Union Business

Given the time constraints and the impending opening of the school year, the CFT Officers ommended that we fill the position immediately as a staff person is necessary to work with our members on many professional issues. The CFT Executive Council approved filling this position as a full-time position with Lesley-Ann Smillie for the 2006-07 school year, with the proviso that this position will be posted in our Newsliner for applicants to be considered for the 2007-08 school year.

For now, we are confident of Lesley-Ann's knowledge and skills. She had done an outstanding job managing the work of the Collective Bargaining Committee during the 2005-06 school year. She has demonstrated the required attention to detail needed, as well as the interpersonal skills that the position necessitates. She has also demonstrated her communication and collaboration skills by leading the CB Committee, by drafting our Bargaining Survey, and by her participation in the Peer Review Panel as a CFT appointee. Another characteristic required for this position is follow-through and perseverance, all needed when representing the interests of our members.

Lesley-Ann began her teaching career as a second grade intern at Roberts Paideia. She also taught ond and third grades in a Dayton Public School. She has taught at Windsor and Douglass Elementary Schools and has served as CFT BR. Even while teaching full-time, no job was too small or too large for Lesley-Ann to handle when CFT requested her skills. In fact, she has participated in 15 different training sessions and committees, both locally through CFT and the AFL-CIO, as well as at the state and national levels through OFT and AFT. These experiences include AFT's Union Leadership Institute, participation over two years in the Institute for Teacher Union Leadership and collective bargaining workshops offered at both the state and national levels.

Lesley-Ann will work very hard to serve the needs of our members on professional issues, from development of Individual Professional Development Plans, assistance with licensure, teacher evaluation, career in teaching, and work with the Curriculum Councils. Her presence in our office will also provide expertise during the collective bargaining process this year, having served as Collective Bargaining Chair.


CFT Is an affiliate of the 1.3 million member Amercian Federation of Teachers, Ohio Federation of Teachers, & AFL-CIO