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Please share this edition of The Advocate with all other interested school employees and encourage them to contact legislators, too. |
| Now is the time to save your students’ education and your own health care While legislators remain at home, you have the opportunity to make a huge impact on their actions to adopt a state budget in the coming weeks. Request a meeting. Call them at home or work. Invite them to your school or work place. Send them an email. Remind both your state senator and representative that you are their constituent, that you are informed, that you care, and that you vote. |
| Take time each Wednesday to mobilize members & show your solidarity KEA is asking every member to take time out for action every Wednesday until we have an adequate, compassionate state budget. We ask all members to contact both their House member and Senator. KEA is also asking every member to show their solidarity by wearing the same color each Wednesday. For Wednesday, May 5, the color is black to show that we are in mourning over the lack of an adequate, compassionate state budget. Each Friday you’ll be notified about what the color for the following Wednesday will be. Action Wednesdays are also great times to contact legislators and ask every other KEA member to also contact legislators. You can email your legislators through KEA’s legislative web site: www.keepkentuckylearning.org or by leaving a message in Frankfort at 800.372.7181. Better yet, call your legislators while they are at home and set up a meeting or have a personal phone call. Best of all, invite them to your school to meet with lots of school employees and find out how budget cuts will affect you and your students. |
| Special session most likely to be held in May Since the General Assembly did not adopt a state budget during the regular legislative session that ended April 15, the Governor must call them back into special session or face a shutdown of many state services. That special session could be as early as Monday, May 10. The Governor has said that the state needs a budget by June 1 to avoid the necessity of further cuts. The state’s fiscal year begins July 1. If there is no budget by that date, many state services will cease. Even now, the Governor is making contingency plans for a partial shutdown of state government in the event the legislature does not act. See Gov. Beshear’s letter to legislators at http://governor.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/7B047EEC-514E-4AEC-8F70-DB5939C66B3D/0/20100428_NoBudget.pdf |
| Plan now for the special session KEA asks that members who are within an hour of Frankfort plan to come to the Capitol one afternoon after school during the special session. We will show legislators firsthand the support that public schools and school employees have. More details will follow. All members will be invited to attend but we appreciate that it will be more difficult for those far from Frankfort to participate. Once we know when the special session will begin and make specific arrangements, we will let everyone know. |
| The Derby is not the only Race on lawmakers’ minds The federal grant program, Race to the Top, could significantly increase funding for Kentucky’s schools, just as state money is scarce. Kentucky stands to gain $175 million, $100 million of which would be allocated to local school districts, especially for professional development and other needs related to implementation of last year’s Senate Bill 1. Applications are due in Washington by June 1. Race to the Top has significant strings and is competitive among the states. Kentucky applied for funding in the first round and finished ninth among the sixteen finalists, with only Tennessee and Delaware being funded. Competition for the second round of funding is expected to be more intense. Contentious issues include charter schools, teacher evaluation, teacher compensation, and teacher job security. |
| Charter schools up for debate Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday believes that Kentucky cannot receive Race to the Top funding without charter schools. Both he and Governor Beshear have asked KEA to work with them to create a charter school bill that KEA could live with. KEA knows how much Kentucky schools need additional funding. Consequently, KEA has agreed to work with legislators, the governor and the commissioner on this difficult issue. KEA’s work on charter schools is guided by action by KEA’s two highest decision making bodies. At the Delegate Assembly on April 9, delegates affirmed KEA Board action earlier that week to both oppose the current charter school bill (HB 109 SCS) but also to work with all interested parties to improve that bill. As a result, KEA submitted to the commissioner and governor a list of concerns about HB 109 SCS. Early next week, the commissioner expects to submit a revised charter bill, one that may alleviate some or all of KEA’s concerns. KEA will continue its advocacy to assure that any charter school legislation addresses the concerns of school employees and doesn’t hurt kids. |
| KEA’s message on school funding When you talk to legislators about the budget, please remember to talk about the impact of funding cuts on your specific students. If two instructional days are eliminated, as the House proposed, students will have less opportunity to learn, just at the time when SB 1 has raised Kentucky’s expectations for student learning. If the SEEK formula is reduced, as the Senate proposed, then all areas of our students’ learning will suffer. School employees will be laid off, increasing class size and reducing services to students. An investment in our children’s education is an investment in Kentucky’s future. The good jobs of the future require Kentucky to invest in our children’s education today. Kentucky schools have a proven track record of being a great investment. Legislators who are concerned about the cost of health care and prisons should remember that the best way to reduce costs in these areas is to assure that each child gets a good education. Finally, investing in education immediately creates the solid, middle-class jobs on which our communities depend. |
| Affected by Social Security Offsets? Tell Your Story The federal Social Security offsets prevent most Kentucky certified employees from collecting Social Security, either that they have earned or that their spouse has earned. NEA has long been a leader in the fight to repeal these unfair provisions, the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision. If you are affected by these offsets, NEA would like to learn your story to help make this issue come alive to members of Congress. Please take the survey at this website: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P8SQ2F9 |
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