January 2021 - State of the UniServ Unit
Staff Changes
The 2020-2021 school year started with a transition for the NCUU staff. Ron Anderson, longtime NCUU Director and former GEA member, retired after 17 years of service to NCUU at the end of August. Beginning on August 1, Zac Johnson joined the office staff as the new NCUU Director. Zac was previously a 5th grade teacher and local association board member, bargainer, and elections committee chair in Tallahassee, FL.
Membership
Entering 2021, NCUU is over 1,700 members strong! 6 of the 9 NCUU local affiliate memberships represent over 50% of their bargaining unit, with both Platte Valley and Johnstown-Milliken representing over 80% of licensed staff in their districts. Membership continues to grow across NCUU locals, with some impressive gains in the fall of 2020. Highland Education Association grew their membership by over 15% in the first month of the school year alone!
Bargaining
Despite a rough outlook at the beginning of the pandemic, NCUU associations have had successful bargaining sessions. GEA started the 2020-2021 school year with steps and horizontal movement on the salary schedule secured despite some uncertainty. After the success of MLO/Bond initiatives in November, JMEA returned to the table to secure a 6% increase to base pay, and will be initiating a joint study committee focused on reformulating the salary schedule. Bargaining and Meet & Confer teams have worked throughout the year to prepare to advocate for NCUU members in the spring of 2021.
COVID-19 Response
As with the rest of the state, country, and world, COVID-19 presented unique challenges for the unit which varied from district to district. Through it all, NCUU members worked to advocate for themselves, their colleagues, and their students.
A few success stories:
Early in the pandemic, JMEA negotiations team and executive board members advocated for and successfully secured increased (paid) planning time to address the additional workload brought on by synchronous hybrid learning and remote teaching.
Throughout the summer and into the fall, GEA worked at the building and district level to advocate for members, addressing concerns about safety protocols, securing increased (paid) planning time, and ensuring through a Memorandum of Understanding that teachers could not be compelled to provide coverage for absent colleagues, and that those who did so voluntarily would be compensated for their additional time.
FLEA members responded quickly to the possibility of school board action removing cohorts and other safety protocols, securing petition signatures from over 70% of licensed staff (as well as many classified staff), and presenting the petition publicly at the school board meeting. The safety measures were not eliminated.
2020 Elections Cycle
Election cycles bring opportunities for involvement in the political systems that shape educators’ and students’ daily lives, and 2020 was no exception. There are few sectors in which the day-to-day operations of workers are shaped so directly by legislative action - from federal testing requirements and funding, to state-level evaluation laws, funding structures, and mandates like the READ Act, to local-level Mill Levy Overrides impacting local funding.
NCUU supported state-wide efforts early on by providing member input to the member-led CEA Fund on endorsements in both House District 50 and Senate District 23. NCUU members supported campaigns in both districts through literature drops and phone banks, and used phone banking to support state-wide ballot initiatives as well.
Locally, with the help of over 60 volunteers, this cycle saw new and successful tactics used on a variety of measures across NCUU. In Weld Central, Halloween provided the opportunity to distribute messages in support of the Mill extension in the community. JMEA volunteers distributed door hangers in addition to their sign waving, letter writing, and phone banking. ALL of the Mill/Bond ballot issues in NCUU districts were successful!
NCUU and CEA follow clear guidelines when getting involved in elections-related activities:
✔ Yes on measures and candidates that prevent funding cuts to public education now and in the future
✔ Yes on measures and candidates that secure more funding for public education
✖ No on measures and candidates that make cuts to funding for public education now and in the future
✖ No on measures and candidates that would implement any unfunded mandates to public education
✖ We don’t get involved unless it’s about public education
Northern Colorado Internet Access Summit
Working with CEA partner organization Coloradans for the Common Good (CCG), NCUU responded to alerts that internet access was impacting both student and educator access to technologies required for remote teaching and learning. On December 2, we brought together a diverse group of over 40 stakeholders, including NCUU leaders, local superintendents, district and state-level elected officials, district technology staff, CCG leaders, internet providers, and members of the press.
In preparation for and following this meeting, NCUU staff and leaders, along with CCG staff, held relational meetings with superintendents and staff in every district, as well as representatives from Aims Community College, local school board members, staff from Congressman Ken Buck’s office, the Colorado Broadband Office, and internet providers ranging from small, rural telecom providers to StarLink. NCUU member voices directly impacted the passage of HB20B-1001, which was co-sponsored by Rep. Mary Young (D-HD 50) and Rep. Matt Soper (R-HD 54). Representative Young even referenced NCUU survey data in her committee testimony on the bill during the 2020 extraordinary legislative session.
Following the summit, coverage appeared in both the Colorado Sun and Chalkbeat, with NCUU teacher stories leading the way.
Looking Forward
The work continues in 2021! There are a number of exciting things on the horizon:
NCUU staff and GEA Leadership have prepared a COpilot course focused on issue advocacy at the building and district level, intended for ARs. The first run of this course will be available to GEA members at no cost (except for graduate credit through Adams State, if desired), with future sessions being open to all NCUU members (also at no cost).
NCUU kicked off the spring legislative season with a virtual Town Hall meeting with Representative Mary Young. We will continue to reach out to our Republican elected officials, who declined to participate in the first town hall. Be on the lookout for opportunities for legislative engagement throughout the 2021 legislative session!
As the virus (hopefully) begins to clear in 2021, we will gradually get back to organizing in familiar ways, working on building relationships in the community and increasing educator voice in NCUU districts. UniServ Director Zac Johnson is looking forward to spending more time in the field with you all!
