At NEA Representative Assembly, Educators Prepare to Make an Impact in 2020
81 Utah delegates among 6,000 at the 2019 NEA Representative Assembly
NEA Staff writer Tim Walker contributed to this article
Utah delegates to the RA left enthused. “This RA was inspiring,” said Cache Education Association member Theresa Stanton. “It was amazing to see the dedication of teachers in the USA (and Utah specifically) and how much each of us care about our students.” BreAnn Brewer from Grand Education Association said, “We often hear how teachers are a big part of the lives of their students, but to witness the sheer magnitude of this RA delegation was impressive. I was able to watch first hand how we as educators hold the power to make changes in our classrooms, state, nation and beyond.”
“This movement has created something better for millions of students and educators, but it’s bigger than that,” Granite Education Association member and NEA President Lily Eskelsen García told delegates in her keynote address. “We’ve created something better for communities—for this country that we love.”
Electing a new U.S. president in November 2020, she said, should be a priority of anyone who cares about public education. And public school educators should not shy away from working toward that goal.
“Political action isn’t subversive,” Eskelsen García said. “It’s the essence of democracy. … We will use our collective power to listen and learn and teach and reach and engage and organize and convince.”
At this year’s RA, NEA took a big first step in leading the conversation around public education and Election 2020 with the #StrongPublicSchools presidential forum (see video below).
For two hours, ten presidential hopefuls – former Vice President Joe Biden, former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Sen. Kamala Harris, Gov. Jay Inslee, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Tim Ryan, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren – made their case to the delegates (and viewers nationwide who watched the forum via livestream). They fielded questions from NEA members on everything from education funding, privatization, testing, school safety, and student debt.
Although NEA members undoubtedly had their preferred candidates, most came away impressed by the substantive conversation and the fact that – as Eskelsen García pointed out in her opening remarks – while educators were hearing from the candidates, “the candidates were listening to you.”
“They have clearly been listening to teachers,” said Oklahoma teacher Brendan Jarvis. “Only a strong and large organization can make an event like this possible, and give teachers a seat at the table in the next administration.”
‘Our Kids Deserve Better’
Taking a seat at the table (and keeping it) is a goal shared by all teachers and education support professionals, said 2019 NEA ESP of the Year Matthew Powell. Powell, a custodial supervisor in Kentucky and one of the most politically active educators in the state, addressed the RA on July 6.
“I want to remind all of us of the influence and power we have in the lives of our students, in our schools, and our communities,” he said. “That power is available to each and every one of us, every day, in big ways and in seemingly small ways …Never forget, we are the experts when it comes to public education.”
“We have hit the point of a national emergency, as we stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters all over this great nation, and we need leaders who are willing to stand with us,” Robinson said.
In his closing, Robinson put lawmakers across the country on notice.
“Thousands of students, teachers, parents, and administrators are stepping up and saying enough is enough. And I promise you your judgement day will not be on your final day on this earth, but on Election Day when millions of Americans–led by every single person in this crowd-march to the polls, break down the doors, kick you out of office and say our kids deserve better!”
Strong and effective activism sometimes starts with a strong image. Hundreds of delegates discovered that when they visited a designated area in the hall, where artists from the Milwaukee-based Art Build Workers helped them create powerful protest art for signs, posters, and parachute banners.
“Creating images that go along with a movement, whether it’s racial or social justice [or the national #RedforEd movement], brings people together, and creates ownership in the movement,” said Wyoming art teacher Paige Gustafson.
John Stocks, in his last address as NEA executive director, urged the delegates and educators everywhere to embrace their growing power. “We need you to come together and make this country whole. Our democracy is calling out for social justice patriots.
“Let’s be perfectly honest. An educator can do more for our democracy in five minutes than some lawmakers can do over their entire career,” said Stocks.
Dolores McCracken, former president of the Pennsylvania Education Association, posthumously received the NEA’s highest honor, the NEA Friend of Education Award. McCracken’s two adult children accepted the award.
The RA awarded David Schneider, a communications professor at Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) in University Center, Mich., as the 2019 Higher Educator of the Year.
What Democracy Looks Like
It wouldn’t be an RA, however, without New Business Items, lots and lots of New Business Items. The RA is a democratic body, so delegates spend most of their time debating and voting on new NBI’s – policies, resolutions, amendments that will direct much of the Association’s work in the coming year.
RA delegates also elected two educators to NEA’s Executive Committee, the Association’s highest-level governing body. Robert Rodriguez, a special education teacher from San Bernardino, Calif., and a champion for diversity and LGBTQ rights in schools, was re-elected to a second two-year term.
The newest member of the executive committee is Christine Sampson-Clark of New Jersey, also a special education teacher.
“I’m honored to join NEA’s Executive Committee and look forward to representing the voices of my fellow education professionals in this role,” said Sampson-Clark. “Our members deserve professional respect as well as the resources needed to provide all our students with great schools. NEA is vital to these goals.”
RA delegates got the chance on the last day to say hello to NEA’s new executive director, Kim Anglin Anderson, who effective Sept. 1 will replace John Stocks. Anderson was previously with NEA for 15 years, creating and leading NEA’s Center for Advocacy and Outreach in 2016 before leaving to serve as executive vice president of the Democracy Alliance.
In a brief address to the RA, Anderson told the delegates how thrilled she was to be “coming home” to the NEA.
“What’s in my heart is what’s in yours: a love of the students we serve. And the responsibility we share to instill the values of democracy and equal opportunity in order to model in our schools what a just society should look like.”
- See full coverage of the 2019 NEA Representative Assembly
- View the Strong Public Schools 2020 Presidential Forum
- 2019 NEA RA Speakers and Speeches
- About the NEA Representative Assembly
Utah State Delegation Photo at the 2019 NEA Representative Assembly in Houston, Texas
Additional 2019 NEA Representative Assembly Highlights:
At NEA Representative Assembly, Educators Prepare to Make an Impact in 2020 – July 7, 2019
Galvanized by the historic mobilization of public school educators that caught the attention of the entire nation, educators converged on the George E. Brown convention center in Houston, Texas on July 4 for the 157th National Education Association Representative Assembly (RA). The theme of the 2019 RA was Our Democracy. Our Responsibility. Our Time! After four busy and exciting days…more
2019 Teacher of the Year: ‘Everyone Benefits From Diversity’ – July 6, 2019
Rodney Robinson, the 2019 National Teacher of the Year, brought the 7,000 NEA Representative Assembly delegates to their feet on Saturday with an impassioned plea for diversity, increased opportunity for our most vulnerable students, and a day of reckoning for politicians who refuse to fully-fund public education…more
Two educators elected to NEA Executive Committee by RA delegates – July 6, 2019
Two special educators, Robert V. Rodriguez of California and Christine Sampson-Clark of New Jersey, were elected to the NEA Executive Committee, NEA’s highest-level governing body, by NEA Representative Assembly delegates. Rodriguez, a San Bernardino, California, teacher for 14 years, the son of immigrants, and a champion for diversity and LGBTQ rights in schools…more
NEA Representative Assembly Honors 2019 ESP of the Year – July 6, 2019
Matthew Powell, the 2019 Education Support Professional of the Year, took the stage at the NEA Representative Assembly on Saturday. Introducing him to the almost 7,000 delegates gathered in the George E. Brown Convention Center in Houston, NEA President Lily Eskelsen García commended Powell for his “commitment to public education and our students”…more
2020 Presidential Hopefuls Court Educators at NEA Representative Assembly – July 5, 2019
“Election 2020 starts right here, right now!” NEA President Lily Eskelsen García announced to the almost 7,000 delegates at the NEA Representative Assembly on Friday. Waiting backstage at the George E. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, were 10 presidential hopefuls ready to make their case to educators for the first ever #StrongPublicSchools Presidential Forum. Across the…more
Outgoing NEA Executive Director John Stocks Exhorts RA Delegates to “Come Together and Make this Country Whole” – July 5, 2019
In his final address to a NEA Representative Assembly (RA), outgoing NEA Executive Director John Stocks on Friday exhorted RA delegates to “come together and make this country whole,” and, most of all, “to embrace [their] power.” In recent years, NEA members have led a nationwide #RedforEd movement that calls on state and local lawmakers…more
Art Build at the RA Energizes Delegates – July 4, 2019
Wyoming art teacher Paige Gustafson found her happy place at the 2019 NEA Representative Assembly (RA) in the delegate experience area, where paintbrush in hand and dozens of cups of paints around her, she put the final daubs on a fabric panel saying “Fund Public Education.” “I love it. I feel like, especially as an…more
NEA President: “Something Big Is About to Happen” – July 4, 2019
In her keynote address to the 2019 National Education Association Representative Assembly on Thursday, NEA President Lily Eskelsen García tells the more than 7,000 delegates that the stakes in 2020 are too high for any educator to disengage from the political process…more