A New Generation at the Table

New Team, Fresh Approach to Bargaining in Waverly Education Association 

When the Waverly Education Association (WEA) and the district’s administrative team sat down at the bargaining table, the first question had nothing to do with salaries, benefits or working conditions.

It was a trivia question.

“The question was, ‘Most people who purchase this item are between 47 and 50 years old. What is it?’” recalled WEA President Tiffany Dalton.

The answer? A motorcycle.

Trivia questions have become a tradition at WEA’s initial bargaining meetings, a practice believed to have been started by longtime team member and trivia enthusiast Leah Wilcox.

Passing the Baton
After years of serving as association president and lead negotiator, Michael Cobelens decided it was time to pass the baton. His decision created an opportunity for new educators to step into leadership roles while building on the experience of longtime bargaining team members.

For Dalton, a Spanish teacher at Waverly High School, the decision to take on a leadership role was not one she made lightly.

“It became clear that Mike was going to be looking for a replacement last year,” Dalton said. “And so I slept on it for a really long time.”

By the middle of the school year, she had accepted the president-elect position and begun shadowing Cobelens.

Although the learning curve has been steep, she said support from NSEA and fellow members has helped her navigate the transition.

Stepping Up for WEA
The leadership transition brings new perspectives to an established bargaining team, combining fresh ideas with the continuity and experience of longtime members.

New lead negotiator Ryan Abbott, a Waverly High School social studies teacher, previously taught in Texas and Louisiana, where educators lack Nebraska’s collective bargaining protections. Both states have adopted private school voucher schemes that divert public funds to private education, even as Texas districts close schools and cut educator positions amid funding shortfalls. Providing continuity are longtime WEA bargaining team members secretary Becky Schroeder, an early childhood teacher, and treasurer Leah Wilcox, a middle school science and math teacher.

While some members have previous bargaining experience, others are participating for the first time. At least on this side of the table.

Travis Moore, a Waverly High School social studies teacher, previously served on the Waverly School District 145 Board of Education, giving him a unique perspective on negotiations. The team also includes veteran educators Susan Stake, a middle school teacher, and Gina Boltz, a fifth-grade teacher, along with Angie Konen, a building representative at Waverly Intermediate School.

“I’ve never done negotiations, but this is a whole new journey for me,” Boltz said. “I love learning new things. I’ve been asking a lot of questions.”

That willingness to learn is matched by a commitment to preparation. Dalton and Abbott attended NSEA’s STRONG Conference in Omaha, while team members participated in bargaining dinners held in late October.

“It’s been trial by fire,” Dalton said. “We’re just finding our way, but getting lots of support from NSEA.”

The team is conducting its own compensation study, examining agreements in comparable districts to better understand how Waverly’s salaries, benefits and contract provisions measure up. Abbott has worked with NSEA Collective Bargaining Specialist Jen Dubas to learn MicroSearch, a database that allows bargaining teams to research and compare district contracts.

The team also benefits from Moore’s previous service on the Waverly school board, which offers insight into the district’s perspective on negotiations. His experience working with the Unicameral’s Legislative Research Office brings additional research skills to the bargaining process.

Together, those resources will help the team independently verify district information and develop well-supported proposals.

“We don’t want to be at the table just going off vibes,” Abbott joked.

Beyond the Survey
The new leadership is also making member engagement a priority. While WEA has traditionally surveyed members to identify bargaining priorities, Dalton has taken the process a step further by visiting school buildings and speaking one-on-one with educators about their concerns. As a new president, she said those conversations are especially important in deepening her understanding of members’ needs and ensuring their voices are represented at the bargaining table.

“I’m still in the process of absorbing information from our membership, because I really want to do our best to represent their interests,” she said.

Among the issues under consideration are paid time off and equitable movement on the salary schedule. The team hopes to revisit proposals from previous negotiations while remaining open to additional priorities identified by members.

Although Cobelens is stepping away from leading negotiations, his experience remains a resource for the team. He was recognized in May during WEA’s annual retirement tea, which also honors district educators reaching years-of-service milestones. Cobelens will continue offering guidance as members navigate the bargaining process.

That transfer of knowledge reflects a tradition of educators preparing the next generation to exercise and protect their collective bargaining rights. In 2027, Nebraska will mark 60 years since the passage of the Teachers’ Professional Negotiations Act, a reminder that those rights were secured through decades of organizing and advocacy.

Nebraska law gives public educators the right to collective representation and establishes a timeline for negotiations between school districts and bargaining teams. These protections provide a structured process for addressing salaries, benefits and working conditions.

Those rights cannot be taken for granted. In neighboring Iowa, lawmakers sharply restricted collective bargaining for most public employees in 2017. Wisconsin enacted similar restrictions in 2011, limiting negotiations for most public employees to base wages and placing additional requirements on unions.

For Dalton, protecting those rights was a driving factor in her decision to step into leadership.

“I do understand how badly that is needed and how frightening for educators it would be if we were to lose that,” Dalton said.

As another bargaining season begins, Waverly’s bargaining team demonstrates that the strength of collective bargaining depends not only on the agreements reached at the table, but also on experienced members sharing their knowledge and new leaders willing to step forward to protect the rights secured by generations of educators before them.