2022 NEA Today for Aspiring Educators

From the Chair

A message from NEA’s Aspiring Educators Program Chair Cameo Kendrick

Working Together for a Better Future

In my final letter as chair of NEA’s Aspiring Educators program, I want to reflect on all that we have been through and all that we have accomplished.

I began my two-year term by stepping into a completely virtual world—where doing our collective work was difficult enough, but staying connected with our union family was a challenge like none before.

Through it all, we have accomplished so much. We have provided incoming generations of educators with the tools, knowledge, and community they need to succeed, and we are pushing the education profession and education system into the future.

“Look to your NEA Aspiring Ed program to help you recognize that educators hold the power to … transform our schools.” 

—Cameo Kendrick

Tens of thousands of educators—at the university, state, and national levels—envision this future and are organizing to make it a reality. We constantly seek out knowledge about things we aren’t taught in our teacher prep programs. We also strive to embody and create the change we want to see in the world, all in the service of our collective calling—to be an educator. We, the members of NEA’s Aspiring Educators program, aspire to these collective values: 

• Education: We recognize that educators hold the power to change and transform our schools. 
• Activism: We recognize that racial justice is educational justice, and one cannot be actualized without the other.
• Solidarity: We recognize that through collective action, solidarity, and empowering each other, we create movements. 

We, as educators, are in the fight for a better tomorrow.  
   
I chose to become an educator so I could spend my life empowering each and every one of my students—the next generation—to stand up for what is right, to share more love with the world, and to lead our society to a better future.  

I became a union member because I realized that as educators, we are better together. I became a union leader because I wanted to listen, learn, and dig deeper into the work. I also wanted to dig deeper into the trouble—that good and necessary trouble.  

I am sure that each of our 40,000 NEA Aspiring Educators walk alongside me, ready to do the same.  

So I leave you with this ask: Dig deep? and find your why. Why are you the change that we have been waiting for? Stay grounded in that. There is work to do. I am with you. Our movement continues...

Why I’m a Member

NEA Members are Leading in Schools and Communities

By Brenda Álvarez

NEA is 3 million members strong! We are united by our profound commitment to our students and to the promise of public education. We inspire each other every day by sharing stories like these from two early career educators. For more member stories, go to nea.org/member-spotlight, or submit the name of an educator you’d like to see featured at nea.org/nea-member-spotlight-submission.

Omar Jaimes Rodríguez, Briscoe, North Carolina

I am an early career educator. I also happen to be undocumented. At 10 months old, I fled Mexico in the arms of my mother, and North Carolina became my new home.

It wasn’t until driver’s ed that I realized I did not have a Social Security number—or legal status in this country. My life felt like it was over before it truly began. But I was not going to give up.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) did not exist when I graduated from high school. The policy now applies to about 800,000 young people who came to this country like I did. It protects them from deportation, provides work authorizations, and allows college-bound students to pay in-state tuition. 

But at the time, I had to pay out-of-state tuition. My parents were factory workers, and they could not afford to help me pursue my dreams. 

In June 2012, my life changed when former President Barack Obama introduced DACA. I felt the chains begin to loosen up around my aspirations.

Today, I have a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education, and last year, I completed my master’s degree in teaching English to speakers of other languages.

I want to fight for my students’ rights and dreams. Passing permanent DACA protections means that our dreams will no longer be a fantasy, but an obtainable reality. Join me by taking action at educationvotes.nea.org/take-action/#immigration.

Leah Karol, Dover, Delaware

I wanted to become an educator because I enjoy working with kids. My goal is to be a positive role model for children—they need people to look up to in their lives.

In college, I was part of NEA’s Aspiring Educators program for three years, which allowed me to attend conferences and connect with teachers in different districts throughout the state. I also served as the Delaware State Education Association Aspiring Ed president last year and was part of its overall leadership team for two years. 

This experience showed me that educators have a lot of power to impact students’ lives. The Aspiring Ed program lets young educators discuss new ways to lift up students and relate to them.

Now I’m a fourth-grade teacher, and I love getting to know my students and helping them grow as people. 

With all of my lessons, I embrace a student-led classroom that empowers kids. I also share my expectations with students, and then have them step in and take over. I’m also incorporating social and emotional aspects of teaching into my lesson plans, because that’s just as important as what’s in the textbooks. 

That’s one of my key takeaways from NEA’s Aspiring Educators program: We need to continue evolving as educators, so we can build better relationships with our students and show them that they’re loved and supported.

NEA and You

Top 10 Reasons to Join NEA

Once you graduate from your teaching program and enter your first classroom, sign up to become an NEA member. Similar to your Aspiring Educators program, you’ll be connected to a network of educators who will support you on day one. Here are the many ways nea works for you.

Learn more at nea.org/join.

1. Have a voice at the table.
There’s power in numbers. Joining the 3-million-member NEA—the nation’s largest labor union—gives you greater influence over the decisions that affect your classroom and career. Whether you advocate for changes in your school; speak at school board meetings; advocate for more school funding at the state and local level; or lobby your state legislators and city and county board members, your local union (also called an association) will support you.

2. Earn increased pay and benefits.
As part of your local union, you can fight for professional pay, health care, and retirement security—so educators can afford to stay in the profession they love.

3. Grow in your professional practice.
Your local union helps you advocate for greater access to professional learning and more time for collaboration, so you can improve your practice. Your union (and that means you and your co-workers!) can also work with the school district to develop mentoring opportunities and other support from more experienced colleagues.

4. Get support from a nationwide community of educators.
When you are a member of your local union, you are also a member of your state affiliate and NEA. The association is your way to connect with like-minded colleagues across the district, state, and nation who are working to better students’ lives.

5. Carry out a commitment to social justice.
As a member of the union, you join forces with fellow educators to take action on the social justice issues that matter most to you. The union works to achieve equity in schools and can train members on how to develop new strategies. 

6 Improve working and learning conditions at your school.
Local unions empower educators to advocate for smaller class sizes, fewer standardized tests, more input into curricula, and safer buildings, among other issues. Better working conditions mean a better learning environment for your students.

7. Create positive change in your workplace.
The union can collaborate with the administration, the PTA, and other community organizations to resolve issues in your school.

8. Get enhanced rights.
A collective bargaining agreement is an enforceable legal document that protects your rights. It contains a formal procedure for advancing grievances with support from an expert, called a UniServ staff member. Even if your state doesn’t allow collective bargaining agreements, your association will be there for you to offer guidance, advice, and legal representation, if necessary.

9. Get liability insurance.
Because liability potential can be so serious for individuals employed by schools and other educational units (and your employer doesn’t always have your back), NEA provides all eligible association members with professional liability insurance through the NEA Educators Employment Liability Program.

10. Save money with NEA Member Benefits.
Improve your buying power and save money with NEA’s Member Benefits program, which offers extensive benefits and discounts. Learn more at neamb.com.