In Virginia, Teachers have only one choice for a professional organization to represent them – the Virginia Education Association (a subsidiary of the National Education Association). The VEA has a monopoly on school divisions. It is time Teachers are given a choice of professional organizations and SB1236 gives them that choice! Please contact the following committee members and tell them to support teachers’ rights and vote yes on SB1236.
This week, Senate Bill 1236 (Equal Access; Education Employee Associations and Professional Educator Liability) was referred by the Senate Committee on Education and Health to the Public Education Subcommittee. Following last year’s precedent set in the United States Supreme Court decision (Janus v. AFSCME), this bill requires that teachers must be provided with education association membership options and costs that align with their need for educational services, professional liability insurance, and are congruent with their values.
The bill will be heard 30 minutes after adjournment of the Senate, on Thursday, January 17th, 2019, in Subcommitee Room 2, 5th Floor, Pocahontas Building, Richmond, VA. Please express your support for this bill by contacting the following committee members:
- Senator Carrico (Chairman): (804) 698-7540, district40@senat.virginia.gov
- Senator Dunnavant: (804) 698-7512, district12@senate.virginia.gov
- Senator Peake: (804) 698-7522, district22@senate.virginia.gov
Sen. Bill DeSteph (R-08), working with the Middle Resolution and Virginia Beach SPARK Education Association, introduced Senate Bill 1236, which:
- prohibits preferential treatment to or the endorsement of one education employee association over another through procedures, policies, or any other means;
- provides all education employee associations the same opportunity to attend new teacher or employee orientations in an effort to recruit new members, if any such attendance is permitted;
- provides equal access to employee mailboxes or email addresses to all employee education associations, if any such access is given; and
- requires school boards to adopt and implement policies that ensure employees have equal access to professional educator liability insurance, across a broad range of policy providers and not just the Virginia Education Association.