It’s hard to ignore the upcoming primary election with TV and radio ads, snail mail and e-mail flyers and robo-calls bombarding us at nearly every turn.<\/p>\n
While all those messages may seem noisy, we can’t ignore them.<\/p>\n
Those who come out on top in the Feb. 2 primary election may end up being the same people who determine not only how much money our public schools get in the next couple of years, but also what kind of policies are put in place.<\/p>\n
Because they will have such an important role in the personal and professional lives of all IEA members, the IEA\u2019s political action group, IPACE, has developed a recommended list of candidates<\/a> that you can print out and take with you to the polls.<\/p>\n In addition, IPACE’s executive committee has questioned and met with a variety of statewide candidates and determined who it thinks will best serve educators and education in Illinois. It has recommended and the IEA Board of Directors has approved Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes as the Democrat<\/a> in the governor\u2019s race and State Sen. Kirk Dillard <\/a>as the Republican. In addition, State Rep. David Miller has the nod for the comptroller\u2019s race<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can see the website to watch more about the IEA’s commitment to bipartisanship<\/a> and the process IPACE uses<\/a> to select candidates.<\/p>\n The biggest part of being\u00a0a responsible\u00a0voter is staying informed. In addition to a load of election information available on the IEA website<\/a>, you can also follow the IEA through facebook at our fanpage<\/a>, or on twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Facebook and twitter will provide you with opportunities to find out not only what\u2019s going on, but also what other educators, bus drivers, food service workers and others feel about those issues as they both provide ways for you to interact with your fellow IEA members in just seconds.<\/p>\n Budget Open Hearings<\/a> are scheduled for Jan. 25-28 at IEA regional offices throughout the state. This is the time to voice your opinions regarding the proposed budget. It is also an excellent opportunity to witness your association in action.<\/p>\n The National Education Association is sponsoring a contest designed to honor three of the best civics teachers in the country.<\/p>\n The American Civic Education Teacher Awards<\/a> are given annually to three K-12 teachers of civics, government and related fields who have demonstrated special expertise and enthusiasm in motivating students to learn about Congress, the Constitution and public policy.<\/p>\n For information on many more grants, awards and contests that you can take part in, visit the NEA website<\/a>. Listed are dozens of competitions for educators in almost every subject matter, as well as contests for friends of education.<\/p>\n The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the National Council of Teachers of English are partnering up in a project designed to collect writing samples from all 74,000-plus board certified teachers to be part of the National Gallery of Writing.<\/p>\n NCTE has a goal for the project to collect a writing submission from every American. The NBPTS is hoping to help them attain it by soliciting items from its ranks.<\/p>\n Visit the gallery<\/a> and you\u2019ll find guidelines for submissions, as well as moving pieces that have already been collected.<\/p>\n NEA Member Benefits Complimentary Life Insurance is a term life policy for every member. Be sure beneficiary information is up-to-date on valuable, automatic policy.<\/p>\n NEA MB offers much more than life insurance, however. Check out the investment, credit card, discounts and professional information<\/a> available on their website.<\/p>\n Use your membership card to save at more than 200,000 merchants. Search the website by product or location to find out what\u2019s available to you.<\/p>\n Log on to the IEA website, click on the membership card icon, enter your 10-digit member ID number and click “go.”<\/p>\n Are you looking for something to do this summer? If so, this website<\/a> hooks up teachers with enriching summer opportunities in a variety of fields and in an array of locations.<\/p>\nQuick info at your fingertips<\/h2>\n
Open hearings<\/h2>\n
Are you a great government teacher, or do you know one?<\/h2>\n
Calling all nationally-certified board teachers<\/h2>\n
Member benefits<\/h2>\n
Save up to 50 percent on dining, shopping, entertainment and more<\/h2>\n
Website of the week<\/em><\/h2>\n