For More Information:
NEA Communications: 202 822-7200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2002

News Release

NEA Highlights Public Schools' Role in Making America Strong at Joint Conference on Concerns of Minorities and Women

Meeting to be held in Dallas June 27-28

Washington, D.C. -- "Public Education: Democracy's Foundation" will be the focus of the 2002 Joint Conference on Concerns of Minorities and Women scheduled for June 27-28 at The Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas. The conference is held each year just prior to the Annual Meeting of the 2.7 million-member National Education Association (NEA), which will focus this year on implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization.

"In our classrooms, generation after generation of native-born and immigrant students have been taught to understand and respect America's core values," said NEA President Bob Chase. "The success of America's domestic security will depend on more than metal detectors and sky marshals. It will also depend on the values we teach our children."

The Joint Conference assists NEA members by illuminating the latest trends and developments in education policy and classroom instruction that have proven effective in teaching minority students.

Kicking off the conference with a keynote speech on "Creating a Climate of Success for All Students in the 21st Century" is Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, president of the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, as well as a mathematician and author. Hrabowski created a highly successful program to attract African American students into graduate and professional programs.

The luncheon speaker, Sherman Alexie, comes from the world of arts and letters. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie's first screenplay, Smoke Signals, premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy. His novels include Reservation Blues and Indian Killer, a New York Times Notable Book. His most recent book, The Toughest Indian in the World, won the PEN/Malamud award.

The conference closes with the following day's luncheon plenary, featuring lively discussion from sociologist, educator, author, and humorist Bertice Berry. Berry's ability to use humor while addressing such difficult subjects as sexism and racism has won her the National Comedian of the Year Award and the Campus Lecturer of the Year award. Dr. Berry once taught at Kent State University and has recently produced two bestsellers, Sckraight from the Ghetto...You Might be Ghetto If, and You STILL Ghetto.

In between the major speeches, participants will choose from dozens of professional workshops and sessions covering a broad range of human and civil rights issues that arise in the classroom or in schools.

Notably, the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) will share previously unreleased, newly compiled research on the connection between parental involvement and student achievement. The session, titled "New Waves of Evidence," will be conducted Thursday morning.

In keeping with this year's conference theme, some workshops will address related issues, such as School Safety in a Post-September 11 World, led by Jerry Newberry, director of NEA's Health Information Network and school safety guru.

Additionally, conference-attending teachers and other school staff can benefit from the newest techniques on achieving cultural competency, using Hip-Hop music to teach science, strategies for meeting the needs of language minority students and how to address gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues.

Or they can opt for sessions on eliminating the disturbing culture of bullying, engaging technological tools in classroom studies, and the most recent research findings on educating students with mental or physical disabilities.

For copies of the complete conference agenda, contact NEA Communications at (202) 822-7200.

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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 professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.