February 24, 2003 / Volume 21, Number 5
Join us at the Teacher of the Year Reception March 25 5:15-7:30 Niceville Community Center To attend sign up with your Principal!
OCEA Scholarship Applications are due in the OCEA office no later than April 15. Call the OCEA office if you need further information.
Mark your calendar now for the OCEA Retirement Celebration to be held at Hurlburt Soundside on May 1!
Deadline for submitting names to go to the FEA or NEA Conventions is March 13.
Deadline for nominations for OCEA officers is March 13.
March 25 5:15 P.M. to 7:30 at Niceville CC. More information will be sent to your Building Representative in the near future.
On January 16, following our OCEA Building Rep. Meeting, our committee met with Kevin Watson from FEA Government Relations. He updated us on FEA's positions for this legislative session. We also divided our committee into five groups that will head to Tallahassee as soon as the session begins (March 4).
As always, our concerns are your concerns. We will be looking at salary, retirement, health care, and work environment conditions. When each group goes to Tallahassee, we will receive an update on actual bills that are of interest to us as teachers. We will have appointments with the Senators and Representatives and we will represent you as we express your views of these bills.
This is an extremely important job, especially in these economically depressed times. We thank these people for their commitment.
We hope to represent you well. Please let us know your concerns by letting the OCEA office hear from you. Also, think seriously about getting involved yourself next year.
Roxie Tew
Legislative Chairperson
The FEA Convention will be held May 8-10 in Orlando. (Delegates will receive TDE for Thursday and Friday.) The NEA Convention will be held in New Orleans July 1-6. A portion of your expenses for these conventions will be supplemented by OCEA.
If you are interested in attending one or both of these conventions, please complete the form and return it to the OCEA office no later than March 13. Due to state and national timelines, this information needs to be submitted early. If you are elected as a delegate to either convention, please mark the dates on your calendar and understand that you are committed to attend. If the number of nominations i sless than or equal to our allocation, we will not hold an election. You must adhere to this deadline in order to be considered.
While retirement is an obvious reason for teachers leaving the profession, improved benefits and retirement options are essential elements in retaining our current high-quality workforce and can be a valuable tool in our recruitment programs. Florida must improve retirement benefits. The FEA Legislative Program supports improving retirement and DROP provisions to retain and potentially recruit needed teachers.
OCEA
348 Highway 190
Valparaiso, FL 32580
Office: 850-678-5940
Fax: 850-678-0984
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Executive Director -
Denise Megiel-Rollo
President -
Sheila Olsen
Secretary -
Diane Jenkins
Webmaster -
Lynn Kane
Sheila's ShoutsAt the last School Board meeting the calendar for 2003-2004 was adopted. The school parent survey and our members surveys resulted in the committee of members and parents embracing the same calendar recommendation. This recommendation was forwarded to the Superintendent and then the School Board.
It is time to submit your name if you plan to run as a state Delegate. The Gulf Coast Service unit will be accepting names until the 13th of March. This year the convention is in New Orleans from July 1st until July 5th. Please call Diane at 678-5940 if interesting in running for this position. The service unit will reimburse you for $ 600.00 of your expenses.
Several measures have been filed in the Legislature that would advance the FEA position to improve retirement benefits. Here are some of the current issues under discussion in Tallahassee:
3-Year Averaging
This legislation will improve retirement benefits
by changing the calculation of "average final
compensation" from a 5-year to a 3-year average.
Currently, HB 21 by Rep. Nancy Detert has been filed.
DROP Extension
Legislation has been filed that will extend
DROP participation from the current 5-year
maximum period to an 8-year period. This
provision is only drafted to include instructional
personnel and is included in HB 83 by Rep.
Brummer and SB 328 by Senator Pruitt.
FEA is working to explore ways to include
ESP for DROP extension and may be included
in a separate bill mentioned later in this
report.
DROP Equity
FEA is having legislation filed that will, if
passed, create a level playing field for DROP
signup for all preK-20 education employees.
Currently, only K-12 instructional personnel have, upon reaching eligibility, an unlimited signup window instead of a fixed 12-month period. The legislation would provide the same unlimited window for non-instructional K-12 employees and all higher education faculty. Additionally, we are exploring the DROP extension as an element to this bill.
Increased Accrual Rate
Legislation is being proposed that will
create a tiered accrual rate increase.
This will promote employee retention, as
your later years will be of greater value
upon retirement.
Reemployment after Retirement
The ability to be reemployed after retirement
may be an important element
to keep quality teachers in our system.
SB 958 currently would allow teachers or
certified personnel to come back as a
teacher on a contractual basis (qualifies
employee to receive insurance benefits)
after one month but still limits time
worked to part-time status. However,
there is much talk about allowing retired
teachers to be reemployed full-time after
one month without reducing their retirement
pay. Currently, any retired employee can
be rehired by a school district after one
year.
Comprehensive Bill
While it probably is not possible that all
these improvements can be accomplished in
one year (or many years), HB 265 by Rep.
Mayfield has filed an omnibus bill that
addresses all of the issues listed above,
except DROP equity, and adds 25-year
retirement to that list. Every initiative
in HB 265 is limited to instructional
personnel and school-based school administrators.
Health Insurance Subsidy
FEA is having legislation filed that increases
the monthly calculation for the Health
Insurance Subsidy from $5 to $7 for each
year creditable service. The cap is
currently $150 per month and that cap
would be raised to $210 per month.
The bill will also provide for an
actuarial study to review the feasibility
of a statewide retiree health insurance
package.
Non-Qualified Service or Air Time
This provision will permit FRS members to
purchase up to 5 years nonqualified service
(actual employment is not required for any
of the 5 years) as allowed under Internal
Revenue Code Section 415(n). The 5 years
is a maximum and is not in addition to
military credit or purchase for other qualified
service. Rep. Vana will sponsor the House version of this bill.
Megiel's Nest!..A timely topic of interest to all members.
MARCH
3rd NEA READ ACROSS AMERICA
4th Negotiations OCEA/District Office 4:15p.m.
6th OCEA Ex. Board Mtg. OCEA Office 4:15p.m.
10th Sch Bd Meeting District Office 6:00.
13th Bldg Rep. Meeting OCEA Office 4:15 p.m.
14th Teacher Workday
17th Pay for Performance Eval. at school sites
20th Negotiations Team OCEA Office 4:00 p.m.
24th School Board Meeting Crestview 4:00 p.m.
25th Tchr of the Yr Reception 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Niceville Community Center
26th Negotiations Team OCEA Office 4:00 p.m.
27th Negotiations/Dstrct Off FWB BAO 4:00 p.m.
APRIL
10th OCEA Ex. Bd Meetg OCEA Office 4:15 p.m.
14th School Board Meeting FWB 6:00 p.m.
17th Building Rep. Meeting OCEA Office 4:15 p.m.
The results of the payroll survey came back at 59% in favor of being paid twice a month and 41% not in favor. For direct deposit, 64% already do it and 36% do not. It was interesting and fun to read the reasons why people did not do direct deposit of their paychecks. You can get the forms from payroll or me at the Union office.
Recently, OCEA and FEA sponsored Angelica Jackson, National Board Certified Teacher, to attend a meeting in Orlando on February 17th. Twenty-nine school districts were represented from across the state. Betty Castor was one of the keynote speakers. The focus of the meeting was on asssessment and mentoring. If you are a NBCT candidate, you can access scoring guides on the candidate resource center at ww.nbpts.org. Once there, go to 2003 Candidate, then to Certificate Knowledge Center, then to View All Scoring Guides, and finally to your certificate area.
Currently, there is a line item for funding in the proposed state budget worth several million dollars. Additionally, the National Board process is funded through various grants across the nation. The success rate for achieving National Board Certification in Florida last year dropped from 48% in 2001 to a current 39%. However, there are many incentives for working towards National Board Certification. Teachers having gone through the process state that the portfolio development and standards documentation is one of the most intensive professional development growth processes available. National Board Certified Teachers also receive recertification for the life of the certificate (10 years), a salary compensation of $3,927.50 (based on a calculation of ten percent of the statewide average teacher's salary), and mentoring opportunities. If an NBCT decides to mentor approximately 90 hours, that teacher can receive an additional $3,927.50 that same year.
If you have additional questions about the National Board process, you can contact any NBCT, your OCEA office, or go to http://www.nbpts.org/