CAPITOL ACTION DAY DATE CHANGE

Governance District 4 will attend Capitol Action Day on April 1st along with Governance District 6. The legislators decided to take Spring Break on our previously scheduled date.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT...

Fall RA will be held Saturday, November 15 in Springfield at the University Plaza.  If you would like to attend the awards luncheon, reservations must be made by November 7.  Each year MNEA likes to leave our host city a little better off than it was when we arrived.  One way for us to do this is through a food drive.  Thus, canned goods or monetary donations will be accepted by Cross Lines.  The HOPE Fund will again have a gift card tree as a fund raiser.  As always, PAC will have a silent auction.

DON'T FORGET Governance District 4 will need to elect one member to the PAC Council for a three year term.  Nominations will NOT be accepted from the floor.  Declarations of Candidacy must turned into DeeAnn Aull no later than 11:00 a.m. on November 15.  I have a copies of the candidacy forms.  Please contact me as soon as possible and I will get one to you.  There is also a candidacy form included in the RA packet on page 31.

Please suggest, remind, and ask members to man phone banks this week and next; as well as, sign up to volunteer at a poll to pass out literature opposing Amendment 3.  Members can sign up through www.protectourlocalschools.com.

2015 NATIONAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

The 2015 NEA National Leadership Summit will occur February 27 — March 1, 2015 in Anaheim, California. The Summit was previously known as the East/West Summit and prior to that was known as the Midwest Regional Leadership Conference.

HOTEL REGISTRATION

The Summit hotel is the Anaheim Hilton 777 Convention Way, Anaheim, CA 92802. Our overnight guest room group rate is $140 single/double, plus tax. You will be able to make hotel reservations when conference registration opens in November. The hotel is directly across the street from Disneyland and near shopping and restaurants.

Early Summit registration opens November 14, 2014 and the registration fee will be $225. Late registration begins December 17, 2014 and the registration fee will be $300. Registration will close January 28, 2015. All reservations must be made by this date.

Governance District 4 will elect a member to PAC at Fall RA

Governance District 4 will be electing a member to PAC for a three year term.  NO nominations will be taken from the floor.  Declaration of Candidacy forms must be turned into DeeAnn Aull prior to 11:00 a.m. on November 15 at the Fall RA.  Declaration of Candidacy forms will be available at the Pre-RA on October 20 at the Kansas City office located at 4224 S. Hocker Drive in Independence or you can contact me at holly.bennett@mnea.org and I will send an electronic form to you.

NEW PRE-RA DATE FOR WEST CENTRAL

West Central will hold the Pre-RA on October 20 at the newly renovated Kansas City office at 4224 S. Hocker Drive in Independence.  A light supper will be served at 5:30 p.m., the meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m.  Please attend if you are a delegate to learn about the Legislative Platform and other important issues.

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM CHRISTY GARNETT....

You've already demonstrated that you believe in Henry, will you take one more step to help others do the same? Your crucial early support helped Henry's campaign for Missouri's 53rd District get off to a strong start.  Henry's campaign and his ideas have begun to get some very positive recognition from people who care about Missouri's future and are ready to do something about it. But elections are won on BUILDING momentum, not merely sustaining it.   We hope you'll consider doing at least one more thing to help this exciting effort continue to grow:   Join us on Saturday morning, August 2nd at 9 a.m. for the Odessa Puddle Jumpers Parade.  We'll be walking in the parade and talking to attendees about Henry's campaign...we've already done several of these events and they've all been a blast!  RSVP by clicking here If you're good at reaching out to individuals and sharing your excitement about Henry's campaign, join our team of neighborhood outreach volunteers that same morning, August 2nd, to spread the word in Dover, MO.  A couple hours spent reaching out to some potential supporters can yield powerful results!  RSVP for the Dover outreach by clicking here Share Henry's web site with people you know who care about public education, jobs and restoring civility to Missouri's elected leadership.  Encourage everyone you know to learn more and to support Henry's campaign by making a contribution or attending an event!  Forward this email, post on Facebook, help us create a BUZZ! YOU and people like you, committed supporters who believe as Henry does, can help propel him to victory in November!  Don't stop now, please help us keep building!   Thank you so very much, The Grubb for the House Team www.henrygrubb.com

Copyright © 2014 Henry Grubb for House, All rights reserved. Supporters of Henry Grubb for Missouri House of Representatives from the 53rd District Our mailing address is: Henry Grubb for House 4166 Grubb Road Odessa, MO 64076 Add us to your address book

GRUBB NEEDS VOLUNTEERS AT PUDDLE JUMPER DAYS IN ODESSA

A message from Christy Garnett...

Henry Grubb would  LOVE to have education friendly folk help him walk the Odessa Puddle Jumper Day Parade NEXT Saturday, August 2.  The parade will line up at the high school at 8:30 a.m.  Carpooling, if you are able, should meet at Winstead's off of 7 Highway in Blue Springs at 8:00 a.m.  There are also opportunities to help Henry canvass neighborhoods.  If you can help with canvassing, please contact Henry at henry.grubb@gmail.com.

If you would like to join Christy on election Day outside a poll for Henry, please let Christy or Henry know.  Where MNEA members gather, fun is sure to happen!

REVIEW AND REVISE WEST CENTRAL UNIT COUNCIL GUIDELINES

Our West Central unit guidelines have not been updated since their creation in 1986.  As stated in Article VIII of the guidelines, in order to amend the guidelines the Unit Council members must have a copy of the guidelines at least two weeks prior to the vote.  Please read over the following guidelines and note any changes, editorial or otherwise, that you feel need to be brought up-to-date.  Notice by Lisa Thomas, Chairperson will be sent regarding when the vote will occur.

Please contact me at holly.bennett@mnea.org or Lisa at maestrathomas@gmail.com with any questions or comments regarding these guidelines.

I hope to see you at Summer Academy in Columbia July 16-18!

West Central Unit Council

Guidelines

Adopted August 16, 1988

Article 1:         Name

                       This service unit shall be known as West Central Unity Council.

Article II:        Purpose

The West Central Unit Council is a support group comprised of NEA locals which share concerns and assist each other to become and maintain strong local majority associations.

Article III:       Membership

Membership in this Unit Council shall be ll locals in MNEA Governance District 4 (Adrian NEA, Belton NEA, Belton ESP NEA, Center EA, Chilhowee CTA, Clinton NEA, Concordia NEA, Ft. Osage NEA, Grain Valley CTA, Grandview NEA, Harrisonville NEA, Hickman Mills UTA, Holden NEA, Johnson County NEA, Kansas City NEA, Lafayette County CTA, LaMonte NEA, Lee’s Summit NEA, Lexington NEA, Pleasant Hill NEA, Raymore-Peculiar NEA, Raytown NEA, Rich Hill, Sherwood CTA, State Schools Warrensburg.)

Article IV:       Voting

A.     Each local shall have four delegates with full voting rights.  The delegates shall vote and make decisions for their locals in Council business.

B.     The Unit Council officers may serve as a delegate for their local and will have full voting rights.

C.     Members of the Board of Directors will have full voting rights, but will not be considered a representative of their local.

D.    A quorum will be a majority of the membership represented and/or forty (40%) of the dues paying locals in the Unit

Article V:        Meetings

A.     At the first Unit Council meeting of each school year, a tentative calendar of meetings shall be set.

B.     Special meetings may be called by a UniServ Director, chairperson, or 50% of the locals.

C.     Copies of the agenda should be sent to the locals at least 7 days prior to the Unit Council meeting.  Electronic notification is permitted.

D.    Copies of the minutes will be mailed to the Presidents and other permanent members of the Council.  Electronic notification is permitted.

Article VI:       Officers

A.    The officers shall be Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, and treasurer.  Elections shall be held prior to September 1, with officers serving one year terms beginning on September 1.

B.     Should the Chairperson be unable to complete his/her term of office, the Vice-Chairperson shall succeed him/her.  An election shall be held at the next Unit Council meeting to fill the vacancy of any other unexpired terms of office.

Article VII:      Financial Procedure

A.     The Chairperson shall appoint a Budget Committee in the spring to develop a proposed budget for the next fiscal year.

B.     The annual budget shall be adopted by the Unit Council prior to the start of the fiscal year and shall indicate anticipated income and expenditures for the fiscal year beginning September 1 and ending the next August 31.

C.     Anything that is not provided for by a specific budget item shall be approved by the Unit Council prior to the expenditure.

D.     Dues – The dues of the Unit shall be established with the adoption of the annual budget.

E.      There shall be an annual audit of all Unit funds by an Audit Committee composed of three members of the Unit council.  The audit shall be done no later than October 1 and shall be presented to the Council at its next meeting.

Article VIII      Amendment Procedure

These guidelines shall be amendable by a simple majority vote of the Unit Council provided that the amendment shall have been printed and distributed to the Unit Council members at least two weeks prior to the vote.4

Article IX:       Parliamentary Authority

The current editions of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised shall govern the Association in all cases to which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these Bylaws and special rules of order the Association may adopt.

The following are the MNEA Bylaws regarding District Governance Councils:

DISTRICT GOVERNANCE COUNCILS

SECTION 1     Composition

A.     The District Governance Council shall be composed of representatives of those locals in each of the governance districts established by the Missouri NEA and the elected members of the Missouri NEA Board of Directors.

B.     The appropriate Representative Assembly delegates shall elect those positions necessary to represent the governance districts on Missouri NEA committees or boards such as PAC and the Review Board.

C.     The UniServ Director shall work with the appropriate District Governance Council to plan, facilitate and coordinate service.

SECTION 2     Meetings

A.     The District Governance Councils shall serve as conduits of governance information to/from locals and elected representation.

B.     Each District Governance Council shall establish such structure and meetings as will best serve its individual needs.

BOARD NOTES FROM MARCH MEETING

Announcement:

Susan McClintock and Jason Huffman have been re-elected to the PSRS Board.  There were no other candidates and enough signatures were gathered. 

Reports:

President: Charles reported about the wonderful reception that he had been getting on the Cat Tour.  He was especially impressed with the reception that he received in Jane, MO.

Vice President:  Brent was also impressed with the reception he received at each of the schools and enjoyed his first Cat Tour. 

NEA Directors:  NEA is in support of the Common Core standards but NEA is not in support of the way that the standards are being implemented.  The Directors met with some legislators that do not normally want to meet with us. They wanted to talk about Common Core issues.

Executive Director:  Peggy has been meeting one on one with all staff members.  She is talking with the Presidents of MSO and MSPO to discuss scheduling bargaining. 

Outsourcing Report: The MNEA Position Paper that concerns Edison schools needed to be updated and broadened.  A preliminary paper was shared.  The final version will be shared at the April Board meeting before the RA.  If accepted, it will be taken to the RA. The committee will present Bylaw language next year. Language was shared that will be given to the Resolutions Committee for their consideration on outsourcing.

Ballot Initiative: DeAnn Aull had Decline to Sign handouts for Board members to give to their local governance district members.  Charles has recorded a robo call that will go out and remind people not to sign the tenure petition and the tax credit petition.  We are supporting the petition for the Early Vote.  All education groups are supporting the Decline to Sign campaign.

The Catholic Church has an initiative petition that gives tax credits to parents that have children in private schools.  This would be a way to give public dollars to private schools. The petition is doing well gathering signatures within the parishes and has a good chance of getting on the ballot.

The Paycheck Deception legislation, which is the same language that was passed last year, is being put forth with a referendum clause for the August 5^th, ballot.  We are fighting this legislation and Right to Work with the Unity Table coalition.

The Board also debated and voted on numerous proposed changes to Bylaws and Resolutions.  These items will be discussed at the Pre-RA to be held on April 7 at the West Central Office.

MARCH 3 MEETING CANCELLED

The West Central meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled.  Stay safe and warm!

GOVERNANCE 4 PAC CONTRIBUTIONS DOWN, VOTES LOST!

We need to encourage all of our members to become PAC donors.  Our contributions are down and we have lost votes.  All members contributing to PAC are counted as PAC donors.  Our voting capacity is weighted based on the number of contributors.  Please encourage ALL of your members to donate to PAC, even $10 can help us to have more voting power.

VOTE FOR NEA RA DELEGATE

Go to www.mnea.org to vote for this year's NEA RA State Delegates from now until March 1.

MNEA BOD Meeting Notes from February 1, 2014

JANUARY 6 MEETING RESCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 21

The meeting that was cancelled due to inclement weather has been rescheduled for January 21.  We will discuss the same agenda as was mailed out to W. Central leaders for the January 6th meeting.  As always the meeting will begin at 5:30 preceded by a light supper at 5:00 p.m.  We hope to see you there!

2014 NEA RA CANDIDACY FORMS DUE BY JANUARY 21

NEA Representative Assembly

July 1-6, 2014
Denver, Colorado

The nation’s largest democratic body will meet in Denver July 1-6, for the 2014 NEA Representative Assembly. Missouri NEA will be represented by the following categories of delegates:

State delegates

State delegates are elected in two categories. Category I delegates are teachers, education support professionals and other members not serving as administrators. Category II delegates are administrators and others serving in supervisory positions that include evaluation of employees. In 2013 Missouri qualified for 26 Category I delegates and one Category II delegate. The number of delegates is based on the number of active members in the state.

Any active member can declare their candidacy for state delegate by completing the form below or found in theTimeline for Action or winter issue of Something Better. Online voting begins in early February and closes in early March and is open to all active members. Watch the MNEA.org website, Leaders' Update and Something Better for details about running for state delegate and voting procedures.
Declaration of Candidacy form (due Jan. 21, 2014) 

JANUARY 6 MEETING CANCELLED

Tomorrow's, January 6 West Central meeting has been cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions. Our next scheduled meeting is February 3 at 5:30, light supper preceding.  Please RSVP for the Greater Kansas City MNEA Legislative Brunch to be held on January 25 by January 15 and invite your local legislator. The Brunch will begin at 9:00 am with registration and coffee at the Gladstone Community Center. More information and registration is available at www.mnea.org.  Also, please be prepared to determine nominations for the Horace Mann Awards at the February meeting.

Please do not hesitate to contract me or Christopher Eager with any questions or concerns.