Professional Association of Teachers (PAT)
3419 Virginia Beach Boulevard #190
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23452

December 28, 2012

Dear fellow educator,

I have some important news for you as a member: membership with Professional Association of Teacher (PAT) merged with Virginia Professional Educators (VPE) on December 31, 2012.

Your member benefits with VPE will not change or be affected for the remainder of this school year. In follow-on years, as a member of VPE, your benefits will be enhanced. For example:

Your professional educator's liability coverage will increase to $2 million from $1 million and,
You will be able to pay your dues monthly instead of a lump sum at the beginning of each school year.

By way of background, Wayne Adamson and I, with the help with our Advisory Board, founded and incorporated PAT in 1995. In the 17 years since then we, and PAT, have been pleased to support other teachers all across Virginia providing them with a low-cost, non-profit, and non-partisan alterative to the NEA and AFT.

VPE operates under the same philosophy as PAT, providing VPE members with a low-cost, non-profit, and non-partisan alterative to the NEA and AFT. VPE has a membership that is significantly larger that PAT's and, like PAT, has provided services to its Virginia members for almost 20 years.

We made the decision to merge PAT with VPE because we believed it to be in your best interests as a PAT member. As you may know my co-founder, Wayne Adamson, recently died unexpectedly at the age of 57. Additionally, my wife of 29 years died in February after a 12 year battle with breast cancer. Consequently, we felt that new leadership with VPE would be better able to serve you as a PAT member.

You should have already received a letter from the Executive Director of VPE, Mr. Tracie Bailey, in which he will explain in detail about the transition from PAT to VPE and the options and advantages available to you as a VPE member.

Again, as co-founder and director of PAT it has been my pleasure to have served you and other PAT professional educators all of these many years. I have truly treasured our relationship and association.

With the very best wishes for the New Year and for your continued association with VPE,
I remain sincerely yours,

Bill Carson
William (Bill) H. Carson II
President and Co-founder

Please visit Virginia Professional Educators at their website: www.virginiaeducators.org