Yesterday's announcement

[James Looney]

Hi everyone,

First of all, I want to acknowledge that I haven't been great about attending CSTA events recently.  So I may be part of the problem here.

Is anyone else reeling from yesterday's announcement that there will no longer be a free membership option for CSTA?  I am very upset that they made this move.  I guess my question is... can we as a local chapter do anything about this?

It just feels so wrong to withhold access to information until people pay.  CS teachers are already in such short supply.  Can we just continue to use a Google group in addition to the CSTA proprietary site?  Can we secede from CSTA national and just continue to do our own thing??  Any other outside the box solutions that won't just price people out?

Jim

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[Mark Sobkowicz (Mark)]

I’d be happy to join a group unaffiliated with CSTA.  I certainly won’t be paying.

[Matt Pace]

James,

I agree with all your points, as well as being part of the problem for not being able to attend events.  However, the sharing of information between teachers is paramount for both our growth and our students. I would be happy to join a non-CSTA  affiliated group.

Matt

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Matthew Pace (he, him, his) AP Computer Science Teacher Science Department Chair Community Charter School of Cambridge p: (617) 354-0047 x438w: www.ccscambridge.org a: 245 Bent St, Cambridge, MA 02141

[Ruth Farmery]

Hi folks,

James, as part of CSTA I can respond to a couple of things:

All the other professional associations cost to join (NSTA, AACT etc), the move from CSTA will bring them more in alignment with other professional associations. CSTA chapters need funding to operate and so the membership structure is changing to preserve and improve what is offered to members.  There will still be public facing content, in line with other professional associations, but some things will need membership to access. 

If cost to join is an issue for folks, Amazon Future Engineer provides CSTA membership for qualifying schools, and if your school doesn't qualify, CSTA also has a scholarship fund for membership.

thanks,

Ruth

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[Plotnick, Neil]

There is still a free account option that exists. The access to resources will be limited as compared to the paid tier. Just some thoughts about this change.

1: $50 is fairly modest especially when compared with similar teacher memberships. For example, the Council for Exceptional Children has a basic membership tier of $80 with more advanced tiers of $135 or $235. The National Council for Teachers of Mathematics has a basic tier for $99 with the enhanced level at $157.

2: Some districts are willing to cover the costs for memberships. My district has typically paid for my chapter of the CSHS each year.

3: You can deduct some professional fees from your taxes. This may require that you itemize so check with a tax professional to see if this qualifies.

4: There are always other platforms for sharing and supporting CS teachers. Facebook is just one example where there are active communities that are available. (Shameless plug but I established the Cybersecurity Educators group several years ago and there are over 1800 members.)

For full disclosure, I am a CSTA Equity Fellow for this year and I have attended both regional and national conventions of the CSTA for at least a decade. I obviously believe that this is a good organization and support its mission to expand CS education, provide guidance for national and state curriculum standards, etc.

I agree that CS teachers often operate on an island in their schools and that mechanisms to support each other are a great reason to find platforms where we can connect. 

Neil Plotnick

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Neil Plotnick

Everett High School

100 Elm Street

Everett MA 02149

(He/Him)

 

[David C. Petty]

> You can deduct some professional fees from your taxes. This may require that you itemize so check with a tax professional to see if this qualifies.

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc458 I hope everyone always takes the $300 educator deduction on their taxes, no matter what! (Line 11)

- dcp / <d...@acm.org> / +1.772.444.2710

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[Kerri Murphy]

I’m glad that everyone’s having this conversation.

I love the fact that there is a chapter and the national group to communicate with and get help with ideas.  Most of us are working alone in our buildings and it’s great to have some feedback.  CSTA is also working hard on standards and policies across the nation to promote computer science education. 

I really feel like $50 is a great value for this. I’ve been a member of NSTA and NMTA and they are both more expensive. There hasn’t been a big corporate influence either, AND  the CSTA conferences have been the best I’ve been to. 😀 and I’ve made a lot of new friends! 

I would love to get some feedback about why you haven’t been able to attend so that we could make things more accessible to you. What do you think? What are some things you like with your free account?

Thank you!

Kerri Murphy

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