工会力量:成员在地方预算斗争中加紧步伐
June 6, 2019
June 6, 2019
In local battles to secure funding that will ensure the state’s 5 percent teacher salary increase, and on a range of education issues, VEA成员站起来，大声疾呼, letting governing bodies know, in the strongest way they can, 学校和教育工作者不能再被忽视.
在寻找她们的声音的过程中，她们展示了我们的力量.
蒙哥马利县教育协会的成员是常住的, 在监事会和学校董事会就县学校的预算进行辩论的那几个月里，他一直在现场, 现在将从他们的努力中获益.
“我们参加了两个团体的许多会议,MCEA主席马修·芬特雷斯说, “as well as having individual conversations with our superintendent and local politicians. 我们的成员继续倡导，无论是面对面还是通过电子邮件.”
Late in the process, MCEA带来了一个秘密武器:代表克里斯·赫斯特, 谁穿着MCEA的球衣在监事会上讲话.
“He was a rock star,” Fentress says.
“资助我们的学校和评估我们的教师是州和地方政府的基本核心角色,” Hurst told county leaders. “在我们代表纳税人准备的每一项预算中，学校员工都必须是我们的优先事项，当然，绝不应该因为学校往往是最大的资金来源，就把它作为开始削减的第一行项目。.”
When all the talking was over, the county’s School Board had kept its promise to MCEA and presented a 3.5%的增长，但医疗保险费没有增加.
芬特雷斯称这是“MCEA的胜利，也是整个MCPS的胜利”,并指出，校长马克·米尔和不止一位董事会成员都公开表示，如果没有MCEA成员的辛勤工作，这一切都不会发生.
Lynchburg Education Association members are celebrating, too. City Council there voted, by a paper-thin 4-3 margin, 为LEA争取5%的加薪提供全部资金, also approving a step plan for staff, which guarantees increasing pay until employees reach the top of the pay scale.
LEA总裁卡尔·卢斯说:“我们花了三年时间. “We created a compensation committee, 为学校董事会打好基础, 向学校管理层提出了多个建议, spoke numerous times to the School Board and City Council about the need for pay increases, shared the struggles of our staff, 举办公共活动，让社区参与讨论, 与学校领导建立关系, 在制定新的工资表时获得了一席之地, 并与成为市议会成员的候选人单独倡导新的薪酬表.
他表示:“我们与理事会成员保持着这些关系，这有助于影响一场非常紧张的投票。. “现在，每个LCS员工都将获得维持生活的工资!”
Winchester Education Association 从今年夏天开始，会员也将享受加薪:教师的加薪幅度为3%至6%，教育支持专业人员的加薪幅度为3%至8%.
“我对当地行动的最大收获就是保持一致, positive, 试着处理好手头的一切,” says WEA President Michael Siraguse. “我建立了积极的关系，并努力与当地的学校董事会和市议会成员见面, 为了发展个人关系.”
In the past, WEA has also run an email campaign directed to City Council members. Earlier this year, Siraguse had a letter to the editor calling for salary increases published in the Winchester Star, telling the community, “We come in early, stay late, bring work home, 并且还能让学生在从学前班学生到高中毕业生的过程中吸收和内化成千上万的想法或行为.”
Email blasts, 广泛使用Facebook和Twitter, rep meetings, 甚至视频也是该组织成员所做努力的重要组成部分 Fauquier Education Association, 他们帮助激发了如此多的热情，以至于200多名FEA代表长途跋涉到里士满参加VEA的“基金我们的未来”集会.
“有些人对集会和游行最感兴趣,” says FEA President Lauren Brill, ，其他人则对与立法者会面和游说感到兴奋. We definitely came to do both.”
FEA在里士满和几个月的学校董事会和监事会会议上都让人们知道了他们的存在, public hearings, and work sessions. When the process wrapped up, all school employees had at least 5 percent raises.
In Henry County, HCEA成员花了两年的时间来建立他们的案例，并努力选出理解这一案例的监事会候选人, 包括该部门的前任主管. HCEA还花了数年时间为一个更强大的学校董事会而努力, 现在七名成员中有六名曾经是教育工作者.
The results? 另外40万美元用于学校和4.5 percent raise for school employees, over two years, plus one step on the salary scale next year to make up for some previously lost ground. “Elections matter,” says Dorothy Carter, HCEA’s executive vice president. “When the right people are in office, HCEA’s job is proactive rather than reactive.”
In York County, 成员们几年前也开始倡导, as a result, they got 3 percent raises last year. 当州政府为今年5%的加薪提供资金时, YEA成员让他们的当地领导人多支付了3%.
“我们现在的重点是ESP工资,NEA董事、YEA成员Carol Bauer说, 谁注意到管理员计划为支持专业人员增加至少4%的薪水.
Other wins around the state include Prince William, where teachers got a 4.而贾尔斯县的平均涨幅为5%.
全州的脱口秀男女
At press time, 弗吉尼亚州许多社区的预算仍在制定之中, as that process has unfolded, 工会领导人也在那里的公共论坛上提高了他们的声音. Here are a few examples:
What Kind of Schools Do You Want?
韦恩斯伯勒教育协会主席罗斯玛丽·瓦格纳:
Many of our students’ families cannot make a living wage in Waynesboro. 我们需要用高薪工作来吸引企业. 为了做到这一点，我们需要高质量的学校. This is the first year that Waynesboro teachers are being paid the lowest salaries in our area. 如果我们继续是该地区收入最低的学区，我们就无法拥有高质量的学校.
Keeping and being able to attract good teachers to Waynesboro is going to be increasingly hard, 特别是如果我们只是少数几个没有享受到国家加薪的部门之一. 我们不应该浪费国家的钱, because we need to see if can find, as a community, a way to accept that money and finish that 5 percent that they’re offering to pay a portion of. 我不是随便说的，我知道这真的很难. 然而，我们可以和你一起努力实现这一目标. We’re willing to do that.
The Waynesboro community needs to decide what type of schools it will provide for our youth.
Make a Statement!
谢南多厄县教育协会主席杰夫·鲁迪:
Meeting the governor’s 5 percent salary increase would fortify staff retention, heighten morale, 减轻教师和工作人员每月的负担, 甚至鼓励更多高素质的人申请公交车司机, teachers, and other needs in the county. The 5 percent is not just a number, 但是给老师和员工的声明, 在谢南多厄县和周边社区, SCPS是硅谷教育领域的领导者.
Teachers are being asked to do more and more outside of our contractual hours, tearing us away from our own families. 我们被邀请举办独奏会和艺术表演, 女伴一直跳舞到晚上, sponsor clubs, supervise bus duties, and stay late to monitor after-school detention—all without compensation.
Sadly, there are, in fact, SCPS employees currently working here whose entire paycheck is for health insurance. The insurance conundrum has been a huge concern for many of our members. 但是SCEA非常感谢你们为SCPS的最大利益所做的所有努力和艰难的决定, its employees, and most importantly, the students.
We Need the Meals Tax!
Christel Coman, 坎贝尔县教育协会主席, writing in the (Lynchburg) News & Advance. 坎贝尔县的选民后来批准了膳食税, 部分收益将拨作学校用途.
坎贝尔县的居民应该批准膳食税吗? 似乎在这个相当简单的话题上有很大的争论.
在林奇堡和贝德福德县，任何沿着沃德路(ward Road)走的人都会看到各种各样的大餐馆和小快餐店. 他们还可以看到拥挤的停车场，甚至外面排队等着进去就座的人. The meals tax in Lynchburg does not seem to be a deterrent to business for those places. 可以大胆地说，在决定光顾这些地方时，很少有顾客(如果有的话)考虑过餐费税.
这对坎贝尔县有什么意义呢? 要不要继续把这些收入分给其他地方? Since going to a restaurant is a personal choice, if a meals tax bothers them, then don’t go. (很难相信，这些抱怨坎贝尔县征收膳食税的人并不经常光顾林奇堡的餐馆.)
Vote “Yes” on the meals tax and bring this revenue where it belongs—to us, the residents of Campbell County.
We Need a Diverse Teaching Workforce
Kimberley Hundley of the Williamsburg-James City County Education Association:
I am retiring next year, and I do hope another teacher of color takes my place. We do need more people of color and more young men teaching in our schools. If you happen to know any young men, or any people of color, who happen to be in college right now, and hope to become teachers, reach out to us, we want you here. 如果他们没兴趣来这里, ask them why, 因为在我们知道如何把最优秀、最聪明的人带到这里之前，我们无法提升到卓越.
How Long Will You Allow This to Go On?
朗达·瓦格纳，纽波特纽斯教育协会主席:
For the past few years, we’ve been looking at declining funding from the city so we’re really trying to play catch up. I feel that Dr. 帕克提出了一个非常公平的预算，我真的认为它今年会通过. I’m extremely surprised that, here again, we’re going to be in front of City Council trying to encourage them to fund the schools.
这是一场正在全国范围内进行的运动. 我们真的需要开始资助教育. For the past 10 years, it has been on the back burner and we really need to change that especially for our kids.
我也是一名家长，我的孩子在这个学区上学. 这些孩子将会在社区生活. 我们想让他们远离麻烦，我们能做到的最好的方法之一就是资助他们的需求. 我们与这些孩子和家长密切合作. 我们能看到别人看不到的部分. 他们传达了他们的梦想，他们的希望，他们的担忧.
You Must Set Priorities
Dr. Jessica Jones, 他是宾夕法尼亚州教育协会主席, 致参加学校董事会会议和监事会公众意见会议的学校董事会成员和社会成员:
What is the thing we want the most? What is the thing we value the most? And, what do we want the most for our students, our children, our community, our future?
Pittsylvania’s Board of Supervisors ended up approving an additional $650,000 in school funding.
‘We Could Be the Best’
Reuben Siskin, president of the Augusta County Education Association
Many teachers and staff have done a superior job with what they have been given, 他们在学生身上看到了成功. Imagine what results we would have in Augusta County if we had the tools, 其他地区的员工和建筑? We could be the best.
We’ve Earned Professional Freedom
Emma Clark of the Chesterfield Education Association and a former Richmond teacher, 凤凰体育买球市政府改变禁止教师转学到该学区其他学校的政策:
People need the flexibility as teachers to shift around and find the right place for them. 教师需要转学的权利，因为你必须在你的职业生涯中拥有一些专业自主权.
Come and See
斯塔福德教育协会成员Rachel O 'Mara-Paddock:
如果有人想质疑我们的教室规模, 任何想真正了解我们学校发生了什么的人——我们的建筑在哪里漏水和倒塌——都可以来我们的学校, 要求来教室做志愿者，自己看看周围，看看我们要求的是我们的学生和老师应该得到的基本必需品.
‘Prove Me Wrong!’
莱兹利·威尔逊，普拉斯基县教育协会主席
我真心希望今晚你们脑海中闪现的是我的假设是错误的，我的恐惧是没有根据的. 这就是我对你们的挑战:证明我错了!
我担心，由于没有地方资金的分配，大会制定的教师加薪将被搁置在pps教育专业人员的桌面上. Prove me wrong!
I fear that the security and safety of our children is not a priority. 如果没有资金支持新的公交司机工资标准，我们的司机将继续流失到工资更高、福利更好的地方. Prove me wrong!
I fear that capital improvements to fortify the security of our buildings, and School Resource Officers for our elementary schools will not be funded, placing our children, staff, and structures at risk. Prove me wrong!
I fear that despite the slogans, 新的资金来证明普拉斯基县教育的重要性和承诺…招募, retain, and value our staff, and to provide for the safety of our children will not be forthcoming. Prove me wrong!
Commonwealth Coming Up Short
弗吉尼亚的教师不仅在每个发薪日继续落后于全国的大多数同事, they are also losing ground to other Virginians with similar educations.
According to the NEA’s latest Rankings and Estimates report, our public school teachers are paid $8,483 less than the national average salary for teachers, leaving our state ranked 32nd in the U.S.
令人费解的是，这些数据出现的时候，弗吉尼亚是 11th wealthiest state in America.
“我们应该如何招募和留住最优秀的人才, most committed educators, the ones our children deserve, if we don’t pay them well?” says VEA President Jim Livingston. “我们知道老师来我们学校不是为了发财, but why should they have to take second and even third jobs to support their families? That’s a disservice to students, families, educators, and the entire community.”
Further, 经济政策研究所的一项新研究比较了各州大学毕业生的工资，发现弗吉尼亚州教师的工资为31%.平均周薪减少了3%, adjusted for inflation, 比全州其他大学毕业生都多. Only two other states had a worse “wage penalty” than Virginia, EPI found.
While Virginia’s General Assembly approved the state share of a 5 percent raise for teachers, 一些地方面临资金短缺的问题，这使得他们无法与州政府的资金进行必要的匹配, Livingston says: “To keep the best and brightest teachers in Virginia, we need a long-term commitment from the state plus more funding support for our localities, which have seen the state share of K-12 funding shrink since the recession. Our elected leaders need to commit to fund our future, and they need to do it now.”
根据弗吉尼亚联邦大学进行的一项民意调查， 66% of Virginians say public schools do not have enough funding to meet their needs.
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