AR Handbook – 47 Evaluation NJEA assists local associations and members in understanding the requirements of employee evaluation regulations by conducting workshops, publishing specific instructions and guidelines, and by advising members on how to prepare for evaluation conferences. Safeguarding & improving economic welfare NJEA believes school employees should earn salaries and receive fringe benefits that enable them to maintain a standard of living commensurate with their preparation and their job demands. NJEA also believes salaries and fringe benefits should be equitably administered. The best way for employees to ensure equity in this area is through the collective bargaining process. NJEA makes the following services available to all local associations. Collective Bargaining NJEA maintains a full-time as well as part-time staff members qualified to assist locals in all phases of collective bargaining. NJEA UniServ field reps provide the following negotiations assistance to locals: • Proposal preparation • At-the-table assistance • Bargaining strategy and tactics • Training of local negotiators • Budget analysis In addition, headquarters staff members provide research back-up including cost-of-living adjustment figures, average salaries, school system capabilities, tax rates, and expenditures per pupil. NJEA also maintains up-to-date records of contract settlements which are used to assist locals in their negotiations. In addition, we use NEA research resources on developing trends in the area of fringe benefit improvements from other state associations. The NJEA network of attorneys (in cooperation with NEA) keeps abreast of legal developments and advises NJEA’s officers and staff on changing trends and directions in bargaining. Pensions NJEA lobbyists work continuously to get the state government to protect the pension system from unsound management and to increase pension benefits. NJEA pension specialists visit each of the NJEA regional offices on a regular basis to provide consultations to members considering retirement. School Revenue Lobbying NJEA is very much aware of the direct relationship between the revenue available for schools and the economic security and well-being of its members. NJEA works to convince the Legislature, Governor, and State Department of Education to support measures that will maintain and increase the State’s financial support of local school systems. NJEA’s eight registered lobbyists work with research and communications personnel and attorneys to develop and promote positions on revenue legislation beneficial both to the educational programs of the schools and to their employees. Promoting professional working conditions NJEA believes school employees must have the proper physical working conditions and personnel relationships in order to do their jobs properly. In order to ensure these conditions, NJEA proposes and/or supports changes in legislation, regulations, or in collective bargaining agreements as follows: Physical Working Conditions NJEA and its locals bring pressure to bear on state and local agencies to make sure that schools are operated in a safe manner and that light, heat, proper ventilation, and sanitary conditions are maintained, and encourages its locals to negotiate improvements in a wide range of working conditions. Personnel Policies NJEA believes school personnel should be assigned, transferred, promoted or separated from employment under policies which have been bargained with the majority representative. Through its Working Conditions Committee, NJEA develops and recommends to its governing bodies and to its local associations improvements in personnel policies for either legislative action or for bargaining. State Department Regulations NJEA takes the position that State Department of Education regulations which mandate a great deal of record keeping should be reduced to a minimum and that unnecessary paperwork should be eliminated. NJEA continues to press the department on this issue of major concern to members. Research The Association conducts frequent surveys on issues of instructional interest and maintains a large library of education-related items. In addition, NJEA gathers information to support legislative programs related to education. Certification NJEA provides assistance to teachers who need information on certification and minimum standards required by State law. NJEA works with the State Board of Examiners and other educational groups to recommend changes in certification
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