In a recent article, “School district outlines policy priorities to area legislators,” it is stated that Education Minnesota (EdMN), the teachers union, opposes this legislation. While this is true of the state-level organization it is not true of our local educators. The Austin Education Association (AEA) strongly supports this legislative proposal. The AEA worked alongside the district and school board to develop the language and are really excited to see it move forward in the legislature and hope EdMN backs the proposal.

Our plan is to allow districts the option to train members from the community using state-approved programming that enables these individuals to receive a short call sublicense. A program that would allow districts to “grow their own” short call substitutes. This in turn would provide members of our community opportunities to engage with our schools/students and hopefully encourage these same individuals to pursue education degrees and ultimately join the profession. We are hopeful that our legislative representatives can move this proposal through.

By working together, the AEA and the district are working to create the best possible environment for students to learn and teachers to teach.

Mark Raymond, Executive Director of Human Resources
Tom Compton, AEA President