These were our remarks at New Teacher Orientation on July 30, 2018.
I'm Ryan Walker from The WCEA - the Wythe County Education Association. First let me congratulate each of you on being hired in Wythe County. We feel like we've got a great thing going here in our schools and we' excited for you to join us. You should have received this ---- folder that has all the information you'll need to learn more and join if wish. Raise your hand if not and we'll bring you one. We are your professional educator organization. A membership with WCEA also makes you a member of the VEA and the NEA. There are other organizations and groups out there that claim to provide the same service, but I'd like to highlight some things that set our organization apart from those others.
1. Our membership is open to any employee of the school system - teachers, administrators, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, secretaries, custodians, therapists, you name it if they are employed by the school system they are eligible for membership. This diversity in membership creates a strong group of professionals working for one goal - helping to create the best possible public education system in Wythe County.
2. Our cost is $45 per month to join. It is more expensive, but as with most things - you get what you pay for. Our organization provides top rate coverage, tremendous savings opportunities, and a family of educators to support you and advocate for you and your students. I know it's kinda odd to lead with the price, but we want you to know the cost AND I'd like to explain the benefits that come with the cost.
3. Liability Insurance It provides coverage that helps protects you should any claims be brought against you by students, students families or even administrators. This is not an area that is pleasant to think about, but does happen. Other groups claim to have you covered, but our coverage is better. It starts with our UniServ Director who is the regional contact for all members in our county. She is available for simple advice over the phone, sit down meetings, assistance in filing a grievance, meeting with you and administrators, or whatever your situation might call for. Should the issue progress further we have an legal team experienced in educational law to represent you that is second none. The best advertisement comes from a member who wasn't a member when they needed it most. This person had been a member for several years, but dropped our membership saying they could save money with other coverage. An incident arose which resulted in investigation, suspension, court case, thousands of dollars of out of pocket expenses and eventually reinstatement to their job. You wanna know the first thing this person did on their first day back at work??? Rejoined the WCEA! They said the coverage had they received paled in comparison to ours. Remember....You get what you pay for.
4. Financial Benefits Being a member of our organization makes you a part of the largest professional association in the US - just under 3 million nation wide. With this large of a membership brings a lot of buying power. You have a seemingly unlimited number of ways to save money by being a member. You can save money on buying and insuring your car. You have complimentary legal consultations for issues that arise outside of school. You can save money traveling with discounts on hotels, car rentals, and cruises. You can save money on home loans, student loans, and banking. You can save money on cell phone bills, satellite TV, and even on buying flowers online. But of all of these the money saving benefit My wife, who is also a teacher and a member, and I both love is the Savings App ---- You can use it anywhere you go. You can type in a location and it brings up all kinds of discounts in that area. We love to visit Williamsburg and we have used the app there to find local restaurants including our favorite pizza restaurant of all - The Crust. If you use these savings opportunities you can more than make up that monthly dues payment you cringed at earlier.
5. Politics Its a topic that makes most of us squirm, but in education it's a topic we cannot afford to ignore. Everything we do in our classrooms from SOL tests, to how many students are in our classes, to what's the best way to educate students with disabilities is affected by political decisions made here in Wythe County, in Richmond, or even in Washington DC. Our organization doesn't shy away from having discussions with politicians to help pave the way for these decisions to be made with the best interests of our students, teachers, and schools in mind. Here locally our organization has built a strong relationship with administrators and school board members. We speak monthly at SB meetings on issues that are facing our county. These folks often seek our association's opinions and advice before making decisions. At the state level our organization the Virginia Education Association or VEA has never been in a stronger position. Our VEA president, Vice President, and other VEA members have been named to virtually every education related committee in Richmond and for the first time ever a teacher and VEA member has been named as the Secretary of education in the state! With these types of positions comes tremendous influence to direct the public education system in our state in a direction that is good for our students, our members, and our schools.
6. My last word is about the family this organization brings to its members. It's my "why" when people ask why I belong. There will be some people that try to pigeon hole our organization and our members with labels, or say we believe in certain things. What I will say to those people is that we do have members who are pro life and we have those that are pro choice, we have members who are for gun rights and members who are not, we have members who are republican and those who are democrat and even some who don't affiliate with either party, we have liberals and we have conservatives. The WCEA is not defined by these issues. What binds us is our love for public schools and our passion for educating students. We hope you will join our family as we fight for the best schools and best educational opportunities. The students of Wythe County deserve nothing less.
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