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December 2018 Journal Now Online

FSIP To Impose Ground Rules For Bargaining Of Overseas Contract; Decision on Stateside Contract Imminent; Profiles of All Candidates for FEA At-Large Officer Elections and Complete Election Info; Results of FEA's ELA Survey; More inside.
Read the December FEA Journal in PDF format

DoDEA "Suspends" Transfer Program

DoDEA Director Tom Brady's unilateral decision to "suspend" the Transfer Program for the current year is an insult to his employees and will further erode morale within our school system.
Read FEA's full update here

DoDEA Mum On RIF Possibility

DoDEA management is engaged in contingency planning in case the Department of Defense budget is reduced from expected levels, but the Agency is not saying whether a RIF will be part of its plan. Read FEA's update here

Is DoDEA Going to Increase PTR?

Rumors about a possible increase in PTR keep circulating and management's silence has not been reassuring. See the December 13 FEA President's Report for FEA's position

Further Relief From Moving Taxes Unlikely In 2018

Politics has made it extremely unlikely Congress will pass legislation this year to provide relief for retiring/separating employees and incoming employees now subject to taxation on moving allowances/assistance.

Meanwhile, a pair of U.S. Senators have urged the GSA to push federal agencies -- DoDEA, in particular -- to do a better job informing their existing employees affected by the new moving taxes of assistance programs, such as RITA and WTA.

Read FEA's November 2018 update on the moving tax situation

FEA TRANSFER SURVEY RESULTS

Over 1,700 people responded to FEA's survey on the Transfer Program, proving beyond a doubt that transfer opportunities are highly important to employees and that those employees want management to heed their input before considering any changes to the program.

Read FEA's summation of the results and link to the full survey tabulation here.

FEA AT-LARGE OFFICER CANDIDATES

The candidates for the following FEA At-Large offices, to be elected by Association members during balloting in January, February and March, 2019, can be found at the FEA Election Information Page:

FEA President

Vice President/Secretary-Treasurer

Human & Civil Rights State Coordinator

NEA Director

Ballots will be mailed January 17, 2019, to all FEA Active Members. The deadline for the RECEIPT of ballots is March 26, 2019.

FEA-SR/DoDEA TENTATIVELY AGREE ON WORK HOURS, SALARIES AND PLANNING TIME; OTHER ISSUES HEADED TO FULL FSIP FOR RULING

posted October 27, 2018

Tentative agreements reached this week between FEA's Stateside Region (FEA-SR) and DoDEA would allow for only limited increases in work hours per academic quarter, preserve the promise of weekly allotted planning time, and make increases in Stateside salary schedules proportional to increases in the GS schedule.

Other disputed issues, including whether Stateside employees can be compelled to make up cancelled school days without added compensation and whether prep time should be mandatory for educators reassigned to new classrooms and/or subjects, could not be agreed on during this week's sessions and will be presented to the full FSIP at a future meeting, where the panel will rule on them.

The existing Stateside Master Labor Agreement and all its provisions, including those governing pay, the workday, and planning time, still remain in effect as work on a new contract continues.

Read the full update on the outcomes of the FEA-SR/DoDEA meeting with the FSIP here.

Update on Taxable Moving Allowances

posted October 25, 2018
FEA continues to advocate for relief from taxes on moving allowances for retirees and new employees, even as DFAS begins issuing information to employees regarding their 2018 tax liabilities and opportunities for reimbursement for some employees.
Read the update from FEA here.

Government Appeals Executive Order Ruling

posted October 3, 2018

The federal government recently filed an appeal of a judge's decision that struck down most parts of three anti-worker, anti-union Executive Orders issued earlier this year by the Trump White House. Those Executive Orders seek to limit union representation and bargaining rights and to make it easier to fire federal employees. In August, a federal judge ruled most provisions of the Executive Orders to be improper because they infringed upon existing labor laws passed by Congress. The government's appeal of the ruling is not a surprise and the outcome of this appeal is likely to eventually head to the Supreme Court. This appeals process is expected to carry over into 2019.

Get details about the judge's ruling here

FEA MEMBERS:
DODEA HEADING IN WRONG DIRECTION

A recent online survey of FEA members revealed that, by a huge margin, Association members feel that DoDEA as a whole is heading in the wrong direction. See the survey results here.

Hatch Act Information

Visit this page to learn more about the Hatch Act and find examples of activities allowed and prohibited under the law.
Hatch Act Do's and Don'ts

FEA HCR Newsletter and other HCR Info

View the latest issue of The Advocate, the monthly newsletter of FEA's Human and Civil Rights Program, and find other resources by clicking here.

FEA Social Media

FEA members (and anyone else) can follow FEA on Facebook and Twitter. We remind members these are public forums and should not be used to solicit or share legal advice. Members should always begin the process of seeking legal advice and services by contacting their local association representative and not share or reveal any personal information, particularly information pertaining to legal situations, on any public forum or social media site.

As always, we encourage our members to use these resources courteously and professionally.

Follow FEA on Twitter (#fededassoc)

Like FEA on Facebook

CALL ATTENTION TO PAY PROBLEMS

IMPORTANT -- Do not download or forward this information while on government time or while using government equipment. Also, do not forward this information to any government email account, such as DoDEA Outlook mail.
Under guidance from the FEA Board of Directors, FEA Europe General Counsel/UniServ Bill Freeman has developed a letter writing campaign, aimed at bringing the numerous pay and collection issues DoDEA employees face to the attention of Congress and Pentagon leaders. Please use the link below to access information from Bill Freeman and share your stories/concerns with the decision makers suggested by Bill. Please avoid doing so, however, while on government property, while using government owned computer equipment, or while on government time.

Click here to learn more about writing decision makers in an effort to raise awareness of pay problems

Teaching Channel: Videos that Inspire Teaching

The Teaching Channel website offers a growing library of short videos to inspire K-12 teaching. These video lessons - in English language arts, math, science, and history/social sciences - include lesson objectives, questions to consider, homework ideas, and more.

Free registration provides access to:

Highlights of skilled teachers teaching a lesson, such as Kick Me: Making Vocabulary Interactive

Tips and tricks for new teachers, such as Attention Getting Signals: One Spot and Planning Full Days & Practicing Fast Facts

Featured "Amazing Classrooms," such as Building Community in a Multi-Language Classroom

See the Welcome to Teaching Channel video.

Updates for our Members

Read the FEA President's Report and link to other updates for FEA members here.