September - Tennessee Education Association

Teachers Overwhelmingly Choose TEA in
Collaborative Conferencing Votes Across the State
Rutherford County teachers didn’t have a
difficult time deciding who would represent them at
the collaborative conferencing table with the local
school board.
“Rutherford Education Association, of course.
Who else?” said Darrick Bowman, who teaches
history and social sciences at Siegel High School in
Murfreesboro.
Across Tennessee, teachers overwhelmingly
chose TEA members to represent them in
collaborative conferencing, which replaced
professional negotiations under the Professional
Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (PECCA).
Critics say this mouthful of an acronym and
the accompanying legislation were designed to
weaken TEA’s influence in fighting on behalf of
school employees and to strip teachers of collective
bargaining rights. While the 107th General
Assembly succeeded in taking away teachers’ ability
to negotiate their contracts with local school
systems, some locals still have contracts in place,
and others are receiving votes of confidence from
teachers in their districts.
To secure 100 percent of the seats at the
collaborative conferencing table, REA members
reached out to at least 15 percent of teachers in
the district who said they would like for the school
board to participate in collaborative conferencing.
The Association then placed a flier in every
teacher’s hand, informing them of the upcoming
polling date and a track record of REA’s past wins on
behalf of local teachers and school employees.
“REA did an excellent job of organizing
teachers,” said Susan Young, District 11 UniServ
coordinator. “They contacted every teacher in the
Know Your PECCA Rights
The Professional Educators Collaborative
Conferencing Act (PECCA) provides
professional employees with the right to
self-organization and to form, join or be
assisted by organizations, to participate in
collaborative conferencing and to engage in
other concerted activities for the purpose of
other mutual aid and benefit.
TEA will continue to protect and defend
the numerous rights that still exist.
Under PECCA, professional employees
have the right to:
* Self-organization and to form, join or be
county and explained to them their expertise in the
field.”
In Clarksville-Montgomery County, Becky
Jackman, librarian and media specialist at
New Providence Middle School, is preparing to
send three alternates as part of the upcoming
collaborative conferencing training in September
to make sure that CMCEA always has their side of the
conferencing process covered.
“CMCEA also plans to survey their members
and to hold a training session on etiquette and
strategy,” said Rhonda Thompson, District 14
UniServ coordinator.
After 81 percent of Knox County teachers voted
last November for Knox Co. EA to represent them in
talks with the local school board, KCEA determined
that their ultimate goal is to reach a memorandum
of understanding and to be able to work for the
Percent of teacher representatives
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
assisted by organizations
* Be free of interference, restraint or
coercion in the exercise of guaranteed rights
* Be free of reprisals or threats of reprisal
for exercising their rights
* Be free of domination of interference in
their chosen organization
Local Associations have the specific
right to:
* Have access at reasonable times before
or after the instructional day to areas in which
employees work
* Use institutional bulletin boards, mail
benefits and rights of the employees of Knox
County schools.
“Even though the legislature took away
our bargaining rights, KCEA is still here for its
members,” said KCEA President Sherry Morgan. To
those locals that are yet to start the collaborative
conferencing process, her advice is to create a plan
and stick to it.
“The focus should be on getting a calendar and
a plan of action going,” she said. “It’s important to
meet the deadlines imposed by the process. Being
on the front lines of collaborative conferencing
really helps people see the benefits of being a
member of our Association. Many non-members
signed cards and voted for us. They told us, ‘We
know you are going to do something, not the other
organizations.’”
TEAMembers
Other
boxes and communication media
* Use school facilities, as permitted by
policy for community use, for the purpose of
holding meetings
* Determine organizational rules for
acquiring and retaining members
* Enter onto school grounds to contact
professional employees at times that will not
interfere with normal school operations
PECCA, in a statement of policy and
purpose, ensures the right of professional
employees to participate in collaborative
conferencing through representatives of their
own choosing.
New TEA Member Benefits Partners
Offer Superior Service, Ways to Save Money
After a long day at school, you deserve the very
best, which is why the TEA Member Benefits program
is committed to meeting your needs and those of your
family.
TEA is proud to announce the member benefits
partners listed below and welcome your feedback,
comments and suggestions of potential future
member benefits partners. Remember, no TEA or NEA
dues are used to provide these services.
1. TEA-WOWbudget.com invites you on a
secure and confidential journey to financial freedom.
Specializing in offering a financial planning system
to help teachers retire debt-free, WowBudget offers
TEA members up to a 20% savings on monthly
services if you utilize this debt reduction plan.
2. K-12 Benefits Advisors (Transamerican)
specializes in offering flexible spending accounts
to teachers. TEA members will receive up to a 25%
savings on the monthly cost of this program and the
$5.00 setup fee will be waived.
3. HERO - Healthcare Education Research
& Outreach provides a diabetes education and
screening program to adult members of the Blue
Cross Blue Shield insurance plan. In six classes, this
plan offers participants the information needed to
learn how to make daily decisions about self-care
and diabetes. HERO also works in cooperation with
PromiseCare, a company that provides discounted
pharmaceuticals in this area of healthcare.
4. TEA Night with the Nashville Predators
Would you like to see The Nashville Predators play
Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m.?
Order tickets today at www.nashvillepredators.
com/TEANight with Special Offer Code “TEANight”
Discounted rates for TEA Members:
• $26 Goal Zone (yellow seats in Sec 301-306,
329-333; regularly $35+)
• $44 Mezzanine Level includes all-you-caneat
hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, soft pretzels
Voter registration deadline for the November
general election: October 8.
Early voting period for the November election:
October 17-November 1.
Election Day: Tuesday, November 6.
Now is the time to support candidates who
support teachers and public education.
Scan this QR code to view
testimonials from your friends
and colleagues featured in the
TEA web video or visit
vote.teateachers.org.
& Pepsi products (blue seats in Sec 313-322; regularly
$58+)
• $51 Endzone Club (tan seats in Sec 201-206,
212-213, and 219-224; regularly $66+)
• $65 Lower Bowl (green seats in Sec 101-108,
112-120; regularly $84+)
5. Discounted tickets to the University of
Tennessee football games
As a TEA member, you have an exclusive
opportunity to purchase discounted football tickets
to select home games this year in honor of UT’s
Education Appreciation Games. Simply visit
www.UTTix.com, enter the promotional code and
purchase as many tickets as you need for each game.
Please call (865) 974-9585 for a three-game mini plan
that includes the Florida home game or the Alabama
home game, plus two additional home games of your
choice for just $162.
Visit www.teateachers.org for detailed log-in
instructions.
TEA President Gera Summerford (middle) visited Jefferson County schools
with District 3 UniServ Coordinator Tina Parlier (left). Summerford spoke
with JCEA member Karen Bible (right) during the visit. Karen teaches AP art
at Jefferson County High School.
Below, Summerford welcomes Holston Middle School reading teacher Kelsey
Bull at the recent Knox Co. EA new teacher luncheon. Kelsey will serve as the
new association representative (AR) at her school.
6 September 2012 7
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