A supermajority of U.S. parents give their public schools and teachers top marks for their Herculean efforts to respond to the challenges of COVID-19, fresh polling shows, with perceptions of teachers unions soaring to record highs.
Black parents and parents in urban areas in particular feel that teachers and their unions have played an overwhelmingly positive role, and they blame the virus—rather than the professionals charged with their kids’ care—for difficulties during the pandemic.

Overall, 72 percent of parents say their school provides excellent or good-quality education, and 78 percent endorse the quality and performance of their teachers, up 7 points from 2013, according to a new national survey by Hart Research Associates and Lake Research Partners.
Teachers unions are seen by parents as a more positive force in education today than prior to the pandemic, mirroring public polling conducted over the past year and tracking record high support(link is external) for the labor movement as a whole.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said the survey confirms what she has seen in her months of school visits throughout the country. “Parents value educators’ heroic actions to help their kids through COVID and view them as partners to keep schools open safely and deliver the social, emotional and academic support kids need.”
“This polling shows the virus is our enemy, not each other. Parents are saying teachers are heroes for their efforts during this pandemic and they deeply value how their public schools have gone above and beyond to help their kids recover and thrive,” she said.

“Some on the far right have tried to exploit this crisis to usher in a shameful new chapter of teacher bashing, but they’re failing dismally. Parents are public school proud, and they are standing with the community, teachers and their unions—not only in defense of public education but also to address inadequate school funding, students’ progress during COVID, lower class size, and the conditions necessary for academic recovery, including enough counselors and nurses and adequate teacher pay.”

Parents are very satisfied with the way their schools have handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Fully 78 percent of parents express satisfaction with their children’s schools’ overall handling of the pandemic, including 82 percent of urban parents, 77 percent of Black parents and 74 percent of Hispanic parents. More specifically, 83 percent are satisfied with the schools’ efforts to keep students and staff safe.
They blamed the virus, not educators, when schools needed to temporarily switch to remote instruction or make other schedule changes. They do not believe that schools reopened too slowly, and they reject the claim that schools waited too long to resume in-person instruction.

Just 22 percent of parents believe that schools waited too long, while three-fourths feel that the school either struck a good balance between safety and learning (48 percent) or moved too quickly to reopen buildings (26 percent). Just 20 percent of urban parents and 11 percent of Black parents feel that schools waited too long before reopening.

In response to the omicron outbreak, some schools needed to periodically close buildings or temporarily return to online learning in December. Significantly, very few parents (14 percent, including 15 percent of urban parents and 9 percent of Black parents) blame teachers or teachers unions for these disruptions. Instead, most feel that these disruptions were beyond anyone’s control (47 percent) or were the fault of districts and administrators (26 percent).

Parents say their children’s teachers communicate with parents and keep them informed (80 percent), an important reason for these positive views of teachers. Similarly, 79 percent are satisfied with the job their school does communicating with parents about academics. Four in five say they are satisfied with their children’s public schools when it comes to helping their children achieve their full potential, while only 21 percent report feeling dissatisfied.
And, by a remarkable 31-point margin, parents feel that teachers unions have a positive (48 percent), rather than negative (17 percent), effect on the quality of education provided by public schools, a 23-point jump since 2013. Urban parents (62 percent to 9 percent) and Black parents (57 percent to 4 percent) feel that teachers unions are playing a positive role.

Hart Research Associates and Lake Research Partners conducted a national survey of 1,308 public school parents who were registered to vote, including subsamples of 206 Black parents and 240 Hispanic parents.
The survey was completed online between Dec. 15 and Dec. 22, 2021. The margin of error is +/-3.1 percent.
The full memo  can be viewed here.

​Contact:
Andrew Crook
o: 202-393-8637 | c: 607-280-6603
acrook@aft.orgWASHINGTON--                                                                                                                                 
 The AFT represents 1.7 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty      and professional staff; federal, state and local government employees; nurses and healthcare workers; and early childhood educators.

MFPE isn't just the biggest and best union in Montana.
We're also the most professionally diverse union in the United States.
 
MFPE members are educators, public employees, nurses, law enforcement officers, and so much more. Our power is in our unity and solidarity, regardless of location or profession.
 
Our newest video -  "Together"  - drives the point home.
 
                             Help us spread the word!   

REGISTER HERE
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Conference Registration Fees ​

NO ONSITE REGISTRATION - See conference registration fees for dates and fees.  

 

Fellow teachers and members of the Great Falls Education Association are excited for you to visit us!
   Great Falls offers a variety of places to shop, museums to visit, restaurants to sample diverse cuisine, and entertainment venues.
Come to participate in the conference and enjoy your time with us!  ​

Please note the following information in regard to an email that has been sent to GFEA membership:

RE:  Blue Cross Blue Shield Claims Administrator <Notice@BCBSsettlement.com>

1. The email is not a scam and is legitimate.
2. If you fill out a claim form, you could receive money as part of the settlement.
3. If you do nothing, you do not get any of the settlement but cannot later sue them.
4. You can fill out a form to not be part of the settlement and chose to sue individually in court. (The lawyer will get paid, but you may not get anything and will have lawyer fees).
5. If you choose to file a claim, you do not need your dates of coverage, group number, or subscriber number, as they will look those up for you as long as you have your name, address and employer information correct.

   Marlee Sunchild has won, with a ballot count of 3,711 votes, the one open trustee position with the Great Falls Public Schools district by a wide margin in the 2021 school election.
   Sunchild, who retired from teaching in 2020, ran in a pool of eight candidates vying for the position being vacated by Trustee Teresa Schreiner, who did not seek reelection after serving her term.
​   Sunchild will serve as a trustee for a three year term.

  From Bob Griffith, GFEA president
 Through this trying time in the education of our students, our kids, we want our teachers to know how much we not only appreciate all they do, but that we recognize the extent of how they go above and beyond.
   Even though we know that to do our best teaching, we must stay connected, this time of zoom meetings and social distancing has created challenges for maintaining these connections. And yet, we must stay focused and find ways to connect to our inner lives, our colleagues, our students as well as the skills and knowledge we teach.
   When we live and work in isolation, we miss out on what we need most:  empathy, shared wisdom and communal expertise. And so, to all of you who teach, we know how you are working every day to make a difference in kids' lives. The "connections" you strive to make for the benefit of kids do not go unnoticed. Stay safe. You are appreciated.

Even during a pandemic and legislative session, MFPE staff, governance and members continue to planning to provide the BEST professional development available to educators.

Yes, the conference is seven months away, and that feels like an eternity; however, the deadline for applications to present sessions for the conference is April 30, 2021. 

Please encourage amazing MFPE members and community partners to submit applications to present soon!
 
Go here to read all about the 2021 MFPE Educators' Conference.  
 
We have recently updated the website to include a local hotel list: 
​https://www.mfpe.org/2021-educator-conference/#

Montana Educators Now Qualify                      for COVID-19 Vaccine Following Tester Push​


(U.S. Senate) – As part of his continued efforts to ensure that Montana schools can fully reopen as quickly and safely as possible, U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced that, following his efforts, school teachers and staff in pre-K-12 schools and childcare programs are now able to sign up to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at pharmacies participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. 

​They can find the nearest pharmacy at vaccinefinder.org to make an appointment. 
 
These vaccines are not a part of Montana’s state allocations, instead coming from the Biden Administration’s Federal Retail Pharmacy Program which partners with pharmacies across the country to distribute vaccines as quickly and effectively as possible.

On Monday, Montana will move into Phase 1B+ of its vaccination plan, but educators and other essential workers are still under Phase 1C.
 
“In my conversations with parents, students, and teachers across Montana, it’s clear we all share the same goal of getting our schools fully reopened as quickly and safely as possible,” said Tester. “That is why I fought to extend this initiative to ensure Montana’s teachers, school staff, and childcare workers can get vaccinated. I’ll continue to prioritize the safety of our students and educators as we fully reopen our schools.”
 
The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination is a collaboration between the federal government, states and territories and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks to increase access to coronavirus vaccinations across the country. On March 2, following pressure from Tester and education advocates across the country, the Biden Administration announced a directive that all states prioritize school staff and childcare workers for vaccines, challenging states to get everyone in this group vaccinated by the end of March.
 
Tester has been working diligently to ensure that Montanans are able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible. This week, he secured $20 billion for vaccine distribution in the COVID relief package making its way through Congress, and over the past few weeks, he has successfully pushed the Biden Administration to allocate significant increases in vaccine distributions to Montana.
 
Tester also fought tirelessly to secure $11 billion as a part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, including $156 million for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to accelerate research and development of treatment and vaccines, and to secure additional funding of $4.5 billion for vaccine distribution and administration in the December COVID relief package.