ER&D keeps retiree where she wants to be: in the classroom

Diane Weggen always thought she would be a perennial teacher—even after retirement. So she is not surprised to find herself back in the classroom after 35 years of teaching in Pine Island, Minn. Only now her students are other teachers. As an instructor in the AFT’s Education Research and Dissemination (ER&D) program, the former English and physical education instructor is helping other teachers to become more effective.

“I knew when I retired I would continue teaching, so being a part of the ER&D program was not out of the realm of possibility,” says Weggen, who is also an adjunct faculty member at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota where she teaches graduate education courses.

Weggen retired in 2000, but she didn’t rest for long. In the summer of 2000, her local, the Hiawatha Valley Teachers United, started an ER&D program and approached her about teaching a course. Weggen, who always had viewed professional development for teachers as union work, was happy to get involved.

“I have always believed that what happens in the classroom is very much union business,” notes Weggen, who as a local union leader had a long history of speaking out about issues that affect educators. “I have a passion for teaching and want to help teachers become the best they can be.”

Weggen currently teaches the ER&D course, “Foundations of Effective Teaching.” She is particularly pleased that the AFT program is doing something that has not been done before: reaching out to rural schools. No one had heard about ER&D three years ago, Weggen remembers. Now it serves 28 schools in southeastern Minnesota.

As the former professional issues chair for the local, “Diane brings a lot of experience to the program,” says Carol Bromeland, the site coordinator for the local program. “Her reputation and knowledge of what a teacher experiences in the classroom are invaluable.”

“The response from teachers is so positive. They feel good about spending this time to talk about their professional lives and share their expertise,” Weggen says. The most satisfying thing about the program, she reports, is interacting with other teachers and seeing them come away from the course feeling personally affirmed as classroom teachers.

Privatization of Medicare opposed

AFT retirees were among the hundreds of senior citizens who came to Washington, D.C., in early September to speak out against the Medicare prescription drug bills currently being debated by a congressional conference committee.

The retirees gathered on a rainy morning for a brief rally organized by the Alliance for Retired Americans and then lobbied their congressional representatives, urging them to support a filibuster if the final bill is not dramatically improved. The retiree activists say the bills, in their current form, privatize Medicare, have huge gaps in coverage, provide no guaranteed premiums, and threaten employer-provided benefits.

“The bill has serious drawbacks,” says Fred Nauman, a member of the AFT standing committee on retirement and retirees. “Many of us feel that no bill is better than a bad bill.” Nauman, from New York, was part of the group of retirees that met with Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to discuss the Medicare legislation.

“It’s sad to say but neither of the bills before Congress is good,” says Phyllis Lapidus, a retired member of the United Federation of Teachers in New York City. The retired teacher, who now lives in Florida, met with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Rep. Robert I. Wexler (D-Fla.). Lapidus wants to keep the conversation about Medicare going long enough for people to understand the importance of having a guaranteed prescription drug benefit under traditional Medicare.

“We want a drug bill that comes with Medicare, not instead of it. Medicare has been a savior for so many people, we don’t want to lose it,” says Lapidus.

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