Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/479293
SPRING 2015 | WEAnews 4 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Kathy Vetter WEA President kvetter@wyoea.org With all of the different education issues that were addressed in this past legislative session, it was important that education employees from around the state were contacting their elected officials throughout the session. Thanks to the work of our WEA lobby team and all of our members who stepped up and contacted their senator and/or representative, we had a very successful legislative session. On February 8 and 9, WEA held the Research, Bargaining, and Lobbying (RBL) Conference, at which members learned about the different education bills being considered in the legislature this year. Attendees were then given the chance to meet with elected officials at both our legislative reception on Sunday and at the capitol that Monday. RBL was well-attended, and the timing was great for all of the participants to talk to their senators and representatives about the external cost adjustment, which did subsequently pass in both the House and the Senate. Thank you to all of our members for all of their work on this issue—the increased funding will help schools, students, and education employees throughout the state. Throughout the session we saw members at the capitol, talking to senators and representatives about education issues. Some of our members even brought their classes to the capitol to learn about the legislative process. It is always great to have our members and students come to Cheyenne during the session; having people from home come to the legislature means a lot to our legislators. A big thank-you to all of our members who were able to make the trip to the capitol this year. I want to thank everyone who took the time to contact their senator and or representative during this year's legislative session, whether during our RBL conference, at the capitol, back home, by phone, or by email. We could not have had such a successful session without the help of our WEA members from around the state. Now that your representatives and senators are back home, you should take some time to contact them and thank them for all of the work that they did this session. The session may be over, but our work has not ended. We will be attending interim legislative meetings throughout the year on assessment, accountability, and recalibration of the school funding model. Dates, times and places for these meetings will be posted on the legislative website, http://legisweb.state.wy.us. It would be great if you could try to attend some of these meetings that are in your area throughout the year, as funding, assessment and accountability are all very important education topics.