June 18, 2025

Happy Wednesday, and happy LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!  Thank you for doing what you do, and for making a difference in the lives of our students. I hope you have a safe and restful summer. I look forward to seeing those of you who will be working summer school.

The weekly newsletter will be on summer break as well--I'll send any important updates as needed. If you have a question about our union over the summer, please reach out directly to the office.  

Office Closure/Summer Hours

Please be aware that the AEA office will be closed from Friday, June 27-July 6.  We will reopen on July 7th.   We will be adjusting our hours on Fridays in July by closing at 3pm.

Thinking about next year already....

We still have several locations without building reps. In addition, we are looking for a few more awesome advocates to join our Support Unit Bargaining Team. We will also be holding elections for officer positions and Executive Board positions.  

If becoming more involved is something you have been thinking about, please reach out to the AEA office.  

Collective Bargaining Update

As a follow up to an earlier update, I wanted to remind you that AEA successfully negotiated an increase in Paid Parental Leave (PPL) from 2 weeks to 8 weeks.

In addition, AEA invoked impasse procedures in connection with our current wage reopener negotiations. This step was taken after we did not reach agreement with APS.  An impasse hearing was held on May 8 before a neutral hearing officer. At the hearing, AEA presented evidence that additional funds are available to support wage increases beyond the 2% allocation reflected in the school board’s publicly proposed budget. We believe this funding could and should be directed toward fair compensation for our members.   The hearing officer reviewed the information and agreed with the decision by APS. The School Board unanimously approved a 2% salary increase on June 12.  

The School Board motion: "2025-2026 salary scale increase of 2% in Article 21 of the Support and License Agreement. Article 21 of the Licensure Unit Agreement also includes a 2.5% salary scale increase for 2026-2027 and reopener language if the CPIW is higher than 2.5% at the end of September 2025 with the goal of reestablishing Arlington Public Schools as the top three Virginia school divisions for compensation.