Voice: November 2017

As a PSEA member, you help kids. You make sure they get the power of a great education every day. Educating tomorrow’s workers and leaders is your foremost responsibility, and it demands a tremendous amount of focus and attention.

You love this important work, but you can’t do it for free. You need to support your families, save to send kids to college, take care of aging parents, and make sure you have a secure retirement.

PSEA offers you the skills, information, and support you need to ensure that you have the pay, health care, retirement security, and respect you deserve.

This is one of PSEA’s principal objectives. And, as important as it is to members like you, it’s just as important to the schools, students, and communities you spend your careers serving.

Educators and support professionals need to be paid fair and just wages. PSEA is relentlessly and tirelessly committed to assisting you in securing the compensation you deserve.

Beyond the technical expertise, research, and bargaining strategy we provide, YOU are an integral part of your success.

Collective bargaining is about collective action – joining together with your peers and co-workers in a show of solidarity. We all know there is strength in numbers, and that unified force gives you the strength to persevere through difficult negotiations.

So, get involved in your negotiations. It can be as simple as making your voice heard through a pre-bargaining survey or attending a bargaining update session. You may even want to get involved with your local’s bargaining committee. The more hands doing the work, the lighter the load.

The benefits help more than just you. Fair compensation helps attract the best and brightest – people like you – to public education.

That benefits the 1.7 million students in our public schools, because they have high-quality educators and support professionals in their schools and classrooms. It helps the communities where these public school graduates will end up spending their lives and careers.

So, bargaining the best contracts, getting the best health benefits, and securing the best pensions doesn't just help PSEA members. It is in investment in our communities and in our futures.

It helps everyone. But, remember, it starts with you. 

Email Jim Vaughan:

jvaughan@psea.org