RA delegates approve New Business Items
Delegates to the 2008 WEAC Representative Assembly approved the following New Business Items:
The WEAC shall not consider the affiliation of the Hortonville local or its potential membership until all of the original strikebreakers are no longer employed in the teachers’ bargaining unit by the Hortonville School District. The WEAC will not merge or formally affiliate with the AFT-Wisconsin while there are any strikebreakers employed in the teachers’ bargaining unit by the Hortonville School District and the Hortonville teachers are affiliated with AFT-Wisconsin. However, this does not prohibit the organizations from working on joint projects or purchasing services from one another provided that such are not related to this issue. This policy is to be reviewed annually by the Representative Assembly.
The 2008 WEAC RA goes on record authorizing the WEAC President and Executive Director to organize and support with resources and staff multiple collaborative regional and local actions advancing the strategic priorities. These actions will not be limited to but may include preparation and direction of:
- Election 2008 work nights, information campaigns and related events.
- Professional development seminars and activities.
- Union education workshops and programs.
- Collective bargaining actions.
- Health care reform initiatives, work nights, information campaigns and activities.
- Community partnerships to support school funding reform.
- Coalition activities to address achievement gaps.
- Work with AFT-WI and other unions to advance public education and its workforce.
As the purpose of strategic budgeting is to direct the resources of the organization toward these priorities, funding for these efforts will be from the proposed strategic budget. If the WEAC President and Executive Director believe additional funding is needed, a request for use of net assets will be made to the WEAC Board of Directors for their approval.
WEAC shall initiate the amendment of DPI Code PI 34.34(1) (a) which will require all teachers in charter schools to meet a licensure standard to be determined by DPI that demonstrates competency in the subject area and the grade level that they teach. WEAC will work with the appropriate staff at DPI and legislators to achieve this amendment during the 2008-09 school year.
WEAC staff will develop a plan to switch the organization’s communications, elections, and political recommendation voting to an on-line format wherever reasonable for the 2008-2009 school year. The plan should include but not be limited to dissemination of WEAC Board and Committee information, political action information, NEA State Delegate elections and political recommendations. In addition, the plan should:
- Be presented to the 2009 WEAC RA for possible permanent implementation.
- Allow for On-WEAC in Print to be continued as a hardcopy, mailed-out publication with the inclusion of a regular “front-page” notice notifying members of information they should watch for on-line (either through email or the Members only site) during the month.
- Include a system which would assure that an individual’s vote could not be tracked in the case of elections.
- Include a plan to encourage members to register their personal email addresses with the organization.
- Include a means to accommodate members who do not have computer access.
Recognizing that an ever growing number of schools are in financial distress and believing that it is in the organization’s best interest to support initiatives to reform our current school funding system while supporting the activism and grassroots efforts of its members, WEAC is directed to join the Wisconsin Alliance of Excellent Schools (WAES) as a dues paying member at the $1,000 level.
Posted May 6, 2008