We're uniquely qualified to make low-performing schools a top priority.

It was fitting that our 2001Representative Assembly was held in Los Angeles. After all, what Hollywood imagines, public schools actually do.

In movies, poor children go from rags to riches. Ordinary people achieve the impossible. And adults are always heroic-by the end of the film, they've rescued the children and saved the world.

Well, public schools enable poor children to go from rags to riches for real. They're filled with ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And they're staffed by adults who rescue children and save the world in little ways every single day.
Yet so many public school employees never receive any glory or recognition. For this reason, at this year's RA, we applauded the heroic work of seven NEA members.

We gave three cheers for David Bocchichio, a gym teacher in East Hartford, Connecticut who donated a kidney to the mother of three of his students. (Read more about David on page 40 of this issue.)

For Janis Eggert, a school bus driver in Lebanon, Oregon, who helped organize a crucial bond campaign that saved her district schools from collapse.

For Marian Galbraith, a middle school teacher in Groton, Connecticut whose after-school programs help young African-American men succeed.

For Thomas Ibarra of Los Angeles, California, who bravely stepped forward to become one of the first teachers to join an ACLU lawsuit against school funding inequities.

For teachers Sandra Roberts and David Smith, who created the Holocaust Paper Clip Project to teach middle school students in Whitwell, Tennessee about the importance of tolerance.

And for Rhonda Simmons, a guidance counselor in Las Vegas, Nevada whose dance program for inner-city children inspires them to stay in school.

Yet while each and every one of these members is extraordinary, they are not atypical. Of the NEA's 2.6 million members, there's not a soul among us who doesn't know their own David, Sandra, or Marian. In fact, there are untold numbers who have done similar deeds themselves.

As educators, heroism is endemic to our work. Every day, when we walk through that school door, we have the potential to act heroically. And, at the dawn of a new school year, I believe we must harness this potential-and exercise it collectively on behalf of low-performing schools.

Granted, making low-performing schools our Association's top priority will not be easy. It is perhaps the toughest job we will ever face. The problems that plague poor schools are immensely complicated. We cannot give poor children brand new childhoods or neighborhoods. Nor can we work miracles by ourselves.

However, I know the power of our members. I've seen you staying after class to help students with long division … I've seen youcomforting a feverish child whose parent can't pick her up from school … I've seen you coaching the track team and cleaning the auditoriums. I know that our members are a legion of Thomas Ibarras, Rhonda Simmons, and Janice Eggerts.

Nothing gives me more faith than knowing that you are the stewards of future generations. You are my heroes. So this coming year, let us make it our goal to act heroically together-for the sake of those children and schools that need help the most.

Comments? E-mail Bob Chase at BobChase@nea.org. If you would like a response, please be sure to include your name and NEA local affiliate.