Federal Benefits Open Season

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has announced the 2008 Federal Benefits Open Season for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB), the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS), and the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) will be held from Monday, November 10, through Monday, December 8, 2008. 

During the open season, employees may make any of the following four benefit choices:

• Enroll in or change an existing enrollment in a health insurance plan under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program,

• Sign up for a flexible spending account for health or dependent care under the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS),

• Enroll in or change an existing enrollment in a dental plan under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP), and

• Enroll in or change an existing enrollment in a vision plan under the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP)

Watch for the upcoming open season announcement in November.  For additional information email the DoDEA HR Benefits Unit at Benefits@hq.dodea.edu or call 703-588-3981.

TSP Elections for 2009

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released the elective deferral limits for 2009.  The annual maximum contribution to a regular TSP account is $16,500, a $1,000 increase from 2008 and the limit on Catch-up Contributions for 2009 is $5,500; increased by $500.  Employees may elect TSP contributions for calendar year 2009 through the Employee Benefits Information System (EBIS) beginning December 7, 2008.  Employees wanting to ensure their TSP elections reach the maximum contributions for 2008 are reminded there are only a few pay periods left for calendar year 2008 in which you can make TSP contributions and they will be credited to the 2008 tax year.  TSP contributions are credited to the tax year in which TSP receives the contribution; therefore any contributions received by the TSP in 2009; even if the pay period ended in December 2008, will be credited toward the 2009 tax year.

Click Here for more information on TSP Elections Notice.

OPM Offers On-line e-Training

Employees can develop their own customized training with OPM’s new “GoLearn,” a web-based learning management system.  GoLearn offers extensive courseware libraries.  When you purchase a library from OPM, you purchase several complete curricula each offering a block of classes.  For instance, the Skill Soft Business Skills Library contains 15 curricula and 90 on-line classes in such areas as business mathematics, government charge cards, and multiple courses on planning, developing, and maintaining Microsoft Windows.  The best part is that this training can be taken at your own pace and is reasonably priced.  A library of multiple curricula is available for purchase for only $36.75 per person, per year.

For more information on available courses and how to apply, visit OPM’s website at: http://www.golearn.gov/MaestroC/index.cfm?room=welcome&roomaction=welcome.

If you have additional questions, please contact the Training Section at (703) 588-3801.

DoDEA adds new teacher categories

Click Here to access this information. Qualification requirements for the new teacher categories are as follows:

0158 Teacher, Foreign Language Elementary School (FLES)/Spanish Click Here
0370 Teacher, Chinese (Mandarin) Click Here

0336 Teacher, Health Care Click Here
0386 Teacher, Health Care (Training Instructor) Click Here

Federal Education Association (FEA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

We are pleased to announce that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), conversion of NTE appointments, has been coordinated between Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) and the representatives of the Federal Education Association (FEA) and the Overseas Federation of Teachers (OFT).

FEA Conversion of NTE	Click Here
FEA Clarification of NTE	Click Here
OFT Conversion of NTE	Click Here
OFT Clarification of NTE	Click Here