Skip to Content

NEA-Retired President's Message

Toward the November finish line...

 
As this issue of This Active Life goes to press, you would expect my message to NEA-Retired members to be about the upcoming election and supporting our NEA-recommended candidates—and you would be absolutely right! 

I know that many of you have been working tirelessly on behalf of the candidates who are friends and allies of public schools and educators. For all of your efforts, thank you, and keep up the good work!

All the polls and pundits predict that this election will be very close. Our NEA members may well make the difference in the outcome. Your advocacy and your vote may help decide between a promising future for our students and teachers, or one that bodes ill for both groups. 

I don’t need to remind you of all the negative attention that our schools, public education, the NEA, and, most important, the students, have had to endure during the past few years. If we hadn’t lived through it, we would have a hard time believing it.

But we must press on—America’s students deserve the best possible education we can provide, and if that means more canvassing, more defenses against voter-suppression tactics, and more letters to the editor—however we can make our voices heard, then so be it. We’re ready.

It is our duty as educators, even though we’re retired, to keep educating the public on what’s at stake in this election. So with gratitude for all you’ve done already, please invest as much time and energy as you are able to ensure a positive outcome for public education come November.

 

—Tom Curran

Published in:

Published In

November, 2012