NCUEA Fall Conference By Athanasios Bayiates, KCEA Vice President KCEA President, Kim Waller, and Vice President, Athanasios Bayiates attended the NCUEA fall conference, where a number of national initiatives that affect our work in the classroom were discussed. The reauthorization of ESEA, TABOR initiatives, and the 65% Deception were a few of the issues that were on the agenda. The NCUEA, of which KCEA is a member, is the National Council of Urban Education Associations. It is comprised of over 200 of the largest NEA affiliates in the country. As members of the NCUEA, OUR Association is able to help shape NEA Resolutions, legislative programs, and policy statements, It also provides us with opportunities to see how other Associations are dealing with political actions at the national, state, and local level and what resources and tools are available to affect a positive agenda for our public schools. While TABOR has not been introduced in the Tennessee Legislature, the 65% Deception has been introduced by a legislator from East Tennessee and has failed. It is important that we, as an Association, are aware of initiatives that are being pushed by those that do not support our great public schools, so that we can protect them. KCEA President, Kim Waller, will be sharing information about NEA’s positive agenda for change in ESEA in the next issue of the Advocate so that we can put to work the tools we acquired at this year’s NCUEA Fall Conference. If you would like more information on TABOR, the 65% Deception, and other legislative attempts to weaken our great public schools, visit www.nea.org.
NCLB Update By Athanasios Bayiates, KCEA Vice President NEA, along with nine NEA affiliates and nine school districts, filed a lawsuit on April 20, 2005, claiming that the federal government was violating the unfunded mandates provision of NCLB by compelling states and school systems to use their own funds to meet the requirements as set forth in NCLB. In November of 2005, a lower court dismissed the suit; however, NEA has made oral arguments in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. To date, NCLB funding is $40 billion less than the original amount promised by Congress to fund the many demands imposed by the Act. As the ESEA comes up for reauthorization in 2007, NEA, TEA, and KCEA will be working to insure that federal funding is used to provide teachers and education support professionals with the resources and tools to get the job done. We know NCLB has affected our classrooms, and by many outside assessments of NCLB, it has been a failure. We, as educators, understand accountability. We also know we need shared responsibility and that without adequate yearly funding, we will not get adequate results. Look for more information in the upcoming Advocate on how you can get involved in the positive agenda for change. If you want to see information on how NCLB is affecting school performance, visit http://www.fairtest.org.
Health Insurance Cindy Buttry proposed, and the Knox County School Board voted, to pick up the total increase in the health insurance premiums this year. We would encourage all KCEA members to contact Cindy Buttry and their individual school board members to thank them for their support of the educators of Knox County.
Salary Committee By Athanasios Bayiates, KCEA Vice-President KCEA and the Knox County School Board created a salary committee at the beginning of the year, to research various proposals that have been put forward by school board members. The committee constructed a survey, which was sent to all school sites in Knox County, to get input, which will be compiled and analyzed by TEA and KCEA. The salary committee, along with the negotiations teams, will use the results to guide their discussions about benefits for the educators of Knox County. The results of the survey will be presented to the Knox County School Board on Monday, December 18th, at the AJ Building at 5:00 p.m. KCEA is committed to professional pay for all educators and we believe that resources that are available should be used to increase all educators’ pay so that it reflects the education and responsibility that educators have. While many outside of our Association are focused on merit pay, we believe that we need to focus on improving our salary schedule and providing opportunities for teachers to grow. We will support proposals tha tmake our great public schools better, by paying all our educators the professional salaries that we deserve. If you would like to share your thoughts and ideas, please contact your building level KCEA Representative. We also encourage all our members to come to the School Board workshop to hear the survey results.
Contact Your Legislator By Athanasios Bayiates, KCEA Vice President There is an important issue that will be coming up in the Congress in the coming months. The issue will probably be resolved by the current legislators, and that is the Classroom Epense Tax Reduction. As you are aware, in 2002, Congress passed legislation giving teachers a $250 federal tax deduction for out-of-pocket expenses and it is expected to be extended this year. However, Representative Dave Camp (R-MI) has introduced the NEA supported Teacher Tax Relief Act (H.R. 2989), which would make the deduction permanent, increase it to $400, and expand it to cover professional development expenses. The Senate version has been introduced by Senators Mary Landreieu (D-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), and John Warner (R-VA). Contact our House Representative, Jimmy Duncan, and Senators Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander and encourage them to support this legislation.