ATPE News

Summer 2016

ATPE News is the official publication of the Association of Texas Professional Educators, the largest educator association in Texas. The magazine addresses the most important issues affecting public education in the state. Learn more at ATPE.org.

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Gary G. Godsey ATPE Executive Director by Gary G. Godsey atpe.org | 43 summer 2016 a t p e . o r g | 4 3 s u m m e r 2 0 1 6 ATPE'S COMMITMENT TO YOU ATPE is committed to keeping dues as low as possible while still providing quality services, and our history proves that. In the past 15 years, we have increased our dues only twice, most recently nine years ago. What other business has gone nine years without increasing its prices? I n those nine years, ATPE's costs, at a minimum, have risen by 20 percent—and that's only considering infation. For nine years now, ATPE has been operating on the same or a decreasing amount of revenue. Yet our programs and services remain strong, and we continue to increase member oferings when we can. In particular, the cost of our member liability insurance has increased dramatically during those nine years. So has the number of people fling claims. Compare our insurance coverage to that of any competitor, and you'll fnd our product is far superior. We understand that educators work on tight budgets. That's why we did our best to decrease operating costs, including reducing our staf and freezing state ofce employee salaries, before considering a dues increase. And that's also why the dues being proposed are only an additional $2.50 per month for professional members. We aren't trying to generate any more than we need to maintain the quality programs and services that our members have come to expect from us. At the 2016 ATPE Summit in July, the House of Delegates (HOD) will vote on whether to increase membership dues by this amount. We project that this increase will last at least fve years, and we hope the HOD will understand that a top- notch product like ours comes with a hefty cost to the association. One of the reasons we haven't had to raise our prices in nine years is because for many of those years, we experienced phenomenal growth in membership. But in 2011, we experienced a sharp decline in membership. Although we've worked extremely hard to overcome these losses, the fact is we haven't seen our membership numbers make it back to the pre-2011 level. How can you help ATPE keep costs—and membership dues—low? By recruiting new members! Reach out to fellow educators on your campus and share the benefts of ATPE membership. Even with this potential dues increase, ATPE will continue to provide the best programs and services for the cost. That remains our #1 commitment to you. for the record

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