A special dress down day is approaching.  We are trying to raise funds for the various community outreach programs sponsored by our cluster of PSEA’s Central Region.  At the same time, we would like to send a message of accepance and tolerance for all of our students, no matter what their background and current situation might be.

On Thursday, January 19, “Everybody Counts Day” will take place throughout all buildings in the district.  All employees will have the opportunity to donate $3 in order to take part in the event.  You may either wear your normal dress down day attire or, to express the theme of the day, a numbered shirt or jersey (get it? – everybody counts).  So, just when you thought that you had to put that Penn State jersey away until next season, you have a reason to don it once again.

Specific directions for each building will be forthcoming from your AAEA building rep or your principal.

Also, although we are not collecting money from students, we would like to encourage all of our students to take part in the event as well.  They can express the theme of “Everybody Counts” by wearing their favorite jersey to school that day.

PSEA Central Region Cluster II has done a great deal of good for our local communities in the past few years, and your support of this event will help that effort to continue.

So, did that get your attention?  If you are a new member and you want an extra $12,000 per year, read on.

New hires to the district are getting a notice from PSERS that they need to make a decision.  You must decide whether to pay 7.5% into retirement to establish the 2.0 multiplier for your pension or pay close to 11% into retirement to establish the 2.5 multiplier for your pension.

I know that retirement is a long way away for you – 35 years for most of you.  However, if you work for 35 years and earn an average salary of $70,000 over the last three years of your career, you will make $12,000 more per year with the 2.5 multiplier.  That means that you would make about $61,500 per year instead of $49,000 per year.

Is an extra 3-4% per year now worth an extra 25% per year later?  You only get one chance at making this decision – NO BACKSIES!

If you have any questions, please contact me, but don’t take this decision lightly.  You may even want to talk to a financial planner.  We can suggest a few if you need it.

Season’s greetings to all.  One more week to go before you all get a much-deserved respite.  Keep the fire burning!

The purpose for this e-mail is to inform anyone within the first three years of membership to the AAEA Sick Leave Bank that your one-day donation due this year was removed yesterday.  So, if your balance does not seem right when you get your paystub today, this could be the reason.  This deduction may not appear until the next pay period, but I wanted to give you a heads up.

Dear members,

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education is troubling. DeVos is a well-known tuition voucher supporter and billionaire political donor. She is unqualified for this position.

Betsy DeVos:

• supports tuition vouchers
• promotes initiatives that divert funding from public schools
• has no experience with public education 

Please contact Sen. Bob Casey and Sen. Pat Toomey TODAY, and tell them to vote “no” on Betsy DeVos’ nomination for Secretary of Education.

Thank you for speaking up for our schools, our students, and our profession.

It is that time of year to vote for Central Region delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly.  This year’s RA is in Boston in July.  You should have gotten an e-mail from PSEA president Jerry Oleksiak.  The process is easy and takes very little time.  Please take a moment to vote for your Altoona brothers and sisters.  If we are elected, our expenses will be covered by PSEA.  If we aren’t elected, the PSEA funds will go to send others to Boston.  You may also wish to support the delegate from Hollidaysburg – Todd Russell.  We work very closely with Todd.  Thanks for your time and happy voting!

After school on Thursday, December 22, stop out at Mike’s Court and see/meet some AAEA members.  We hope to see some new faces.  If not, Happy Holidays from the AAEA Social Committee.

The AAEA Special Events Committee would like to invite you to participate in the Altoona Christmas parade.  The parade will be held on Dec. 1st, in downtown Altoona, at 6pm.  The theme for this year’s event is “The Sights and Sounds of Christmas”.  We would like to have a strong showing this year on the AAEA float, so please think about taking part in some capacity.  (Family members of AAEA members are welcome!)

We will hold a brief organizational meeting at this month’s AAEA happy hour, Thursday, Nov. 10th, at Al’s Tavern. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss possible themes/decorations, as well as just some general organizing. If you cannot make it on Thursday, but would still like to participate, please email Jeff Guyer at [email protected].

Want to show your solidarity, but unable to give of your time?  The AAEA representatives will need to throw candy during the parade.  Last year the candy ran out VERY quickly.  Please consider donating candy. (Leftover Halloween candy would be a great way to contribute for free!)  Candy to be given to your building rep, an ExCo member, or an AAEA officer.  Thank you in advance for your support!

This week’s paycheck will include all retroactive pay related to the new contract.

There will be several line items under the gross pay portion of the stub. One will include your new bi-weekly salary. A second includes the retroactive pay.

A third line is the 8/26 biweekly pay. In essence, rather than paying the contract over 25 pays between Sep. 1 and Aug. 15 as we originally thought, the District has issued a second pay for the August 26 pay period.

This extra pay eliminates the need to disperse the salaries over 25 pays.