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NEA Rep Assembly honors Topekan Cheryl Brown Henderson

More than 8,000 delegates call for a new covenant with the nation to support great public schools for every child.

Delegates to the NEA Representative Assembly, including 150 Kansans, pledged to call on the public to give its best to America’s public school students.

"If the nation is calling on its educators to ensure that all children receive what they need to be successful in school, educators can’t do it alone: Parents, policymakers and the public also must hold up their end of the covenant," NEA President Reg Weaver said. In his keynote speech to NEA’s Representative Assembly (RA) on Sunday, he laid out the six areas of mutual responsibility in “a covenant that states what it takes to make the promise of a great public school system a reality”:

#1 – Parental involvement:
Children need parents who are involved in their education, come to parent-teacher conferences, show interest in what’s going on in the classroom, and do everything it takes to get them prepared for school and reinforce their learning at home.

#2 – “No Child Left Behind”:
If schools are required to support the rhetoric of the so-called No Child Left Behind Law, then it is time to elect politicians and policy makers who will vote to provide the resources—both human and fiscal—that will turn the rhetoric of the law into reality, not sanctions that do the most harm to schools and students who are in the most need.

#3 – High-quality school employees.
If the nation truly wants high-quality education support professionals, those who will ensure that the standards for student services are high, then NEA calls on the nation to stop privatizing [their] jobs. Research shows that privatization leads to poor quality at a higher price, and it’s bad for schools and bad for children.

#4 – High-quality classroom instruction.
It is up to the nation's leaders to provide…small class sizes, up-to-date textbooks, updated labs and modern technology. Educators need support for music, art, physical education and foreign language programs that are vibrant and engaging.

#5 – Educators who give their best to every child.
The time is now to recognize the dedicated men and women of the teaching profession as the backbone of the public education system. To recruit and retain high-quality teachers and other educators, teacheres must be paid fairly and according to the requirements, skill and worth of their jobs.

#6 – A high-quality teacher in every classroom.
The public needs to stand beside teaching professionals and insist that they have work environments that are conducive to good teaching and learning. With almost half of teachers leaving the profession after five years, there needs to be ongoing professional development, health care and retirement benefits that are secure.

Kansas Photos of the NEA RA

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