Save Our Health Insurance: Attend the Rally!
The AEA will hold a rally this Saturday, January 24, 2009, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on the steps of the State Capitol to advocate for increased health insurance funding. If you're thinking about staying home, please reconsider!
AEA continues its efforts to acquaint legislators and Gov. Beebe with the seriousness of this problem. Recent information we obtained indicates that the health insurance program is a ticking time bomb, and without a significant increase in state and/or local school district funding, it is only a matter of time before it will self-destruct.
Please join your fellow educators at the rally on January 24. Only together can we obtain the resources we need to raise the employer contribution for health insurance. Please contact your local president and let her or him know that you will attend the rally. Also, find out how your local association will be involved in the rally. See you there!
Congratulations! HB 1006 Pulled Down
Congratulations! Your e-mails and other correspondence to members of the House Education Committee, asking them to oppose HB 1006, have made a difference! Representative Bill Abernathy, the sponsor of the bill, has decided to pull the bill down, although he has not yet withdrawn it.
HB 1006: An Act to Provide for a Consistent Rate of Increase to the Salaries of Classified School Employees would drop the minimum wage for new employees from $7.38 to $6.25. Those already employed would retain their current salary; however, it is estimated that their COLA would be reduced from 3% to approximately 1.8 to 1.9%, the percentage used by the legislature to determine the teacher salary component of the per pupil foundation funding for school districts.
AEA will continue to monitor this issue for further developments.
