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Hello, and welcome to the Westfield
Education Association (WEA). We are committed to teaching the
children of our future. The Association consists of approximately
700 teachers, administrators, nurses and classroom aides. Union meetings are on the first Monday of the month, 3:45, at 16 Union Ave, second floor.
Have you ever wondered how much funding YOUR community has lost over the last decade? Now you can find out! The Campaign for Our Communities has developed a map of Massachusetts that allows you to see how much your community - and every other community in the state - has lost in general local aid funding since the year 2000. Click here to see for yourself!
Scott Walker Recall Election Ordered By Wisconsin Officials
Wisconsin's Republican governor, Scott Walker, will face a recall election on June 5th, only the third in U.S. history. The state Government Accountability Board unanimously voted Friday to order the election after opponents of Walker collected more than 900,000 signatures demanding a recall. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, also a Republican, will have to stand in a new election as well, along with four GOP state senators.Walker was elected in 2010 after promising to pursue an agenda of cost-cutting and fiscal conservatism. But his aggressive push for a controversial bill that sharply curtailed the collective bargaining rights of unions representing government workers made him a target. Debate over the legislation sparked massive protests in Wisconsin's capital, Madison, and led Democratic lawmakers to flee the state in an attempt to forestall a vote. In a sign of the issue's intensity, Walker foes, including many union members, collected nearly twice as many signatures than the roughly 540,000 needed to force a recall. Only two other governors have faced recall elections -- North Dakota's Lynn Frazier in 1921 and California's Gray Davis in 2003. Both were defeated. Click here for the history of the education issue in Wisconsin.....
One of the major education policy events of the past year was the establishment of a new educator evaluation framework for teachers and administrators in MA. Click for details.
Ohio Collective Bargaining Limit Repeal |
| Senate Bill |
% votes For |
# of votes For |
% votes Against |
# of votes Against |
| Collective Bargaining Limit |
38.67% |
1,352,366 |
61.33% |
2,145,042 |
| The Ohio Collective Bargaining Limit Repeal appeared on the November 8, 2011 general election ballot in the state of Ohio as a veto referendum. The measure repealed legislation that limited collective bargaining for public employees in the state, voting results shown above. The formal title of the proposal that this measure repealed was Senate Bill 5. The process to place the referendum on the ballot for voters to decide was completed by supporters, as signatures were certified for the Ohio Secretary of State. Senate Bill 5 would have impacted the state's 400,000 public workers, restricting their ability to collectively bargain. As it stood, the bill would only have permitted public employees to collectively bargain for wages, preventing them from collectively bargaining for health insurance, pensions, working conditions, etc.... We would like to thank the citizens of Ohio participating in the democratic process and voting down Senate Bill 5. |
The new municipal health insurance law was passed at the State House on July 11, 2011. Note that all public sector Unions have forfeited their collective bargaining rights regarding health insurance. An argument exists that the state's collective bargaining rights law under Massachusetts General Law, CHAPTER 150A LABOR RELATIONS, Section 1 Public policy, does not include health insurance. Another argument exists that indeed it does. Read the law and decide for yourself whether health insurance falls under collective bargaining rights in MGL 150A. Rather than legally challenge giving up this right, the MTA and other public sector unions have worked with the legislature to pass a responsible health insurance plan. We have done this because we know that every municipality and state in the country is facing tough economic conditions and budget shortfalls. We are doing our part to make the cities and state economically viable, this is part of the shared sacrifice that many in the state and nation are making to deal with the present fiscal crisis. We hope that all will participate in this shared sacrifice so as to keep our country strong. Click here to see the history of this MHI development.
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The Westfield Education Association is please to announce the awarding of $3900.00 in scholarship money to 18 young men and women from the greater Westfield Area in 2011. The money was raised by fund raisers held during the school year by the WEA members. Scholarship awards ranged from $100 to $500 based on academic excellence as well as extra curricular and community involvement activities. Click here to see the recipients.
The Westfield Education Association is an organization that is primarily concerned with the education of our young people and is extremely proud of the efforts made by these students toward the realization the higher education goals. |
Over the course of the last year, attacks on public sector employees have been happening across the nation in Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Nevada, Florida and in February Rhode Island, where all teachers in Central Falls were fired. The sole purpose of these attacks in to bust Unions nationwide. Over the past 70 years Unions have outlawed child labor, and given employees the 40 hour work week, weekends off, health care, pensions, worker safety, vacations and collective bargaining rights. Do you want to lose all these rights? Do you want to lose your job? That's what the nationwide coordinated game plan is for the Republican party. As stated above, we would like to thank the citizens of Ohio participating in the democratic process and voting down Senate Bill 5.
Studies have long shown that the family environment has the greatest impact on student performance in school, now a recent nationwide survey reinforces the importance of family in a student's education, and President Obama says the same in his 2011 State of the Union address.
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