The Top Seven Reasons For Joining Got Association? The Top Seven Reasons For Joining Your Professional Association

And that’s just the beginning… Who Are We? We’re your professional association—NEA/UEA/ GEA. We’re in the business of advocating for you and your career. When you join the Granite Education Association, you’ll immediately have access to advocates and programs that will help you reach your professional and financial goals. You will automatically be protected with $1,000,000 of liability insurance as you enter into the profession, provided by NEA And that’s just the beginning… We are the ones who advocate for public school educators. We do this at all levels: national, state, and local.

There are at least seven very good reasons for belonging to your professional association… your

Reason #7 Advocate The Association protects your career. Professional advocacy specialists assist in collective bargaining—ranging from research to member organizing to public relations: Experienced lobbyists fight for you on the national, state, and local levels. Advocates represent public educators in concerns or disputes with district or school administrators, parents, and/or student concerns. We know that two of the most important issues to an educator are time and energy. As you enter the profession, you’re going to find that there will be a constant shortage of both time and energy. If you’re doing it right, at the end of the day you will be exhausted. We know that educators have neither the time nor the energy to research all the issues in education. THAT’S WHERE WE COME IN! Advocate

Reason #6 The Association Builds Community Support through… Year-round, comprehensive campaigns to communicate educators’ messages using both media and advertising Building coalitions among school employees, parents, and the public on key issues such as school safety, bridging the achievement gap, school funding, etc. An example of this can be seen in the way the Association has taken on NCLB. While the theory behind NCLB is good, the unfunded mandates of the law have stretched education’s resources to the breaking point, and the Association has led the fight to build a coalition among the many share-holders of public ed: The School Board Association The Association of Superintendents Business officials and The PTA. Never before have we all been so united in a cause.

Reason #5 The Association lobbies for funding and other decisions that affect our schools by… Impacting legislative funding—take notice of the state wide “Our Schools Now” Campaign Providing pro-education campaigns (e.g. Anti-voucher Referendum 1) Year-round promotion of increased, sufficient, and sustained funding for K-12 public schools Professional lobbying to inform and influence legislators and other decision-makers about educators’ issues. The sources of funding for your classroom come from elected officials—the Legislature, school boards, etc. Whether or not you like politics, the reality is that everything you have, from Crayons to curriculum is determined by policy-makers. It’s very important that educators’ views are represented with these entities. So, as you enter the profession, be aware of what is happening on Capitol Hill. The Association will help you with this by tracking the many issues in public ed. and how law-makers vote on those issues. If you don’t have the time—or energy—to donate hours to lobbying, at least make sure you give to your Political Action Committees (PAC). Every dollar helps NEA, UEA, and your local find education-friendly law-makers who are interested in giving you the tools and resources you need to effectively do your job.

Reason #4 The Association helps educators secure professional wages and benefits by providing: Professional, experienced staff to assist in collective bargaining matters ranging from research to member organizing to public relations. (GEA is the bargaining agent for teachers in Granite.) The only teachers association recognized by Granite School District. We are both soldiers and watchdogs for educators when it comes to fighting for better salaries and benefits for you. Believe me, it is an ongoing fight. Issues: insurance, retirement benefits, working conditions, etc.

Reason #3 The Association is the doorway to a myriad of financial services created with professional educators in mind: Through NEA Member Benefits and other entities related to NEA, members can access a large array of benefits from insurance — life, auto, homeowners, etc. — to financial services such as money market accounts, student loan consolidation, and credit cards.

Benefits (continued)... Student loan consolidation, mortgages and home equity loans, IRAs, 401Ks, and many other services. There are also discounts available on: Car rentals Vacations and tours Restaurants Hotels Cellular services Magazine subscriptions and Services (e.g. Jiffy Lube). EXAMPLE: Emily Mecham You’ll get an ACCESS card. Be sure to use it to save money on many items and services.

Reason #2 The Association promotes excellence in education through: Professional advice, training, and other assistance related to current issues of instructional quality such as teacher evaluation, teacher mentoring programs, bridging the achievement gap, accountability and testing, ESSA, the UEA Convention, PRAXIS training, and more! GEA believes that happy teachers, make happy students, make happy parents, make happy administrators and so on.

Reason #1 You are the future of public education and the Association—we need you! Your Association WANTS YOU—to become a part of the solutions in education by becoming an active member today. We are nothing without you! In the next few years, 50% of the education work force will retire. You are the replacements in the fight. You have been told about what the Association does—the success of our efforts for you and students is now up to you. CHANGE SLIDE

And Don't Forget ... If you were a student member, you are eligible for a rebate from NEA and a discount from UEA if you join in the first year you teach!

Won’t you please join us in making a difference in the lives of public school educators and their students? We need you to get involved! You have an EEL form Join today and pay nothing until September. Plus, you will receive three gifts from the Association: --Teaching pamphlet Get Up and Go certificate New Educator CD WELCOME TO EDUCATION, GRADUATES

The Granite Education Assocation Protecting the world of the professional educator! Star Orullian, Executive Director 801-266-4461 Ext. 1 www@utea.org