Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/195036
Inside NEA New Great Public Schools fund a 'gamechanger' Mike Hoffmann attends his first National Education Association (NEA) Board of Directors meeting last month as DSEA's NEA director he best part of our orientation was when Judith Snyder, a longtime employee at the Office of Congressional Research, talked to us about how Washington works. It's all about votes. That's what motivates them; that's what determines everything. Committees. Seniority Votes." . Hoffmann is really glad that when NEA directors from the state associations gather for Board meetings, they also go visit their Congressional delegations. "Snyder also initiates new Congressional representatives and senators. She was great," adds Hoffmann. "She urged us to just bring our passion and tell our stories when we talk about what we want for public education and our students." "T NEA Board of Directors Meeting Highlights "Last summer we changed the world," said NEA President Dennis Van Roekel. With those words, he revved up the NEA Board of Directors on September 27. He was referring to the $3 dues increase passed by the Representative Assembly that created the Great Public Schools fund. "This is standing up and making a statement about who we are," he said. "That we're willing to put our time and money into making a difference for every student in America." The fund guidelines have been placed on the NEA website. At least $6 million will be available from the fund this year, and state affiliates and locals can apply for up to $250,000 per year. The grant requests will be judged on a number of criteria, including whether Mike Hoffmann plans to report to DSEA members after each NEA Board of Directors meeting. the proposed program will have a measurable impact on student success. New Summits emerge from previous NEA regional meetings The NEA will host new East and West Summits next spring, and organizers promise great things from the new conferences. Although the summits are replacing the former regional trainings, the focus will shift to leadership, with the goal of improving student success. The West Summit is planned for January 17-19 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the East Summit will follow February 21-23 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Summits will be larger than the former regional conferences, with over 1,000 expected for the Las Vegas event, and slightly fewer at the East. NEA will fund at least four delegates from each state, but state affiliates and locals can choose to send many more. The goal of the annual summits is to develop individual leadership skills, and each participant will work on skills in three areas this year: governance, Leading the Professions, and organizing. In future years, the focus may shift to advocacy and communication as leaders develop a full range of skills. The Minority Leadership Summit will take place just prior to each summit, and the Women's 8 October 2013 DSEA ACTION! Leadership Summit will take place directly after it. States can each send four members to the MLT and two to the WLT. State presidents talk about challenges The presidents of five state affiliates addressed the board about challenges they are facing. California Teachers Association President Dean Vogel said that getting his 320,000 members in touch with each other and connected has been a challenge, especially as California has changed into a state where the majority of citizens speak Spanish. "If we're really trying to build capacity," he said, "we really have to engage members with each other." "Educators want to own their profession and feel like advocates," Vogel said. "We must be working to build and sustain effective learning environments for students." Rita Haecker, president of the Texas State Teachers Association, said that her state has serious race issues, too. They are tackling them by "focusing on our greatest resource—our members," she said. Stephanie Winkler, president of the Kentucky Education Association, said her state is in the odd position of not having collective bargaining, but also not having right to work legislation either. The result, she said, is that "… we are stuck in a doughnut hole." Six or seven locals do bargain contracts.Winkler said the solution is to build partnerships. "It comes down to, 'If you can't build coalitions, you can't get anywhere,' " she said. As a result, their focus is on membership and organizing. Andrew Morrill, president of the Arizona Education Association, faces some of the toughest anti-union legislation and bad reform ideas in the country and still manages to keep a positive outlook. His trick? Humor. He described Arizona as a "Mad Max version of politics," with corporate reformers trying out every bad idea as they run over innocent children, all the while, cutting education spending to the tune of $1.5 billion over the past five years. In 2010, Arizona lost payroll deduction for union dues. His solution? Organizing and the solidarity of other unions. Arizona has built labor coalitions which are taking root. They have also had the legal support from NEA to win in court. In fact, a recent injunction bars the state from continuing to ban payroll deduction. "We've been knocked around," Morrill said, "but we've never been knocked out." Finally, the NEA board heard from Denise Specht, the president of Education Minnesota. Specht described Minnesota's relatively unique position as a merged state affiliate. All the members belong to NEA, the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO. This gives Minnesota the ability to have "Area Labor Councils" where all types of union members come together. Specht said that being relevant to members is the biggest challenge. "Structure, traditions, attitude, and progress get in the way of where we need to be," she said. "Where we want to go should really guide how we get there." www. nea. org www.dsea.org