2010 NEA Representative Experience

The 2010 NEA Representative Assembly convened on July 3. I was there thanks to Walnut Valley UniServ and Kansas NEA. I had been several times before, but had not been for about 15 years. My very first RA was amazing! I marveled at the assembly! I was young and witnessed the RA from youthful eyes. This time I'm getting close to the end of my teaching career. This RA was just as amazing and wonderful but was witnessed with mature eyes. I was proud when I was younger, and if possible, I was more proud this time! I revel in being a member of the largest delegation of educators that meets to improve public education. That is NEA's goal and only goal; taking care of our schools, our students, and educational employees.

NEA President Dennis Van Roekel gave the opening keynote speech of the 2010 NEA Representative Assembly. President Van Roekel started by saying at last year’s RA, those under the ‘umbrella’ of educators were excited! We knew change was coming. We had high hopes for America’s children and public education.

This year, across this Nation, education employees are hurting and feeling betrayed. His speech focused on the anger we feel regarding “Race to the Top,” high stakes testing for students, competitiveness of this program, and the Administration’s and Department of Education's position of tieing teacher evaluation and pay to students’ test results.

“Race to the Top,” by its nature will have a few winners and many losers. Public school educators know this! Thus far, our collective voices have not been heeded. President Van Roekel called on all public school employees to contact legislators, Department of Education…..and to make our voices heard and votes count.

Too often in the past, too many educators vote a ‘single’ issue they feel strongly about....abortion or maybe guns. Those ‘single’ issues are not in the legislators power to change. Honestly, it makes no difference what you legislators think on these issues. Public education and its funding is within the legislators purview to help or hinder. The NEA has four million members. We can and should stand strong and give our votes only to those supporting public education! With 4,000,000 members voting together, we can be heard and make a difference. Public education is under attack nationwide. It is crucial we challenge these attacks and win this war!

John Wilson, NEA Executive Director, and members of the Executive Committee presented “History of Education Legislation” to the delegation on July 4. The address focused on 1965 and Lyndon B. Johnson’s drive for what he called the Great Society. President Johnson’s first career was that of a school teacher. Envisioning his Great Society, President Johnson said, "We have the opportunity to move not only toward the rich society and the powerful society, but upward to the Great Society."

As John Wilson shared, the Great Society represented one of the most ambitious policy agendas in American history to end poverty, to promote equality, improve public education, rejuvenate cities and protect the environment. President Johnson called it "the greatest outpouring of creative legislation in the history of the nation."

The 2010 National Education Support Personnel of the Year, Helen Cottongim, spoke to the delegates. She has been a bus driver for the Boone County Schools of Florence, Kentucky, starting in 1972 and drove for 25 years. Her beginning salary was $100 a month and her training consisted of, "Let’s take a ride and see if you can drive this thing."

From that beginning she helped organize the Kentucky Education Support Personnel Association, and wrote the slogan, “The Backbone of Education is Support Personnel.” She served as president of her association for six years. Then she was elected to the NEA Board of Directors. She helped to get a tenure bill passed for ESP, health care, and retirement benefits for all educators.

The Governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, received the America’s Greatest Education Governor Award. Governor O’Malley shared the people he represents don’t make excuses, they make progress! He credits educators working with parents supporting public education.

This year alone Maryland made record investments in K-12 education.
Maryland believes investing in public education creates jobs, opportunities, and futures.

In the last four years they have increased funding by 65 percent. Governor O’Malley stated, “We have earned now for two years in a row in the toughest of times from Education Week Magazine the distinction of having the best public schools in the United States of America,not by chance but by choice.”

NEA member, Sarah Brown Wessling, National Teacher of the Year, spoke to the delegates about her vision for public education. She is an English teacher at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa. Her vision is one of teachers learning as much as the students. Sarah’s message, “I think our system is playing the game of school. It is our collective responsibility to transcend that game. We need to create places where students thrive because of the system, not in spite of it. Our students are worth the kind of learning that's worth doing.”

The final guest speaker of the 2010 NEA RA was Dr. Diane Ravitch. She is the author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” and this year’s Friend of Education Award recipient.

Dr. Ravitch stressed that public education is under attack. There is a faction trying to end public education and wipe out unions. She was adamant that public education is the backbone of our freedom and must not be turned over to privateers. She stated NCLB is a disaster and “Race to the Top” will be a disaster as well. Dr. Ravitch deplores the trend of dropping PE, foreign languages, music, social sciences. “This is not good education.”

Sharing her research, Dr. Ravitch said, "School 'choice' is vastly overrated and supports a ‘class’ system. It is amazing to her that our politicians boast about this. The position of “Race to the Top” replaces the American belief of equal education opportunity for all! Our American way of life is threatened. She has absolutely no confidence in “Race to the Top.”

Dr. Ravitch’s additional findings regarding charter schools versus public schools:

1 out of 6 charter schools will get better results than public schools.
5 out of 6 charter schools will get the same or worse results than
public schools.

Starting with 2003 to the present reaffirms each year charter schools do not get better results than public schools.

Dr. Ravitch shared several pointed statements:

There is a powerful faction wanting to privatize and deregulate schools. Remember what happened to the Stock Market.

Legislators should not decide how to evaluate teachers.

The single most reliable predictor of test scores is poverty. The next two indicators are school attendance and school resources.

Teachers deserve praisenot pink slips.

No school was ever improved by closing it!

“Race to the Top” is supported by Arne Duncan and affirmed by President Obama.

Merit pay has nothing to do with quality education. It destroys collaboration which is essential for the success of public schools.

Teachers and their association have a right to a political voice. Bankers’ Association, medical associations, insurance associations are never targeted as the NEA has been. Attacking NEA is the same as attacking public school as well as 4,000,000 educators.

Getting rid of expensive/experienced teachers and replacing with new teachers trying to save money is very short sighted. Imagine a hospital staffed with only interns?

The students and schools with greater need, need greater resources.

No other country in the world is privatizing schools or using high stakes testing!

And, Dr. Ravitch would love to see 4,000,000 bumper stickers that said, "I vote and so does my family.”

Dr. Ravitch ended her address by saying to the audience,“Do not support any person who does not support public education.”

Every educator in America should have the opportunity of attending and participating in an annual NEA RA. Suddenly, you don’t feel alone and helpless. You become one with the force of the public education family. It is energizing and empowering.