The 9,000 delegates to the 2002 NEA Representative Assembly in Dallas elected Reg Weaver from Illinois as the new national president. Elected to replace him as vice president was Dennis Van Roekel from Arizona. Lily Eskelsen from Utah was elected to succeed Van Roekel as secretary-treasurer.
David O'Neal from UTLA debates an item on the floor at the NEA Representative Assembly. Seated around the podium are the other California delegates.
During his first address as president-elect, Weaver urged delegates to connect with their communities to bolster public confidence in education and to support policymakers committed to serving the best interests of education.
"It is my belief that we will experience enormous success if we collaborate with others who support public education. We cannot do it alone."
In his farewell address, outgoing NEA President Bob Chase said public educators are doing "important work, noble work - the most important work I know."
"And when somebody asks you what you make, answer truthfully. Say to them, 'I make a difference. I make a difference for children. I make a difference for my country. I make a difference for the world.'"
The National Teacher of the Year, CTA member Chauncey Veatch of Coachella Valley, also emphasized the importance of teaching in his address to the Representative Assembly. "In a democracy, there is no undertaking more fundamental than educating our children," said the retired Army colonel.
The NEA RA took place within days of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the Cleveland voucher plan. While the decision was not a surprise, it was a disappointment to teachers. Delegates anticipated that the fight to preserve the public school system will take place in state legislatures as new bills are proposed. If the nation is to preserve its public education system, they said, education employees must elect education-friendly members to the U.S. Congress as well their own state legislatures.
"The U.S. Supreme Court ruling holding that a small Cleveland voucher plan is constitutional does not change the fact that voucher schemes - twice rejected by California voters in recent years - abandon public schools that educate 90 percent of the nation's children," CTA President Wayne Johnson told delegates.
"We stand in principled opposition to vouchers. And to the voucher ideologues, we make this promise: We will expose your false promises. We will lay bare your lies. And - as we have done in California, Michigan, and everywhere else that vouchers have been on the ballot - we will defeat you!"
Delegates came to the RA concerned about the hidden roadblocks contained in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Signed into law last January, the ESEA is a reauthorization of the federal guidelines for education. It contains major new mandates that will affect every public school classroom in the country.
Briefly, it contains new requirements for testing and for placing "highly qualified" teachers in every classroom by 2005. It connects its limited funding to meeting annual progress goals. The timelines are tight and adequate funding has not been appropriated.
Delegates voted to form an ESEA Advisory Committee to develop a comprehensive national strategy to work for full funding of and amendments to ESEA. The committee will gather information on ESEA implementation and document, analyze and publicize efforts to minimize the negative impact. NEA will assist state associations in working with their state governments to implement the ESEA in ways that minimize some of its most destructive features, to influence state interpretations of federal guidelines, and to mitigate problems as the law is implemented.
NEA will continue to bring attention to strategies that have proven to make a genuine difference, such as teacher quality, class size reduction, and access to up-to-date books and materials. The focus, delegates said, should be on helping students, not punishing them or simply moving them around.
Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was also a hot topic at the NEA RA. Teachers are concerned about the amount of paperwork, the cost of increased litigation, and the inability to discipline special education students. They also believe there's a movement afoot at the federal level to make certain very few students qualify for special education. While teachers realize that IDEA is costly, they do not want students placed in their classes without appropriate support and an understanding of the student's learning problems.
Diana Garchow
Garchow is one of CTA's representatives on the NEA Board of Directors
