WEAC Fact Sheet

What is WEAC?

The Wisconsin Education Association Council is a professional labor organization representing the public policy, labor and professional interests of its more than 98,000 members. WEAC is dedicated to public education and the belief that every child deserves a great school.

Membership

• 68,000 teachers, counselors and library media specialists in public K-12 schools.
• 17,000 education support professionals: secretaries, teacher aides, bus drivers, custodians, cooks employed in public K-12 schools.
• 3,000 faculty and support staff in the Wisconsin Technical College System.
• 7,850 active retired members.
• 1,800 university students who are studying to be educators.
• 750 education and information professionals who are employed by the state and work in the Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin Technical College System, State Historical Society, at other state schools and libraries, and in state prisons and other institutions, including the Centers for the Developmentally Disabled.
• 10 academic staff employees in the University of Wisconsin System.

WEAC's Structure

WEAC members belong to:

• A local association, which is the first level of member involvement in the association. It deals with issues that directly affect school quality, employment compensation, working conditions and professional development interests of members. Locals bargain contracts with employers. They carry out a broad range of professional and community relations programs.
• WEAC has 650 teacher and education support professional locals in 408 school districts throughout Wisconsin.
• UniServ units, which are groups of local associations in the same geographic region, whose combined membership generally totals about 1,200 to 1,500. Each UniServ unit — in financial partnership with WEAC and the National Education Association — hires its own staff to assist locals in collective bargaining, member rights, public relations, professional development, political action, and other areas. Each of the 32 UniServs has its own governance, with members electing officers.
• WEAC, the state-level association.
• The National Education Association is based in Washington, D.C. The NEA has more than 2.7 million members who work at every level of education, from pre-school to universitygraduate programs. The NEA, governed through an elected Representative Assembly, provides national research and bargaining support, legal support, political action and lobbying services, and a library of books, brochures, videos and other communications services on professional and educational issues.

Each level sets its own policies and dues.

WEAC Policy

WEAC is a member-directed, issue advocacy organization. Once a year, approximately 1,000 delegates attend the Representative Assembly to make major policy decisions, adopt a program budget, and elect WEAC officers.

Ongoing policy decisions are made at monthly meetings of a 64-member elected board of directors. Board members are representatives of UniServ units.

The WEAC president - a full-time elected position - oversees policy implementation on a daily basis and serves as the organization's chief spokesperson.

Mary Bell, a library media specialist and former English teacher, is WEAC’s president. She was elected to the post in 2007 after serving as secretary-treasurer since 2003.

WEAC staff , under the direction of Executive Director Dan Burkhalter, carries out the organization's policies on a day-to-day basis.

Great Schools

Great Schools is a statewide appeal to communities to get involved in their local schools and create a vision of how their schools can meet the needs of all children.

We know that Great Schools benefit everyone in our communities. Great Schools help keep our communities safe, strengthen our economy and fulfill our democracy. Great Schools positively shape and define the character of communities.

Wisconsin’s public schools are Great Schools, and the quality of our schools is reflected in the success of students. Students in Wisconsin learn. Students here graduate. And students in Wisconsin succeed after graduation.

Great Schools place students in classrooms that work; and Great Schools depend on great teachers and staff.

For more information about Great Schools, visit OnWEAC's Great Schools Resource Page.

WEAC Services

WEAC staff members work in the Office of General Counsel, Public Relations, Government Relations, Collective Bargaining, Affiliate Relations, Financial and Membership Services, Teaching and Learning, Information and Communications Technology, and Human Resources and Labor Relations.

OnWEAC

OnWEAC is the association's Web site, providing a vast array of information and services to members and the public. OnWEAC contains daily news, research and issue papers, background on education issues, an Educators' Bulletin Board, online sign-up forms for conferences, discussion boards, and much more.

WEAC History

WEAC began as a statewide educational organization in 1853. Membership included teachers and administrators until the Legislature enacted a collective bargaining law for teachers in the 1960s. WEAC has since expanded its membership to include education support professionals, Wisconsin Technical College system and University of Wisconsin professionals, along with state government education information professionals.

Updated August 10, 2007