The VEA Annual Fall Conference will be held at the Holiday Inn Koger Center in Midlothian-Richmond. Classroom teachers, students preparing for careers as teachers, education support professionals, and retired educators from across the commonwealth will convene for this exciting event. The there for this year's conference is Transforming Public Education.

Tips from nation’s educators for creating bully-free environment

FEA members can save up to $20 on a BJ's membership and enjoy three bonus months free.  Click on Read More to download a BJ's application, then complete and mail it to the FEA office.  Once your application is received, the FEA office will mail a temporary membership card to your home, and  BJ's will process your membership in three to four weeks.  Any questions?  Call us at 703-352-7300.

Changes to VRS retirement increase gross pay by 5% but reduce take-home pay by 0.25%. To offset this and provide a real increase in take-home pay, FEA is launching a campaign to increase employees' gross pay by an additional 4%. We need your help!

We call on Virginia lawmakers to end their attack on teachers and do what is right for Virginia’s school children. Sign the online petition here.
Please note that you do NOT have to contribute after signing the petition -- just navigate away from the donation page by going to your home page or a bookmark.

In an editorial on Sunday, January 15, the Washington Post came out in support of Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell's plan to eliminate continuing contract for teachers, saying that it is "akin to tenure." FEA President Michael Hairston wrote a letter to the editor explaining that under continuing contract teachers are evaluated regularly and poor performing teachers can be dismissed or non-renewed. Virginia teachers do not have "tenure."

The revised Teacher Evaluation process is still being developed by the FCPS Teacher Evaluation Task Force. The FEA representative assembly has developed a set of principles to guide our advocacy on the evaluation process. Principals have received direction from Dr. Rich Moniuszko, Deputy Superintendent in the form of a message.

The long awaited Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s (JLARC) "Review of Retirement Benefits for State and Local Government Employees" was presented and approved by the commission on December 12.  Read more for a summary of the details of the report.

The Fairfax Times reported that "Fairfax County school teachers say they are disappointed improvements to workplace conditions were not made by the current School Board, which leaves office at the end of this year." The complete article is available here.

We have a battle ahead in the 2012 General Assembly.  It was a miracle that we won the pension battle in the last session, and in November's elections we lost some key friends.  What VRS is saying regarding the state's ability to change the benefits of current retirees and vested employees is shifting, partly because case law is emerging in states that have faced legal challenges after making changes to the pension plans in other states.http://betterchoicesva.org/