E-Dues and You

It's  truly sad that many of America's legislatures have waged war against unions.  Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina and many others have seen attacks on their collective bargaining, dues deduction and the laws that protect public employees and their hard-earned rights.

It used to be true that although the parties disagreed about the best approach to public education that they supported the idea of public education.  That is no longer true with many radicals looking to sell the cornerstone of our democracy to the highest bidder.

One of the first things that legislatures and governors due when they win control of both chambers of their legislatures is to "immediately" remove dues deduction.  The unorganized and unprepared frequently see a drastic blow to membership and the collective voice that unions provide America's educators.  As a result, those who want to "stay at the table" and avoid "being on the menu" have circumvented this with e-dues payment for membership.

There are a variety of good reasons that Lewis Central has joined in this push: (1) we want to protect our state and local Association that is currently guarded by a single vote in the senate; (2) your dues deduction is split over 12 months vs. 10 months; (3) the school district no longer has a list of who is a member and who is not; (4) it puts your dues dollars in the same category as your cable bill, car payment, electric bill and simplifies bill paying; (5) you directly see your monthly contributions without the help of a middle-man.

Please join us in becoming an e-dues LCEA member.  Want to know more?  CLICK HERE for FAQs about e-dues.

Every Child Counts

The past two weeks of session were quite busy. Here is a recap of some of the most notable happenings related to kids and their families.

Last week, the HHS Budget SubCommittee heard presentations on Medicaid expansion which is a pretty hot topic at the Capitol right now. And, this week, the SubCommittee heard from 1st Five.

You can download the presentations below:

DHS - Medicaid Expansion Presentation
DHS - Iowa Care Presentation
1st Five

CLICK READ MORE below and read about specific EDUCATION and STUDENT/CHILDREN legislation.

February 7--KIDS NOT CUTS--NEA National Call In Day

LCEA Colleagues,

Thanks to some of your hard work, we've made progress in the fight against the "fiscal cliff" cuts to education, but we're not in the clear yet. That's why this Thursday NEA members from across the country, as well as supporters from hundreds of other organizations, will be taking part in a National Call-In Day against education funding cuts.

Call 1-866-293-7278 on Thursday, February 7 to be connected to your members of congress and urge them to support Kids Not Cuts!

At a minimum, education could still be hit with a cut of more than $3 billion this year. That's a scary prospect for educators like Marian from California, who shared her Kids Not Cuts story with us through our Education Votes website:

"We have class sizes over 40, no libraries, no computer labs, one nurse for 5,000 students and no music or art in our district. That is not what is needed to educate our students. Restoring funding is crucial and must happen, now!"

ISEA HOTLINE February 1, 2012

It is essential that we go to our Legislative Forums 

FOR LEWIS CENTRAL THAT MEANS

$670,762.00 IN NEW MONEY

SATURDAY, FEBUARY 9, 2013

WILSON MIDDLE SCHOOL 715 N 21st St 
 Council Bluffs, IA 51501

CLICK HERE for map

9:00-10:30 PM

and contact our elected leaders to urge them to pass four percent allowable growth quickly this year!  

Here's what you need to know:

On Wednesday, the Iowa Senate passed a package of education funding bills, including four percent Allowable Growth for 2013-2014 (Senate File 52), four percent Categorical Growth (SF 51), and a Property Tax Fund Distribution Bill a.k.a. School Property Taxes (SF 53).

Allowable Growth and the companion Categorical Allowable Growth bill would go into effect for the 2013-2014 school year. The two Allowable Growth bills provide schools with the money they need to employ educators and keep class sizes small. These two bills passed along party lines. Republicans voted against setting Allowable Growth because, like Governor Branstad, they believe the Governor's Education Reform

CLICK READ MORE TO READ ABOUT THE GOVERNOR'S PLAN

LCEA Friends of Education 2012-2013

The Lewis Central Education Association is comprised of nearly 200 Lewis Central educators and is the professional voice of the profession within Lewis Central Schools.  For the third year in a row, the LCEA is using its collective voice to thank and recognize some of the many individuals and organizations that make Lewis Central Schools a place with a “Proud Past and Promising Future.” 

The LCEA is thankful for these friends in making sure that our traditions are advanced and our future looks bright.

A large group of members, administrators, community members joined in the celebration on January 24, 2013 in the Lewis Central High School Media Center.

CLICK READ MORE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS & COMMENTS OF PRESENTERS.

Use Your Union Won Weingarten Rights

Your Weingarten Rights

EMPLOYEE'S RIGHT TO UNION REPRESENTATION

The right of employees to have union representation at investigatory interviews was announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1975 case (NLRB vs. Weingarten, Inc. 420 U.S. 251, 88 LRRM 2689). These rights have become known as the Weingarten rights.

Employees have Weingarten rights only during investigatory interviews. An investigatory interview occurs when a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend his or her conduct.

If an employee has a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from what he or she says, the employee has the right to request union representation. Management is not required to inform the employee of his/her Weingarten rights; it is the employees responsibility to know and request.

When the employee makes the request for a union representative to be present management has three options:

 

Sequestration and its Impact on Education

The White House has released its plan explaining how the sequester’s mandatory spending cuts to defense and domestic spending will be implemented in 2013. Here’s the background on what the sequester is, how it happened and what happens from here:
What is the sequester?

It’s a package of automatic spending cuts that’s part of the Budget Control Act (BCA), which was passed in August 2011. The cuts, which are projected to total $1.2 trillion, are scheduled to begin in 2013 and end in 2021, evenly divided over the nine-year period. The cuts are also evenly split between defense spending — with spending on wars exempt — and discretionary domestic spending, which exempts most spending on entitlements like Social Security and Medicaid, as the Bipartisan Policy Center explains. The total cuts for 2013 will be $109 billion, according to the new White House report.

Under the BCA, the cuts were triggered to take effect beginning Jan. 1 if the supercommittee didn’t to agree to a $1.2 trillion deficit-reduction package by Nov. 23, 2011. The group failed to reach a deal, so the sequester was triggered.

TO READ MORE ON SEQUESTRATION'S EFFECTS ON EDUCATION CLICK HERE or enter this into your browser http://www.nea.org/home/52610.htm

FOR MORE ON SEQUESTRATION, CLICK READ MORE BELOW