Colleagues, As you prepare for some badly needed time off during the Spring break, here is a very brief update on just two current issues: - Negotiations. We’re off to a not-so-promising start to bargaining for a successor contract. Among many other unacceptable demands, the District is seeking concessions in health benefits and is offering virtually nothing more in salary increases than what teachers would receive even without a settlement. They are doing this despite the fact that they have unprecedented increases in funding, despite the fact that we are experiencing significant inflation and a huge rise in cost of living, despite the fact that there’s a growing teacher shortage nationwide and in our area, despite the fact that record numbers of teachers are resigning from the District already, and despite the fact that they can’t even find enough teachers to fill the many existing vacancies. We, however, remain determined, through negotiations, to improve our health benefits, to...