Contact: Will Potter   (202) 822-7823

July 5, 2007

Classroom Experiences of 9,000 Educators Heard Loud and Clear by Presidential Candidates, Congress

NEA delegates wrap up week of voting, organizing on NCLB and education priorities

PHILADELPHIA—When President Reg Weaver told an auditorium full of more than 9,000 educators at the National Education Association’s Representative Assembly to pick up their cell phones and call Congress about No Child Left Behind, it didn’t take long for lawmakers to get the message. A few minutes later Weaver told the crowd that a congressional staff member answering the phones had joked: “If you’re calling from NEA, we’ve already heard from everybody there.”

“Delegates leave Philadelphia today knowing their firsthand experiences with NCLB were heard loud and clear by eight presidential candidates and members of Congress,” said Weaver. “NEA members from all 50 states are heading home, and they’re fired up to influence NCLB reauthorization and to make sure a friend of public education heads to the White House.”

NEA delegates heard from seven Democratic presidential candidates: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson. They also heard from one Republican candidate, Mike Huckabee, who was the only Republican to respond to NEA’s invitation to address its annual convention.

Delegates stepped up and took action this week to influence their members of Congress on NCLB. At the Representative Assembly’s Legislative Action Center, delegates sent nearly 8,000 messages to federal lawmakers. They displayed 48,000 stickers, 6,000 t-shirts, and 10,000 fans with the message “A child is more than a test score.” And they videotaped hundreds of stories about how ESEA has affected teaching and learning in their classrooms and schools that will be shared with members of Congress.

During his keynote address, NEA President Reg Weaver announced that the Association was embarking on a new, national education initiative that would close tax loopholes to strengthen the nation’s investment in education at all levels.  The Extension Service for Knowledge, Information and Development, or KIDs, is modeled after the successful Agriculture Extension Program.  The program would include designated research centers at state universities, which would provide grassroots support to local schools and businesses. To make the program a reality, NEA will reach out to Congress and every segment of the business community.

Weaver also presented what he describes as an “Education Bill of Rights” as part of his keynote address to the Assembly. Weaver told the NEA delegates that the 10-point NEA commitment to public school students would “guarantee the basic right of every student in America to a quality education.”
As part of the NEA Representative Assembly, Association leaders unveiled a new program to engage minority communities. Joining NEA to announce the implementation of this new initiative was Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angles and former Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb.
Today, 40 percent of the nation’s public school students are racial or ethnic minorities. That number is expected to reach 50 percent in the next 20 years. For parents and families in the six pilot cities, NEA will advertise in the upcoming year throughout the community with information that speaks to their unique, diverse experience. Parents will also have access to online content and pro-public education materials that will enable advocacy for great public schools in their communities.
Other highlights of the 2007 Representative Assembly:

• NEA Education Support Professional of the Year Veronica Henderson stressed the need for living wages for all school employees. 

• Teacher of the Year Andrea Peterson delivered an inspiring Fourth of July keynote full of examples of the difference a music teacher has made in the lives of her students.

• Continuing a long standing tradition, this year’s RA hosted 12 international guests, each representing a union of educators.

• More than 300 college students and educators picked up shovels and dug in to give Gotwals Elementary School in Norristown, Pa., a much needed facelift.

• As an act of appreciation for instrumental efforts to bring a very rare copy of Magna Carta to the  United States, the Lincoln Cathedral unveiled a stone column named after Weaver.

“NEA is made up of 3.2 million informed, passionate educators who are also education voters,” Weaver said. “They are leaders in their schools and in their communities, and this week they made it clear to the presidential candidates that they’ll be taking their firsthand classroom experiences to the polls.”

For more information and to download the full text of the NEA’s Education Bill of Rights:
http://www.nea.org/annualmeeting/raaction/07keynote.html

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee
organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education
faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.