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• YOUR REWARD •
DSEA
Award nominations due February 1
Who is
an unsung hero?
DSEA has several awards, awards that are made at our annual Celebration
Dinner, March 11, at Dover Downs.
See
if we have an award for your hero.
Turn around a School Board? Yes, you can.
Colonial,
Red Clay, Indian River and Christina locals have had great success recently
in helping to elect friendly school board candidates. Would you like to
know how they did it?
Mark
your calendars to attend School Board Election Training on one of
these dates: this Thursday,
January 13, 4:30 - 7:00 PM
DSEA NCC Office
RSVP to Carol Zeisler or Yvonne Williams at
302-366-8440.
Wednesday,
January 19,
4:30-7:00pm
Georgia House Restaurant, Millsboro
RSVP to Gerri Coble at
1-866-734-5834.
Thursday,
January 20
4:30 - 7:00 PM
DSEA Dover Office
RSVP to Gerri Coble at
1-866-734-5834.
The
workshop will help you understand the timelines, mechanics and other
"nuts and bolts" issues involved in local school board races in a
broad, general sense and then to invite local affiliates to work with DSEA
leaders and staff on a more individualized basis into the later
winter/early spring months if they then decide to get involved in a local
school board election.
Dinner
will be served. RSVPs
are required.
Contact DSEA UniServ Director Toby
Paone or Tim Barchak, dir.
of legislation and political organizing, by e-mail or by phone at
1-866-734-5834 if you have any questions.
DSEA and Horace
Mann sponsor Defensive Driving Courses
The
new schedule for March and April classes is out.
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• YOUR VOICE
•
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Don't miss
WAR! Feb. 11-13 at the Beach
Deadline to
register for Winter Advocacy Retreat extended to Friday, January 14.
Sign
up now.
Unionism
in a Changing Education, Political and Economic Environment
It’s 2011.
Delaware has won one of 12 Race to the Top grants and received
substantial money for School Improvement Grants.
Four Delaware schools are identified as Partnership Zone schools and six
more will be identified next year.
Districts are developing rigorous and innovative plans to improve
education for all students and transform their lowest performing
schools.
Extended learning time, incentives, and restructured salary schedules are
part of many local discussions.
The economy continues to be a problem.
The Governor and some legislators are once again considering two-tier
health care and pension programs for state employees in order to reduce
state costs.
Are you and your local association prepared to deal with these
challenges? Do you have a plan for the future of your association and a
design for education in your district?
Join
colleagues from up and down the state at WAR, beginning Friday evening,
February 11 through Sunday noon, February 13 at the Atlantic Sands Hotel
on the Boardwalk in Rehoboth Beach.
Click
here for more information, including the schedule and
online registration.
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•
YOUR ASSOCIATION •
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DSEA
Staff position open
UniServ
Director Charlie Shaffer, with DSEA for 15 years, has moved on to a
staff position for our colleagues in Pennsylvania - PSEA. Many, many
members in Kent and Sussex County thank him for his advocacy, and wish
him well.
DSEA Executive Director Howard Weinberg has posted a job opening announcement.
Deadline for letters of interest and resumes are due to him by January
17.
Interested? Click
here for job description and how to apply.
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•
YOUR PROFESSION •
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Deadline
for Read Across America Contest videos is January 20
You
can have fun with this one! NEA's Read Across America Day is Tuesday,
March 1. But to promote interest in reading and a way to win prizes for
your students, including a special visit from the Cat in the Hat, check
out our Read
Across America web page.
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•
YOUR BENEFITS •
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Markell
administration answering our questions about health care; agrees to work
together - as we did years ago with Worker's Compensation Plan - to find
cost savings
We
will begin meeting with Markell administration officials very soon to
explore - with other members of our Coalition of State Workers United
- finding savings to the state's budget for employee benefit
costs, instead of shifting costs to state employees. We have agreed to
let the debate take place during these meetings, as opposed to in public.
We are hopeful that we can find savings, especially regarding health care
costs.
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• YOUR
COMMUNITY •
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Educators
under attack
States moving to silence educator voices
Loss
of payroll deduction, collective bargaining and defined benefit pensions…these
aren’t vague threats. This is happening today in many states.
Here is
a quick compilation and update on just three states - AL, WI and
MN.
• The Alabama State Senate has
passed legislation (SB 2) under the guise of “ethics reform” that is
really a thinly veiled attempt to undercut public educators.
The
bill would prevent associations like the Alabama Association of Educators
from collecting any funds, including membership dues, through payroll
deduction.
The
bill contains very restrictive language that essentially renders the
Alabama Association of Educators and their members voiceless in debates
on issues that impact their schools, their students, and their personal
pocketbooks.
In
fact, vague language in the bill appears to prohibit any collection of
membership dues or other funds by any means – which would essentially put
the AEA out of business.
• Newly-elected Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker has called for rescinding the right
of government employees to collectively bargain. The Republican-controlled
legislature will likely support this idea.
• Minnesota Governor Tim
Pawlenty published an op-ed in the December 13 Wall Street Journal calling
for a large-scale confrontation with public employee unions, including
“bring[ing] public employee compensation back in line with the private
sector and reduc[ing] the overall size of the federal civilian work
force," and “end[ing] defined-benefit retirement plans for
government employees. “
These
are just the tip of the iceberg. According to NEA, more states are sure
to follow with similar anti-education, anti-union
initiatives.
We
need to fight back! Educators have a right to organize and advocate for
policies that affect their jobs and the students they serve.
Help
us fight back by signing up at www.educationvotes.nea.org!
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