National Education Association
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The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union and the largest white-collar representative in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become teachers. The NEA has just under 2.3 million members and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The NEA had a budget of more than $341 million for the 2012–2013 fiscal year. Becky Pringle is the NEA's current president.
As per the NEA website: "Our mission is to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world."
The NEA, originally on the conservative side of U.S. politics, by the 1970s emerged as a factor in modern American liberalism. While the NEA has a stated position of "non-partisan", it almost exclusively supports the Democratic Party. Conservatives, libertarians, and parents' rights groups have criticized the NEA's progressive positions.
State affiliates of the NEA regularly lobby state legislators for funding, seek to influence education policy, and file legal actions.
At the national level, the NEA lobbies the United States Congress and federal agencies and is active in the nominating process for Democratic candidates. From 1989 through the 2014 election cycle, the NEA spent over $92 million on political campaign contributions, 97% of which went to Democrats.
Structure and Governance
The NEA has a membership of just under 2.3 million people, with membership levels dropping every year since 2010. The NEA is incorporated as a professional association in a few states and as a Trade union in most. The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code. It is not a member of the AFL–CIO, but is part of Education International, the global federation of teachers' unions.
NEA members set the union's policies through the Representative Assembly (RA). The RA, which is a delegation comprising elected representatives from each local and state affiliate, coalitions of student members and retired members, and other segments of the united education profession-is the primary legislative and policy-making body of the NEA.
As of 2020, the executive officers of the NEA are Rebecca Pringle (President), Princess Moss (Vice President), Noel Candelaria (Secretary-Treasurer) and Kim A. Anderson (Executive Director). These posts are elected by the Representative Assembly.
The Board of Directors and Executive Committee are responsible for the general policies and interests of the NEA. The Board of Directors consists of one director from each state affiliate (plus an additional director for every 20,000 active members in the state), six directors for the retired members, and three directors for the student members. The board also includes at-large representatives of ethnic minorities, administrators, classroom teachers in higher education, and active members employed in educational support positions.
History
Founding
The NEA was founded in Philadelphia in 1857 as the National Teachers Association (NTA). Zalmon Richards was elected the NTA's first president and presided over the organization's first annual meeting in 1858. The NTA became the National Education Association (NEA) in 1870 when it merged with the American Normal School Association, the National Association of School Superintendents, and the Central College Association. The union was chartered by Congress in 1906.
Mergers
NEA officially merged with the American Teachers Association, the historically black teachers association founded as the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, in 1966.
In 1998, a tentative merger agreement was reached between NEA and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) negotiators, but ratification failed soundly in the NEA's Representative Assembly meeting in New Orleans in early July 1998.
However, five NEA state affiliates have merged with their AFT counterparts. Mergers occurred in Florida (the Florida Education Association formed in 2000); Minnesota (Education Minnesota formed in 1998), Montana (MEA-MFT formed in 2000), New York (New York State United Teachers formed in 2006) and North Dakota. North Dakota United formed in 2013.
Read Across America Day
National Read Across America Day is an NEA initiative to encourage reading. It has expanded into a year-long program with special celebrations in March as National Reading Month. Read Across America Day began in 1998, on March 2 which was the birthday of the popular children's author, Dr. Seuss. The NEA partnered with Dr. Seuss Enterprises on the venture from 1997 to 2018, when the contract ended.
As per the NEA website: "Our mission is to advocate for education professionals and to unite our members and the nation to fulfill the promise of public education to prepare every student to succeed in a diverse and interdependent world."
The NEA, originally on the conservative side of U.S. politics, by the 1970s emerged as a factor in modern American liberalism. While the NEA has a stated position of "non-partisan", it almost exclusively supports the Democratic Party. Conservatives, libertarians, and parents' rights groups have criticized the NEA's progressive positions.
State affiliates of the NEA regularly lobby state legislators for funding, seek to influence education policy, and file legal actions.
At the national level, the NEA lobbies the United States Congress and federal agencies and is active in the nominating process for Democratic candidates. From 1989 through the 2014 election cycle, the NEA spent over $92 million on political campaign contributions, 97% of which went to Democrats.
Structure and Governance
The NEA has a membership of just under 2.3 million people, with membership levels dropping every year since 2010. The NEA is incorporated as a professional association in a few states and as a Trade union in most. The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code. It is not a member of the AFL–CIO, but is part of Education International, the global federation of teachers' unions.
NEA members set the union's policies through the Representative Assembly (RA). The RA, which is a delegation comprising elected representatives from each local and state affiliate, coalitions of student members and retired members, and other segments of the united education profession-is the primary legislative and policy-making body of the NEA.
As of 2020, the executive officers of the NEA are Rebecca Pringle (President), Princess Moss (Vice President), Noel Candelaria (Secretary-Treasurer) and Kim A. Anderson (Executive Director). These posts are elected by the Representative Assembly.
The Board of Directors and Executive Committee are responsible for the general policies and interests of the NEA. The Board of Directors consists of one director from each state affiliate (plus an additional director for every 20,000 active members in the state), six directors for the retired members, and three directors for the student members. The board also includes at-large representatives of ethnic minorities, administrators, classroom teachers in higher education, and active members employed in educational support positions.
History
Founding
The NEA was founded in Philadelphia in 1857 as the National Teachers Association (NTA). Zalmon Richards was elected the NTA's first president and presided over the organization's first annual meeting in 1858. The NTA became the National Education Association (NEA) in 1870 when it merged with the American Normal School Association, the National Association of School Superintendents, and the Central College Association. The union was chartered by Congress in 1906.
Mergers
NEA officially merged with the American Teachers Association, the historically black teachers association founded as the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools, in 1966.
In 1998, a tentative merger agreement was reached between NEA and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) negotiators, but ratification failed soundly in the NEA's Representative Assembly meeting in New Orleans in early July 1998.
However, five NEA state affiliates have merged with their AFT counterparts. Mergers occurred in Florida (the Florida Education Association formed in 2000); Minnesota (Education Minnesota formed in 1998), Montana (MEA-MFT formed in 2000), New York (New York State United Teachers formed in 2006) and North Dakota. North Dakota United formed in 2013.
Read Across America Day
National Read Across America Day is an NEA initiative to encourage reading. It has expanded into a year-long program with special celebrations in March as National Reading Month. Read Across America Day began in 1998, on March 2 which was the birthday of the popular children's author, Dr. Seuss. The NEA partnered with Dr. Seuss Enterprises on the venture from 1997 to 2018, when the contract ended.