Skip Navigation
We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, provide ads, analyze site traffic, and personalize content. If you continue to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies.
NEA provides guidance and resources for returning to classrooms safely, and with an emphasis on racial and social justice.
Learn More
Report

Voices of Leaders for Just Schools

Insight into how we can design a path forward for learning and education justice through and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bus driver with folded arms wears an N95 mask
Published: November 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented number of unique barriers of which we will likely feel the effects for years to come. In light of the many challenges that the local, state, and national responses to COVID-19 have laid bare, a group of NEA members who all participated in Leaders for Just Schools—a new leadership program built around equity and racial and social justice in education—began conversing.  

In March 2020, these NEA member leaders discussed how, at the onset of the pandemic, educators and policymakers can begin to address inequities and work toward equitable and just learning environments for all students across race and place. Born from these conversations was the first volume of “Voices of Leaders for Just Schools: Education Justice Through and Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which captures the “big ideas” gleaned from hours of online conversations hosted by NEA with LJS participants. The report includes the “big ideas” about how to respond to and overcome barriers that we have never had to face before.

A year later, NEA member leaders reconvened to reflect on their experiences teaching through a global pandemic; to identify new challenges, barriers, and lessons learned; and to brainstorm equitable solutions to spur action in school communities across the country. These NEA members isolated priority issues and discussed possible solutions to address education inequities and close achievement gaps. These conversations culminated in the second volume of “Voices of Leaders for Just Schools.”

NEA provides guidance and resources for returning to classrooms safely, and with an emphasis on racial and social justice.

Are you an affiliate?

Jump to updates, opportunities, and resources for NEA state and local affiliates.
Young student smiles at the camera

About Leaders for Just Schools

Our three-year program gives participants the historical, legal, and educational tools to transform policy and practice at the local, state, and national levels.
National Education Association

Great public schools for every student

The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest professional employee organization, is committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA's 3 million members work at every level of education—from pre-school to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States.