Then

Now

The average teacher during colonial days was young, single, white, and male. Educators were chosen more for their religious backgrounds than their instructional skills, and teaching was not seen as a real profession because it paid so poorly. Educated men chose teaching as a means to another career, such as law or the ministry.

Men continued to dominate the profession during its early days. In fact, initial NEA membership was restricted to "gentlemen."

The advent of women in the classroom began in the mid-1800s when common schools viewed them as an ideal employee pool for low-paying work.

Minority teachers are especially in demand, but many men still don't feel that teaching pays enough to support families. Just 25 percent of America's 3 million teachers are men.

We need more men in our schools.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

NEA members and leaders in 1965 met with President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of a vigorous drive to pass the $1.3 billion ESEA Act. The law marked the most significant expansion in our nation's history of the federal role in financing public education.

At the time, NEA hoped that Johnson was correct in his estimation that once started, federal aid to education would never be stopped. That was 40 years ago, and we're still fighting to strengthen funding and prevent cuts that hurt children.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), renamed "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) in 2001, established laudable goals—high standards, accountability for all, and the belief that all children can learn, regardless of background or ability.

Unfortunately, the law is seriously flawed and underfunded. But the importance of NCLB's goals demands that we work to "fix and fund" the law. NEA supports that commitment through public awareness, legislative lobbying, and member empowerment—working for what children need to be successful.

Teacher and students in an Ellis Island classroom.

Educators in the early part of the 20th century were expected to integrate the large number of non-English speaking children into mainstream American society. A 1909 survey of major cities showed that more than half the students in any given classroom could not speak English.

Nora Brent, a first grade teacher in Falls Church, Virginia, is surrounded by children from all over the world. Teaching them to read is a challenge.

In the early part of the 21st century and according to the U.S. Department of Education, children enrolled in our schools bring with them more than 425 first languages.

As educators, NEA members refuse to allow language to be a barrier to a quality education. Check out these tips for reaching English learners.

Teacher Salaries

Educators during the colonial era (17th century) earned whatever their communities could afford. Rural teachers were paid in vegetables, firewood, or livestock.

In 1905, NEA led by Chicago member Margaret Haley, created the National Committee on Salaries, Tenure of Office and Pensions of Teachers. Their goal was to improve the lot of educators. To that end, they produced a report on the conditions of employment in public education and listed teacher pay in large cities. Additionally the report suggested ways public funds could be raised to produce higher teacher salaries.

NEA knows that too many educators have been denied professional pay for too long.

Attracting and retaining qualified school staff -- K-12 teachers, higher education faculty, and education support professionals -- requires salaries that are competitive with those in comparable professions. 

Toward this end, NEA supports a minimum salary of at least $40,000 for all teachers in our nation's public schools and at least a living wage for every education support professional. NEA also supports higher compensation for higher education faculty and staff.

Through the middle of the 20th century, female teachers in small districts were prohibited from marrying. In fact, some employment contracts even asked them to "abstain from 'dancing, immodest dressing and other conduct unbecoming to a lady,' smoking, any private meetings with men, and a promise to 'sleep at least eight hours each night.'" The stereotype of the "old maid" teacher was born from repressive mores.

Image: Courtesy of Tedd Levy, NEA member

Today, not only can female teachers marry, they also can have children and continue teaching while they are pregnant, thanks to NEA's support of the 1974 case before the Supreme Court that overruled mandatory maternity leave for pregnant teachers.

Today's teachers not only marry, but they sometimes invite their students to the wedding. Meet Oregon member Clair Wiles.   She didn't have much time for a social life, so her students took it upon themselves to play matchmaker,
on the Internet.

Shocking statistics from World War I revealed that 25 percent of U.S. soldiers were illiterate. NEA, along with the American Legion and the U.S. Office of Education, created American Education Week (AEW) to generate more attention to the importance of public education. The first AEW was observed in 1921.

More than eighty years later, AEW is still one of America's biggest events supporting public education. It has also grown to include individual celebration days to acknowledge all public school employees, toolkits for helping communities celebrate, and nationwide "house parties" to discuss what we can do to continue making all public schools great for every child.

See for yourself! Thanks to America's education support professionals, we've come a long way when it comes to getting kids to school on time and safely.

Click image for larger view.

GPS technology gives bus drivers (and their bosses) an extra set of eyes.

Concerns about school buses breaking down, staying on schedule, or even being hijacked are causing districts to consider installing global positioning system (GPS) devices in vehicles. These systems connect to a constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites. Some of the largest school districts in Texas, Florida, New York, California, and Virginia added GPS in 2005.

By the 1920s, NEA had 39 employees, 49 state associations, 522 local associations, and 75,000 members.

We'd grown too large to be run on an ad hoc basis. Democratization was needed, so in that year we changed from a convention-based organization to one run by a Representative Assembly composed of delegates from affiliated states and locals.

Policy making, prior to this, was done by whoever showed up at each year's convention.

NEA is the nation's largest professional employee organization with 2.7 million members work at every level of education, from pre-school to university graduate programs. We have affiliates in every state, as well as in more than 14,000 local communities across the country.

Our Representative Assembly or "RA" is the highest decision-making body within the organization. With over 9,000 delegates, the RA is also the world's largest democratic deliberative body.

Over the course of eight business sessions spanning four days, RA delegates debate the vital issues that impact American public education and set Association policy and activities for the year ahead.

One of NEA's first official publications was the Bulletin.

The NEA "Journal" launched in 1921.

Now, NEA Today leads the way accompanied by constituent publications including:

• This Active Life
• Tomorrow's Teachers
• The Higher Education Advocate

Our original seal, adopted in 1909:

Our current logo:

We settled in our first home in Winona, Minnesota, in 1907.

Since 1917, NEA headquarters has been located in the nation's capital.