'Organize, Mobilize, and Maximize!'

Photo by Aukram Burton

President Reg Weaver outlines NEA's Great Public Schools Action Plan to tackle ESEA, school funding, fair compensation, and more.

The pressures of complying with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)--also known as the No Child Left Behind Act--have generated "stress among children, teachers, and administrators and incredible turnover of new teachers. There's not enough to money to do the job right," Maine elementary teacher Idella Harter told NEA President Reg Weaver during the 2003 Representative Assembly (RA) in July.

"I want every child to succeed," said Harter, "[but] one size does not fit all!"

Educators are angry and frustrated over every challenge, from ESEA to the underfunding of special education. "But NEA must harness that energy," says Weaver, to "organize, mobilize, and maximize our members as never before." The goals: to fix and fund ESEA; gain adequate and equitable school funding; ensure "compensation that reflects our worth"; and deliver a quality education to every child.

That's the essence of NEA's Great Public Schools for Every Child Action Plan, which Weaver rolled out to RA delegates before taking it on the road. Right through September, NEA's top elected officer outlined the action plan in non-stop speaking engagements before state affiliate leaders, local Association representatives, and members from San Diego, California, to Charleston, West Virginia.

What's this initiative all about? Among other things, NEA's Great Public Schools Action Plan will:

Energize Members and Attract New Ones

NEA's work has attracted the attention of increasing numbers of educators--NEA-New Hampshire alone has expanded its ranks by 6.7 percent. But it takes strength, energy, and numbers to advance the issues that are important to NEA members.

Membership "isn't wished, it is built" on "I'll-try-again courage" and shared values, challenges, and triumphs, Weaver told New Hampshire Association leaders recently.

That, in turn, means that "membership is everybody's business!" Weaver told Wisconsin Education Association Council leaders and front-line activists. "We are committed to re-energizing our current members and to encouraging potential members to join NEA."

Strengthen NEA at the grassroots.

"If we are to be successful in our efforts to support children and public education," the NEA president told Wisconsin members, "we must work together to become the strongest and most effective voice out there speaking for education. We must begin by harnessing our collective strength--by building strong local and state affiliates."

The Great Public Schools Action Plan will work with state affiliates to recruit, retain, and activate members--and, in the process, strengthen the ability of those affiliates to advocate for members and children and to deliver quality member services.

Get everyone on the same page.

The Great Public Schools Action Plan will focus on ways to make NEA an even stronger partner of state affiliates, as they deal with the immediate need to "fix and fund" ESEA, lobby for adequate state education funding, or bargain decent teacher and ESP contracts.

When it comes to ESEA, the partnership will revolve around the wisdom that effective education reform isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition (different kids learn differently, at different speeds).

Far from the top-down approach of ESEA sponsors, NEA's package of amendments to fix and fund the law (at www.nea.org/lac), "echoes your voices, the voices of members on the front lines, working in classrooms every day," Weaver told NEA-New Hampshire activists.

Link up with friends of public education.

There are lots of folks who agree with NEA's goal of making public schools great for every child. Now is the time to join together to advance the cause.

"We must reach out to our communities and to community-based groups to win support for public schools," says Weaver. "We need these groups to support us internally and to stand beside us publicly!"