#UFEA | @IEANEA | @NEAtoday • proud union educators working in @McLeanCountyU5 to make our great public schools even better for all children
Bloomington-Normal, IL
Joined August 2009
- Tweets1K
- Following0
- Followers407
- Likes459
In 1979 as UFEA President, Peg Kirk challenged the board's decision to increase workloads w/out negotiating. Teachers threatened to strike & demanded UFEA be their voice. The effort failed, but brought awareness & public support for teachers and their need for bargaining rights.
Thanks to the work of Peg and others like her across the state — supported by the efforts of @ieanea’s Illinois Political Action Committee for Education (IPACE) — the Collective Bargaining Bill was signed by Governor Jim Thompson in 1983.
By 1984, the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act went into effect and UFEA was formally recognized as a collective bargaining unit for local educators in Unit 5.
#IEACB40thAnniversary #UnionStrong #StrongerUnited #TogetherWeAreIEA #UFEApride #LaborDay
UFEA • Unit Five Education Association retweeted
We know the shortage of educators includes not just teachers, but also Education Support Professionals (ESPs) who are invaluable to our schools. Thank you, @UFEA President Julie Hagler, for advocating for educators & students! #StrongerUnited wandtv.com/news/illinois-law…
It’s Election Day! Get to your polling place to #VoteYesForUnit5 by 7pm—and support these school board candidates who will work with us to make our great public schools even better!
☑️YES
☑️Amy Roser
☑️Kelly Pyle
☑️Alex Williams
☑️Mark Adams
#SupportOurStudents #SaveOurSchools
You can vote every day between now & April 4, including weekends! And you can register and vote on the same day. Make a plan. Get out and vote! More info and resources at ufea.org/vote.
—
#UFEAcares #UFEAvotes #SupportOurStudents #SaveOurSchools #VoteYesForUnit5
ALT Vote on or before April 4 for Amy Roser, Kelly Pyle, Alex Williams and Mark Adams for Unit 5 school board and Vote Yes for the Unit 5 referendum.
From @EconomicPolicy: Inflation-adjusted avg. weekly teacher pay relatively flat since 1996. Relative teacher wage penalty hit a high in 2021 & is 23.4% in IL. The benefits advantage for teachers has not been enough to offset the growing wage penalty.
epi.org/publication/teacher-…
UFEA • Unit Five Education Association retweeted
Black Lives Matter at School has assembled a TREASURE TROVE of resources for classroom and/or personal growth and learning. The goal of this site is to challenge racism and oppression and provide students with the tools needed to take action. Visit: are.na/blm-school-curriculum…
ALT Grey graphic with vertical white letters that say BLM 2023. Center is the profile of a Black woman with a brown scarf covering her hair and large square earrings.
UFEA • Unit Five Education Association retweeted
On Monday evening, I'll be at an town hall on raising educator pay with @SenSanders, @RandiWeingarten, and educators from across the country.
If you'd like to join the livestream, sign up and NEA will send you a reminder
nea.org/resource-library/tow…
We’re proud of UFEA & @ieanea member Ricky King and happy to see him recognized by @ISBEnews for the wonderful work he does with our students!
Congratulations to Normal Community's Ricardo “Ricky” King for being named the Illinois Bilingual Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education. Amazingly impressive especially considering he is in his third year of teacher. #unit5pride
UFEA • Unit Five Education Association retweeted
Dozens of people planned to make a public comment at tonight's @McLeanCountyU5 school board meeting about budget cuts. Our reporter is there, and you can watch the meeting online. wglt.org/local-news/2023-01-…
The @McLeanCountyU5 school board is meeting to consider cuts for next school year that will happen if the referendum does not pass April 4. You can watch the board meeting and hear public comments here: vimeo.com/event/2815172
#SupportOurStudents #SaveOurSchools #VoteYesForUnit5
Four candidates for school board met w/ a joint committee of UFEA & UFSPA members and leaders this week. We appreciate Alex Williams, Kelly Pyle, Mark Adams & Amy Roser talking with us about issues & interests important to our members, our students and the future of Unit 5.
Each shared their priorities, how they envision working with us and plan to include the voices & views of educators & students if elected, how they approach collaboration/decision-making, the board’s role re: curriculum, and their ideas for attracting a more diverse workforce.
UFEA • Unit Five Education Association retweeted
ESPs are invaluable to the success of our students. But how can schools expect retention when some ESPs are not paid enough to pay their bills? Thank you, Rashida, for advocating for the pay, support & RESPECT that ESPs deserve. Join our rESPect campaign: bit.ly/rESPect
ALT A black and white photo of Rashida Bonner. Rashida is wearing a jacket over an IEA t shirt with the state of Illinois, with buttons and a delegate lanyard. Text reads: You have to make ends meet in another way. Teachers can tutor, they can work after school programs. Those options are not always readily available for educational support professionals. - Rashida Bonner, Administrative support staff. Logo at the top right reads rESPect.
If you’d like to watch this evening’s regular meeting of the school board, the meeting is being live-streamed: vimeo.com/720855355
There’s also a reminder that tonight’s discussion represents a starting point — that closing the entire deficit would require even deeper cuts that *will* decrease staff & increase class size significantly.
It’s anticipated phase 1 cuts for 2023-24 will be voted on in two weeks.