Published: August 8, 2025
First Appeared In NEA Today, August 2025
Ready … Set … Advocate For Students and Schools!
Beryl Torrence knows how to get her crew organized. As assistant director of transportation operations for Kannapolis City Schools, in North Carolina, she figures out the routes and keeps a stable roster of drivers and subs.
As president of the Kannapolis Association of Educators, Torrence puts the pedal to the metal when organizing members to advocate for their students and their profession. One of their many successes was increasing bus driver pay from $12 to $18.50 per hour, in 2022, which helped them avoid the bus driver shortage that has frustrated communities across the country.
Now, Torrence and her members are accelerating the North Carolina Association of Educators’ campaign to pass a statewide ESP Bill of Rights. (What is this? Flip to Page 18 to learn more.)
Her advice to other union members: “Do not be afraid to speak out. Whether you are speaking to building leaders or going to school board meetings or sending messages to elected leaders, your voice needs to be heard,” Torrence says.
“When you tell decision-makers about your job, your students, and your school, they will be more likely to listen to your feedback on how policies would help or hurt.”
As attacks on public schools come from every level of government, your voice is needed now more than ever. What follows are five tips for how to tune up your skills, plus more words of encouragement from some of NEA’s all-star activists!
How to Dial Up Your Advocacy
- Get the latest activist alerts in NEA’s Action Center.
Check out your state association’s website. Sign up for email updates, read articles, and identify tools to help you reach out to the elected leaders who represent you. Get started at nea.org/action.
- Become more active in your local and state associations.
Participate in meetings and volunteer for committees or roles on issue campaigns. Attend rallies and lobby days—and invite others to join you!
- Walk the walk!
Build community support by organizing a “walk-in” sponsored by your union. At these positive events, community members and educators gather at local schools and enter the building in unison to show solidarity.
- Cultivate more public school advocates.
Invite colleagues, friends, and family to join the fight for strong public schools. Activist voices are stronger together!
- Counter disinformation the right way!
Don’t comment on online content that smears public schools. Even if you disagree, your comments only boost the bad posts! Instead, create social media posts or articles that give an accurate picture of what’s happening in schools and call out enemies of public education.
Get inspired by these all-star activists!
JASSMIN CLARK
Elementary school teacher, Nash County, North Carolina, District Teacher of the Year
Most meaningful win:
Spoke up when the school district took away educators’ health coverage for the summer months. She helped organize members to protest and eventually persuaded the board to reverse its decision.
Her best advice:
Turn to your union for guidance and support. “My union helped me realize how I could contribute when it came to speaking up for our students,” Clark says. “My local also supported me and made it possible for me to take time to heal after my father’s passing. … Remember that your union is full of people who care about your professional and personal well-being!”
ERIN BRAUNE
English teacher, Silver Creek School Corporation, Sellersburg, Indiana
Most meaningful win:
Launched a members-only Facebook group that gained more than 20,000 members and helped the Indiana State Teachers Association defeat a bill that would have banned teaching “divisive concepts” in schools.
Her best advice:
If an elected leader introduces a harmful bill, don’t think of them as your opposition, think of them as someone who needs more education on the issue. “A lot of our state lawmakers don’t necessarily realize what the bills they propose are going to look like when they’re applied in a school setting,” Braune says. Educators are best positioned to explain to lawmakers and the broader community how proposed legislation could undermine public education.
LAVERNE FERNANDES MOORE
Retired in 2024 after 55 years teaching; past president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, Honolulu Chapter
Most meaningful win:
Among Moore’s earliest victories, in the late 1970s and early 1980s she successfully pushed Congress to add ethnic subgroups to the designation of Asian people on the U.S. Census. More recently, in 2022, she lobbied the state legislature to restore movement on the salary scale and secure funding for Native Hawaiian programs in schools.
Her best advice:
Get involved in your union, and don’t take anything for granted!
“Remember that those who came before you sacrificed for the wins that you enjoy today,” Moore says. “The union leaders who came before me mortgaged their homes to get the union off the ground here in Hawaii. I’m standing on their shoulders, and the next generation stands on mine.”
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