More CSEA Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Will CSEA members become JCEA (teacher association) members if we affiliate?
A. No. CSEA will not affiliate with JCEA nor will CSEA members become JCEA members (or JCEA members become CSEA members). CSEA and JCEA would operate side by side in the Jefferson County School District, negotiate with the district separately, solve problems separately, etc. Because we would both be affiliated with CEA-NEA, however, we would be likely to work more closely together on problems that both organizations encounter in the district, and we think that would be a good thing for CSEA and JCEA members alike.

Q. What will our relationship be with CEA and NEA?
A. CEA and NEA would call CSEA a "UniServ Unit," the name for the CEA-NEA regional structure that supports local associations. CSEA would be a local association just like JCEA and also be a stand-alone UniServ Unit or field office of CEA-NEA, just like JCEA has been for more nearly 40 years. (Information about the current 17 UniServ Units in CEA)

CSEA would keep its own staff and leaders, our building at 901 Loveland Street, our organizational structure, etc.

Q. Would our CSEA dues change or increase?
A. No. We would have a written agreement with CEA-NEA that our dues, as currently calculated at 1% of each CSEA member's gross salary, would remain as they are now. The CEA Board of Directors approved this dues structure at its November 5 meeting. If we affiliate, CSEA would collect dues via the school district's payroll deduction system, just as we do now, and forward a portion of each member's dues to CEA to cover both CEA and NEA dues.

Q. Would our negotiated agreement with the district change?
A. No. We would continue to negotiate with the district as we do now in our role as the exclusive representative and bargaining agent for classified employees. Neither JCEA nor CEA-NEA members from other local associations would be on our negotiations team or direct our negotiations with the district in any way. We would negotiate with the district just as we do now.

Q. What kinds of training and help could CEA-NEA give us that we can't necessarily get by ourselves right now?
A. CEA and NEA offer local association leaders, members, and staff the opportunity to attend workshops and conferences on a myriad of topics including member recruitment and retention, negotiations, grievances and member rights/legal issues,communications, and a lot more -- training we could help deliver "at home" in CSEA and training we could send our members to in other school districts in Colorado and the U.S. We could also get help from CEA staff who provide member training, consultation on every aspect of association work, help in identifying and training new leaders, and on-site assistance to leaders and members.


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