Dec-20-Jan-21-Advisor

CEA RETIRED NEWS

DECEMBER 2020 - JANUARY 2021 CEA ADVISOR 15

CEA-RETIRED MEMBERS HELP DELIVER DECISIVE WIN FOR EDUCATION IN 2020 ELECTION Among the demonstrators holding signs at a widely publicized event did other outreach, helping deliver what NEA President Becky Pringle

support of state and federal candidates committed to public education. “I estimate I made about 80 calls in one night to teachers in Connecticut’s northeast corner, encouraging them to vote for education-friendly legislative candidates,” she says. She also participated in the NEA-Retired “Get 10 for Public Ed” campaign, contacting educators across the country in support of the Biden/ Harris ticket. NEA’s online tracker showed that Brown made 200 calls to NEA members in the Milwaukee area. She joined likeminded active and retired members throughout Connecticut and across the country who, collectively, placed thousands of calls, sent texts and postcards, and

Brown’s advocacy has paid off in more ways than one. She was one of seven NEA-Retired members who won an iPad in a drawing of participants who used NEA’s online tracker to record their calls in the Get 10 for Public Ed campaign. Nearly 400 participants used the tracker. “I have six grandchildren, and I want them to attend great public schools, where their teachers are valued and respected,” says Brown. “Being a member of CEA-Retired gives me the opportunity to make that possible—to continue advocating for teachers, students, and public education.”

calling for COVID safety in Stratford schools (story, page 9) was a teacher who had retired. “I still care very much about my colleagues and their students,” she said, “and I’m here to do my part.” No one understands that better than CEA-Retired Vice President Gloria Brown, who serves on CEA’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee. “When you’ve been a teacher for 38 years, as I was,” she says, “you don’t just turn out the lights and leave when you retire. Most teachers fervently believe in the importance of strengthening public education.” This fall, ahead of Election Day, Brown took her cause to the polls, volunteering to make phone calls in

describes as “a decisive win for students, public education, and democracy.” It is estimated that NEA-Retired members influenced more than three million votes. “It feels great to be part of that effort,” says Brown. “Teachers should care about who is in the White House, because the president appoints the secretary of education, and Betsy DeVos has been a disaster for public education. The president also submits a budget, which determines the federal funds sent to the states for education.”

RETIRING SOON? Stay active in education and involved with your colleagues by joining CEA-Retired. Visit cea.org/cea-retired .

DURING PANDEMIC, RETIRED TEACHERS STAY ENGAGED AND INVOLVED Though COVID has put in-person gatherings on hold, CEA-Retired members are still meeting, volunteering, and staying engaged virtually. At the CEA-Retired Annual Fall Conference, nearly 200 retirees joined a Zoom call to hear the latest on politics, pensions, and public education. The virtual format of this year’s conference allowed a number of CEA-Retired members living out of state to participate. CEA-Retired President William Murray encouraged those out-of-state members to not only register to vote but to make sure they speak up and let their elected officials know their opinions on public pensions and healthcare. “The stability of our pension fund depends not only on the Connecticut economy and state actions but also on federal actions that affect public pension funds,” he said. Federal issues that continue to be of significant concern to retired Connecticut teachers include the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which reduce the amount teachers can receive in Social Security payments for other jobs they have worked as well as the amount in Social Security spousal or survivor benefits they receive.

A former NEA Fund captain, Gloria Brown (pictured in the background), joins Vice President Joe Biden onstage at the 2012 NEA Representative Assembly in Washington, D.C.

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