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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 1998

NEW ORLEANS – As the 9,968 delegates to the 1998 National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly head for home, they take with them a renewed focus on quality teaching and learning in America's schools.

"The stars we're following are reforms that will help us reach our destiny: schools fortified by excellence; schools that are safe and well-equipped; schools where every student has a qualified teacher and schools that provide all of America's children with the best our nation has to offer," NEA President Bob Chase told the delegates in his keynote speech.

The delegates overwhelmingly approved a new business item directing NEA to continue working with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in the pursuit of unity between the two organizations--and to continue the year-old NEA/AFT Joint Council's efforts to enhance teacher quality, improve school safety and discipline, and modernize America's school buildings. The floor action affirming the commitment to unity came the day after delegates, in a secret-ballot vote, rejected the proposed Principles of Unity that had been hammered out in merger talks with the AFT. Debate on unity was lengthy and spirited, but delegates left even more strongly committed to the concept of a single, national organization that represents teachers and other education employees.

Echoing the assembly's theme, "New Roads to Excellence," Chase said NEA's 2.4 million members are embracing his call for "new unionism" – and its overarching commitment to quality teaching and learning – in rapidly growing numbers.

This trend was reflected in the overwhelming support for new resolutions on teacher preparation and professional development. In a strongly worded policy, the Association called for clinical practice for prospective teachers, similar to residencies in the medical profession, which include internships and post-hiring residencies to achieve full licensure. Language regarding teacher professional development was also strengthened to advocate specific criteria for such programs, and a new policy was approved outlining professional development for educational support personnel throughout their careers.

"This year, NEA has proposed using its budget to help 100,000 new teachers earn National Board Certification," Chase said. "Our mission is enlightened – and necessary. We've embarked on our new mission with gusto."

Delegates showed their commitment to children and community early and often:

• 50 NEA members voluntarily staffed two health centers in New Orleans for a day, distributing information to more than 400 children and families on how to keep children healthy. Retired and student members of NEA spent a full day at Beauregard Middle School in St. Bernard Parish, painting, landscaping, sweeping, and cleaning it inside and out to create a healthy environment for students there.
• For two days the "Camp Green Eggs Read-In" celebrated NEA's commitment to reading, as more than 1,200 area youngsters delighted in stories read by 370 people, including President Chase, teachers from across America, and celebrities including New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, actor Doug E. Doug (Griffin on the "Cosby" show), and singer Howard Hewett. Delegates donated 3,140 new books to the New Orleans Reads Program, the New Orleans Health Department Read Reach Out Program, and the St. Bernard Parish School System.
• On July 4, with Dr. Seuss's beloved "Cat in the Hat" making his way to the podium, every delegate donned a striped top hat and recited a "Declaration of Reading Independence" committing NEA to again celebrate "Read Across America" on March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Earlier this year, more than 10 million children were read to by teachers, parents, grandparents, friends, celebrities, professional athletes, and others in this year's first-ever NEA "Read Across America" event.

On July 3, Vice President Al Gore received a rousing welcome. He spent an hour conducting a "town meeting" with delegates, answering questions on topics including teacher recruitment and training, early childhood education, vouchers, and school modernization.

Delegates re-elected two members of the nine-member NEA Executive Committee. Denise Rockwell (Woods), a middle school teacher from Los Angeles, and Roger Sharp, a high school math teacher from Marion, Ind., were each re-elected to three-year terms.

Delegates honored Georgia Governor Zell Miller with 1998 Friend of Education Award, the Association's highest honor. During his tenure as governor, Miller has fought vigorously to expand educational opportunities for Georgia students and to improve the status of the teaching profession. He implemented the HOPE Scholarship Program and the state's pre-kindergarten program, allowing every four-year-old child to attend pre-school.

Education issues were front and center inside and outside the convention hall. More than 1,000 delegates attended NEA's Instructional Issues Conference, where a dozen workshops focused on teacher quality and student achievement. Officials from the U.S. Department of Education held a forum on IDEA '97, the revised federal special education law that goes into effect this fall. Several hundred delegates attended the three-hour session, asking questions about the law's new regulations.

New and collaborative approaches to labor relations aimed at consensus-building are central to NEA's "new unionism," and collaboration was the focus of a day-long bargaining conference and of the second annual Saturn Partnership Awards. Chase and UAW/Saturn Vice President Emeritus Don Elphin presented these awards to recognize cooperative school management-employee union efforts in Lincoln, Nebraska; Long Beach, California; Mishawaka, Indiana; Flint, Michigan; Queen City, Texas; and Santa Maria, California during the Representative Assembly.

The Assembly also included an appeal for international peace – and a dedication to the world's children – by former NEA President Mary Hatwood Futrell, who now serves as president of Education International (EI), the umbrella organization representing 23 million educators in 170 nations.

"My friends, the future of our nation and the destiny of our planet hang in the balance," Futrell told the delegates. "We must learn to live together. We must put brotherhood and sisterhood in place of suspicion and mistrust. And we must never permit any issue to distract us from our sacred obligation to children. As educators, our pledge of allegiance must be to children. That has always been NEA's pledge. We speak with integrity when we say: 'every child is my responsibility'."

Next year's Representative Assembly will be held in Orlando, Florida.

The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing more than 2.4 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.

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