COMMUNIQUÉ
A PUBLICATION OF THE IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION – DEC 2018/JAN 2019 – Vol. 55, No. 3
IN THIS ISSUE:
Advocate
Guide to the
Legislature
Members at Work
3 8-9 11
Set it...
Set it...
and forget it!
and forget it!
EFT
AVAILABLE
NOW!
EFT
AVAILABLE
NOW!
Back in session
Another resounding victory
FOLLOW US ON:
By Brad Hudson, bhudson@isea.org and Melissa Peterson, mpeterson@isea.org
By Mike Wiser, mwiser@isea.org
The ISEA continues to advocate for strong education policy but we must be
prepared to oppose policy agendas that will have an adverse impact on our
public schools, our students and public education employees. We expect to
see policy action in the following areas:
Funding
We hope we don't see mid-year budget cuts this session. However,
we do expect any increases in funding to be meager due to continued
mismanagement of the state budget by the Reynolds administration.
Corporate tax giveaways continue to cost the state more than projected,
and incoming revenue has slowed. The uncertainty of the national
economy and the tax policy passed during the last legislative session
will likely be blamed for less-than-adequate investments in important
public services like education and mental health.
K-12: We are concerned that the Republican majority will recommend
an SSA rate of 1 percent or less. Iowans who care about the wellbeing of
our students and communities must advocate for adequate funding or
we will continue to see larger class sizes, fewer program offerings and
opportunities for our students.
see SESSION on page 2
see VICTORY on page 10
How Does
Your District
Stack Up?
Ever wonder how your
district compares in pay
and benefits for education
professionals to the one
next door? How about the
district across two counties
away or the one halfway
across the state? The ISEA
launched a new online
tool that does just that. SEE
PAGES 6 & 7.
Local organizers push incredible turnout
The screens of thousands
of laptop, smartphone and
assorted portable devices
lit up during two weeks
this October as teachers,
paras, counselors and tens
of thousands of other public
employees voted "YES" to
make sure they had a spot at
the bargaining table come contract time.
For the second year in a row, Iowa State Education Association
members overwhelmingly voted to recertify their local. Turnout rates
of 85, 95 and even 100 percent were common across the state.
"We spoke about (recertification) a couple of times in our meetings
and then the Monday right before," said DJ Erkenbrack, technology
Staff at Wilson Elementary School in Ottumwa sport their "I VOTED YES" recertification stickers in a
school classroom just after 3:30 p.m. during the vote weeks. The Ottumwa Education Association
organized a recertification drive where 320 out of 323 eligible staff participated for a total of 99.07
percent participation. SUBMITTED PHOTO
DJ Erkenbrack Deb Schwickerath
BY MIKE WEISER/IOWA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
