Vol. 61, #3 • Jan-Feb., 2021 • Area XII • San Mateo County Division #22 • Bi-monthly Bulletin of the SMCalRTA President’s Message A fresh launch has arrived for us with plenty of expectations, fresh possibilities and good memories. Let’s welcome the New Year 2021 with big cheers! With all the restrictions this past year, I’m sure we are eagerly energized all over the world as we prevail to overcome the pan- demic. Operation Warp Speed, the program to acceler- ate COVID 19 vaccine development and its approval, helped lift the veil, but it won’t be until late spring/early summer, according to the news, when success is achieved in neutralizing/eradicating antibodies to prevent further viral infections. There is a hope for a brighter tomorrow and back to normalcy. CalRTA’s focus is still increasing our membership! Based on experience I’m sure several active teachers have planned to retire at the end of the school year. Please contact your friends or former districts to obtain names of those retiring. We need to contact them while we still know where they teach. We have brochures to inform them of member benefits. Please pass the information to any of the officers or committee members so we can We had a delightful Holiday Event with Area 12 Divi- contact them. sions and guests on December 15th! Very successful get What would you like to do for With that said, together with 47 attendees! Talented Mountain View our division that you can’t do now? Give us your High School Madrigal and Choruses! input so we can meet the needs of the members of the organization. Reflect on the challenges and blessings this past year. Membership Make the most of your day—Laugh, love, live, learn, Happy 2021 to all! Division 22 welcomes its newest play, dream and JUST BE HAPPY. LIVE EVERY members—CLARE ELLEN GALLAGHER, BENE- MOMENT! DICTE S. WENGER & LEONARDA BRUSH. Best regards, The virtual MRRC meeting last month pointed some Lyn Chan information regarding membership. Review the MRRC article in this issue about the frightening news of the decreasing membership number in our organization who’s primary purpose is to protect our teachers’ pen- sion. We need everyone’s support to help increase our membership. Please encourage active and newly retired teachers to join CalRTA. ­­—Ron Quok, Membership Chair To Enhance And Protect The Benefits Of Retired Educators CalRTA State Committee Reports Membership Recruitment and Government Relations Committee (GRC) Retention Committee (MRRC) Championing Advocacy Membership For years, CalRTA was a growth organization, striving Hope the New Year is finding you well and hopeful. for 100,000 members in order to increase advocacy 2020 was a wild ride! Covid affected how our state clout. Now, CalRTA continues on a dangerous downhill and federal legislatures chose to budget their money. slide — losing over 10,000 members during the last 10 Many important issues have been put on the back years. From 2005 to 2020, there has been a 30% loss of burner so that more focus goes into the issues related to membership in CalRTA. At the peak, membership was Covid. Our Government Relations Committee keeps a at almost 53,000. Today, membership is at 37,255. Over close eye on all things related to public schools and our one half of our members have been a part of CalRTA for retirees and their needs. over 20 years. As they are lost, there are not enough new Please keep in mind CalRTA is a non-partisan members recruited to keep membership growing. organization. People on both sides of the aisle care about Beginning in 2008, membership became a major con- education. We’re proud of the non-partisan bills we’ve cern of our association. Our CalRTA Board monetarily been able to encourage. supported professional research to learn how to attract Still, we must pay attention to the make-up of both more Baby Boomers into our association. Three major the House and Senate. Democrats now have a very nar- studies of CalRTA members and potential members row lead in the House. They used to have a 30 seat lead, were conducted — (1) Membership Study - Marketing but no more. That means there will be a lot of fluctua- Challenges, (2) Focused Thinking: Current Teacher Focus tion on the outcome of various bills. Groups, and (3) Visionary Group — The Strategic Plan- We’ll have to watch the Senate closely. There is still ning Project: The Future of CalRTA. For more informa- a lot of division in our country. We must wish our new tion about these studies, contact Lorraine Martinez at president well in his attempts to have the parties [email protected]. cooperate with each other enough to get things done. Through surveys done in 2016, it was discovered that Covid, recession and social issues continue to loom what mattered most to division members was advocacy large. We’ll see how things play out. These are CalRTA’s for their continued retirement security, and secondly, primary concerns on the Federal level: retirement information including benefits. Another Health Care: Covid 19 vaccine distribution; Protective survey to members of one division supported these find- equipment and other needs in Senior Living Facilities ings and shared that for recruitment. CalRTA should Medicare; Medicaid changes to the Affordable Care Act; emphasize active, personal advocacy on legislative issues, and Prescription Drug Cost Control provide useful information for seniors, and support public education. Interesting that social activities were Social Security: WEP/GPO repeal; Solvency and way down the list and were not supported as necessary Funding for recruitment purposes. CalRTA: March 1-3 — Advocacy Days — Most likely David Walrath, our CalRTA Legislative Advocate, virtual suggested having an additional category of membership, Advocacy Member, where a person could be a “virtual/ Our Issues on Education: Fair funding: No voucher electronic” member. This membership category was ap- proposals; Limitation on charter school expansion and proved by the Board at the September 9, 2020 meeting. support Free; Community college—Free first two years Important Points from the CalRTA Standing Rules, of public colleges and universities (That would be true Article II: Membership, Section 40 for parents who make less than $120,000/yr.); Increase • CalRTA Advocacy Membership solely focuses on funding for Special Education; Universal pre-school; engaging in advocacy activities for CalRTA issues, but and School infrastructure funding the member prefers not to attend Division meetings Issues in California: Immigration Reform (We are the or attend conferences. Nor are they interested in number one agricultural producers in the country. We receiving publications or attending meetings. need to protect our workers.); Protection of DACA; • All information will be received electronically. Climate Change mitigation; Tax Equity; and Federal • Advocacy Membership dues will be the same as a stimulus funding for state and schools CalRTA Member. You’ll find up-to-date information on the CalRTA.org • Advocacy Membership shall be its own Division with website. Check it out! dues being allocated to that Division. Dues from this —Bobbie Whiteman, GRC Area Rep Division shall support CalRTA Advocacy of our legis- Page 2 To Enhance And Protect The Benefits Of Retired Educators lative platform. Expenditures from this Division shall 2021 Tentative Dates and be under the direction of the CalRTA Government Relations Committee, will be used for advocacy Virtual Programs activities. Mon., Jan. • Full wording can be found at: https://calrta.org/wp- No Meeting content/uploads/Standing-Rules-as-of-111820.pdf Mon., Feb. 8th Founders’ Day Members must sign in to go to Division resources/ Mon., Mar. 8th TBA Division handbook Standing Rules. Fri., Apr. 16th Area 12 Legislative Event— Virtual at 1 P.M Communication Technology Mon., May 10th TBA Committee (CTC) UPDATE Mon., June 14th Flag Day/Fun Event/ WEBINARS ON DEMAND: Entertainment CalRTA on YouTube—1 click does it! Looking for recordings of past webinars? Want to revisit Grant Committee and review a Zoom, Facebook, or Division Website This year the Grant Committee was able to award 16 presentation? You can easily access any of CalRTA’s past teacher support grants of approximately $600 each to webinar recordings simply by clicking on the YouTube teachers from Hillsborough, Pescadero, Atherton, Menlo icon in the upper right-hand corner of the calrta.org Park, East Palo Alto, San Mateo, Belmont, Woodside, home page OR your Division’s website. No more search- and Redwood City! We were happy to be able to distrib- ing. No more frustration. One click and all the webinars ute the money before the holidays to very appreciative are there for the viewing. Just click “Videos” once you and deserving teachers! What a great list of recipients! open CalRTA’s YouTube. Congrats to all of them and much luck throughout this —Sue Breyer, CTC Specialist school year! Stay safe- TECHNOLOGY / iPADS: —Molly Griffin, Grant Committee Member iPads do some Zoom things differently – here’s help! We have provided webinars and written how-to pages Financial Report so people can use Zoom successfully on their comput- ers and smartphones. Now we have a how-to file for those who use iPads for Zoom sessions. Much is similar to Zooming on computers, but there are still a few differences. Knowing these should be helpful for our attendees with iPads. A “How To” sheet should soon be available to download from the state website —Marilynn Smith, CTC Specialist Scholarship Committee We congratulate Kaylee Basso for doing student teach- ing at Sunset Ridge Elementary School, Pacifica School District. A check for $750 was sent to her. According to Scholarship guidelines, past scholarship recipients may apply for addition funds if they student teach in Califor- nia and inform the Scholarship Committee.