When Kenneth Tang retired from teaching elementary school in California’s Garvey School District, it was his mission to do all he could to continue helping his students. When a position on the school board for his district became open, his former students urged him to run.
“[My students] were telling me that they felt unheard [at to school board meetings] and about all these issues that they had in school,” said Tang, who was elected to the Alhambra Unified School District School Board this year. “They felt that I could be their voice.”
Tang was one of more than 90 educators, including many educators of color, who ran for office in 2020 and won. He used his experience as a participant in See Educators Run–NEA’s non-partisan political candidate training program designed especially for educators–to propel his campaign to victory.
“In this political environment it is even more critical now for educators to really step into the political arena, especially running for political office, because many times decisions are being made for us outside of the classroom,” said Tang.
Sue Cahill, who teaches in the Marshalltown Community School District in Iowa, knows that well as she begins to transition back to all distance learning due to the coronavirus pandemic. A long time educator and another participant of See Educators Run, Cahill knew that prioritizing education issues on her campaign platform meant not only supporting students while they were in her classroom, but throughout their entire lives.
“Education involves from early childhood, helping families of newborns and toddlers have working rights to make sure they don’t have to have to jobs to leave their kids with a caregiver, moving into K-12, we have to prepare our students so they are ready for college, career, or service,” said Cahill, who was just elected to House District 71 in Iowa.
As active members of their unions, Tang and Cahill had seen how educators could use their experience and position as community leaders to make positive change in the political realm for their students and fellow educators. State Senator Valarie Lawson, who was reelected to the Rhode Island legislature, says that taking office has expanded her ability to advocate for her entire school community.
“Educators need to be involved in [the] process of creating effective public policy that impacts students. We are in the classroom working with students and our experience needs to be heard and factored in when creating policy,” said Lawson. “Because I am still in the classroom, I can share my experiences as well as my colleagues with other legislators.”
“We can make a difference. What we do in our classrooms impacts all aspects of our society,” said Cahill. Tang echoed by saying, “When it comes to our kids we will fight for them fiercely and fearlessly.”
And, as educators, they already have the skills for that fight. Allison Hepler, a history professor at the University of Maine-Farmington, who recently was re-elected to a second term in the Maine legislature, applies the research skills of an academic to constituent services. She knows how to make herself understood to an audience, and how to write for clarity. The lessons that she teaches her students about American government — "What are our values as citizens? What do we want, what do we need, and what can we afford?" — become real-life exercises in the development of the state budget.
As each ran for office during the COVID-19 pandemic, learning new ways to reach voters as well as communicate the growing needs of students was challenging. Natha Anderson, who won her race in Nevada this November, says that participating in NEA’s See Educators Run training prior to starting her campaign helped her.
“I’m familiar with the traditional actions, but COVID-19 does not allow for canvassing door-to-door like usual. See Educators Run helped me think about different ways to talk to our voters without having to ask people to go door-to-door,” said Anderson, a high school English teacher and Washoe Education Association president. She ran on a platform that disparities facing her students and communities of color due to the pandemic must be addressed.
Tang says the training helped give him tools such as setting up voter databases, phone banking, and developing graphics. Lawson said that NEA trainings also introduced her to Outreach Circle, which helped get thousands of educators involved in political activism during the 2020 election cycle.
“The association from the local and the state and the national level really gave me such great leadership skills,” said Cahill. “I heard the message: We need to be involved, and if we don’t do it, who’s going to do it? Teachers have so many skills! We are well equipped to get out there and work with kids, work with families, and have those connections.”
Thank you to all the educators who ran for office in 2020, and congratulations to those NEA members who won their races:
Alaska
HD 4: Grier Hopkins
HD 33: Sara Hannan
Arizona
LD 2: Andrea Dalessandro
LD 10: Stephanie Stalh Hamilton
LD 17: Jennifer Pawlik
LD 20: Judy Schwiebert
LD 24: Lela Alston
LD 28: Christine Marsh
Scottsdale Unified School Governing Board: Julie Cieniawski
Creighton Elementary District School Board: Heather Ayers
Roosevelt Elementary School Board: Alexis Aguirre
Tempe Union District School Board: Sarah James
Pima County Recorder: Gabriella Cazares-Kelly
California
Alhambra Unified School District School Board: Kenneth Tang
Ohlone Community College District Board of Trustees: Greg Bonaccorsi
Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education, Don Bridge
Bakersfield City School District Board of Education, Chris Cruz-Boone
Santa Rosa City Schools Board of Education, Ever Flores
National School District Board of Education, Michelle Gates
New Haven Unified School District Board of Education: Michael Gonzales
West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education, Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy
John Swett Unified School District Board of Education: Amarjit “AJ” Kaur
Palomar Community College District Board of Trustees, Roberto Rodriguez
Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education, Carolyn Torres
Chula Vista Elementary School District Board of Education, Lucy Ugarte
Oakland Unified School District Board of Education, VanCedric Williams
Colorado
Colorado Commissioner: Andy Kerr
Connecticut
U.S. Representative, 5th congressional District: Jahana Hayes
Delaware
HD08: Sherae'a Moore
HD10: Sean Matthews
HD11: Jeff Spiegelman
HD32: Andria Bennett
Georgia
SD111: El-Mahdi Holly
HD 109: Regine Lewis-Ward
HD 50: Angelika Kausche
Iowa
HD67: Eric Gjerde
HD71: Sue Cahill
Indiana
HD 27 Sheila Klinker
HD 53 Tonya Pfaff
Kansas
SD6: Pat Pettey
HD29: Brett Parker
HD34: Valdenia Winn
Massachusetts
HD 3rd Bristol: Carol Doherty
HD 2nd Bristol: James Hawkins
Maine
HD 8: Christopher Babbidge
HD 53 Allison Hepler
HD 55: Seth Berry
HD 86: Justin Fecteau
HD 90: Lydia Crafts
HD 97: Janice Dodge
HD 123:Laurie Oshner
HD 138: Robert Alley
HD 148: David McCrea
Michigan
HD 20: Matt Koleszar
HD 25: Nate Shannon
HD 28: Lori Stone
Minnesota
SD 41: Mary Kunesh-Podein
SD 42: Jason Isaacson
SD 48: Steve Cwodzinski
HD 4B: Paul Marquart
HD 6A: Julie Sandstede
HD 7A: Jennifer Schultz
HD 18A: Dean Urdahl
HD 27B: Jeanne Poppe
HD 46B: Cheryl Youakim
Missouri
HD 15 Maggie Nurrenbern
HD 16 Chris Brown
HD 70 Paula Brown
HD 73 Raychel Proudie
Montana
SD 38: Edie McClafferty
SD46: Shannon O'Brien
HD 77: Sara Novak
HD 82: Moffie Funk
HD100: Andrea Olsen
HD91: Connie Keogh
HD99: Mark Thane
HD98: Willis Curdy
HD90: Marilyn Marler
HD84: Mary Ann Dunwell
North Carolina
SD24: Linda Cooper Suggs
Nebraska
State BoE District 1: Patsy Koch Johns
State BoE District 2: Lisa Fricke
New Mexico
SD 16: Antoinette Sedillo López
SD 28: Siah Correa Hemphill
New York
SD 25: Jabari Brisport
HD 79: Chantel Jackson
HD 140: William Conrad
Nevada
AD 3 Selena Torres
AD 5 Brittney Miller
AD 30 Natha Anderson
SD 7 Roberta Lange
Ohio
HD 56: Joe Miller
School Board 11: Mary Binegar
Oklahoma
SD 3: Blake Cowboy Stephens
SD 9: Dewayne Pemberton
SD 19: Roland Pederson
SD 35: Jo Anna Dossett
HD 15: Randy Randleman
HD 34 Trish Ranson
HD 77: John Waldron
HD 79 Melissa Provenzano
Oregon
SD 25: Chris Gorsek
HD 20: Paul Evans
HD 26: Courtney Neron
HD 49: Zach Hudson
Pennsylvania
HD2: Bob Merski
HD117: Karen Boback
HD121: Eddie Day Pashinski
HD154: Napoleon Nelson
Rhode Island
SD14: Valarie Lawson
SD 27: Hanna Gallo
HD 68: June Speakman
HD 69: Susan Donovan
Texas
State Board of Education, District 5: Rebecca Bell-Metereau
Utah
School Board District 15: Kristan Norton
SD 8: Kathleen Riebe
SD 37: Carol Spackman Moss
Washington
LD 8 - House position 2: Matt Boehnke
LD 11 - House position 2: Steve Bergquist
LD 21 - House position 2: Lillian Ortiz-Self
LD 30 - House position 2: Jesse Johnson
LD 38 - House position 2: Mike Sells
LD 42 - House position 2: Sharon Shewmake
LD 49: - House position 2: Monica Stonier
West Virginia
SD 4: Amy Nichole Grady
HD 5 Dave Pethtel
HD 21: Mark Dean
HD 26: Ed Evans
