The History:
On the WEA website is a list of successes from the 1970s that gave educational employees contract provisions that we take for granted today, provisions that did not exist in 1965. They are:
- Strong non-discrimination rights
- A right to a personal life
- Paid leaves including sick leave, emergency leave, personal leave, child birth and many others
- Defined evaluation procedures and criteria
- Class size limits with many taking into account the impact of special needs students
- A right to inspect personnel files
- Specific work days and hours
- Safety provisions to protect staff and students
- Academic freedom
- Additional pay for extra time and responsibilities
- Fair grievance procedures
- "Just cause" provisions protecting teachers being disciplined
- Fair layoff and recall provisions
- In-service training opportunities
- Job posting and transfer rights
- Prohibition against assigning teachers non-teaching duties
- Sick leave cash-out
- Fringe benefits including medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurances and many others!