Hopefully all FEA members had a restful and enjoyable summer break. As you return to your school and classroom this 2024-2025 school year, know that the Federal Education Association (FEA) and your local Association are there for you. Use FEA’s many member resources to stay informed, protect yourself, save on recertification, and more. We also encourage all members to be active and engaged in the Association. FEA and our local Associations are strongest when our members support each other, attend events, vote in FEA elections, and more.

Be involved in FEA and your local Association

There are many ways to be engaged in FEA, including:

• Attending your local Association’s events. Offer to help with logistics by suggesting a venue, designing flyers, or generally helping promote the event.
• Running for a position with FEA (FRS/Building Rep, FR, Human and Civil Rights Coordinator (HCRC), Local President, or FEA’s At-Large Officer positions). Nomination information for FEA At-Large offices is being sent to schools and posted to the FEA Web site this month.
• Voting in FEA’s upcoming elections. Learn more about the voting schedule on page 5 of the August FEA Journal, being mailed to members this month.
• Attending the 2025 FEA Annual Membership Meeting in Portland in late June.

Contact your Faculty Representative Spokesperson (FRS) if you need assistance

Do you need someone present during a meeting with management? Do you need an advocate on a particular school issue? Reach out to your school Faculty Representative Spokesperson (FRS)/Building Representative for help.

Know your contract

Your FRS/Building Rep and Local President are well trained in your contractual rights and can help you find assistance from FEA’s legal team, should you ever need it.

Discounted Recertification Courses for FEA Members Through VESi

As a benefit exclusively for Association members, FEA is working with Virtual Education Software (VESi) and the accredited Augustana University to provide members with reduced pricing on courses approved for DoDEA teacher recertification and Academic Salary Lane (ASL) changes. This new member benefit amounts to significant savings every recertification period. FEA Members can enroll for the courses after purchasing a discounted subscription. Learn more and sign up for courses by first logging into this page: feaonline.org/vesi.

Note: As of October 1st, the new annual fee will be $250 for 3 graduate (transcript credit) courses through the FEA/AU/VESi subscription program. To secure the current $200 rate, sign up for your subscription and courses before that date!

Use FEA’s Professional Records Folders

Use these folders to organize your important documents. Each year FEA sends this folder with other membership materials, reminding members of the importance of keeping all Leave and Earnings Statements (LESs) and any correspondence about their pay, benefits and working conditions within it. You should retain these materials permanently, in case you ever need them.

Remember the basics with FEA’s Onboarding Guide

Need reminders on the basics of working in DoDEA? Does a new educator have questions? View our Onboarding Guides here: https://www.feaonline.org/feas-educator-onboarding-guides/.

Protect your FEA with AutoPay

Anti-public-education forces seek to eliminate payroll deduction as a means for Association members to easily pay their annual dues, thus weakening the ability of labor organizations such as FEA to continue serving their members. In recent years, education employees in numerous states have seen payroll deduction taken away from them overnight. Opponents of public education now hope to do the same to federal employees. FEA/NEA members can easily thwart those attempts by proactively switching from payroll deduction to EFT or credit card payment of their Association dues via NEA’s AutoPay system. Take control of your membership and take DoDEA and other agencies out of the equation: make the switch now to AutoPay. Go to feaonline.org/autopay.

Note: Many members currently pay dues through eDues, which is being renamed AutoPay. It may take a few more weeks for our systems to reflect the new name.

NEA Member Benefits

All FEA members are also members of the National Education Association (NEA) and thus eligible for NEA Member Benefits. Get one year of no-cost access to Savi, also known as NEA’s Student Debt Navigator, an online tool that helps you take advantage of the student loan forgiveness options available to you. You can also sign up for the NEA Travel Program to secure your $500 Travel Dollars. Use your travel dollars via exclusive discounts on hotels, rental cars, and more. Explore all NEA Member Benefits: https://www.neamb.com