The award winning newsletter for Fairfax Education Association retired members Affiliated with NEA-Retired and VEA-Retired Retired FEA April 2015 A Message from the President The VEA and statewide PTA have joined forces to rally on April 18 in Richmond in support of public education. This “Put Kids First” rally hopes to draw thousands to the capital of Virginia. Such a rally is important as today Virginia is ranked 39th among the states in per-pupil funding, and the Commonwealth trails the national average in teacher salaries by $7,456. To facilitate this, some 50 busses have been reserved to bring protestors from all areas of the Commonwealth to Richmond. If you wish to reserve a free seat, notify FEA (703-352-7300). Your name will be recorded, and you will be notified of the nearest location for boarding a bus as the date approaches. Unfortunately, the rally organizers will not provide food, so a bag/box lunch is suggested. Bring your spouses, friends, children…make it a fun day to travel to Richmond and take part in something important. If you can’t travel to Richmond in April, you can help VEA in its struggle to support public education by participating in EASY PAY. Here, a sum of money is taken from your bank account each month and divided as you see fit among the political action committees of the FEA, the VEA and the NEA. You can give all the money to one of these, or two of these, or divide it somehow among all three. Call FEA for Easy Pay forms. If we do not elect friends of public education and friends of those who are supporters of those engaged in public education, we will go the way of Governor Scott Walker’s Wisconsin. Under his regime, which fights public employee unions on every level, NEA membership has fallen about 30 Continued p. 2 The Fairfax Education Association-Retired Annual Luncheon Meeting Noon, Tuesday, May 5 FEA Office 3917 Old Lee Hwy, Fairfax City Guest Speaker: Congressman Gerry Connolly US House of Representatives Virginia’s 11th District Join us for a fabulous lunch, great company and our special guest. We are asking that members pay $12 to help defray the cost of the catered luncheon. To reserve a place at the meeting/luncheon, please send your $12 (payable to FEA) by April 24 to: FEA-R c/o FEA Office 3917 Old Lee Highway Fairfax, VA 22030 Any questions? Contact Nancy at 703-352-7300 or [email protected] Attn: Nancy Perkins FEA-Retired 3917 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22030 Tel: 703.352.7300 Fax: 703.359.2982 www.fairfaxea.org FEA-Retired Council 2014-15 Dennis Pfennig, President Mimi Dash, Vice President Barbara Allen Larry Armentrout John Duncan Kathy Davis Walt Mika Marlene Parker Cheryl Perry President’s Message Continued percent and AFT membership 50 percent. The same is true for Wisconsin’s other public sector unions—nurses, police, etc. And he wants to be your next president! As a result of the attack on public employee unions led by right wing millionaires and zealots, the NEA like its Wisconsin affiliate is also seeing declining membership. So too is the VEA. Once over 50, 000 members, today the VEA has but 43,059. FEA has suffered membership decline as well. This has meant a decline in income. What can you as a retiree do? What about a monetary donation to the organization or putting FEA in your will? One final thing I ask of you is to vote in VEA-R elections. This year with 4738 VEA-R members, only 87 voted in the election held in January. That means that VEA-R will be represented at the NEA Convention by elected candidates that received less than 40 votes! FEA sends notice of the coming election, sends NEA registration numbers a day or so before balloting begins, and balloting is done on the computer. It is so simple to vote. If all 400 or so FEA-R members voted in a VEA-R election, Fairfax retirees would rule the roost! Let’s get on the bus; let’s open our wallets; let’s vote in those elections; let’s show those still in the classroom that there is life in the old folks yet! Mark Your 2015 Calendar! VEA Put Kids First Rally, Richmond, Saturday, April 18 FEA-R Luncheon Meeting, FEA office, Tuesday, May 5 NEA-R Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, June 29-July 1 (This meeting is open to all members but only elected delegates may vote.) NEA RA, Orlando, FL, July 1-6 If you have a copy of the 2006 FCPS Open Enrollment Benefits brochure, please contact Nancy Perkins at FEA (703-352-7300). Has your email address changed? If you’ve changed email addresses or are not receiving emails from FEA, please send an email to [email protected] so we can update your information. We do not share your information with any outside organizations or businesses. FEA-R Council Election Petitions due by Friday, April 24 Four FEA-R Council seats will be up for election in 2015. These two-year seats are currently held by Barbara Allen, John Duncan, Marlene Parker, and Dennis Pfennig, who are all eligible for re-election should they choose to run. The fifth seat up for election is the Education Support Professional seat on the council. FEA-R members interested in running should return the petition below along with their 75-word statement by April 24, 2015. The council meets every other month on a Tuesday, beginning in September and takes a holiday in the summer months. Candidates will have an opportunity to present their candidacy at the annual meeting and luncheon on May 5. TEAR HERE 2015 FEA-R Council Statement of Intention Intent form MUST be complete or it will be invalidated. ____________________________________ Name as you wish it to appear on ballot ______________________________________ Email Address ____________________________________________________________________________________ Home Street Address, City, State, Zip I hereby request to have my name included on the ballot for election to the FEA-R Council for a term of two (2) years to commence September 1, 2015, and to terminate August 31, 2017. _______________________________ Legal Signature ___________ Date Election to the council will also include FEA-R’s endorsement should a winning candidate wish to seek election as a retired member to the VEA and/or NEA Annual Conventions. A 75 word maximum statement of reasons for election must accompany this petition.
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