The Latest from VEA

I believe one thing almost everyone can agree on is raising teacher and support staff pay. SB 157 patroned by Senator  Ghazala F. Hashmi received a hearing today in Senate Education Subcommittee would require state funding to provide a five percent annual pay increase for each such position, effective from the 2023-2024 school year through the 2027-2028 school year, provided that such five percent annual pay increase (i) is subject to a local matching requirement in accordance with each local school board’s composite index of local ability-to-pay and (ii) shall be adjusted annually as necessary to account for rebenchmarking and to yield a rate of compensation percentage increase for all Standards of Quality-funded positions that are pegged to providing a competitive average teacher salary in the Commonwealth.  Watch the hearing on SB 157 HERE.

Please join Dr. James Fedderman, VEA President, for VEA’s Educator Action Week.

The General Assembly session has started with a bang this week, and it’s clear public education is in the crosshairs. I’m writing to encourage you, to join with your fellow union brothers and sisters and be part of VEA’s Educator Action Week, which kicks off this Sunday. The stakes for public education are extremely high and, while Omicron forced us to interact with our legislators virtually, that won’t stop our message from being as clear and strong as ever! In fact, it gives us the opportunity to reach them through a week-long series of events – and the more of us that participate, the more powerful our advocacy for students, educators, and schools will be!

We’ll start things Sunday evening with a legislative briefing, where you can learn what VEA’s top priorities are, which education issues are on the General Assembly’s front burner, and how you can give your elected leaders the straight scoop. Get the entire week of events with all the details here: www.veanea.org/actionweek2022/.

We’ve also got a sign you can download to use at the rally and on #Red4Ed Wednesday, along with a virtual background to help all of us stand up strong and proud.

Don’t miss this week! The effects of this legislative session will reverberate through our schools for years to come—help make an important difference!