1. Where are the professional developments held?
Our current location for in-person PD sessions is the Union House, 782 North West Street in Jackson. Some sessions are held virtually via Zoom. PD Calendars and session announcement flyers will typically state the location.
2. What times are the professional developments conducted?
Generally, sessions are from 9 AM to 4 PM, with a half-hour break for lunch and 2 other small breaks during the day. If a session has different hours, those will be clearly posted when you register.
Attendance is required for the full duration of the course in order to obtain CEUs, per MDE guidelines. CEU certificates will not be issued if an attendee arrives late, leaves early, and/or misses one of the multi-day sessions.
3. How many CEUs will I receive from a professional development class?
Professional development courses offered aim to provide a minimum of 0.6 CEUs per session. Multi-day sessions may have more. The PD calendar and session announcement flyer should clearly state the number of CEUs offered.
4. How many CEUs do I need to renew my license in the state of Mississippi?
Your Mississippi teaching license is valid for five years, at which time it must be renewed. Between renewals you must complete Continuing Education Units (CEUs), college coursework, or become National Board certified to keep your license active and renewed.
If you hold a standard Class A Teacher's License, you must complete:
- 10 CEUs in your content area, OR
- 3 semester hours of college coursework in your content area plus 5 CEUs in your content area, OR
- 6 semester hours of college coursework in your content area, OR
- Become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
If you hold a Class AA, AAA or AAAA Teacher's License, you must complete:
- 3 semester hours of college coursework in your content area, OR
- 5 CEUs in your content area, OR
- Become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
If you are retired and are receiving a pension from PERS, contact the office or visit our Retiree Division page for information on how to renew your license with MDE.
You may renew your teaching license online through your MECCA account.
5. How much do PD sessions cost?
PD sessions are free to all JFT/AFT members in good standing with their local (excluding CEU certificate fees). "In good standing" means that your dues payments have not lapsed in the last 3 months, or if they have, back payments have been made in order to bring your membership up to date.
Most PD sessions are also offered to non-members for a fee. Each PD session announcement flyer should contain a sign-up link; in that registration form, there will be a link so that non-members may purchase tickets to attend PD sessions. The cost for the session should be clearly stated on the ticket purchasing website.
6. I'm a member. Why do I have to buy a ticket to attend?
The ticket you're purchasing covers the cost of your CEU certificate, and it helps us ensure an accurate attendance count for PD sessions, as we pay instructors to lead these courses.
JFT will handle filing everything with MC for you, so you can purchase your ticket, attend the session, and we'll handle the rest.
7. I'm a non-member, or I'm not sure if I'm still a member. Which ticket should I purchase?
As a non-member, you will need to purchase the non-member ticket, which covers the cost of registration and your CEU certificates. If you want to avoid the resgistration costs, sign up to be a member and maintain your membership, and you can purchase member tickets instead!
If you're unsure of your membership status, please email the office at pd@jftpsrp.com or mail@jftpsrp.com, and we'll confirm your membership status for us. Please provide us with your name, your phone number, your mailing address, and your worksite so we can ensure we're looking for the right person.
8. Why is TicketLeap charging me a service fee?
TicketLeap charges you a credit card fee, which allows JFT to receive the entirety of your ticket price (this is a common practice in service stations and restaurants these days).
If you're purchasing more than 1 professional development session, check out the bundle packages that we're offering to help you save money (and if you don't see a bundle package for the courses you're wanting, contact the office; we may be able to put a bundle package together for you).
6. I've signed up for a session, but I can't make it. What do I do?
Once you've signed up for a session, the expectation is that you will attend; however, sometimes, things happen. We understand. Simply contact the union office or the PD coordinator as soon as possible to let us know that you'll have to cancel. This is important because lack of attendance may affect our ability to offer the session. If you are a non-member who has purchased tickets for the session, the earlier we know, the better. We can issue a refund directly from the ticket purchasing website if the cancellation is made within 12 hours of the event. After that date, a check must be issued by the JFT treasurer, which can take 5-7 business days to be processed.
All CEU certificate purchases are non-refundable, but we should be able to apply that to a future session if you let us know.
9. What about lunch?
In years past, the local was able to use funding from AFT national to provide funding for snacks and meals; unfortunately, that funding is no longer available to JFT. In order to offer you the highest quality professional development at the lowest possible cost, we have opted for "lunch on your own." We will provide you with a list of nearby restaurants, and meal delivery services can help you maximize your lunch time. We sincerely apologize for any inconveniences that may cause.
Sometimes, session leaders will make a bulk lunch order for delivery (at the participant's cost) to help save time. If you're coming to an in-person session, be sure to bring some cash to more easily pay for your lunch if you opt to participate in that.