Not only did educators go to great lengths to keep students fed and learning during the pandemic, they also helped achieve a remarkable turnaround for public education in election 2020.
Educators played a key role in electing President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris—who are committed to supporting public schools. And we now have fellow educator and NEA member Jill Biden in the White House as well. President Biden has appointed Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, who are dedicated to safeguarding the rights of our students, our educators, and our union. These victories have set the stage for a historic investment in students and public schools.
We spoke up for what schools need
After hearing from millions of educators across the country, Congress passed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan on March 10. The $1.9 trillion stimulus package will provide critical funding for public schools, create and support millions of jobs, cut child poverty in half, make health care more affordable, and help get the pandemic under control.
Thanks to educator advocacy and the determination of the Biden administration, we can now do more to ensure the success of every student in our schools. The U.S. Department of Education took extraordinary steps to move this funding for schools to the states just weeks after the president signed the plan into law.
“This historic legislation provides the resources to help every school put in place the effective measures needed to keep students and educators safe,” NEA President Becky Pringle says. “It also makes extraordinary investments that will lift countless children and families out of poverty and works to address the immense inequities that have systematically affected the most vulnerable students and communities of color.”
