NEA elected as Springfield teacher representative

SBJ Staff

Posted online February 8, 2010 | 9:40 am

Springfield teachers voted Thursday to have the National Education Association's Springfield chapter act as their representative in negotiations with the Board of Education.

Springfield NEA received 56.9 percent of the vote, defeating the Missouri State Teachers Association. Both groups have Springfield teachers as members.

"SNEA has the experience, expertise and commitment to represent more than 1,700 Springfield teachers in reaching a collective bargaining agreement with the district," Missouri NEA President Chris Guinther said in a news release. "They have proved they have the patience, skill, and desire to get the job done."

Thursday's election was the second part of a process to choose representation for district teachers that started more than a year ago, when NEA representatives collected more than 1,100 signatures to petition the school board for an exclusive representative election.

That petition was taken to Greene County Circuit Court, which ruled that teachers must first have an election to select either exclusive representation, multiple representatives or no representation. The exclusive option received 58 percent of the vote in that election, which took place in November.

MSTA has said previously that it supported Springfield's policy of allowing multiple representatives. [[In-content Ad]]