Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/733506
BACK TO SCHOOL | WEAnews 4 PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Kathy Vetter WEA President kvetter@wyoea.org Friends of Education in our Legislature Welcome back to another school year. This is always such an exciting time of year, seeing the bright, eager faces of your students and catching up with your colleagues you have not seen since you left school last year. If you are a new teacher, your first year of teaching may seem like an overwhelming adventure. I encourage you to reach out to your fellow WEA members, who will gladly help answer what may seem like even the most basic questions. And I am asking our experienced members to reach out to the new education employees, to ensure they are successful in your school. While this is a hectic and exciting time of year for education employees, I would like you to take some time to think about all of the decisions which are made outside of your school district that impact your work environment. The building you work in, the curriculum you are teaching, the books you are using, the policies you must follow, the budget and salary you receive: these decisions are made by elected officials. When we stop to think about how many things in public education are decided by the people we elect, you understand why it is so important to be an informed voter. With everything that goes on in the beginning of the year, it is easy to get caught up in school work and not think about the upcoming election. I encourage you to take some time and look over the list of WEA-PACE endorsed candidates on page 2. Local WEA-PACE members interview candidates and make endorsement recommendations to the WEA-PACE Council. These recommendations are based solely on education issues. The WEA-PACE Council then votes on these recommendations, which is how we determine who our endorsed candidates will be. It is important to have friends of education in our legislature and on our local school boards, because they are the people making decisions about what happens in our schools and how our schools will be funded. Please share the list of WEA- PACE recommended candidates with your family, friends and coworkers, and encourage them to cast their vote for the students and public education in Wyoming by voting for WEA- PACE endorsed candidates. It is important that every education employee goes to the polls and votes in the upcoming election. We also need your help to encourage your friends and coworkers to go to the polls on November 8th and vote for candidates who support education. The future of educaiton in Wyoming depends on it. It is important that every education employee goes to the polls and votes in the upcoming election.