage stagnation and shrinking pensions — is only likely to grow.”
Social Security annually weighs whether to give beneficiaries a cost-of-living adjustment based on the inflation rate during the third quarter of the year compared to the last year a COLA was awarded. Beneficiaries didn’t receive a COLA for 2016 because the inflation rate had fallen, the third time since 2010 they didn’t get a bump in payments. The 0.2 percent COLA that the trustees project for 2017 could yet change with inflation. The final word will come in October.
Gasoline prices have been rising this year, and the higher employment rate means that employers will have to increase wages to attract workers — both signs of inflation, said James Angel, an associate professor of finance at Georgetown University. Still, Angel said, Social Security beneficiaries should not expect much when it comes to a COLA next year.
The big question for Medicare beneficiaries is what happens to the Part B premium in 2017. With no COLA for 2016, about 70 percent of Medicare beneficiaries were “held harmless” from cost increases and are paying the same standard premium as they had in the previous three years ($104.90 a month). The rest are required by law to share the load of increased costs and pay a lot more. Congress, though, stepped in last year with a solution that limited the impact of the increases for 2016.
The small COLA now projected for 2017 would still have an impact on Part B premiums. The report estimates that standard premiums for most of those in the 30 percent not currently held harmless would jump by $27.20 to $149.00 a month next year. The other 70 percent would pay $107.60 a month in 2017 — $2.70 more than they pay now, according to the nonprofit National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
Among the 30 percent affected in 2017 would be people who did not have their premiums deducted from Social Security checks in 2016 (including those new to Medicare in 2017) and those who already pay higher premiums because they have higher incomes. The report estimates that higher-income beneficiaries would see even higher jumps in premiums next year — from $166.30 to $204.40 a month for the lowest affected tax bracket, and from $380.20 to $467.20 for those in the highest.
See also: AARP Social Security Calculator
A third group — low-income people whose states pay their Part B premiums — are not personally affected, but their states will bear the added costs.
This year’s report also projects an increase in the annual Part B deductible from $166 to $204 for all beneficiaries.
Under Medicare law, Part B (which covers doctor services, outpatient care and medical equipment) is funded differently from Part A hospital insurance. Part B premiums are set to cover 25 percent of total costs, and the federal government contributes the remaining 75 percent out of general revenues. The higher income-related premiums are set to cover 35, 50, 60 or 80 percent of the costs, depending on income level.
The rise in Medicare costs, which trigger increases in Part B premiums, is mainly due to the high prices of some recently developed prescription drugs, the report says.“High cost drugs are a major driver of Medicare spending growth,” said Medicare’s acting administrator, Andy Slavitt.“For the second year in a row, the spending growth for prescription drugs dramatically outpaced cost growth for other Medicare services.”
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FREA is affiliated with NRTA (National Retired Teachers Association) and AARP
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Florida International University Reaches Out to MDCREA
On June 30, Carol Cortes and Ellen Golden met with Florida International directors, Ms. Claudia Page, Director of Secondary Education Programs andDr. Judith Cohen, Director of Clinical Experiencesand former MDCREA Superintendent, Octavio Viseido. Their program is in need of Student Teacher Supervisors and have requested the assistance of our organization.
WANTED: Student Teaching Supervisors
If you are interested in mentoring and guiding a student teacher, please consider a position at FIU’s School of Education & Human Development.
Supervisors must meet the following criteria:
Hold a Master’s Degree or higher in an appropriate field (must match major of student teacher)
Completed a minimum of three years successful teaching experience
Possess successful supervisory experience with developing teachers
Demonstrate effective communication and interpersonal skills
[Completed the Clinical Educator Training (CET) provided by the district
Completed the META Consent Decree training requirements
In order of priority, we need supervisors with credentials and experience in the following areas:
Social Studies (Geography, History, Political Science) Grades 6-12
Science (Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics) Grades 6-12
Mathematics - Grades 6-12
English Education - Grades 6-12
Special Education - Grades K-12
Elementary Education - Grades K-6
Early Childhood – Grades PreK - 3
For additional information, please contact:
Ms. Claudia Page, Director of Secondary Education Programs – 305-348-8230, or Dr. Judith Cohen, Director of Clinical Experiences – 305-348-2082,
Additional information will be available at our October Meeting.
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