Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/348932
AEA Advocate x Fall 2014 7 AT THE CAPITOL retirement eligibility. [Defeated HB2090] • Defeated legislation to prohibit any performance pay (Classroom Site Fund/ Proposition 301 monies) from being included in the salary component for the purpose of determining a person's pension benefit. [Defeated HB2049] • Rejected an attempt to send a ballot referral to the voters which would have permitted employee retirement contribution rates to increase and allow benefits to be reduced. [Defeated HCR2001] • Prevented retirement contribution rates from increasing by defeating legislation that would have set a cap on salaries. [Defeated HB2058] • Preserved the right of school districts to hire retirees and defeated legislation that prohibited any form of a return to work program once a person retires. [Defeated SB1240, HB2056 and HB2552] Advancing sound education policy that meets high standards for teaching and learning and ensures a high quality education for all Arizona students. • Defeated all attempts to eliminate the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards. [Defeated SB1095, SB1121, SB1156, SB1310, SB1388, SB1395 and SB1396] • Retained local control by stopping legislation to restrict teacher in-service training to only occurring on a Monday or Friday or the requirement to hold them on Election Days during an election year. [Defeated HB2290 and HB2596] • Defeated an attempt to arm school employees with firearms as a new school safety program. [Defeated HB2412] Supporting fairness and respect for public education and all public education employees. • Restored AEA members' ability to pay dues through payroll deduction and eliminated attempts to restrict that personal right. [Defeated SB1094, SB1354, SB1355 and HB2476] • Defeated attempt to prohibit contract negotiated agreement for union president release time. [Defeated HB2418] • Removed the requirement to make all classified employees hold and pay for a fingerprint clearance card instead of the current requirement for fingerprint background checks. [Amended SB1391 to make language permissive instead of required of school districts] • Passed legislation that repealed problematic election law changes that attempted to purge voters off the permanent early voter list and hinder the ability of citizens to vote. These changes passed during the previous 2013 legislative session, and the AEA as part of the Protect Your Right to Vote Coalition helped gather signatures to refer this to the November ballot. With the passage of this legislation, the legislators realized they overreached and repealed all the election law changes they had previously passed. This removes the need to engage in a ballot fight over this issue in November. [Passed HB2196] 2 More At The Capitol Stories 8 AZ Voucher Program Expansion Defeated 9 Spring Break at the Capitol 19 Primary Election 22 Superintendent Huppenthal 23 David Garcia The 2014 elections bring forth new opportunities to elect pro-public education legislators so that a positive agenda for education can emerge in 2015.