The St. Thomas-St. John Federation of Teachers is preparing to evaluate members of the 23rd Legislature.
The AFT has invited the seven St. Thomas-St. John district senators and at-large Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd to panel discussions next week to answer questions from union members and others who want to determine their commitment to education.
"The political action committee of the AFT is tasked with determining which lawmakers truly are concerned about our needs," said Carol Callwood, who chairs the union's committee on public education.
"This is about determining where the senators are on these sort of issues," she added.
Callwood said the union will decide which senators to back for re-election based on their positions.
"It's a sorting-out process," she said. "We need to know first-hand about our leaders' posture on the items that are near and dear to us."
Not all the issues of interest are related directly to the teachers' financial security.
While she acknowledged that the pay issue will be around for a long time, Callwood said other issues of concern include the physical condition of schools, the general shortage of supplies and added autonomy for the Board of Education.
"We need to know where their (senators) heads are on these critical issues," she said.
Callwood said teachers expect senators to take a stand on student discipline, given the recent job action at Charlotte Amalie High School over a disciplinary decision.
Callwood will be one of the moderators posing questions to the senators but she said all members of the public are invited to attend and pose questions.
The event will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, at the Palms Court Harbour View Hotel.
