News Release

'Team NEA' Leaves Annual Meeting Reenergized to Push for
Great Public Schools for Every Child

Members mobilize to fix 'No Child
Left Behind' flaws, close achievement gap

Washington, D.C. – More than 9,000 delegates of the National Education Association (NEA) united this week to recommit themselves to ensuring that every child in the country has an opportunity to attend a great public school.

In his Independence Day keynote address to NEA's Representative Assembly (RA), President Reg Weaver affirmed that "our goal is for every child to achieve and succeed." Weaver urged NEA's 2.7 million members to enhance their efforts in the classroom by speaking out about the needs of children in their school and community, lobbying their elected representatives, and voting and volunteering to get pro-public education candidates elected at every level. He charged delegates to get new members and other allies to help in these ambitious goals.

"Team NEA, we are the foot soldiers for democracy's foundation -- public education -- and we are on the move!" said Weaver, a middle school science teacher from Harvey, Ill. "Defend democracy, defend public education, and defend the opportunity for all children to have access to a quality public education."

Modifying the so-called No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law to make it workable is one of NEA's top priorities, with members in full agreement that the law must be fixed and fully funded for its promise to become reality.

One key element of NEA's strategy to ensure that every child has access to a great public school is to elect a pro-public education president of the United States in November. On Monday, NEA delegates overwhelmingly recommended the association's candidate. (For more information on the recommendation, please see this news article).

Yesterday, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) made a surprise appearance at the hall, reminding the delegates why this election is so critical. "Education remains a core issue," Clinton said. "This is the most important election in a lifetime. It will set the course of the nation."  She urged NEA members to maximize their involvement in the election by registering new voters and getting involved in support of friends of education.

NEA also kicked off an unprecedented, nationwide effort to host "house parties" and other get-togethers to raise the profile of education issues in the upcoming election and beyond. More than 2,000 NEA delegates have already signed up to host parties on Wednesday, Sept. 22, and organizers expect that many members and others who care about the future of public education will sign up over the next several months at the Great Public Schools Web site. NEA is well on its way to coordinating the largest one-day discussion of education in the nation's history.                         

Over the course of the six-day meeting, delegates sent more than 9,000 e-mails to Congress and state legislators, urging support for revisions to the NCLB law and Social Security offset legislation. At last count, they had raised almost $1.3 million in voluntary contributions to the Fund for Children and Public Education, which is used to support efforts to elect candidates who support children and public education.

In addition, 25 state affiliates and more than 150 delegates participated in dialogues focused on their experiences with the NCLB law and innovations that would help close the achievement gap. One teacher from Arkansas noted that because her district, Pulaski County, had to spend 20 percent of its federal resources to pay for transportation and private tutors, it was forced to cut literacy and math specialists.

Educators from every state, the District of Columbia, and overseas came here as delegates to the NEA's RA to set policies for the coming year. NEA represents 2.7 million teachers, education support professionals, higher education faculty, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to be teachers.

Delegates elected three members of the NEA Executive Committee. Michael Marks, a high school dramatic arts and debate teacher from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Rebecca "Becky" Pringle, a physical science teacher from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, were each re-elected to three-year terms. Mark Cebulski, a social studies teacher from Cedarburg, Wisconsin, was elected to fill a two-year term after being appointed to a one-year term in August 2003.

The NEA Executive Committee is comprised of nine members -- three executive officers and six members elected at large by the RA. In other election news, more than 350 delegates at the NEA Student Leadership Conference elected Mandy Plucker, a master's degree candidate in counseling at South Dakota State University in Brookings, national chairperson for the NEA Student Program.

Policy Actions

Delegates adopted a report that calls for additional study on issues affecting the achievement gap. The report by NEA's Professional Standards and Practices Committee's reiterated that in order to close the achievement gap among their students, educators and schools need more support for methods and practice that work to boost student achievement. These include smaller class sizes, teacher training, increased parental involvement, enhanced early childhood and after school services, updated textbooks and materials, and adequate support for children and families outside of school.

The RA passed a number of New Business Items, calling on NEA to take action on issues in the near future. Among the most significant was a statement in opposition to federal funding for the American Board for Certification of Teaching Excellence, a competitor to the National Board for Professional Standards. In addition, the delegates stated their opposition to tests that, by themselves, are barriers to grade promotion or high school graduation.

The RA adopted its Resolutions, statements of the NEA's philosophy that covers a broad range of issues including children's health and well-being, quality and access to public education, the rights of education employees, and standards for those working in education professions. Among significant changes in the Resolution language were amendments placing NEA in support of strengthening standards for charter schools so that they are held accountable for meeting their goals, strengthening teacher standards such that "testing only" routes were not allowed by states, and calling for schools to adopt stronger policies and programs to eliminate bullying. NEA delegates also voted to support access to higher education, financial aid, and in-state tuition for undocumented students.

Among some of the Resolutions that were set aside for future discussion, delegates voted to maintain current language supporting a full range of family planning options, as well as maintaining the organization's commitment to separation of church and state, after full, respectful, and open debates.

Delegates amended a policy statement on early childhood education to reinforce the organization's belief that pre-kindergarten teachers should be fully licensed and certified.

In addition, delegates overwhelmingly adopted a strategic budget that directs resources to enhance teaching and learning, advocate for children and members, and build partnerships with organizations and individuals who support public education.

Delegates made a commitment to NEA's fight for public education by extending a $5 special dues increase to help state affiliates with ballot measures legislative crises and to support national and state affiliate media campaigns to advance the cause of public education. In addition, delegates voted to increase the dues support for these efforts by $1 per year for five years.

NEA Awards and Honors

The 2004 Teacher of the Year, Kathleen M. Mellor, a middle-school teacher from North Kingstown, R.I., addressed the assembly, speaking passionately about the rewards of teaching. "We know the tremendous impact of each day and each lesson," she said. "Knowing that I can make a difference in someone's life validates what I do every day."

Allyson "Sunny" Story, NEA's 2004 Education Support Professional of the Year, has spent 25 years helping classroom teachers work with special needs students in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She told delegates how education employees in her area negotiated a new mentoring program to support members. "There are a great many who either do not understand or who want to destroy public education," Story said. "But a coalition of educators working together for the common good is more powerful than individual educators."

NEA's highest honor, the Friend of Education Award, went to Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). Under her leadership, CDF has become the nation's strongest voice advocating for children and families. In her remarks, Edelman noted that even though the U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education ended legal segregation in public schools, "the great unfinished business of our nation is to open wide the doors of equal education and economic opportunity to every child in the United States."

A celebration of the Brown decision and the role played by members of the NEA and the all-Black American Teachers Association was held Tuesday, led by NEA Executive Director John Wilson and students from five states who were involved in lawsuits over the case. The assembly also honored delegates who arrived wearing or carrying items that honored their family members' participation in the armed services.

Pre-Conference Activities

The theme of the July 2-7 Annual Meeting was "TEAM NEA: Uniting the Nation for Great Public Schools."  Prior to the start of the RA on July 4, forums were held addressing health care coverage and closing the achievement gap. NEA's two-day Joint Conference on the Concerns of Women and Minorities gave participants opportunities to learn more about how to address student needs and foster respect and safety in America 's public schools.

In the Association's ninth annual Outreach to Teach, more than 325 student, retired and active NEA members converged on Longfields Elementary School in Forestville, Md., for a day of public service. Just four months ago, Longfields lost three classrooms to a fire, so NEA's volunteers were happy to contribute to the school's recovery by spending the day cleaning, painting, decorating and landscaping.

The six-day meeting was estimated to generate about $25 million for the economy in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.      

The 2005 NEA Annual Meeting and RA will be held in Los Angeles.

July 7, 2004

Contact:
Anjetta McQueen, (202) 258-4220
Melinda Anderson, (703) 927-8044
Andrew Linebaugh, (202) 441-9866

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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.