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NEA Communications 202-822-7200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 1998

NEW ORLEANS -- Safe schools, peer assistance and review, charter schools, brain-based learning, and preparing minority students for careers in math and science. These are some of the topics that will be on tap at the National Education Association's 1998 Joint Conference on Concerns of Minorities and Women. The conference, entitled "Minorities and Women in Public Education: Preparing for the Millennium," will be held June 28-29 at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside Hotel. More than a thousand NEA members from around the country are expected to attend.

The conference, organized in a workshop format, is designed to help teachers and other school staff better prepare students for the 21st century. Some of the issues covered deal purely with education, while others touch on topics such as student health and safety. One workshop, for example, will explore ways that school employees can join the campaign to combat tobacco use by students. Overall, more than 90 workshops will be presented over the two days.

The conference is among several taking place prior to the NEA's Representative Assembly, set for July 3-6, in New Orleans. Overall, more than 10,000 delegates are expected to attend the Assembly, which will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

This joint conference will also commemorate the 150th anniversary of the women's rights movement, which officially dates back to the 1848 Women's Rights Convention held in Seneca Falls, New York. Molly MacGregor, executive director and founder of the National Women's History Project, will speak on this milestone at the Sunday luncheon, and later that afternoon will review the legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her colleagues and offer tips on making the subject of women's history come alive in the classroom.