| Applications open June 8 for frontline worker payments! Frontline workers, including school staff, can start applying next week for one-time payments to recognize their work during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic. The application period is open June 8 through July 22 at frontlinepay.mn.gov. Your statewide union, Education Minnesota, fought hard to make sure state lawmakers approved these long-overdue payments to the school staff and other essential workers who kept our state running. Those eligible include ESPs, teachers, bus drivers, grocery store workers, factory workers, health care workers and many more. Employees in those categories are eligible for payment if:They worked in person for at least 120 hours between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021.They did not receive unemployment for more than 20 weeks during that period.For educators, their wages were no more than $185,000 for a married taxpayer filing a joint return or $85,000 for all other filers. All eligible applicants will receive an equal share of the available $500 million. Payments can’t exceed $1,500, but they could be lower if there are a significant number of applicants. We estimate payments will be around $750 per worker and will go out in early September as either direct bank deposits or mailed debit cards. Click here for more information on the frontline worker pay. |
Ed MN ESI will be holding a “When Can I Afford to Retire” virtual seminar for Education Minnesota members on May 12 from 6-7 p.m. This seminar will focus on those with a TRA pension.
During your working career your income comes from your salary. In retirement, your income comes from three sources; a pension, Social Security and other savings you have such as a 403(b). Whether you are an early career educator or nearing retirement, this seminar has valuable information for you.
Attending a When Can I Afford to Retire seminar will:
· Provide a general overview of defined benefit pensions
· Increase member level of understanding of retirement benefits
· Assist members with next steps for future planning
Please register here if you plan to attend.
If you have questions regarding the seminar, please contact Christine Thornborrow at [email protected] .
This handout on employee assistance can be very helpful for you when you need help and support. This is a service that the district provides for our use.
Listed below are multiple ways you can support our striking colleagues in Minneapolis. Please consider helping their fight for a fair and equitable contract!
- Share the MFT Bargaining Demands.
- Individual Sign Up Form.
- Organizational Sign Up Form.
- Sign up for our MFT Family Email List here.
- Send a letter to Ed Graff by filling this out here.
- Sign and share our petition here.
- Pledge to support our strike fund here.
- Support our bargaining team in mediation by providing food, coffee, words of support, etc. Sign up here.
- Learn more by visiting safeandstableschools.org
If you forgot to apply for the Education Minnesota Foundation Professional Development Grant in the fall, there’s still time to apply for the spring round of funding. ESPs and teachers may request up to $1,500, and higher education faculty may request up to $3,000. Applications are due Friday, April 1. Visit here to learn more and apply! |
One of the many things Education Minnesota ESI provides for members is informational seminars. Christine Thornborrow from Ed MN ESI will be holding a “When Can I Afford to Retire” virtual seminar on Feb. 10 from 6-7 p.m.
Whether you are an early career educator or nearing retirement, this seminar has valuable information for you and is designed to:
· Provide a general overview of defined benefit pensions like TRA
· Increase member level of understanding of retirement benefits
· Assist members with next steps for future planning
Please register here if you would like to attend.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON YOUR PENSION, PLEASE CLICK ON THE TRA LINKS BELOW:
| We have important updates to share on student loans for all borrowers and for those who are working toward loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. As you may have heard, the federal government on Dec. 22 extended its pause on student loan payments, interest accrual and student debt collection until May 1, 2022. This means borrowers now have until the end of April to make plans on how they will restart their payments — a welcome relief as pandemic concerns sharpen. Also in December, we received an update from Federal Student Aid on the expanded loan forgiveness provisions that were enacted via a federal waiveron Oct. 6. This update is critically important for those who are going to be participating in Public Service Loan Forgiveness. It also impacts all borrowers who are going to continue to participate in Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Federal Student Aid has issued updated guidance on which repayment plans will qualify for forgiveness. For payments made before Sept. 30, 2021, any repayment plan will count toward forgiveness. You will still need to consolidate loans if they are not Direct Loans AND certify your employment.But from Sept. 30, 2021 and onward, only income-driven repayment (IDR) plans will count toward forgiveness. Once payments resume after the federal pause ends on May 1, 2022, ongoing payments need to be made on an income-driven plan. This clarifies guidance previously issued by the feds. If you are already enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan, you don’t need to do anything else based on this update. You should be all set. If you are not enrolled in an IDR plan, you can enroll in one now to make sure your future payments are eligible for forgiveness. You can apply online via your account on studentaid.gov. Please direct any questions to our Degrees, Not Debt program at [email protected]. |
We want to make sure you, as an educator, know about existing student loan forgiveness programs, how to find out if you’re eligible and how to apply for them. Education Minnesota’s updated “Degrees, Not Debt” program is designed to inform members about recent changes to federal loan forgiveness programs. While an offline version of this event is available to members at MEA Online, there will be a live, interactive Webinar next Monday, Dec. 13. Details are below.
Degrees Not Debt Live Webinar
Monday December 13th at 6pm- Virtual Event
Registration: https://cvent.me/dKx8XP
For additional questions regarding the webinar or its content please contact Bridget Moore at [email protected]
This is a reminder of upcoming grants opportunities available through Education Minnesota (also listed in your Oct/Nov MN Educator magazine):
Classroom Focused Grants – up to $3,000 for for innovative project design and implementation
PD Grants for Teachers – up to $1500 for teachers to either facilitate, develop or attend PD sessions.
IMPACT Grants – up to $15,000 for projects that team up with a local non-profit
Ed MN Early Teacher Seminar – unique PD targeted for teachers in the profession five years or less. 3 grad credits and 10 CEU’s upon completion.
Reminder: U of M survey on school conditions
If you haven’t yet done so, please take the opportunity to share how the current school year is going and what additional supports are needed by taking this third and final round of the MN Safe Learning Survey. If you are both an educator and a parent feel free to take the survey twice to reflect your opinion in both roles.
The survey closes Wednesday, Nov. 24.
 Thanks to the work of our members and our state and national union, major changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program were recently announced. We are celebrating the incredible news that one of the loan forgiveness programs our members depend on but that is exceptionally hard to qualify for has just gotten easier to access thanks to decisive action by the Biden Administration and thanks to tireless advocacy from our members and our national affiliates. Public Service Loan Forgiveness is getting some incredibly necessary changes that will be in place for the next year. The Department of Education announced that they are providing a temporary waiver to some of the requirements that have been most difficult for borrowers to meet, frequently because of the inaction or misconduct of loan servicers, who you will recall now have to meet much higher standards in Minnesota after we passed our Student Borrowers Bill of Rights this June. A great article on this from NPR helps to explain what was announced: https://www.npr.org/2021/10/06/1043332307/public-service-loan-forgiveness-education-department-overhaul In order to ensure that our members have the most current information and support in accessing this opportunity, Education Minnesota will hold a webinar at our upcoming MEA conference Thursday, Oct. 21 covering this news and how folks can access this expanded PSLF opportunity: NEW offering! Expanded Loan Forgiveness for Educators: Unpacking New Public Service Loan Forgiveness rules The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program has always sounded simple: work in the public sector, pay your loans for 10 years, get the rest forgiven tax free. But every borrower who has interacted with the program knows that it’s anything but simple. The Department of Education has recently announced sweeping changes to the program that will make it easier to qualify and easier to achieve forgiveness. This live Zoom session will cover what we know about the new rules, offer specific guidance on how to access the loan forgiveness, and update participants on the overall student loan landscape. 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 21 REGISTER HERE As ever, please continue to ask your very good questions via [email protected]. Your union membership made this possible; our national partners at the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have relentlessly pushed the Department of Education to make good on their commitments to public educators and our public sector union family. Thank you for making many new opportunities possible for current and future educators! Education Minnesota, 41 Sherburne Ave., St. Paul, MN 55103 | 651-227-9541 | 800-652-9073 Education Minnesota is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.www.educationminnesota.org | Update email | Privacy policy | Contact us | Unsubscribe |
