IRS Ruling Discussed Recently on the News

There have been several questions lately about the impact of a recent IRS ruling on teachers' salaries and whether they do or do not take the lump sum option. Below is an e-mail LNEA received from our UniServ director, Lily Kober today. Hopefully this information will help clear up the confusion and concern.

"We discussed the IRS ruling at length in our statewide staff meeting today. The short answer is that this does not impact Kansas teachers. That is the short version. Teachers in Kansas have no ability to request to be paid in ten equal installments. They are paid in 12 equal amounts; they can only opt to receive the last 2 checks in June. That is not the same as being paid their full salary in ten equal payments. There should be something on the KNEA website soon. The news reports and tv reports are over stating or flat incorrectly stating the impact on Kansas teachers."

If you still have questions, feel free to e-mail us at lneanews@gmail.com and we will do our best to get answers for you.

Negotiations Update

After a long hot summer of cancelled meetings and little progress, your negotiating team is in need of meeting with you – all members of the bargaining unit – to get some direction. We are faced with an important decision, and we want your input before we proceed. Please attend one of the following meetings at Leavenworth Public Library:

Tuesday, August 21, 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 29, 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, August 29, 7:00 p.m.

We strongly encourage you to attend one of these meetings, where we will explain the alternatives and find out which direction you would like your negotiating team to go.

Note: The LNEA negotiation team is the bargaining agent for all teachers, whether or not they are members of LNEA. For that reason, all certified, non-administrative employees are strongly encouraged to attend. Those who do attend and vote are the ones who will give direction to the negotiating team.