ARKANSAS
EDUCATOR PROUDLY PUBLISHED BY THE ARKANSAS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
VOLUME 40 N O 2 | WINTER 2019
Teacher Pipeline Turnaround?
AR Works to promote the profession aeaonline.com
INSIDE: SPEAKING OUT: NWA Local builds power and membership • Legal Corner: What TFDA means for you
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VOLUME 40 NO 2 WINTER 2019
CONTENTS
3 A Letter from the President
14 Legal Corner: What TFDA means for you
PRESIDENT CATHY KOEHLER VICE PRESIDENT MARY KNIGHT SECRETARY-TREASURER BRENDA BROWN AEA-NEA DIRECTOR BRENDA ROBINSON AEA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TRACEY-ANN NELSON
4 Member Profile: Standing Up & Speaking Out Hunstville EA builds power and membership
16 Legislative UPDATE: 2019 Session Begins 18 2019 AEA Primary Election: Get to know the candidates
EDITOR KYLE LEYENBERGER
VISIT US ONLINE AT: aeaonline.org/AREducator Follow us on Twitter @ArkEducation Become an AEA Facebook friend. ARKANSAS EDUCATOR is published as a service to all members of the Arkansas Education Association 1500 West 4th Street Little Rock, AR 72201 t: 501-375-4611 f: 501-375-4620 tf: 800-632-0624 ADVERTISERS Advertising contents should be addressed to the Editor. Advertising rates are available upon request. Advertising is printed as a service to readers and publication does not imply Association endorsement. The Association reserves the right to refuse any advertising.
8 Stand Up for Students March Draws Hundreds 9 News ALERT: State Board Attacks Teacher Fair Dismissal Act 10 Teacher Pipeline Turnaround? AR Works to Promote the Profession 13 Save the Date for PD Conference
22 RA Delegates Come Together to Guide AEA’s Work 23 From the Desk of the Executive Director 25 Rewind: Teacher Fair Dismissal Becomes Law
A M E RI CA N S T U D I E S I N S T I T U T E D ISTI N G UISH ED LECTURE SERIES
CHRISTINE DARDEN “ON THEIR SHOULDERS” Christine Darden, former NASA mathematician featured in the book “Hidden Figures” that was also a movie, will continue the series Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019. Darden has been recognized with dozens of awards and honors, including two NASA medals and a Women in Science and Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award. Harding University is committed to educating and preparing teachers for our nation and our world, and we are grateful for teachers’ contributions to and partnership in educating students in Arkansas. Educators from around the state are invited to attend the presentation as our special guest and attend a special teacher appreciation event.
EDUCATOR APPRECIATION NIGHT All Educators will receive special seating and recognition. Register to win for your school a day with Christine Darden Harding University’s Benson Auditorium 201 S Blakeney, Searcy, AR 72143
WINTER 2019
A L E T T E R FROM THE PRESIDENT Welcome to the Winter 2019 Issue of the Arkansas Educator. This issue is going to print as the Arkansas Legislature returns for the 2019 session, and we are already seeing major bills affecting education being filed and talked about in the halls of the Capitol. Your lawmakers need to hear from you! As an educator, you are the expert with firsthand knowledge of what your students, schools and districts need. In this issue we have included a summary of the issues we expect to see this session. Please let us know which of these issues speak to you and get involved. While state level advocacy is important, working together with your local association can also have great impact closer to home. This month’s member profile takes us to Huntsville where a newly energized local is standing up for students and bringing the community together to support candidates in local races who share their hopes for the school district. Our main story looks at Arkansas’s teacher pipeline, and efforts to recruit and retain new educators amid a nationwide shortage of teachers. Find out what the state is doing to make teaching more attractive and learn how one local association is turning the shortage into an opportunity to establish strong bonds with new educators. The good news is Arkansas saw a slight increase in the number of enrollees in education preparation programs last year, but we are still down and have a long way to go to bring back the respect our profession deserves. You may have also heard about the state board of education’s unprecedented action in December to waive the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, and the Public-School Employee Fair Hearing Act for two school districts. AEA spent years over multiple legislative sessions to establish and strengthen these laws that allow educators to work with students free of the fear of unreasonable termination by school administration. We have an in-depth look at the protections educators stand to lose if these laws are waived in your district. Finally, be sure to check out the AEA Primary Election Candidates on pages (X-XX). You can find pictures and brief statements for each candidate in the election. Voting for active members will be available online at AEAonline.org beginning at 8:00 a.m. on February 4, 2018 and ending on February 18, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. If a final election is held, members will be able to vote March 25, 2019 beginning at 8:00 a.m. and ending April 15, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. Thank you for all you do for students each day, and thank you for being a member of the AEA. Cathy Koehler, President, AEA
ABOUT PRESIDENT KOEHLER: AEA President Cathy Koehler’s career began as a teacher in Central Arkansas parochial schools, and she spent 24 years as a library media specialist in Little Rock School District. She is a longtime AEA board member and is a National Board Certified Teacher in Library Media/Early Childhood through Young Adulthood. Koehler served as President of the Little Rock Education Association for the last ten years and completed one term as Vice President of the AEA. Koehler led membership through the state takeover of the LRSD in 2015 and kept a professional negotiated agreement in place under 3 different superintendents.
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HUNTSVILLE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION INCREASES COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
TRACEY PRINCE DIDN’T TAKE A TRADITIONAL PATH TO TEACHING THE 6TH GRADE. “It’s our district. It’s our kids. We live here. We work here, so we need to have people in place who have that same mentality where everything they do is about the kids, instead of about the political side of it.” – Tracey Prince
“At first I wanted to be a lawyer,” she said. “That was my original plan. I didn’t go back to college until I was 26, so I was already married, had 2 kids. My oldest child’s first year of kindergarten was my first year of teaching.” Teaching elementary school was her goal, but having a child the same age at home made teaching younger kids challenging. After teaching every grade but first, she found a natural fit at Huntsville Middle School. “Teaching was always kind of there, you know I had a big craft box for the kids and the whole deal, so I thought elementary was it,” she said. “Then I found out I like 6th grade better. They just get it. You can tell a joke and they get it.” While Prince found her groove in the classroom, her local association had stalled. Membership in the Huntsville Education Association had fallen to just 16 educators. “It was just, you paid your dues and hoped nothing happened,” she said. “I think everyone knew they were part of AEA, but because the local was inactive, they didn’t really look to AEA.” Prince says Madison County has a huge sense of community pride, but that community was disconnected from its schools. School Board meetings seemed to be a rubber stamp for the superintendent’s requests, and educators were afraid of retaliation if they asked questions. She knew Huntsville needed a change, and along with fellow teacher Jennifer Seigal asked AEA UniServ Director Chris Pearson to meet secretly at a park on the back side of a hill in town. “I was nervous, turning, turning, and like ‘Where am I going?’” Pearson said, laughing. “I was actually on vacation, but I knew Huntsville needed help and I was so excited I said, ‘I’ll be there!” After explaining the situation at a picnic table, Prince asked Pearson what could be done. The response was brief, but wouldn’t be simple. “Y’all need to organize,” Pearson said.
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“In the past there had been a disagreement on what HEA’s role was in the school district,” Seigal said. “We wanted to come in and say, “We’re here and we want to work with everyone in the district to build a better community.” A laudable goal, but one that was met with resistance.
“They didn’t like that we were questioning things or asking, ‘How does this work?’ or ‘Why did we choose this way to do this?” Prince said. “A lot of the time it was about money, which is always a touchy subject.”
building the next day with my principal after saying, ‘I’m going to start standing up for my kids and this is what’s going to happen.’ We stuck our neck out and spent a whole l ot of time in the admin building, building those relationships.”
When HEA held its first informational meeting to let the community know about their goals, the superintendent required the entire district administration to attend.
The superintendent started showing up to membership meetings, and refused to stop. HEA’s new leadership worked with Pearson to address the issue.
“We were standing there shaking because we knew we were going to be targeted,” Seigal said. “I was going to have to go back to my
“And our backbone at times,” Prince chimed in.
MEMBER PROFILE TRACEY PRINCE
Prince and Seigal decided to dive in. As the new President and Vice President, they opened up lines of communication with administration, the school board and HEA members.
“Chris has been a lifesaver,” Seigal said.
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Rather than backing off, HEA took the experience from the race and doubled down, recruiting a candidate for the next election. “I approached someone, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll throw my hat in the ring. I like what y’all are doing and I’m happy to do anything to help the community,’” Siegal said. “He didn’t even have kids in the school, but he said he saw where we were going with it. Whether it be school board, admin, teachers, classified – whatever – we have to make sure everything we’re doing is what’s best for the kids.” They also asked candidates closely tailored questions to avoid cookie cutter answers and to ensure candidates were aware of issues specific to Huntsville schools. “It helped to have a source of information and a cheerleader just a phone call or a text away,” Siegal continued. “She has a wealth of knowledge and she stands up for what’s right for the kids and she supports us when we stand up for it and for teachers and classified staff.”
“We are a partner in our children’s education. Our community was lacking communication. We needed a liaison, a communication person, somebody who was not afraid to speak up.” – Jennifer Seigal
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With new energy in the district, membership started to climb. When a school board member moved out of her zone, HEA took the growing momentum and plunged into the race using AEA’s School Board Election Handbook and questionnaire. “We added a question or two that pertained more to our district and sent them out to both candidates,” Prince said. “One of our key things was the public contacting you. That was a big dilemma in our community and why there was almost a separation between district and community. They didn’t feel they had any say they didn’t feel anyone would listen to them.” HEA recommended the candidate who offered up his cell number and asked the public to give him a call. Members created post cards explaining their support, and drove the entire zone to put them in mail boxes and talk to people.
“When we interviewed this time we were more conscious of asking questions around what it means for our schools,” Prince said. “We went in knowing what answers we were hoping for and we had a candidate that nailed it.” This time the election went to a runoff, but with a huge HEA get out the vote effort, the recommended candidate won. “They said turnout for the runoff was the biggest they’ve had in years,” Prince said. “The only thing on there was school board.” Seigal says the new board members aren’t the only change at monthly school board meetings. “In the beginning there was the board, admin, me, Tracey and Chris,” she said. “This last year its usually standing room only, and not from complaining, just people interested in what’s going on.” Board members solicit public input, and ask HEA leadership if they have anything to add. In addition, the superintendent left, and the interim superintendent reached out to get HEA’s thoughts before the start of the new school year.
“On election day we were at the polling places in our car with our lists,” Prince said. “’Did you vote? Don’t forget to vote! Can I come pick you up?”
“It’s night and day,” she said. “They don’t see us as an enemy. We are a partner in our children’s education. Our community was lacking communication. We needed a liaison, a communication person, somebody that who was not afraid to speak up. We went from hiding to now we have open communication.”
Their recommended candidate won by more than a 3:1 margin. But the blowout didn’t come without blowback. Some HEA members were told to take campaign signs out of their yard, and the superintendent questioned why teachers should be involved at all.
Two years after taking the helm, membership is now approaching 70, higher than it’s been in more than a decade. But Prince and Seigal aren’t ready to slow down. Now they’re working to keep members active, and ensure enrollment continues to increase.
“It’s our district,” Prince said. “It’s our kids. We live here. We work here, so we need to have people in place who have that same mentality where everything they do is about the kids, instead of about the political side of it.”
“We’re really starting to see a change,” Prince said. “They know we’re here, but now we need everyone engaged.”
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STAND UP FOR STUDENTS
MARCH Hundreds of educators, parents, students and community members from across the state marched on the state Capitol in October  to demand the public education system all students deserve. The event included a call for lawmakers to make creating the public school system all our students deserve the number one priority of the upcoming legislative session.
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NEWS ALERT
NEWS ALERT! STATE BOARD ATTACKS THE TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL & EMPLOYEE FAIR HEARING ACTS The Arkansas Education Association is deeply concerned by the actions of the State Board of Education to strip educators in the Pine Bluff and Little Rock School Districts of their due process rights. At a special board meeting on December 20, the board voted 8-1 to use the powers granted in Act 930 of 2017 to waive the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act and the Employee Fair Hearing Act in the Pine Bluff School District and 6-3 to waive both laws in the Little Rock School District. These laws were instituted to ensure students have the best educators in their schools and to allow them to advocate for what is best for students without fear of retaliation. These laws have ensured integrity in the work educators do with their students every day while providing a path to support continued educator growth in the profession. Both districts are classified as in Level 5 Intensive Support Status, giving the State Board the ability to grant the waivers. However, neither superintendent requested the waiver, and Little Rock
Superintendent Mike Poore struggled to answer board members when asked directly if he wanted the waiver. Multiple board members, as well as the newly appointed Pine Bluff Superintendent said they believe most issues are not with teachers in classrooms and are instead at the administration level. Dozens of parents, community members, elected officials and educators spent hours testifying heartfelt opposition to the proposals. Their effort to stand up for students and educators fell on deaf ears. The waiver for the Pine Buff School District is for the 2019/2020 school year. The waiver granted in Little Rock took effect immediately. The attack on educators is yet another in a series of efforts to undermine public education in Arkansas. This sustained and wanton effort to erode, waive and undermine long-standing educational standards only serves to harm students and the education professionals supporting them every day. 2019 marks AEA’s 150th year of advocating for public education, and we will continue to stand up for Arkansas’s students and educators in all forums where public policy is decided. We invite you to join us.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, INDEED
Guest Editorial from the Arkansas Professional Firefighters Association Scientific research on cancer in the fire service was virtually non-existent just a few decades ago. Since then there have been major studies conducted involving large cohorts of firefighters in different parts of the world. As the controls of these studies have varied, so have the results. They are in agreement, however, on this: firefighters are at a greater risk of developing cancer than the general public. In light of the increased risk for firefighters, forty-one states have moved forward with legislation that offers some sort of protection for firefighters who contract cancer in the line of duty. Arkansas is among that majority of states that have decided to recognize the causal link, but protections fall just short of… well, protecting. Thirty-nine of those forty-one states recognize cancer as an occupational illness for the purpose of line of duty disability designation. Two offer only a line of duty death benefit, with nothing in place for disability: Arkansas and Kentucky.
Arkansas firefighters and their beneficiaries are fortunate to have the one-time line of duty death claim for firefighters who pass away from cancer that they’ve contracted on the job. But in just the roughly three and half years that this has been in place, we have already seen where it falls short of protecting firefighters. Unlike other on the job injuries, it is diffcult - if not impossible - to pinpoint the exact exposure from which a firefighter contracted cancer. Given the nature of modern building practices, the use of petroleum products and flame retardants in virtually everything, and the use diesel engines; it is more than likely a culmination of exposures over the course of a career that causes these incidences, not unlike development of lung cancer in a smoker’s lungs. However, as part of our efforts to be responsible about fighting for protections beyond what we have, we’ve developed a firefighter cancer registry for the state of Arkansas and have identified unusual
instances where multiple firefighters have developed cancer and share a common exposure. It is also likely that the timeframes vary as much as the biology of each individual firefighter or the molecular structure of each inhaled, ingested, or absorbed carcinogen. We don’t know what work-place designation for cancer as an illness and not just a cause of death will look like in Arkansas. What we do know is what it looks like when a firefighter runs out of sick leave and has to return to work with stage four colon cancer because we don’t have disability retirement options. Or when a firefighter has to take unpaid leave for the purpose of treatment because we lack the use of the word “presumption.” Legislation aimed at righting these wrongs will be forthcoming this session, so we don’t know what the plight of firefighters suffering from cancer will look like after the session. But if just one of these bills passes, the outlook will have been improved.
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COVE R S TORY
TEACHER PIPELINE TURNAROUND?
Arkansas works to promote the profession WHEN VICTORIA GROVES-SCOTT TOLD HER PARENTS SHE WANTED TO GO TO COLLEGE, SHE WAS MET WITH HESITATION.
“In order to transform Arkansas to lead the nation in student-focused education, we must have a strong teacher pipeline.” - Johnny Key Arkansas Department of Education Commissioner
“I’m a first-generation college student,” she said. “They said, ‘Nah, that’s not really for us, baby. You know, nobody in our family’s ever gone, we don’t know how we’d pay for it.’” But when she added that she planned to become a teacher she saw an immediate change. “’Oh, our daughter’s gonna be a teacher,’” her parents responded. “They were so proud of that. When I went into education 30 some years ago, a long time ago, it was a profession that people respected and admired and supported.” Unfortunately, over time that respect seemed to evaporate, says Brittani Brooks, Vice President of the Little Rock Education Association. as standardized testing took root and privatization schemes prompted attacks on public educators. “When education became more about test scores and data and less about students, we started putting blame on teachers, wrongly of course,” she says. “And the standard of living for teachers has not gone up.”
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The teacher pay gap has increased dramatically compared to other professions with similar education levels, and the cost of college is rising. Across the nation, but particularly in states like Oklahoma and Arizona where educators have long been frustrated or deterred by a lack of classroom resources and extremely low pay, the teacher pipeline is drying up. “Most of us are still 15, 20 years down the line, we’re still paying college debt,” Brooks said. “For all the money that you put into college, you can go to another profession and do better. We’ve got to go back to treating teachers as professionals, respecting the profession, and then paying us like the professionals that we are.” Governor Asa Hutchinson has announced plans to increase minimum teacher pay by $1,000 each year for four years, however the proposal only helps teachers in districts currently paying the minimum salary scale. Groves-Scott would like to see higher increases in the pay scales to ensure educators are paid for their expertise. “The pay scales don’t move up very much,” she said. “We might get a new educator there for a couple of years, but a lot of families can’t sustain that. They have children and they want a house and a car and to pay off their school loans, so they leave teaching and get a job as a real estate agent. We lose them and then we have to produce more teachers to fill those gaps.” Groves-Scott has seen the pipeline issues play out first hand, both in her professional life as Dean of the College of Education at the University of Central Arkansas, and as the mother of college student. “I have an older son who’s in Alabama,” she said. “He kept saying, ‘I want to be a teacher,’ and everybody kept saying, ‘No, don’t do that. Your test scores are really high, you could be a... blank. It is too much work. It’s a really difficult profession. Do you realize how much less money you’re going to make?’” Groves-Scott encouraged her son to make his own decision, and eventually he decided to finish his teaching degree. She’s working together with the Arkansas Department of Education’s Teacher Cadet program to encourage students here to do the same. During the 2013-2014 pilot year, five schools participated in the “grow your own” teacher recruitment program. Since then, the program has increased exponentially to include 74 schools, 22 colleges and universities, and 800 students this school year.
“They’ve gone out of their way to work with high schools and with universities to create these partnerships where the students at the high school take an Intro to Ed class or an Orientation to Teaching class,” she said. “Sometimes it’s for concurrent credit at the high school and sometimes it’s not, but they’re really working to get students into those classes. Those classes are really high quality.” UCA has established partnerships with several school districts, offering hands on opportunities and concurrent credit for potential teachers. “I’ve got a faculty member who’s assigned to all of those Orientation to Teaching classes,” Groves-Scott says. “She visits them. We bring them here for a field trip. We send them UCA t-shirts. We Skype in on a regular basis. The students can send us questions, and we answer those questions. It’s a really engaging process between the high school and the university.” The Teacher Cadet program is just one part of the ADE’s statewide effort to promote the teaching profession and increase the teacher pipeline, and it’s starting to pay off. According to the U.S. Department of Education Title II data, enrollment in Arkansas educator preparation programs not only increased for the first time in more than five years, enrollment numbers for 2017-2018 were higher than two years prior. Last year’s enrollment reflects an increase of 128 students compared to 2015-2016 and a reversal from the downward trend seen in previous years.
“In order to transform Arkansas to lead the nation in studentfocused education, we must have a strong teacher pipeline,” Arkansas Department of Education Commissioner Johnny Key said when the numbers were announced. “Through our efforts to strengthen partnerships with educator preparation program providers, along with the launch of our Teach Arkansas campaign earlier this year, we are seeing success.” In February 2017, the ADE launched the Teach Arkansas campaign to encourage more Arkansans to consider joining the teaching profession. The campaign focuses on three areas: teacher recruitment, support for existing teachers and encouraging educators to return to the profession.
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“We’re up a little bit in Arkansas, which is really positive,” GrovesScott says. “Hopefully we will maintain those gains, but we have a long way to go. That’s kind of a pipeline issue, but we also have the issue that compounds the problem with teachers not staying in education.” The ADE says education service cooperatives have hired recruitment and retention facilitators to support novice teachers and provide resources for teachers entering the teaching profession. LREA VP Brooks says providing that support for new educators is also an opportunity for local associations to strengthen ties with people entering the profession. “There’s a learning curve for new teachers and you want those teachers to come in and to stay, because the longer you stay, the better you are at teaching,” Brooks said. “Those one to five years is really when those teachers are going to make up their mind whether or not they’re staying.” Brooks says when new educators don’t feel supported or successful, they’re more likely to leave. “Especially in our highest needs schools, we see a lot of turnover,” Brooks said. “Our newest teachers end up in those schools and with our neediest students. In order to best serve our students, we need to make sure we serve those teachers.” After asking early career educators how things were going, the local worked with the school district to establish a monthly meeting and professional development opportunity geared toward new educators through a grant from the National Council of Urban Education Associations. “We wanted to provide them with not only professional development that was relevant to them, but an opportunity to make connections with other people, not only with other early career educators, but other veteran teachers that are in their areas,” she said. “They can make connections and exchange information and help each other out.” While the efforts to recruit and retain educators seems to be paying off, Groves-Scott warns that the shortage has also spurred more problematic actions, including the use of Act 1240 waivers to waive teacher licensure requirements. Act 1240 allows school districts to apply for a waiver to state education standards, including teacher certification. An Arkansas Department of Education 2015–16 supply and demand report found there were 337 vacancies or long-term substitutes serving as the teacher of record. In addition, another 1,184 teachers were teaching on waivers and were not certified for the subject they were teaching. “The most important factor in students going to school and doing well in school is their teacher, how well prepared their teachers are,” she said. “If you look at those Act 1240 waivers and you map those out, you’re going to find those in districts that are poor, and often the intersection of poor and African American.” As districts struggle to fill empty positions, many students end up in classrooms with unqualified, or underqualified instructors.
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“We have a lot of kids who are in districts in high need, and they are getting people—I wouldn’t even call them teachers—people who are not trained to be teachers,” Groves-Scott said. “That is a problem for us. We can do better. We absolutely can do better.” Despite the challenges facing the profession, Brooks says students are expressing interest in becoming educators, and the recruitment efforts give them a chance to see if the fit is right. “They see those of us who are in it love our jobs, love what we do, and that’s why we do it,” she said. “I think [the Teacher Cadet Program] helps a lot too, for them to kind of go around and see what it’s really like and try it out first, which is great for any profession to kind of get your feet wet.” Groves-Scott says the new graduates are even better prepared for success when they begin leading their own classroom. “Our programs, I think, are significantly more rigorous than when I went through the program a long time ago,” she said. “They’re going to have a lot of experiences. They’re going to be in the field really often. They have an opportunity to decide if this really works for them or not. They’re high quality students and they’re going to be really good teachers.” And it takes a truly passionate person to head into the field with eyes wide open. “They recognize that it might be a tough road but they’re ready to take that on,” she said. “They don’t always do it for the money or for the praise from society. They do it because it fulfills something in them that they feel like it was their calling, their passion. They want to make a difference. Ask any of them. They want to make a difference.”
Northwest Arkansas Education Town Hall The Jones Center 992 E. Emma Ave Springdale, AR 72764 February 9, 2019 | 1 pm - 3 pm
for more information, contact: Nick Cartwright
Carol Widder
nick@arpanel.org
carolwidder@yahoo.com
(501) 837-0593
(479) 871-8173
How do you use your planning time? Take the survey at aeaonline.org
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will not be employed next year. The district can just let your contract expire on June 30th and never say a thing. You could show up to school in August and learn for the first time that your school district decided, over the summer, not to rehire you. No school board action is needed; the superintendent need not do a thing. Under the Fair Dismissal Act, the school district must notify you by May 1st if the district plans not to rehire you. If the district doesn’t notify you by the May 1st deadline, you are guaranteed a job and contract for next year. Since 1983, the Fair Dismissal Act has provided you with that guarantee:
ARKANSAS TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL ACT This article is written directly to you – the professional educator. It addresses all that you will lose, with respect to your continuing contract, if the TFDA is waived in your district. - Clayton Blackstock
Since the State Board of Education is now waiving the obligation for many school districts to comply with the Arkansas Teacher Fair Dismissal Act (TFDA)., it is an appropriate time to review the purpose of the Act and its various amendments. The Act, A.C.A. § 6-171501 et. seq., helps establish a stable and dedicated teaching force. It ensures that good teachers will retain their positions and that legally permissible reasons will be given when a teacher should not be retained. This article is written directly to you – the professional educator. It addresses all that you will lose, with respect to your continuing contract, if the TFDA is waived in your district. YOUR RIGHT TO ADVANCE NOTICE THAT YOU WILL NOT BE EMPLOYED NEXT YEAR – GONE. Is it comforting to know by May 1st every year whether or not you are guaranteed a contract for the next school year? Without the Fair Dismissal Act, that comfort, in most cases, will be gone. Without the Fair Dismissal Act, you, at best, have a contract for only one year with no guarantee you will be offered a contract for the next year. Your school district would be under no obligation to tell you that you will or
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(a) Every contract of employment made between a teacher and the board of directors of a school district shall be renewed in writing on the same terms and for the same salary, unless increased or decreased by law, for the next school year succeeding the date of termination fixed therein, which renewal may be made by an endorsement on the existing contract instrument unless: (1) By May 1 of the contract year, the teacher is notified by the school superintendent that the superintendent is recommending that the teacher’s contract not be renewed; Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1506(a). If you are still covered by the Fair Dismissal Act, enjoy your summer and start preparing for next year. YOUR RIGHT TO NOTICE OF THE REASONS YOU WILL NOT BE EMPLOYED NEXT YEAR - GONE If your district decides not to reemploy you next year, wouldn’t it be helpful to at least know the reason why? Without the Fair Dismissal Act, your district does not have to give you any reason. When you apply for another job, you won’t be able to say why you weren’t rehired. Your former district could give you a bad reference - you will never know the reason. The fact that you were not rehired will be a black cloud on the remainder of your career, with no way for you to defend yourself because no one told you why you were not hired back. Under the Fair Dismissal Act, you are entitled to a written statement of the reasons why the school district plans not to renew your contract for the next year:
The notice of recommended nonrenewal of a teacher shall include a statement of the reasons for the recommendation, setting forth the reasons in separately numbered paragraphs so that a reasonable teacher can prepare a defense.
not have to provide any assistance before deciding not to rehire you.
The right to a written statement dates back to 1970. The Fair Dismissal Act assures that at least you will know what you are up against.
Under the Fair Dismissal Act, if your administrator sees that you are having “difficulties or problems meeting” his or her “expectations”, then they must bring those “difficulties or problems” to your attention “in writing” and “document efforts” to help you improve. Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1504(b) (1) & (2). Without the Fair Dismissal Act, you won’t have that chance.
YOUR OPPORTUNITY TO CHALLENGE THE REASONS GIVEN - GONE
YOUR RIGHT TO REASONS THAT ARE JUST AND REASONABLE - GONE
If you received a list of the reasons why the district decided not to reemploy you, would you like an opportunity to challenge those reasons? You may have absolute proof that the reasons are false. Maybe an irate parent generated a false complaint and the administration was not willing to confront the parent. Without the Fair Dismissal Act, you will not be able to challenge any of the reasons given for nonrenewal.
What would it feel like to know your school district could decide not to rehire you next year for a bad reason or for no reason at all? Without the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act, that is exactly what the law will be – no reason at all is needed. If you have been employed in an Arkansas school for at least three years, the Fair Dismissal Act says a school district can only refuse to renew your contract for reasons that are just and reasonable:
Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1506(b)(2)(B).
Under the Fair Dismissal Act, you have the right to present your challenge to the school board: (a) A teacher who receives a notice of recommended termination or nonrenewal may file a written request with the board of directors of the school district for a hearing. *** (c) Upon receipt of a request for a hearing, the board of directors shall grant a hearing … Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1509(a) & (c). The right to some form of hearing dates back to 1970. With a hearing, you could save your job and your career. Without the Fair Dismissal Act, you are out of luck and the reasons you were not rehired will be in your file forever. YOUR RIGHT TO IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE - GONE If you are doing something in the classroom that is not working well and could be improved upon, would you like for your principal to bring it to your attention so you can get better? Do you think it would be fair for your principal not to say anything and then refuse to rehire you without offering a better way to do it? Without the Fair Dismissal Act, your principal does
…the board of directors may refuse to renew the contract of the teacher only when there is a reduction in force created by districtwide reduction in licensed personnel, for incompetent performance, conduct which materially interferes with the continued performance of the teacher’s duties, repeated or material neglect of duty, or other just and reasonable cause.
If your district decides not to reemploy you next year, wouldn’t it be helpful to at least know the reason why? Without the Fair Dismissal Act, your district does not have to give you any reason. - Clayton Blackstock
education possible. The “just and reasonable standard” could save your job if the cause of the students’ lack of sufficient progress is not attributable to your efforts as a teacher. Without the Fair Dismissal Act, the district could blame you for low-test scores and you would have no recourse. Without the Fair Dismissal Act, your district does not need to provide a reason to not hire you back; they can say what they want or say nothing at all. Advance notice of nonrenewal, an opportunity to improve, notice of the reasons for nonrenewal, a chance to challenge the reasons and reasons that are just and reasonable—these are the provisions of the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act. These provisions ensure the retention and improvement of good teachers, providing them with the job security they deserve and provide a simple method for districts to not renew teachers when they have good reason to do so.
Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-1510(b)(1) The “just and reasonable” standard has been in place since 2001. It was put in place, in part, to help teachers like Mr. Kinder, in the case of Lamar Sch. Dist. No. 39 v. Kinder, 278 Ark. 1 (1982), who did not receive a contract for the next school year. The reason for his nonrenewal was the football teams’ win/loss record—not his performance. At the time, there was no “just and reasonable” standard, and the courts said the win/loss record was a sufficient reason to not give Mr. Kinder a contract. Without the “just and reasonable standard” if your students’ test scores did not improve as much as the administration would like, it would not matter that all your students were below the poverty level and came in to your seventh grade class with a fourth-grade reading level. It would not matter if you did everything you could to give them the best
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HOLD YOUR BREATH... THE ARKANSAS STATE LEGISLATURE IS BACK IN SESSION In the past year, public education exploded to the forefront of the public policy debate in state legislatures across the country. We’ve seen public school educators, students, parents and public education supporters take to the streets demanding public investment and support for public schools. In Arkansas, we expect public education issues to take center stage this legislative session. STATE BUDGET & TAX CUTS State revenue has seen an increase in recent months which is good news for the state budget lawmakers will pass during the legislative session. However, Governor Asa Hutchinson has proposed an income tax cut for the top earners in Arkansas expected to move forward in the 2019 legislative session. This tax cut would result in a loss projected at almost $200 million in state revenue. In addition, members of the Arkansas Legislative Tax Taskforce have tax cut proposals of their own that may also be introduced during the session. Remember, whenever changes are made to the state budget, it impacts the state’s ability to invest in public education. EDUCATIONAL ADEQUACY The House and Senate Education Committees met jointly for 18 months to review public education data, hear from education advocacy organizations and the public about a wide range of public education issues including school facilities, educator pay, special education,
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transportation and more. Following this review, committee members approved a two year recommendation to increase foundation funding by 1.5% in Fiscal Year 2020 and 1.48% in Fiscal Year 2021. A bill will be filed requesting this increase during the 2019 legislative session. Foundation funding is the core of public education funding in the state of Arkansas and is sent to school districts on a per-pupil basis. This funding is calculated from a complex formula; however it is not a spending formula. Foundation funding is unrestricted, meaning the state does not specify how the school district must use it. This means that even though funding may be calculated to provide for things like teacher salary or other variables, school districts decide locally how to allocate these funds. This policy is intended to provide flexibility for the specific needs of each school district, allowing some districts to spend more on teacher salaries, for example, while other districts may have higher transportation needs.
TEACHER SALARY SCHEDULE The minimum teacher salary schedule for the 2018/2019 school year is $31,800 for a first year teacher with a bachelor’s degree and $36,450 for a first year teacher with a master’s degree. A bill has been filed to carry out Governor Hutchinson’s plan to increase the minimum salary schedule for new teachers by $1,000 per year over four years, with the ultimate goal of increasing the minimum teacher salary for a bachelor’s degree to $36,000. The Governor has proposed an additional $60 million to offset the cost for school districts affected by the increase in the minimum salary schedule. The Department of Education will craft the rules for how the $60 million will be awarded. Currently, there are 44 school districts that pay the state minimum salary. ARKANSAS TEACHER RETIREMENT SYSTEM The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ATRS) has recently been recognized as one of the top performing teacher retirement systems in the nation. However, Rep. Doug House, is pursuing multiple bills to make changes to ATRS and other public retirement systems. The details of his bill package are not finalized but he has already filed a bill requiring “stress tests” that could later be used to justify a reduction in benefits. House has also filed a shell bill to alter the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) provided for retirement system participants each year. Rep. House’s proposals could materially decrease the income received by retirees. Currently, these COLAs ensure retirement income doesn’t lose its value over time. This means that ATRS participants’ buying power will the same on the first day of retirement as it is in the tenth year. VOUCHERS An attempt to create Education Savings Accounts, more commonly known as vouchers was narrowly defeated in 2017, but will be back this session. Rep. Jim Dotson, Republican of Bentonville, has said he expects a similar piece of legislation to be introduced again this session. The Governor has also indicated his support of this proposal ahead of the session. The 2017 version of this bill would have diverted state revenue to individuals or organizations that made a deposit into an account to pay for private schools. In addition, Arkansas already has a voucher program deceptively called the “Succeed Scholarship Program.” This program was first approved by lawmakers in 2015 and funding has been increased during each subsequent legislative session. This voucher program is aimed at students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP), but has now grown to include children in foster care. State funding for this voucher program has also increased during each legislative session. Parents or guardians of a child on an IEP are required to waive their child’s federal civil rights protections to apply for the voucher. TEACHER FAIR DISMISSAL & EMPLOYEE FAIR HEARING ACT In December of 2018 the State Board of Education, for the first time granted a waiver to two school districts from the Teacher Fair Dismissal and Employee Fair Hearing Acts. These laws provide due process for school employees. Some lawmakers have already expressed interest in legislation to repeal due process laws for all educators. The Teacher Fair Dismissal Act and the Public School Employee Fair Hearing Act represent significant gains made by AEA to provide job security for educators. The TFDA and the PSEFHA are two hallmarks in providing fair treatment for the educators of Arkansas. Arkansas has seen a sharp decline in educators entering the profession over the past five years, and undermining these laws does nothing to support student achievement or the education profession.
CHARTER SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY The Arkansas Education Association, along with our partner organizations are drafting legislation to address the lack of transparency and accountability at Arkansas charter schools. These bills will seek to level the playing field between charter and traditional public schools since both entities receive millions of dollars in public funds, while ensuring the public can find out how their tax dollars are spent. DUTY Currently, state law requires any teacher assigned more than sixty minutes of noninstructional duties per week be compensated. Unfortunately, some school districts are not following this law and assign more duty than the law provides for without additional pay. We anticipate an effort to erode this law. PLANNING TIME Currently, state law states that each school district in this state shall provide a minimum of two hundred minutes each week for each teacher to schedule time for conferences, instructional planning and preparation for all classroom teachers employed by the school district. Individual planning time shall be in increments of no less than forty minutes during the student instructional day unless a teacher submits a written request to be allowed to have his or her planning time scheduled at some time other than during the student instructional day. We believe there will be an attempt to revise or erode this critical individual planning time, undermining educators’ ability to properly prepare for their students. PUBLIC EDUCATION MINIMUM WAGE Current law requires school districts to increase the minimum hourly rate paid to full-time classified school employees by a percentage equal to the percentage increase of the Consumer Price Index. This is a separate statute from the statute that sets the state minimum wage. However, in 2018, voters approved an increase in the state minimum wage to $9.25 in 2019, up to $10 in 2020 and up to $11 in 2021. Senator Bob Ballinger has filed a bill to create an exemption to the new minimum wage for public school employees. The above subjects represent a few topics that we believe will take center stage this legislative session, however AEA will be at the Capitol each day of the legislative session representing our members and working to improve public education in Arkansas. However, it will also be imperative for AEA members and public education supporters around Arkansas to engage with their legislators.
DATES IMPORTANT BER: TO REMEM
2019 January 28, less legislation un t en em ir t re le fi r. ch chambe Deadline to ¾ vote in ea approved by a Feb 13, 2019 endments. itutional am t ns co le fi Deadline to March 18-22 apitol. ays at the C AEA Lobby D aeaonline.org
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2019 AEA PRIMARY ELECTION AEA members can vote for the following candidates during the AEA Primary Election that will be held beginning at 8:00 a.m. on February 4, 2018 and ending on February 18, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. Please note a correction to the AEA Pocket Calendar: should there be a 2019 Final Election, it will be held March 25, 2019 beginning at 8:00 a.m. and ending April 15, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. Voting for active members will be online at www.aeaonline.org. Look for the “Vote Here” Icon on the AEA website beginning February 4. Members can access the voting site seven days a week, 24 hours a day during the voting period. You must enter your voter ID that is printed on your AEA membership card. Contact the AEA Office if you need any assistance with your voter ID, (501) 375-4611, Ext. 100. Retired members will receive a ballot by regular mail to vote for NEA Retired Delegates. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. THE FOLLOWING CANDIDATES ARE RUNNING FOR AN AEA BOARD OF DIRECTORS POSITION.
PRESIDENT/NEA DELIGATE CAROL B. FLEMING I am asking for your vote because AEA needs a leader who will stand up and represent All educators, not some - who is part of conversations impacting public education and will set a positive tone. “Strong, effective, transparent, and willing to listen” describes me. As president, I will work collectively with others to protect students, families, and colleagues from those who attack public education. We will improve our communities, build locals, and increase member involvement. I have demonstrated I can work with legislators by gaining bi-partisan support for AEA/NEA sponsored legislation. With me, AEA will be heard during discussions on public school funding, health insurance, employee rights, and retirement benefits. We must work together. Let me be Your Voice, Your Choice for AEA President.
CATHY KOEHLER Throughout my first term as President, we have built a stronger AEA that strives daily to meet the needs of all members. This is evidenced by an increase in membership, growth in locals, and an increased recognition of the work AEA is doing on behalf of public education. My most important responsibility it to listen to members and work on their behalf. With over sixty local visits, New Hire Events, scores of building visits, and attendance at District Council meetings across the state, you have shared your priorities, which have been turned into action on members’ behalf. Together, we can continue to build a stronger AEA. I am humbly asking for your vote to continue the work of the AEA and its members as President.
VICE PRESIDENT
NO OPPOSITION
MARY KNIGHT With great pride, I served this past term as Vice President of AEA where I gleaned a better understanding of the challenges facing our association. Certainly, greater clarity of our challenges prompted my thinking as to how I may better serve members. Simply, I decided to do two things: First, carefully listen to all ideas with an open mind and second, remember that anything more powerful than a spoken word is a smile backed by common courtesy. With your vote of confidence, I will continue working to maintain efficiency and a grade “A” level of honor and respect for all members of AEA.
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DISTRICT BOARD POSITIONS DISTRICT 1 POSITION 1 – ALTERNATE ((NO OPPOSITION AMANDA MAMULA My name is Amanda Mamula and I am asking for your vote for District 1, Position 1 Alternate. I am in my 6th year of teaching Art in Little Rock. I served on Little Rock Education Association Board for the elementary IV position for 3 years. I was my building rep for 5 years. I now serve as Secretary for the LREA Board. I am active at both my local level and serve the state level as Secretary for the Human and Civil Rights Committee. I strive to keep updated on AEA happenings and attend numerous trainings they offer.
DISTRICT 1 - POSITION 2 (( TERESA KNAPP GORDON I am Teresa Knapp Gordon and I currently serve my local as the LREA President I am the Arkansas Education Association Board Member for LREA Position 2. I served as Vice President of LREA and as Chief Negotiator for 11 years. I have been an AEA member since the day I was hired twenty-two years ago. I am a National Board Certified Teacher. I have leadership experience at the local, state, and national levels. If elected, my goals include growing the membership of the AEA, engaging members, working to improve the AEA, and fighting for the membership of the AEA. I humbly ask for your vote to continue to serve in AEA Board Position 2 for LREA. BECKI HOUSTON I would appreciate the opportunity to represent LREA on the AEA Board of Directors. I have served the Association and members for years at rep council and at the NEA rep assembly. I have the ability to listen and make decisions that will benefit our members. I believe in our Association, its mission and vision. We have to be sure the views of LREA members are represented. As a board member, I will do that. I am open to thoughts and ideas from our members and will take those to the board room for discussions. Thank you for your consideration.
I would appreciate your vote, for Becki Houston.
DISTRICT 1 - POSITION 2( – ALTERNATE NO OPPOSITION LAKEITHA AUSTIN Greetings to All! I would love to serve as your AEA Board Alternate Position. This position will continue to allow me the opportunity to support, advocate and promote awareness for our education, teaching, and educational support staff of Little Rock as well as for the state of Arkansas. I am a board member and treasurer for LREA. Educators and support staff are committed to believing in me and rely on me to help educate others about educational and political issues regarding our local, state, and federal levels. I am dedicated, committed, and willing to be your VOICE! Please support me.
DISTRICT 1 POSITION 3 (NO OPPOSITION BRITTANI BROOKS I am the Library Media Specialist at Pulaski Heights Middle School in Little Rock. I have been a public school teacher for 16 years. I have served as a building representative, a local and state board member, an RA delegate, and am currently serving as the Vice President of LREA.
DISTRICT 2 – PASS
NO OPPOSITION
AUDREY NICHOLS Hello Family. My name is Audrey Nichols and I am a proud PASS / AEA / NEA member. I want your vote for Alternate NEA Director. I believe in inclusion of all members be they certificated or classified and the roll we all have in educating the children of Arkansas. I want to be the representative you need when the call comes to step in when the NEA Director is not available to carry out the work. A vote for Audrey means the work will be started and completed when called upon. I am a person who believes in doing a job and doing it right. I believe in the AEA, I believe in you, I hope you will believe in me, VOTE Audrey Nichols Alternate NEA Director.
DISTRICT 3
NO OPPOSITION
APRIL REISMA I have been representing District 3 for the past 2 years, and hope to continue to do so for the next three if elected this next term. I have proven to be supportive, knowledgeable, approachable, and efficient. I have kept the communication lines open and have heard the voices of my district. I hope that you will continue to put your faith and trust in me to continue representing the educators of District 3 by re-electing me as your District Board Member. I would also love your vote for me to represent the educators of Region 5 at the NEA RA this next summer. I thank you for your support!
DISTRICT 4 PATRICK BRUCE I’m currently employed with the North Little Rock School District as a Career and Tech education teacher. Public education in Central Arkansas is currently under attack and it is our responsibility to protect it. Our communities deserve representation that will not back down from legislated bullying or back door influence that is designed to manipulate the education of our children. CINDY NATIONS After having served as the District 4 AEA board member for a number of years, I want to express my gratitude to all of the members of AEA whom I represent on the board, as well as those members and officers with whom I have had the privilege to work alongside. It is my hope that you will consider me again as your board representative for District 4 as we work together to address educational needs across our state. We are required now, perhaps more than ever, to stay informed and diligent in our fight to make our schools the best they can be for our students and communities. I hope to continue to work with you to make this dream a reality.
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DISTRICT BOARD POSITIONS (CONT.) DISTRICT 9 – ALTERNATE ((NO OPPOSITION EVELYN WILSON-THOMAS I am, Evelyn Wilson -Thomas, currently employed with the Strong Huttig School District as the Behavior & Academic Facilitator. I am President of the Strong Huttig Education Association. Active positions, ESP Advisory Secretary, Alternate, ESP Board Member, Position – 1, I have been a delegate to the National and State Representative Assembly, member of the National Council for Educational Support Professionals, ESP of the Year, 2012. A graduate of Leaders for Tomorrow program, 2013-2014. Also, served, locally on Community Conversation Forums, instrumental in start the Academic Banquet at my school, canvassing door to door surveys and Parental Involvement Committee. I will continue to voice your concerns, supporting strong public schools for our children and employees.
RETIRED POSITION 2 – ALTERNATE( JUDITH MACER (see left for comments) PAULETTE PARKER I am running as AEA-Retired Alternate Board Member, Position 2. I previously served on the AEA Board as a classroom teacher and I know that, as a retired member, there are many things that can be done to help retirees such as their retirement benefits to health issues. The process to make improvements in these issues start with the Board. I would appreciate your vote for me as AEA-Retired Alternate Board Member Position 2.
AEA RETIRED BOARD CANDIDATES RETIRED PRESIDENT/ NEA DELEGATE
DISTRICT 11 – ALTERNATE ((NO OPPOSITION CORNELIUS ROBERTS
RETIRED POSITION 1 ((NO OPPOSITION JUDITH MACER • 31 years Special Education Teacher (Texarkana) • Retired Teacher 2 ½ years. • Active AEA Member since 1985. • Consultant Supporter to local representatives. • Interviewed state representative candidates. • Attended AEA State Assembly 2 years. • Recruited new teachers for upcoming school years. I would appreciate your vote for Retired AEA Board Member or Alternate Board Member and Delegate to Houston, Texas on July 2-7, 2019 as well as AEA Retired Representative in Little Rock, Arkansas November 1-2, 2019.
NEVADA GATES I have served as Local President, Forrest City Education Association for many years, NEA DIRECTOR FOR Arkansas and numerous State Committees. Presently, I am presently serving as Chair Retired Advisory Committee, AEA BOD, and AEA Retired President. I am seeking re-election to continue to serve you as AEA Retired President. My goals are as following: • Recruit members in all membership categories. • Work for the stability of the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System. • Lobby Legislators with the AEA Leadership Team on issues concerning all AEA members. • Establish and grow Student – AEA Chapters throughout Arkansas. • Become more visibly involved and informed. Together we can grow and become greater. I humbly ask for your vote of confidence.
RETIRED VICE PRESIDENT SID JOHNSON
RETIRED POSITION 2 (( LINDA CHESTERFIELD My name is Linda Pondexter Chesterfield, and I would appreciate your support and your vote to be your retired representative on the AEA Board. Externally, education employees are losing their fair dismissal rights, retirement is under attack and so is payroll deduction. Internally, we must guard against the politics of self-aggrandizement, pitting one group against another and concentrate on making decisions that benefit everyone. Mine has been a voice of reason and knowledge. Again, I ask for your support and your vote for AEA Retired Board member. JUDITH MACER (see above for comments) FRANK SHAW I believe in the work of the AEA, Advocacy, Professionalism and Collective Action. I ask you to consider me for this position, so that we can continue to move this Association forward, continue our work to ensure a Great Public School for Every Student.
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NEA DELEGATES
The following candidates are running for NEA Delegates. Delegates will represent the Arkansas Education Association at the NEA Representative Assembly in Houston, Texas on July 2-7, 2019. Not all regions have candidates.
REGION 3 NO OPPOSITION SUE STUART • 33 years special education teacher (Texarkana). • Active AEA member since 1989. • Local Building Representative, VP, President. • AEA Board 6 years. • Served AEA Constitution, Bylaws, Rules, Resolutions Committee. • National: Served 4 years NEA Resolutions Committee. • Represented members at NEA RA since 2002. I would appreciation your vote for state representative, NEA RA, Houston, Texas 2019!
REGION 5 NO OPPOSITION
REGION 7 CORNELIUS ROBERTS
AEA’S NEA RETIRED DELEGATES
The following candidates are running for NEA Delegates. Delegates will represent the Arkansas Education Association at the NEA Representative Assembly in Houston, Texas on July 2-7, 2019. Not all regions have candidates.
HAZEL COLEMAN I have represented you well in the past. I am again asking for your vote. “I’ll be there when you need me.”
SID JOHNSON
JUDITH MACER (see page 20 for comments)
PAULETTE PARKER I am running as an AEA-Retired Delegate to the NEA/RA. I feel that retired members can have a role in the NEA activities and the first step is to become an NEA Delegate. This will give me the opportunity to vote on rules and gain needed information to involve more retirees on national issues. Your vote will be appreciated.
LEROY WILLIAMS Lee County Retired It has been my pleasure to represent educators at the local, state, and national levels as an aactive and retired educator. I want to continue advocating for all educators, especially retired members at the NEA RA. I humbly as for your vote of confidence to be your voice in Houston to advocate for children and public education. Thank you for your support.
CINDY NATIONS (see page 19 for comments)
REGION 8
AEA RETIRED DELEGATES BECKI HOUSTON
PATRICK BRUCE (see page 19 for comments)
(see page 19 for comments)
CAROL B. FLEMING
AUDREY NICHOLS
(see page 18 for comments)
(see page 19 for comments)
REGION 10
NO OPPOSITION
The following candidates are running for AEA Delegates. Delegates will attend the AEA Representative Assembly in Little Rock, Arkansas on November 1-2, 2019. Not all regions have candidates. MAUREEN BILLINGSLY I have been very active in past years. Serving my local and state in numerous capacities, I would like to continue as a delegate to the AEA Representative Assembly in Little Rock. There is much to be done. Please vote for Maureeen Dozier Billingsly. Thank you!!! SID JOHNSON JUDITH MACER
EVELYN WILSON-THOMAS (see page 20 for comments)
PAULETTE PARKER I am running as an AEA-Retired Delegate to the AEA-RA. I have served as a delegate to the AEA-RA many times during my teaching career and in my retirement, as well. I have served in leadership roles on my local and state levels. I remain actively involved in my County and State Retired Teachers Associations. I am running as an AEA-RA
Delegate to keep abreast of any current issues pertaining to retirees, especially, our pension plan. I would appreciate your vote. FRANK L. SHAW I believe in the work of the AEA, Advocacy, Professionalism and Collective Action. I ask you to consider me for this position, so that we can continue to move this Association forward, continue our work to ensure a Great Public School for Every Student. LEROY WILLIAMS Lee County Retired. As a retired educator, I have continued to serve this great organization. I am serving on the AEA Advisory Committee where I have been an active member for more than 10 years. I am presently serving as secretary. I ask for your vote for experience, loyalty, and dedication.
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RA DELEGATES COME TOGETHER TO GUIDE AEA’S WORK
As members of our local, state, and national associations, our greatest collective strength is that at every level members are the decision makers. At your local level, monthly meetings of building representatives address local issues brought forth on behalf of members or work sites. There is discussion where all are offered an opportunity to share their thoughts. A vote is taken and a path is set to address the issue. This member driven model extends to the state level at the AEA Representative Assembly. In early November, 2018 AEA RA delegates from across the state met and brought forth New Business Items (NBIs), debated the ideas and the entire body decided whether or not AEA should pursue them. This year’s assembly did stellar work, passing six NBIs that direct AEA to:
Make the protection of the Teacher Fair Dismissal Act of 1963 and the Public School Employee Fair Hearing Act a highest priority in the upcoming legislative session
Make protecting the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System a highest priority Advocate to amend section 6-17-2801 of Act 295 to revert back to the original language for placing a teacher on “Intensive support status” to ensure the law is not used against teachers in a retaliatory manner. Create a password-protected section of the AEA website and App Craft a position statement to the Legislature placing a priority on Pre-K funding Pursue legislation or amendments to ADE regulations regarding limiting the class size with students who require an IEP All AEA members have the opportunity to run to represent their local at the AEA Representative Assembly in September of each year. See the full list of the NBIs that passed, and their sponsors’ rationale at www.aeaonline.org/nbi-language.
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RESPONSIBILITY. It’s one of the most important lessons we teach our students.
But it is not our responsibility alone. Responsibility for our children’s future is a shared responsibility.
Today, just like every other day in school buildings across Arkansas, educators are stepping up to meet that responsibility for student success.
When lawmakers pass laws that allow unprepared, noncertified people to act as teachers for our students, they must take responsibility.
Unfortunately, responsibility isn’t easily measured. It doesn’t show up on a standardized test score or on a school report card. Indeed, a child is not a test score or a letter grade and neither are we.
When our communities are unsafe and our students and their families face daily violence, elected officials must take responsibility.
What these test scores and letter grades fail to measure is how much of our time and personal resources we spend trying to fill in the gaps for our students. It is a huge responsibility and one we don’t take lightly. We show up and do our absolute best to meet the educational, social and emotional needs of our students—of all our students.
When politicians prioritize tax cuts for the few while public schools are expected to educate all on a shoe string budget, they must take responsibility. When our profession is disrespected and our schools degraded by wealthy detractors hoping to monetize our students for profit, they must take responsibility for the decline in the number of people entering our profession and the undermining of public education. So, yes. We are responsible and so are you.
We have not entered this profession lightly. We have prepared ourselves in college, often taking on mountains of student loans. We have worked weekends, paid for expensive licensure exams and each of us continue to seek out meaningful professional development every year to be the very best we can be for the sons and daughters of Arkansas. We have and continue to uphold this responsibility to each of our students because we know that no less than the future of our state, or nation and our democracy depends on it.
Tracey-Ann Nelson AEA Executive Director
EDUCATOR This is YOUR magazine – Let us know what you would like to see. Send story ideas to kleyenberger@aeanea.org 24
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REWIND: Looking back at AEA’s past
Teacher Fair Dismissal became law in 1979, but AEA won stronger protections in a hard fought battle in 1983. The Arkansas Educator described TFDA as following an “unbelievably torturous path to becoming law, overcoming parliamentary shenanigans, emotional attacks from rightwing groups, and a few strange “twists of fate.”
Then Governor Bill Clinton made the improvements one of his priorities during the session and worked with AEA to gain support among stakeholders. Clinton signed the bill into law before a crowd of cheering educators at the AEA Spring RA.
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An NEA State Affiliate
1500 WEST 4TH STREET LITTLE ROCK, AR 72201-1064 aeaonline.org
I SUPPORT FRIENDS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
Q: How can educators support pro-public education candidates? A: Contribute to the Arkansas Committee for Children and Public Education!
Visit AEAonline.org/accpe to give today! *Donations up to $50 are tax deductible
