Welcome!

I'm honored to have this opportunity of being the new President of Oregon Substitute Teachers Association.  By entrusting me with this responsibility, I will do what I can to remain worthy of this position and will maintain the integrity of the association.

As President, I will ensure OSTA remains a voice for all teachers-on-call in the state of Oregon.  As it is, all substitute teachers, whether or not a member of OSTA, benefit from our past and future accomplishments.

OSTA will continue to carry its voice at the legislature and counsel or advise with work place issues/concerns.  We will continue to listen.  We'll provide ideas or sources to get more teaching assignments and/or how to present yourself more professionally.

OSTA will continue to support and push for Due Process, Notification of Work Block and Solidarity. 

I and the other officers of OSTA are all volunteers; we give our time because we believe our profession of choice is noble and there is a sincere need of representation.  We know first-hand that sometimes substitute teachers are not treated fairly, take blame for a given situation and are treated as insignificant, and expendable.  Thus, we carry a positive advocating voice in solidarity representing our ethical and professional standards, our rights.  We stand together, representing all or representing just one.

 

Through many volunteered hours of listening, deliberating and communicating OSTA has been working out a solution with school district heads to stop the practice of blacklisting substitute teachers.  Through our effort and the growing voice we carry, we have noticed a significant change.  Professional courtesy, better business ethics, call it as it is, situations monitored over the last couple of years have given us reason to believe that most of the district schools are following COSTA and OSBA’s  suggestion to inform substitute teachers.  

 

In the past, if a substitute teacher was blacklisted he or she was NOT notified of the removal of their name from the substitute pool.   Substitute teachers were not even given an opportunity to present their side of an issue...let alone even informed there's an issue.  Inadvertently and/or intentionally, situations still arise where the schools don’t communicate with guest teachers about a given problem.  Unfair?  Yes! 

 

This is where OSTA's voice comes in; after being informed of a situation, and with permission from the concerned substitute, we'll begin to make phone calls, write letters and emails; if possible, an OSTA officer will meet with involved parties seeking resolve, at least understanding. 

MEMBERSHIP: I ask all OSTA members to introduce yourself to other substitute teachers; talk about OSTA and encourage them to join our association.  Let them know it's only five dollars to join and initial payment covers membership for the entire year.

I challenge each and every OSTA member to come to our Fall Conference and not to come alone!  If each one of you brings just one person (more is good), we will have doubled our membership in a single day.  We will continue to bring in highly qualified and unique guest speakers of interest, have great lunches, enjoy fellowship and meet new friends.

I encourage all of you to visit our website (www.ostasubs.org) on a regular basis.  Check out our news page and find out what's going on with OSTA, substitute teachers, and teaching in general.  Find out exactly how much the law says you are entitled to earn, and the minimum amount of hours per day a district must pay. 

 

Explore our special links page; there are multiple sources with good information, tips on teaching and current events.  Sign in to the substitute teacher bulletin board and share your experiences and read about others.

 

I welcome your input and/or suggestions, comments and concerns.  Email me robblank@spiritone.com with return contact information and I will respond.

 

Thank you,

 

Robert Blank

President

Oregon Substitute Teachers Association