VEA Regional Retirement Meetings
VEA is sponsoring workshops for members who are thinking about retiring. These regional workshops in our area begin in March. If you are interested in finding out more about retiring, please see the flyer posted at your school or email alamb@nucps.net if you need more information. Here are the dates and locations of the Regional Retirement Seminars in our area: March 8, 2010: Fredericksburg (4:30 - 6:30) March 9, 2010: Richmond (4:30-6:30) March 16, 2010: Newport News (4:30-6:30) |
02/06/2010
Second VEA Powerpoint on School Budget and VRS Issues
The NCEA Executive Board previewed this powerpoint and found that we did not need to call a meeting to share the information provided in the materials sent by VEA as a follow-up to the first retirement meeting we held. These materials were completed before the new governor took office and the General Assembly convened in Richmond for the 2010 session. No new information was presented and we didn't want to all an unnecessary afterschool meeting. We will place a copy of these materials in the mailroom at NMS/NMS and in the NES teacher lunchroom. We will continue to update you on school budget issues and the VRS issue as decisions are made by the General Assembly and Governor McDonnell. |
VEA Legislative Flash -Friday, February 12, 2010 There's More Swirling Around Richmond than Just Snow
The subzero wind chills and the snow heaping upon heaps of snow are symbolic of the chilling affect the legislative session of 2010 is having on public education.
Lobbyists usually do two things during General Assembly; they "chase after the bills" and they "follow the money." When there isn't money but the state is still in "the black," the scramble is fairly scrappy; but when the state budget is "in the red" as we are now, tempers are short and as one retired teacher observed this week, civility is gone.
Lobby Day Monday brought in about 200 of our members and over 200 more participated in a Cyber Lobby. Kudos to everyone who took their time to talk to legislators about the budget crisis and the devastating affect their decisions will have on public education.
The governor has still not tipped his hand on exactly what the proposed cuts will be, but VEA has estimated that for every one million dollars cuts from K-12 that equals 33 teachers. Our estimates under the worst case scenario translate into 30,000 + jobs being cut state-wide.
State Superintendents released a survey summary of reductions they are considering in their school districts: Of those responding to the survey, 84% -99% will consider increasing the pupil-teacher ratio between 1 and 4 students and cutting staff-primarily teachers' aides and teacher positions. About 50% will consider salary reductions, reducing contract days, and offering early retirement incentives. Localities are finally lifting their heads out of the fog and seeing that these cuts violate the commonwealth's promise to "continually maintain a high quality education." People are finally hearing what the VEA has said for the last two years: if cuts are coming, make them temporary.
Keep reading the Cyberlobby action alerts and emailing your legislators. So far, you've generated 1700 letters on the general topic of VRS from the first request; 800 letters in response to the last alert about saving VRS; and 600 letters about changing the retirement age issued yesterday about John Watkins' bill on the floor of the Senate.
Odds are your local school division and your local government officials are on the same side as you; they are being forced to do the unimaginable. Don't take your anger out on them. Focus your attention on the General Assembly members who are using the localities' fingerprints to make the cuts. In our last election cycle, we may not have elected enough "friends" to help us.
|
VRS Issues -From VEA's February 2010 Newsletter
|
Counter: 1,200
|