Constitution Edit?

Here's hoping that the SWVEA E. Board provides opportunities (note the plural) for its membership to understand why changes to the constitution are proposed and what the proposed changes are. And that it does that well-before the proposed voting date and/or annual meeting.

A Long Journey

Today begins the final preparations for a struggle to make our association stronger for all members and members-to-be.
Our association must become a more democratic association. Members should be encouraged to take a role, no matter how big or small, not berated when they are reluctant to volunteer for a specific job. Total control must not be left in the hands of a small few. Member classes must not be arbitrarily excluded.

Vermont-NEA has a specific process to be followed as established by the bylaws. Procedures are in place. This is comforting. Regardless of the outcome latest struggle, never again will SWVEA be subject to placing its trust in a few people to run the organization according to its guesses. Never again will SWVEA's constitution/bylaws be ignored. Never again will Vermont-NEA's ability to help SWVEA be roundly rejected.

The members of SWVEA are intelligent, valuable professionals....ALL of them. They should have an association to be proud of.

October, 2010

Eroneous information was given to members and to your executive board. It came in the update on the contract negotiations, the welcome to Barbara Gorgaty as treasurer and the announcement that a complaint had been filed against the entire executive board.

The part that is not true is that a complaint has not been filed against the entire executive board but there has been one filed with Vermont-NEA against the current president. Your executive board members have all of the information. An attorney has been retained to help the president with this matter. It is unclear as to whether SWVEA members dues money is being used to pay the attorney. The approval was made when the executive board believed the complaint was against all of them.

According to the guidelines for the Vermont-NEA Review Board, the hearing is an informal gathering of information and having a conversation about key components of the complaint. It is not a trial.

It is important to follow the rules and bylaws of our association. Bylaws are not 'suggestions'. Bylaws can be changed through a thoughtful process.

Summer Thoughts

I want to take this opportunity to encourage members and non-members alike to review the SWVEA Constitution......there are two versions. The older version was correctly reviewed, revised and voted upon by the entire membership. The newer version was written by one person with no opportunity for the membership to provide input, people were forced to vote and victory was declared.
Reading and understanding the documents is not hard. A Constitution or set of Bylaws is designed to guide an organization through the daily business. It is NOT a document that is busywork or to be ignored. Without rules to guide an organization it is very easy for one person to do underhanded things to benefit only one person. AND if the members of an organization bury their heads in the sand they are going to LOSE OUT! In the case of SWVEA this is probably your hard-earned money.
I URGE you to become knowledgeable. I URGE you to ask questions. Even here in this blog. ASK, ASK, ASK.

What Next?

Well, I was hoping that people would start commenting and adding to this blog. All are welcomed, all are encouraged to speak up without fear of retribution.
Let me put it in this perspective. We live in a land of laws, laws that we help to make either directly or through our representatives. When someone accepts the responsibility of representing a body of members then that person should do just that-represent. It is not an opportunity to take or to wield power. It is not an opportunity to make decisions that benefit the representative. It is an opportunity to speak for many and for interests of many. It is an opportunity to listen to the members. It is an opportunity to educate and make the members knowledgeable about the very rules that govern the association.

This is true of officers as well as representatives. Officers are not in place for their own benefit or for their own power. Officers are there to help the organization run for the benefit of its members.

It's time to take a closer look at how our association is being run. The first issue should be to demand a look at the audit.

SWVEA Annual Meeting Review

Well, the annual meeting has come and gone. There was a decent group there. Could have been more but I don't think that the officers have made the members feel very welcome. They never visit other schools or programs. But I hope that will change.

I asked if any of the members present had received the proposed budget prior to the meeting as is called for in the constitution. Nobody had received it. The excuse was that it just hadn't been done in recent years. Many budget lines were questioned but it was difficult to understand the budget because it was hand written and there was no information on what was budgeted last year and what was actually spent. My strong sentiment is that the Negotiations Committee members certainly need to be given a stipend much higher than $175 a year.

I also asked if the yearly audit had been done as is called for in the constitution. The claim was that it was being worked on. There was no information on who was doing the audit. I find that this is hard to believe because there hasn't been an audit done in at least six years. Where is our money going??????

I was very relieved to hear that some (only some) of the Unit Representatives ran a proper vote. They ensured that only Association members voted and that the ballots were securely kept. That is not the case in all organizations and the EEE people and Plus/Step didn't get to vote at all.

SWVEA Annual Meeting June 8 @ Bennington Station

Once again the staff of Mount Anthony Union Middle School, Mount Anthony Union High School, Molly Stark Elementary School and area counselors have impressed me beyond words. Tragically, students at MAUMS and Molly Stark along with their mother and her boyfriend were killed in a car crash early Sunday morning. A sister who is a freshman survived.

The staffs of all of the schools stepped up to ensure that their students could process and grieve together. We have all cried and laughed together today.

This is a staff who deserving of the very best union to be had. Please join us for the Annual Meeting. Be informed, ask questions.