A Vibrant Union

The NFT received four unprecedented, individual commendations from the California Federation of Teachers at the State Convention Early Childhood-

K-12 Awards Breakfast on March 25, 2006. The first was for Union Activism as demonstrated through the leadership skills of Joe Morgan, NFT President. The second award was for Political Involvement. Local 1986 was recognized for increasing COPE membership and becoming involved in our local School Board elections. The third was for Dedicated Unionist, recognizing the efforts of Fran Rozoff and Jan Delabrandais in creating the Communications Committee which succeeded in bringing the voice of Novato Unified School District teachers to the public through various media forms. Our Speaking Out video presentations were shown before and after each school board meeting which gave NFT excellent exposure. The fourth award was in recognition of NFT's unique Speaking Out video presentations shown on the local education channel in Novato. Fran and Jan wrote the scripts with guidance from President Joe Morgan. NFT has created three “Speaking Out” messages. The first subject was Proposition 98 and the Governor’s proposed initiatives in April 2005. The second subject was Teacher salary and COLA in NUSD in May 2005. The third subject was an egregious, global e-mail sent out by the district in August 2005. Each subject has produced reactions from the trustees, the administration and the community. The union has created an awareness of teacher concerns that heretofore were not recognized.