NEA Fact Sheet

Purpose:
The National Education Association was founded in 1857 to "elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching and to promote the cause of education in the United States." A leader in school reform, the Association has invested more than $150 million in public education improvements since 1983, the year of the watershed status report on American education, A Nation at Risk. NEA believes every child in America, regardless of family income or place of residence, deserves and needs a quality education. And a quality education begins with a quality teacher in every classroom.

Membership:
NEA is the nation's largest professional employee organization. Its 3.2 million members include elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and college students preparing to teach.

Structure:
NEA has 51 state-level affiliates: 50 state associations and the Federal Education Association. NEA's more than 14,000 local affiliates include some 800 higher education affiliates.

Governance:
The Representative Assembly (RA) is the Association's top policy-making body. With about 9,000 delegates each year, it is among the world's largest regularly meeting deliberative bodies -- larger than the Democratic and Republican national conventions combined. The 2006 Assembly will meet in Orlando, Florida. Between annual meetings of the RA, a nine-member Executive Committee and a 172-member Board of Directors act for the Association.

President:
Reg Weaver, a middle school science teacher from Harvey, Illinois, became NEA president on September 1, 2002. Weaver served as NEA's vice president from 1996 to 2002, he also served on the NEA Executive Committee from 1989 to 1995. He was Illinois Education Association president from 1981 to 1987.

Vice President:
Dennis Van Roekel, a high school mathematics teacher from Phoenix, Ariz., became NEA vice president on September 1, 2002. He is a former president of the Arizona Education Association.

Secretary-Treasurer:
Lily Eskelsen became NEA secretary-treasurer on September 1, 2002. An elementary school teacher, Eskelsen is a former president of the Utah Education Association.

Executive Director:
John I. Wilson, a former teacher of special-needs students in North Carolina's Wake County School System, became NEA's executive director in November, 2000.

Programs and Staff:
NEA employs approximately 555 staff members at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and in regional offices, with a budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year of more than $307 million. The Association is committed to building broad-based support for quality public education, to generating business and community partnerships that promote excellence in public schools, and to supporting initiatives that focus on quality teaching and learning for all students. NEA's three priorities are to improve the quality of teaching, increase student achievement, and to make schools safer, better places to learn.