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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 11, 2002

News Release

NEA Leader to Address 50,000 at India Teachers Conference

Hattiesburg's Michael Marks' Topic: Child Labor

Washington, D.C. - NEA Executive Committee Member Michael Marks will address 50,000 educators about reforming child labor laws in India. He will be speaking at the All India Primary Teachers' Federation (AIPTF) Biennial Conference in Bangalore, India on October 20th. Marks will help celebrate the end of AIPTF's Shiksa Abhiyan Yatra, a month long cross-country march that helps raise awareness about the human right to education.

In India, more than 32 percent of children do not receive education at the primary level and unofficial statistics estimates that 111 million children under the age of 15 are part of the workforce. Marks says that there is a dire need for education reform in the country, where 35 percent of men and 62 percent of women over the age of 15 are illiterate. He and other members of the AIPTF are urging the government and the international community to help change child labor laws and guarantee all children in India a free education.

Michael Marks, a Hattiesburg native, has been teaching dramatic arts and debate to high school students for 19 years, most recently at Hattiesburg High School. He is a former Mississippi Teacher of the Year, and has received national honors, including Disney's Outstanding Teacher of Performing Arts Award, and the Milken National Educator Award. In July 2001, he was elected to the National Education Association Executive Committee, the nine-member governing body that oversees the largest professional employee organization in the nation.

The AIPTF, like the NEA, represents over 2.7 million members dedicated to raising public awareness about the right to free, public education, and the necessity of eliminating child labor in India. The NEA and the AIPTF, share membership in an international organization of unions-Education International. The organization has more than 311 member affiliates in 159 countries and represents more than 25 million teachers and education staff worldwide.

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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.