The WEA-Eastern Newsletter

Hopefully most of you have received the newsletter via your home email address, but just in case you haven't you can read the WEA-Eastern newsletter by following the link here.

The American Jobs Act

It would be a happy thing for teachers, certainly. Here's an ad that the NEA is putting out:

This Year's Dues

Hello friends,

I wanted to provide you with a breakdown of where your dues dollars go, by organization. The numbers below are for a full-time employee; if you're less than 1.0 fte and you want this analysis, please let me know and I'll get that for you ASAP!

NEA Dues: $178 a year, or $14.83 a month. This helps to support the work that goes on at the national level, as well as covering the costs associated with the liability insurance you have as an NEA member.

WEA Dues: $410 a year, or $34.17 a month. Your WEA dues pay for the staff in our Federal Way office that keep the organization running, as well as partly for the field staff around the state that are available for work issues.

UniServ Dues: $140.28 a year, or $11.69 a month. The UniServ is our WEA-Eastern office, and these dues support the staff there as well as the trainings that we attend regarding budgeting, grievances, and the like.

Local Dues: $60 a year, or $5 a month. If you've taken a look at the Association budget you know where this goes--our two biggest spending items are the scholarships that we offer every year and the stipends for building reps, the bargaining team, and the exec board.

If you add those all up you'll come up with $65.69 a month. Some of you may be paying more than that if you contribute to the WEA Political Action Committee ($2.25 a month, $27 a year) or the NEA Fund for Children ($1 a month, $12 a year). There's also an additional $1 a month for what's known as the Community Outreach fund, which is used to pay for grants to locals for projects in the community.

If you have questions about the money and where it goes, feel free to ask--you have the right, and the only way to keep a right healthy is to exercise it! :-)

With thanks,

--Ryan--

WEA-Retired Information

This comes to us from Kit Raney, the President of WEA-Retired. I'm already a life member of the Retired branch, and I'd happily endorse it for anyone at any stage of the profession--it's never to early to think about the next chapter.

You may have read or heard about the benefits of joining WEA-Retired/NEA-Retired while you are still an active member. There are many reasons to join before you retire and become a pre-retired member, which are detailed below. There is also a $50 reason to join WEA-Retired/NEA-Retired before Sept. 1 of this year because on Sept. 1, lifetime dues will be increasing from $350 to $400.

By joining WEA-Retired/NEA-Retired now, while you’re still an active association member, you’ll become a pre-retired member and receive publications from NEA-Retired and WEA-Retired. You will also be protected from any future NEA-Retired or WEA-Retired dues increases. And, when you do retire, your membership will move seamlessly to that of an active member of NEA-Retired and WEA-Retired. WEA-Retired is the only retired organization that is affiliated with WEA and NEA.

• Membership in WEA-Retired\NEA-Retired keeps you a part of the largest profession/union advocating for public education and the welfare of its workforce.
  
• You will always be eligible to use WEA/NEA member benefits.
  
• You will have opportunities to work in partnership with WEA and NEA members to improve retirement benefits for both retirees and active members.
  
• WEA-Retired and NEA- Retired members can help with your planning for your retirement.
  
• As a WEA-Retired member you will continue to receive NEA’s NEA Today, WEA’s We 2.0, NEA-Retired’s This Active Life and WEA-Retired’s WE...Too. Thus, you will be able to keep up on the issues of concern to your colleagues and remain an informed education voter.
  
• Your retired membership will allow you to remain active in governance as long as you are not an administrator at the time of your retirement. You can continue to contribute actively to your profession locally and at state and national levels.
  
• You will have friends at state and national levels to network with about your education and retiree interests.
  
• If you choose to substitute when you retire, you will continue to be covered by the NEA liability insurance you now have as long as you maintain “continuous” membership. Becoming a pre-retired member ensures no lapse in membership.
  
• You will remain one of the 3.2 million NEA\WEA voices advocating for students, public schools, and the welfare of retirees.

Retire from your position, not your profession. For $350 you become a lifetime member of NEA-Retired and WEA-Retired. It’s very easy to join. You can join using your credit card by going to www.washingtonea.org/retired/join. You can also join by check for the full amount or by making 10 payments of $35. Some districts will do payroll deduction for the 10 payments. For a membership form and/or more information, please call Stacia Bilsland at 360-482-2431 or contact her at sbilsland@washingtonea.org. Join before Sept. 1 and SAVE as lifetime dues will be increasing to $400 on that date. Pay $350 prior to Sept. 1 or begin making the 10 payments of $35 before Sept. 1 and avoid the dues increase.