NEA -- Final Report

The NEA Representative Assembly really was like being at the Grand Canyon -- my "snapshots" can't do it justice. The Grand Canyon gives the awe of natural beauty; the NEA RA gave me the overwhelming sense of awe that I am one of so many people who believe in public education.

Like the Grand Canyon, the NEA RA is huge. The 3.2 million members of NEA elect 8-9,000 representatives who come together in July to take care of the business and set the policies of the organization. We dealt with/debated/decided 95 new business items, and amendments to the bylaws and constitution. There were both radical conservatives and radical liberals in attendance. Everyone had the right to speak, and for the most part, the radicals balanced out the radicals and we wound up somewhere in the middle.

I encourage you to visit the NEA website to view short videos of the eight presidential candidates' speeches. In the sidebar on the same page, you can also check out NEA's day-by-day description of the action, view the amendments and new business items, and view slide shows on different topics throughout the week.