Each November school districts across the country host programs to teach students to honor veterans for their service.  For many districts, depending on their state laws, honoring and recognizing the service of veterans doesn’t wait until November.  Veterans’ Preference in school districts allows districts to recognize veterans in human resource decisions throughout the year.

Too often though, knowledge of Veterans’ Preference in school districts remains low and it’s a topic worth discussing to ensure your district is compliant, and more importantly that it provides select veterans with employment opportunities to serve their community after they have served their country.

 

 

We are providing a free packet of resources to help school districts design hiring processes that are more likely to be reliable, valid, and withstand challenges related to veterans’ preference.  Included in the packet are

 

* Six Strategies to Manage Veterans’ Preference in School Districts

* Sample Guide to Managing Perceptions of Fairness in School District Hiring Practices

* Best Practices for Teacher Selection: From Job Posting to Job Offer

* Sample Application and Resume Teaching Candidate Scoring Guide

 

This is an information packed article.  If you notice at the top of the page there is a sound bar.  We were able to record a podcast interview with attorney Sean Timmons.  Mr. Timmons works with the law firm Tulley & Rinckey  and is a veterans’ preference legal expert.  We have linked to the firm and you can call them directly at (855)-248-9790. The information he shares extends well beyond the information you will find in this article.  We highly encourage you to listen to this episode after you read this month’s article.

 

 

What is Veterans’ Preference and Why Should School Districts Care?

Veterans’ preference was initially established as a set laws created by the United States Congress to assist veterans seeking Federal employment and to prevent them from being penalized for time spent in military service.  These laws provide preference points for employment and other human resource decisions to veterans who are disabled or who served in the Armed Forces during specified periods or in designated military campaigns.  Veterans’ preference laws do not guarantee veterans a job, nor do they give them preference in internal actions such as promotions, transfers, reassignments, and reinstatements.

It is also important to note that not every veteran is eligible to receive veterans’ preference.  Veterans’ preference laws for Federal employment and most state veterans’ preference laws only provide preference points to veterans who meet specific criteria, who are disabled, or who served during specified periods or in designated military campaigns.  Additionally, the number of points awarded to veterans depend on a number of factors.  That will be addressed later in this article.

Beyond the obvious reasons related to recognition and honoring the service of veterans, school districts should care about veterans’ preference because many states have passed laws that require public employers to provide veterans’ preference in hiring decisions.  Veterans’ preference was initially created to provide opportunities to veterans seeking federal employment.  However, over the past few decades more and more states have adopted or modified veterans preference laws.