Retirement First on the UEA Agenda

While DEA has spent most of this week helping with 10-minute meetings in the schools, Kory Holdaway has led the UEA team with lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. If you have not yet had a 10-minute retirement meeting in your school for all employees, contact your DEA building rep to get the information.

The coalition on retirement (of which UEA is a part) met with House Democrats Thursday during their noon caucus meetings and discussed the challenges related to retirement changes. UEA along with the Utah Public Employees Association, Utah School Employees Association, the Fraternal Order of Police and other labor groups all stood united against the changes proposed by Senator Liljenquist. Each of the groups recognizes there are challenges that Utah Retirement Systems must face; however, we are all in agreement we need to slow down the train these bills are on. The House Democrats asked some very good questions dealing with the protection of the retirement system. As the discussion proceeded, the need to protect the Defined Benefit in the URS system was stressed by each group in the coalition. It was shared with the members of the caucus that teachers and public employees should be looked upon as one of the great state assets and not a liability that must be funded. We also shared with them the need to maintain a meaningful benefit plan to attract and retain quality employees in our classrooms and public employment. The Democrats were very receptive to our message and wanted more information to further understand this important public policy decision.

We encourage you to visit Under the Dome frequently for updates on the lobbying efforts of UEA. Next Friday, February 5, is the first Educator Day on the Hill. We can still use some help that day. Contact Susan (susan@dea.org) if you are willing to take a day to visit with legislators, meet with the UEA team, and attend committee meetings. Other events are planned for next week. Your DEA building reps have that information and more will be sent to members early next week.

Legislative Session Begins

Today is the first day of the legislative session for 2010. As you probably know, Senator Killpack resigned recently and the Davis GOP has recommended that the governor appoint former Layton Mayor Jerry Stevenson to the position. With the resignation of Senator Killpack, the Senate leadership has changed as well.
UEA is once again planning Educator Days on the Hill beginning February 5. Let Susan know if you are interested in participating in one of those events. Other activities will be scheduled to emphasize to legislators our concerns about funding, retirement, etc. Follow this blog and the UEA Under the Dome for updates and information.
The UEA team has been active for several weeks already even before the start of the session. Kory Holdaway, UEA Director of Government Relations, is well known among the legislators and will be a great spokesman for educators having only recently left the classroom.

Legislative Dinner

Thursday evening, January 21, DEA Executive Board members gathered for dinner with 8 local legislators. During the dinner DEA members discussed many issues with legislators with proposed retirement changes being among the topics. Senator Liljenquist indicated he is reconsidering the move to a 35-year requirement for full retirement. This is a major shift which would keep him closer to his stated intention of not impacting current employees.
Following the dinner, legislators and the others present heard a presentation from Dr. Pam Perlich from the University of Utah which focused on the changing demographics of the nation and Utah. She indicated that Utah is in a good position to learn from the mistakes made by other states since we are behind the nation in this trend. We have time to implement changes to address these shifting demographics in ways other states did not.
Susan Firmage was thrilled with the turn out and the response of our legislators. Even in these difficult times, it is good we can still communicate with our legislators and have some impact on decisions they are making regarding and classrooms and personal finances.

Legislaturive Session Begins on Monday

You have probably heard that there was a leadership shakeup in the Senate just one week before the session begins. Those of you who were delegates to the county convention may be involved in the choosing of a replacement for Sheldon Killpack in District 21. You will also be hearing news about important issues under consideration by the legislature this year including retirement, ethics and the budget.

We encourage you to get in the habit of checking this blog and UEA Under the Dome ( http://www.utea.org/politicsLegislation/legislativeInformation/index.htm ) for developments. We will also continue to pass on information from the UEA lobbying team as it comes to us. Contact your building reps or the DEA Office if you have questions during the session.

Town Meeting Tomorrow in Bountiful

A pre-session Town Hall meeting will be hosted jointly by Sen. Dan Liljenquist, Rep Becky Edwards, and Rep. Sheryl Allen. It will be held Wednesday, January 20, at 7:00 pm in the auditorium of the Bountiful Library. They are hoping for a large crowd who will come to participate and share in a discussion of ideas and suggestions for the situations we are facing as members of our community and state.
Those represented by any of these legislators may want to plan to attend. There may be some discussion of the retirement system as well as other issues facing the education community.

Professional Days

During negotiations last spring, our goal was to allow teachers as much time as possible in their classrooms during the professional days. Recognizing the need for time for preparation and grading, the district agreed to set aside only four hours from those five days for in-service. Principals were also encouraged to keep interuptions to a minimum during those days. Since these days are no longer funded by QT money, some limitations set by the legislature for use of those days no longer apply.
Although we decreased from seven QT days to five professional days, we were able to maintain more days than many districts. Some lost all of those days. Remember, all Davis School District employees took a two-day furlough this year.
DEA encourages teachers to take advantage of in-service and other opportunities to keep current and learn new strategies. As professionals, individual teachers can best determine the best balance between in-service and preparation.

DEA Building Reps Gather in Farmington

Monday and Tuesday, January 11 and 12, representatives from schools in the county will gather at the DEA office for their monthly meeting. They will receive updates on such things as the following:

- Retirement
- Upcoming Legislative Session and Related Activities
- Calendar for Next Year
- Plans for the Professional Day, January 19
- New UEA PR Campaign
- Building Rep Group Site
- DEA Swim Night - Bountiful Recreation Center at 7 PM on Janaury 23
- DEA/DCEA Retirement Seminar at Northridge High on February 18

Ask your building reps for updates and keep checking this blog.

Retirement Update

As the legislative session approaches, we are getting a better idea what may be proposed. Keep in mind DEA and UEA oppose any changes in the system at this time. Instead, we propose a year of study to be sure the possible need to make adjustments to the retirement system could be fully understood before any action is taken.

You can link here for the most current UEA summary of anticipated proposals.

http://www.utea.org/politicsLegislation/retirement/issueOverview.htm

Davis Teachers Impact NEA Resolutions

The National Education Association and its affiliates are governed democratically. NEA actions and policy are determined each summer at the Representative Assembly (RA). The Davis Education Association usually sends twelve or more delegates to this assembly. The official document containing NEA's beliefs or position on various topics is called the NEA Resolutions. This document is updated and reauthorized by the RA each year.
The group that guides the revising and updating of this document, and assists any NEA member who may wish to submit an amendment to the document, is called the Resolutions Committee (RC). Utah has two teacher members and two education support professionals on this committee. One of the Utah representatives on the committee is Andrew Owens, a member of the DEA Executive Board. Andrew will be traveling to Washington, DC in February for the Resolutions Committee Winter Meeting.
The Resolutions Committee is guided by a five member group called the Internal Editing Committee (IEC). This group, which includes the committee's chair, Tony Crawford, from Oregon, is selected by NEA President Dennis Van Roekel and approved by the NEA Board of Directors. We are fortunate to have Brian Ferguson, who currently represents Davis on the Utah Education Association Board of Directors, as a member of the IEC. He will be meeting with the IEC in January to prepare for the full Resolutions Committee meeting in February.
As you can see, along with Lily Eskelsen, the NEA Vice-president, who is also from Utah, we are very well represented at the national level of our organization.

Happy New Year and Welcome Back

We hope you had a great winter break and are eager to get back to school. We too took some time off in preparation for a busy new year. As January begins, we welcome a new school board member and begin to prepare for the upcoming legislative session.

We hope you will continue to keep an eye on this spot for updates as the legislative session heats up. We will be watching closely for legislation impacting retirement. The budget will be tight and we will be fighting to maintain education funding in this tight financial year. We will be supporting UEA efforts to lobby the legislature on behalf of teachers. Check http://www.utea.org/ for postings from the UEA lobby team.

At the same time, issues will continue in the district and we will work to be sure teachers are represented as decisions are made. Be sure to comment on the proposed calendars which can be accessed on the district's web page http://www.davis..k12.ut.us/. Several boundary changes are being studied which will impact several elementary and junior high schools. If you work in impacted schools, we encourage you to attend open houses and give input to your administrators.