September - Tennessee Education Association
September - Tennessee Education Association
September - Tennessee Education Association
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A warm welcome — Jessica Stephens (left) signs a record-breaking membership form<br />
during Williamson County EA’s new teacher event at Franklin High School on August 2.<br />
More than 75 new teachers joined WCEA during the event, exceeding last year’s count.<br />
<strong>Tennessee</strong> Student Leader<br />
Earns National Recognition<br />
Former Student<br />
<strong>Tennessee</strong> <strong>Education</strong><br />
<strong>Association</strong> President<br />
Caryce Gilmore received<br />
the NEA Student<br />
Program’s Outstanding<br />
State Student Leader<br />
Award at the 2012 NEA<br />
Student Leadership<br />
Conference in<br />
Washington, D.C.<br />
The award recognizes<br />
a student member who<br />
has achieved excellence<br />
throughout the year by<br />
providing leadership<br />
to the State Student<br />
Caryce Gilmore<br />
Program to meet the<br />
three pillars of the<br />
program: community outreach, professional development and political action.<br />
Gilmore’s leadership experience includes starting a community outreach<br />
project for STEA, lobbying with state officers in Nashville, holding a voter<br />
registration drive at the STEA Fall Conference, serving on the TEA Board,<br />
attending two NEA Student Program Conferences and one NEA conference.<br />
Gilmore was also elected by her peers to serve as a student representative on<br />
the NEA Board of Directors at the leadership conference.<br />
Counting On Tuition Discount?<br />
Read the Fine Print<br />
This fall, dependents of many public school teachers will enroll in a<br />
<strong>Tennessee</strong> Board of Regents school or one of the schools that are part of<br />
the University of <strong>Tennessee</strong> system. Most of them will apply for a tuition<br />
discount as provided in <strong>Tennessee</strong> Code Annotated 49:7-119.<br />
This 25-percent tuition discount is available to a teacher’s dependent<br />
child under the age of 24. In order to receive the discount, a form must<br />
be completed and submitted upon enrollment. What is not on the form<br />
are the words “retired teacher.” Whether by design or simple oversight,<br />
these words were omitted when the law passed in 1993. Every year,<br />
numerous new retirees are surprised to find their student is no longer<br />
eligible for the discount because the teacher is now retired. Retiring<br />
teachers lose the benefit of discounted tuition for their dependents.<br />
<strong>Tennessee</strong> Retired Teachers <strong>Association</strong> (TRTA) believes there is<br />
a difference between losing a benefit and never having it. TRTA has<br />
fought hard for many years to correct this unfair treatment. The lobbyist<br />
for the <strong>Tennessee</strong> Board of Regents and the UT Board of Trustees has<br />
resisted the inclusion of retired teachers in the law providing the<br />
discount. Please keep this significant loss of tuition discounts in mind<br />
when planning for retirement.<br />
Opinion/Commentary<br />
We Are Professionals.<br />
Let’s Get Our Rights Back<br />
By Lisa Dammert<br />
T<br />
his is a plea for the restoration<br />
of collective bargaining. bargaining. Just<br />
because that right was<br />
taken away from us, it<br />
doesn’t mean that we<br />
must surrender it. Teachers have<br />
accepted lower salaries than<br />
those offered by corporate<br />
jobs under the guise that<br />
teachers have better benefits.<br />
That is no longer the case.<br />
Without collective bargaining<br />
we lose more than perks—we<br />
lose the ability to use our strength<br />
in numbers to negotiate for more<br />
affordable health care coverage, life and<br />
disability insurance. Premiums continuously<br />
creep up as do the costs of routine health maintenance.<br />
I know this first-hand as a cancer survivor, mother and spouse who wants the best<br />
for her family.<br />
Teachers and education support professionals are no longer respected as we once<br />
were. State standards, high-stakes testing and the threat of lawsuits loom over every<br />
one of us. These threats take away from the time we spend with students. We are stuck<br />
in meetings and webinars to address these demands, when instead we’d rather be, well,<br />
teaching! Our voice is no longer one of solidarity. We must unite together and let the<br />
politicians know that we will not<br />
surrender collective bargaining.<br />
“It’s time to show the politicians We can only win this fight if we<br />
work together.<br />
the power of solidarity. We can<br />
Several politicians are up for<br />
collectively bargain their jobs away by re-election who have no respect<br />
for teachers. We must show them<br />
voting new people in... We can get our<br />
that we remember. We remember<br />
right to collective bargaining back.” marching in the rain. We remember<br />
sitting outside of the legislative<br />
sessions as our profession was<br />
bashed. Some politicians painted us as glorified babysitters. To those politicians, I<br />
say this: Teachers are the ones who taught you how to read, how to follow directions<br />
and how to tie your shoes. Teachers dried your tears when you were sad and gave you<br />
hugs to celebrate your success. During that entire process teachers unfolded the<br />
world before your eyes. They showed you that the universe is vast and that cells are<br />
microscopic. Teachers taught you critical thinking skills and how to get along with<br />
other people. Babysitters just make sure the baby stays in one piece before the parents<br />
get home.<br />
It is time to show the politicians the power of solidarity. We can collectively bargain<br />
their jobs away by voting new people in. Remind fellow teachers how politicians voted<br />
on issues near and dear to your heart. Show students the legislative process in action –<br />
vote! We can only get our right to collective bargaining back by standing up as one.<br />
Lisa Dammert teaches at Fairview High School and is membership chair of the<br />
Williamson County EA, www.wceateachers.com.<br />
Scott Price (Coffee Co. EA) and Anthony Hancock (Knox Co. EA) talk<br />
to the state delegation at the NEA Representative Assembly about<br />
their individual campaigns for <strong>Tennessee</strong> State Representative.<br />
Campaigns Heat Up<br />
<strong>Tennessee</strong>’s Teachers Aim High<br />
Nine of the eleven TEA members who stepped up earlier this year to<br />
reverse the anti-public school agenda at the State Capitol won the primary<br />
election in August, demonstrating strong support for teachers and public<br />
education in communities across <strong>Tennessee</strong>.<br />
Coinciding with the start of school, many of the candidates are balancing<br />
day-to-day school duties along with running ever-intensifying grass<br />
roots election campaigns, which will culminate in the November 6 general<br />
election.<br />
Tommy Scott Price, who teaches at Coffee Co. Central High School, said<br />
he is grateful for the support of his colleagues and fellow citizens.<br />
“I decided to throw my hat in the race in House District 47 because I<br />
didn’t feel that our elected officials represented the interests of teachers in<br />
our area,” Price said.<br />
The 16-year member of TEA and Coffee Co. EA said that the 2011-12<br />
legislative session delivered plenty of misguided “education reform” to<br />
<strong>Tennessee</strong> schools. Watching the slew of anti-teacher bills become law<br />
during the past couple of years inspired Price to bring a real teacher’s<br />
perspective to the <strong>Tennessee</strong> General Assembly.<br />
Together with Anthony Hancock, a fellow teacher and House District<br />
18 candidate from Knox County, Price addressed the <strong>Tennessee</strong> delegation<br />
during the NEA Representative Assembly in Washington, D.C., in July.<br />
An active Knox Co. EA member since 2003, Hancock stressed the need to<br />
reverse past legislative measures aimed at silencing teachers’ voices in favor<br />
of corporate interests and out-of-state virtual schools.<br />
“Educators deserve dignity and respect, and children deserve access<br />
to high quality instruction guided by the curriculum,” said Hancock, who<br />
teaches special education at Bearden Middle School in Knoxville. “I believe<br />
that parents and families should be engaged in and have opportunities to<br />
participate in the education of their children.”<br />
10 <strong>September</strong> 2012 11<br />
www.teateachers.org