Professional Educators of Tennessee

In their first meeting of the 2001-2002 year, the Professional Educators of Tennessee Board of Directors voted to raise the dues for Professional Members to $149.  While the dues increase will take affect on October 1, we expect the vast majority of members will have already paid their  2001-2002 dues before that date. Those paying before October 1, will renew or join at the old $97 rate.

The board also voted to lessen the impact of the increase on current members by allowing them to join for up to five years in advance at the old $97 rate.  Monies from these pre-paid memberships will go into a separate bank account and only the amount of the current year's dues will be deducted.  This will insure that funds are available for these members in the future.

Many improvements have been made in your PET membership since the dues were set at $97.  Even the $97 was a compromise between those wanting higher dues at that point and those wanting to stay at the current level.  At the time that those dues were set, we were just having to add staff to service our members.  We had reached the point in our growth that running the state organization by volunteers was not only impractical but would curtail our ability to grow.  My children were grown and had moved away and we had several rooms in my home that could be used as donated office space.  We were able to set dues at $97 and operate efficiently at that level for four years.  During that time, growth has caused us to have to move into an office and we are again at the point that growth will be curtailed if we do not increase the size of our staff.

How have member benefits improved during those years since we set dues at $97?  We have seen many changes.  Some are very evident and some are not.  Our liability coverage was increased from $ one million to $ two million.  In some other education associations the upgrade to a two million dollar policy is $33  per member (ACTE which provides a  $500,000 upgrade for $33 above the regular membership dues), or $56 (CEAI which is above the $100,000 included in the dues). PET does not pay these additional amounts per member because we include the two million on all of our members and because of our excellent loss ratio.

Other sections of our educators' policy were also improved to make sure that we have the best in protection for our members.  The criminal charges defense fees for attorneys were raised from $5,000 win or lose to $35,000/$10,000.  Employment rights coverage has been raised from $5,000/$500 to $10,000/$1,000.  What is even a bigger change is that most of our attorney fees do not even go through our insurance.  We have arrangements with the attorneys  throughout the state  and pay them directly.  This means that members are not limited to just the legal services provided through the insurance policy.  Members often call to seek legal advice without having to fill out any paperwork or red tape.

Separate from our educators' policy, we have added $10,000 in Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance on our members and afford  them access to a host of other member benefits at reduced association rates.  At the request of members, we also carry $1,000 term life insurance on each member under age 70.  We added this benefit mainly to allow new members to purchase up to $50,000 with out medical screening.  When negotiating these benefits, we asked that our members be given the best rates possible rather than the PET receiving a portion of the premium as other associations do.

Printings, postage, supplies, telephone, insurance, payroll taxes and other expenses associated with any business have also increased over the last few years.  While we have used several economies of scale to reduce some of the per unit cost of these expenses, the overall result is that it cost more to operate now than it did in the past.  When the board was discussing this increase, the consensus was that we "bite the bullet" now with an increase that would see us through the foreseeable future rather than a small increase each year for several years.

Before the board meeting, I had asked the membership at the annual meeting to give their opinions on a dues increase to the members of the board.  I know that several of those in attendance did.  The board took into account the suggestions given to them at that time.

Those of you who have been members for many years may think that this increase is excessive. I have heard from some that were distressed over this action.  However, most that I have heard from are supportive of the action.  I do know that those new members who have contacted us this month have expressed that the $149 is a great deal compared to the competition.

Since most of those who join this year will join at the $97 rate, do not expect many changes in PET this school year.  The funds to move forward will be coming in for the 2002-2003 school year.  I trust that all of you know that at $149 PET is still the best product at the best price.