2022 NEA Representative Assembly Back and Better than Ever
By: Cindy Long, NEA Today Edited by: Giovanna Bechard, MEA Communications Director
After two years of the pandemic, delegates to the 2022 NEA Representative Assembly (RA) were back in person in Chicago, with about 6,000 members, including some from Maine. There was a feeling of renewal and celebration after another difficult year. As delegates gathered, they felt restored by the hope, energy, and determination of their union to come back better and stronger than ever.
“We will prevail!” NEA President Becky Pringle promised in her keynote address.
The challenges facing educators, students, and communities today are real and many, Pringle acknowledged. But union members continue to stand strong and embrace their role as the voice of education professionals, she told the RA delegates. Teacher and Augusta EA member Jan Murphy attended her first NEA RA with more than a dozen other Maine educators. Murphy came back with the encouragement needed to begin another year in her school with her Union by her side.
RA DELEGATES VOTE TO CONTINUE CRITICAL WORK ON SAFETY, EQUITY, AND JUSTICE
The delegates approved the policy statement during an ongoing global pandemic, as students, educators, and communities face politicians and institutions that are taking away freedoms and rights, brushing off a growing gun violence epidemic, attempting to divide communities by race and place, and increasing restrictions on what educators can teach and what students can learn.
The new NEA policy statement continues to build on the ongoing racial and social justice work of the association. In 2021, RA delegates approved a measure, NBI-A, that established a task force to identify criteria for safe, just, and equitable schools. Over the course of a year, the task force met to research, gather evidence, and consult with educators and experts. The work involved engaging with national partners, state and local affiliates, racial justice advocates, allies, and community activists. NEA’s new policy statement is the result of that work and is guided by four core principles:
- Adopt a restorative justice philosophy to create a school climate that rejects the criminalization and policing of students.
- Provide training and support for culturally competent instruction.
- Develop and implement plans to end disparities in disciplinary and behavioral practices.
- Create a community-centered school environment to foster safe, positive environments and engage all members of the public school.
“This policy statement allows NEA to provide the avenues for educators to have what they need so that education is safe, just, and equitable across this nation and to feel supported in their work,” says Frazier. “In turn, our entire school community will be affected in a positive, nurturing way—and our students will leave their communities and flourish in whatever community they go into next—that is what this policy will help do,” said James Frazier of New Jersey who is an NEA board member and one of several educators who served on an NEA task force that developed the criteria behind the new policy.
“I attended my first ever National Education Representative Assembly this summer. It was an amazing, exhilarating experience. The days were long as there was a lot of work to do for our organization, but I can’t say enough about how powerful it was to have a voice in how the NEA runs. To be in the same room as thousands of educators from all over the country was amazing!”
Jan Murphy, Augusta EA
TOGETHER, LET’S BE MORE
In a video thank-you to the NEA delegates gathered in Chicago, Parton said she knows how hard educators work to help every student succeed.
“I’m working to do my part as well,” Parton said. “My foundation offers college scholarships for local high school students, and my theme park, Dollywood, is covering college tuition and expenses for employees.”
But Parton says she is most excited about her Imagination Library.
“Together, let’s continue to inspire kids to dream more, care more, learn more, and therefore, be more,” she said.
To listen to more speeches, learn more about policies and business conducted, and enjoy more moments from the 2022 NEA Annual Meeting and Assembly, visit nea.org/ra.
