20 November 2019

• NYSUT Women’s Committee working to empower union women

  To chart its course for the year ahead, the NYSUT Women’s Committee will meet Nov. 15–16 under the theme “EmpowerHER” at NYSUT headquarters.

  Rollout of the NYSUT Sisterhood Grant, which offers funding for members to start local women’s committee chapters, is an event highlight. The grant was made possible thanks to a generous donation by former NYSUT Vice President Catalina Fortino.

  “We’re excited to once again roll up our sleeves on the Women’s Committee and continue the important work of the NYSUT’s women’s movement,” said Jolene DiBrango, NYSUT executive vice president, who serves as committee chair. “We’re particularly looking forward to

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• NYSUT workshops help members navigate student loan debt

  Managing student loan debt is confusing — and it can be easy to get misinformed or scammed.

  To help our members get straight talk and learn about their options, NYSUT is hosting a statewide series of student debt workshops in partnership with Cambridge Credit Counseling, a non-profit debt relief agency.

  “I wish I had this five years ago,” said Saratoga Springs Teachers Association member Sherry Dorrer, who attended an after-school workshop this week. ”I’ve been trying to stay on top of it — but you get a different answer every time you call your loan servicer. There are so many moving

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• North Country group taking on poverty

  In Gouverneur, the district provides transportation for parents to attend school events. In Massena, block scheduling was brought back and every first period is devoted to character education, games and building self worth. In Morristown, after-school programs feature busing and food. Many North Country educators and activists have set up school-based food pantries and clothes and hygiene supply closets.

  The People Project, a program of the American Federation of Teachers and NYSUT, along with a host of community, civic and school-based groups, recently sponsored a daylong forum on poverty to explore how to best help the poor, the homeless and families in distress in this St. Lawrence County region filled with small towns,

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• Community college conference attracts record numbers of activists

  “Like a stray dog on campus … that’s how I felt,” said Laurel Morton, describing the early years of her time as an adjunct faculty member at Syracuse University.

  The time she lost her course load at the last minute, she had no recourse, no standing and no union.

  “I literally spent the semester on the floor of my living room, with my cat,” she said.

  • Twitter Moments | Photo Gallery

  Now the president of the 11-year-old Adjuncts United local union at SU, Morton found that sharing these kinds of personal experiences was crucial to organizing and

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• Retired teacher recognized with Honor Flight

  Winston Norcross was stationed on Eniwetok Island in 1946 during “Operation Crossroads.” American B-17 drones would return to base after flying through the mushroom cloud of atomic test bombs.

  Norcross was a couple hundred yards from where the silver planes landed by remote control. The radiological crew removed the contaminated filters from the planes and put them in lead containers to be transported so that they could be examined for gamma rays and neutron measurements.

  “Some things you don’t forget,” said Norcross, a 92-year-old retired teacher from Mooers who has chronic leukemia.

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