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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2001

REVISED MEDIA ADVISORY

NEA Takes on School Safety, Low-Performing Schools at 2001 Annual Meeting

More than 9,000 Expected in Los Angeles

Washington, D.C. - School safety and turning around the country's lowest-performing schools are among the issues taking center stage at the 139th Annual Meeting and related conferences of the National Education Association (NEA), June 28 through July 7, in Los Angeles, California. Guided by the theme, "Making Every Public School Great," NEA members will vote on new policies related to charter schools and a partnership agreement with the American Federation of Teachers.

NEA President Bob Chase will call to order the NEA Representative Assembly (RA) on Wednesday, July 4. The RA is the world's largest democratic deliberative body and is the elected policy-making group for the 2.6 million-member Association. Floor debate and votes by the delegates will determine NEA's Strategic Plan and Budget for 2001-2002 and set the Association's overall policy for the coming year.

More than 9,000 delegates are expected, representing teachers, college faculty, student members, retired members, educational support employees, and other Association members. Each of those delegates will receive materials and a toolkit on NEA's work to improve schools labeled "low-performing." NEA members will also consider the best strategies for creating safe and orderly schools and recruiting and retaining quality teachers.

Highlights of the 2001 NEA Annual Meeting and Pre-Convention Activities Include:

June 28

"Outreach To Teach" Project. NEA President Bob Chase and hundreds of NEA members will descend on a high school in the Watts section of Los Angeles to paint, build shelves, provide new materials and equipment, and make other improvements. Outreach To Teach is sponsored each year in the city hosting the RA and has resulted in thousands of dollars and many volunteer hours to improve school facilities in cities including Atlanta, San Antonio, New Orleans, Orlando and Chicago.
Location: David Starr Jordan High School, 2265 East 103rd Street, Los Angeles, 10 a.m.

June 29

The International Forum. Education leaders from across the globe will share an overview of educational trends and issues in their respective countries, providing a basis for dialogue among guests.
Location: Wilshire Grand Hotel, Fernwood Room, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

June 29-30

The 2001 NEA Joint Conference on the Concerns of Minorities and Women will open with a speech from historian and scholar Dr. Ronald Takaki, one of the nation's foremost experts on multicultural education. Workshop topics include how the 2000 census will change schools; high-stakes tests for teachers; and strategies for handling hate and bias in schools.
Location: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa Street.

June 30-July 1

The 2001 Conference on Bargaining and Instructional Issues. This two-day meeting will help NEA members use the negotiation process to improve teaching and learning. Advocating for Professional Issues: New Needs, New Challenges is the theme. On June 30, 3 p.m., Secretary of Education Rod Paige will deliver the keynote address at the opening session. On Saturday, the 2001 NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Awards will also be presented - the awards recognize local education associations and school districts for developing successful mentoring programs for teachers.
Location: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa Street.

July 2

• Read Across America "Read-In." Hundreds of Los Angeles schoolchildren will be matched with NEA delegates at a reading event designed to get kids excited about the joys of reading. Thousands of books will also be donated to Los Angeles-area schools, libraries and daycare centers. At 1 p.m., NEA President Bob Chase and his army of readers will officially kick-off the event.
  Location: LA Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, Kenta Hall.



• Run for NEA Fund for Children and Public Education. Thousands of NEA members are expected to be out early in the California sun to jog/walk and raise money in support of pro-public education political candidates.
  Location: the grounds of the LA Coliseum.

July 2-3

Exhibits of educational products and services from some 200 organizations and vendors.
Location: LA Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, Hall K.

July 3

• The NEA News Room opens in the Convention Center, Room 152, Concourse Hall. A filing center for credentialed news media will include telephones, fax machines, modems, and a television monitor from which the media can view the action on the floor of the Representative Assembly. Seating will also be provided near the stage for media who want to cover the Assembly "up close and personal."



• NEA hosts its annual Human and Civil Rights Awards Dinner. The event will honor 11 individuals for their work to eliminate discrimination in education and to advance human rights. Among the honorees are Maud Dahme, president of the New Jersey State Board of Education, for ensuring that migrant children receive a quality public education, and former Mississippi Governor William Winter, for removing all vestiges of racial discrimination from his state's institutions.
  Location: The Westin Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa Street, 6:30 p.m.

The NEA Representative Assembly will take place July 4-7. All of the following events will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

July 4

• Media Availability and Press Breakfast with Bob Chase, News Conference Room, #152, 9 a.m. This media briefing is open to credentialed media only.




• Representative Assembly opens, 11 a.m., Hall H.




• Chase will deliver his keynote address during the morning session and outline NEA's action plan for reforming our nation's lowest-reforming schools. He will also spotlight heroes - teachers, bus drivers and others working in our nation's public schools - who have gone beyond the call of duty on behalf of students.




• On Independence Day, Lieu Tran, a Utah teenager who experienced the abject misery of servitude, deprivation, and wanton killing in war-torn Cambodia, will address the delegates and share her inspiring journey as a Vietnamese refugee to a humanitarian and honors student.



• Delegates will consider and debate the NEAFT Partnership Document.

July 5

Delegates will consider and debate a new policy statement addressing criteria for charter schools and state charter school laws.

July 6

• The Representative Assembly will honor victims of school violence at a school safety event - and celebrate those who have stopped violence in schools and neighborhoods. "The Strongest Link" will feature individuals who have taken action to create safer schools and communities, including a student who fought bullying and harassment, a police officer who created a nationally recognized curriculum, and the parent of a Columbine student.




• Michelle Foreman, Teacher of the Year, will address the delegates. Foreman is a social studies teacher at Middlebury Union High School in Middlebury, Vermont.



• Delegates will debate resolutions on a host of issues including promoting parental involvement, improving teacher preparation, and ensuring safety and order in schools.

July 7

• Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, will receive NEA's highest honor - the 2001Friend of Education Award - for his trailblazing work promoting interracial and intercultural tolerance.

• Educational Support Person of Year, Irma Valdespino of Las Cruces, NM, will address the delegates. Ms. Valdespino, an educational assistant, is the tenth recipient of the NEA's "ESP of the Year" award and the first Hispanic female so honored.

For more information on this year's Annual Meeting and details about the Representative Assembly 2001, visit the NEA website at www.nea.org/ra/ra01/rainfo01/.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.